Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“The sons of Ham were: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush were: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were: Sheba and Dedan. Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it is said, “like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Yahweh”. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and the great city Calah.Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim (which the Philistines descended from), and Caphtorim. Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon—as you go toward Gerar—to Gaza—as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim—to Lasha. These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.”
(Genesis 10:6-20)

Ham is next and his son from incest with his mother, Canaan. Since Canaan was a cursed birth, his lineage is listed separately.

Cush peopled the region near the Red Sea in Lower Egypt and also the Ethiopians. Mizraim peopled Egypt. Put (or Phut) peopled the area of Africa bordering Libya.

The second son of Cush was Havilah. Havilah was a region mentioned in Genesis 2:11 as having good gold and the location of one of the tributaries of the river of the garden in Eden. Another son of Cush was Nimrod. Of Nimrod, the sage Steinsaltz writes: ‘Kush begot Nimrod, among others; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. Nimrod appears to have been the first powerful king whose reign extended beyond the confines of his own people. This fact merits mention, but no further details of the events of his life are recorded.’ The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel says that Nimrod was powerful in huntings and also in rebellions against the Lord. In other words, a chief of sinners. It has been speculated (with no backing facts) that he was one of the forces keeping people together at Babel and it was his kingdom that tried to build the tower. Adam Clarke’s commentary states that Nimrod would hunt men and try to drive them from worship of God to worship of himself. Nimrod was at least a famous/infamous figure because in Moses’ time (over 600 years later), Nimrod was still known and used as a saying. Nimrod founded Babylon and Nineveh (where the modern city of Mosul, Iraq is located). The Assyrians rose in this area.

One of Mizraim’s sons was Casluhim and he fathered the Philistines. The Philistines were treated well by the Lord (Amos 9:7), but turned away.

Canaan fathered the Canaanites. His son Heth fathered the Hittites. His son Sidon the Sidonians. The Jebusites (who founded what became Jerusalem) came from Canaan. Also the Hivites. These were enemies of the Israelites. These were the nations the Israelites were to destroy. Not purely innocent. But nations from an ungodly seed who actively set themselves against God again and again.

Sodom and Gamorrah was in their territory (Canaanite territory). Both Abraham and Isaac spent time in Gerar.