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1 Chronicles 1 · a question people ask

"In his days the earth was divided" (1:19). What does that mean?

Interpretation

Verse 19 gives the same Hebrew words as Genesis 10:25, and neither verse explains them. The verb, palag, is rare: four times in the Hebrew Bible (tap Peleg). Its other uses point two ways.

How Christians read it

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The people were divided

The dividing of people and languages at Babel (Genesis 11:8-9). In Psalm 55:9 the same verb is used of language: "confound their language" (Brown-Driver-Briggs: "divide their speech").

Genesis 11:8-9 · Psalm 55:9

The land was divided

A dividing of land among the peoples. In Job 38:25 the same verb describes God cutting a channel for flood water; and Deuteronomy 32:8 speaks of God giving the nations "their inheritance" and setting their bounds.

Job 38:25 · Deuteronomy 32:8

The verses

“To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.”
1 Chronicles 1:19 · World English Bible
“To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. His brother’s name was Joktan.”
Genesis 10:25 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Chronicles 1

1 Chronicles 1: From Adam

1 Chronicles opens with Adam and nothing but names, following Genesis. It gives the other lines first, Japheth and Ham, Joktan, Ishmael, Keturah's sons, and Esau, and comes back each time to the line it is following: Shem to "Abram (also called Abraham)" (1:27), to Isaac and Israel (1:34). Luke runs the same names the other way, back from Jesus (Luke 3:34-35).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions