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Genesis 10 · a question people ask

"In his days the earth was divided." What does that mean?

Interpretation

Verse 25 doesn't explain it. The verb, palag, is rare: four times in the Hebrew Bible. Its other uses point two ways.

How Christians read it

Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.

The people were divided

The dividing of people and languages at Babel (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. His brother’s name was Joktan.”
Genesis 10:25 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Genesis 10

Genesis 10: Every nation, one family

Counted name by name, Genesis 10 lists seventy descendants of Noah's sons and says every nation came from that one family. The families listed here are "the families of the earth" God promises to bless through Abram two chapters later.

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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