Genesis 10:26

And Joktan begat Almodad,.... And twelve more mentioned later: the Arabic writers (o) say be had thirty one sons by one woman, but all, excepting two, left Arabia, and settled in India; the Targum of

And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazar-maveth, and Jerah, Almodad - the progenitor of an Arab tribe whose name is preserved in Mudad, or El-Mudad; a person famous in Arabian history as

From Almodad and the rest of Joktan’ s sons here mentioned, come either, 1. The various nations of India, as most think; or rather, 2. The several people that live in the innermost parts of Arabia, who profess themselves the posterity of Joktan, and have a city near Mecca called Jectan. And the Homerites, one sort of them, are deduced from him by divers writers.

Genesis 10:26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,Ver. 26. Joktan begat Almodad, &c.] This man with his sons may seem to have seated in the East Indies; but, fallen from Heber’ s faith to heathenism, they are written in the dust: there is little mention of them in the Scriptures. They have lost their genealogy, as those degenerate priests, who in the time of the captivity took scorn to be in the register, and were therefore worthily afterwards rejected by the Tirshatha.

(26-31) Joktan.—“The little one,” as being a younger son. Of the thirteen divisions of his family, few are of any importance, though several of the names are curious from their connection with the Arabic language. The Joktanite country was Arabia Felix, or Yemen, and as the people led a pastoral life without founding cities, the traces of their tribal names are insignificant. Those worth noting are Almodad, because it has the full form of the article, retained as Al in Arabic, but shortened in Hebrew into Ha. Hazarmaveth, “the court of death,” so called because of the unhealthiness of its climate, is now Hadramaut. Abimael means “the father of Mael.” While in Hebrew and Syriac men took the name of their father, in Arabic they often take the name of a son, with Abu or Abi (“father of”) prefixed. Sheba, the region afterwards famous for its commerce and its wealth of spices and precious stones. A Sheba also occurs among the race of Ham (see Genesis 10:7). Opbir: the name, probably, at first of a district of Oman in Arabia, but afterwards given to some port in India or Ceylon, from some fancied similarity. Havilah: some commentators consider that this is the same district as that previously occupied by the Cushites (Genesis 10:7); others argue that the two Havilahs are distinct, and that this is the region called Chawlân, in Northern Yemen. It is, however, certain that the Hamites possessed this country prior to its being occupied by the Joktanites.

Verse 26. - 30. Joktan] He had thirteen sons who had their dwelling from Mesha unto Sephar, a mount of the east, which places Calmet supposes to be mount Masius, on the west in Mesopotamia, and the mountains of the Saphirs on the east in Armenia, or of the Tapyrs farther on in Media. In confirmation that all men have been derived from one family, let it be observed that there are many customs and usages, both sacred and civil, which have prevailed in all parts of the world; and that these could owe their origin to nothing but a general institution, which could never have existed, had not mankind been originally of the same blood, and instructed in the same common notions before they were dispersed. Among these usages may be reckoned, 1. The numbering by tens. 2. Their computing time by a cycle of seven days. 3. Their setting apart the seventh day for religious purposes. 4. Their use of sacrifices, propitiatory and eucharistical. 5. The consecration of temples and altars. 6. The institution of sanctuaries or places of refuge, and their privileges. 7. Their giving a tenth part of the produce of their fields, c., for the use of the altar. 8. The custom of worshipping the Deity bare-footed. 9. Abstinence of the men from all sensual gratifications previously to their offering sacrifice. 10. The order of priesthood and its support. 11. The notion of legal pollutions, defilements, &c. 12. The universal tradition of a general deluge. 13. The universal opinion that the rainbow was a Divine sign, or portent, &c., &c. See Dodd. The wisdom and goodness of God are particularly manifested in repeopling the earth by means of three persons, all of the same family, and who had witnessed that awful display of Divine justice in the destruction of the world by the flood, while themselves were preserved in the ark. By this very means the true religion was propagated over the earth for the sons of Noah would certainly teach their children, not only the precepts delivered to their father by God himself, but also how in his justice he had brought the flood on the world of the ungodly, and by his merciful providence preserved them from the general ruin. It is on this ground alone that we can account for the uniformity and universality of the above traditions, and for the grand outlines of religious truth which are found in every quarter of the world. God has so done his marvellous works that they may be had in everlasting remembrance.

26. Hazarmaveth] This name is very probably reproduced in the district of S. E. Arabia called the Ḥ ?adramaut.

26. Almodad — This name seems to be preserved in the Arabic El-Mudad, or Al-Modhadh, a famous Arab prince.