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Last time we looked at the sons of Japeth, Let’s now talk about Ham. Picking it up in verse 6. 

The Hamites

The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.

The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka.

The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”  The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

(Gen 10: 6-12)

The descendants of Ham settled in what today we call Ethiopia    Some of his descendants (Put) became the Egyptians and some made their home in North Africa West of Egypt and what we today call Liberia. Canaan’s children became of course the Canaanites. Now from versus 7 through 10 the sons of Canaan are discussed. Notice the pattern because this is what's important. He names the son of Noah and then he lists all the sons of those sons and then he's picks out a few to focus on 

He is now going to talk about this one descendant of Ham namely, Nimrod. Look at what he tells us. He was “mighty”, we have run into this word before in Genesis chapter 6. To be mighty on the earth at that time meant to be famous. Being well known for what you do is the way it is used here. In other words, he was well known, as one commentator says, for bold and daring deeds. Then it says he was a mighty Hunter. If I tell you the man's a Hunter you probably immediately think of, animals right. Well, there's some indication that this particular word is talking about the fact that he hunted men, not just animals. Some highly respected commentators and scholars that I've read said this unusual word is more often used of hunting or the gathering up of men. Furthermore, the phrase before the Lord is the idea of being in the open sight of God or in revolt against God. So, this phrase probably means that he was searching out and recruiting them to be against the Lord. Maybe not what you thought it meant when it said he was a hunter. This is further suggested when you understand that his name “Nimrod”, when translated means, let us  rebel. Can you imagine naming a boy that? You normally don't need the call a boy “let us rebel” in order to get him to do that but it seems Kush named his son, let us rebel.  Apparently, that's exactly what he did because he went out and he recruited other people to help him rebel against God. I found this interesting that in the table of nations when the author decides to focus on one individual, he picks the individual who is fighting and rebelling against God. One bible commentary I have on my shelf said this.

 “Nimrod’s name was so famous in the ancient world that a proverbial expression arose concerning him. When people wanted to pay the highest tribute to someone for his prowess in doing something, they used to say of him. He was like Nimrod, a mighty Hunter before the Lord”[i]. 

(History of the Armenians - Moses of Khorene’s)

This phrase became a buzz phrase that entered the lexicon of everyday usage at that time. A bit like phrases like. As rich as Croesus, or a wise as Solomon, or as old as Methuselah, etc. As well as being a mighty leader of men the passage goes on to tell us that he was the founder of several cities. As a matter fact verse 10 says he was the founder of many cities and even a Kingdom. 

Interestingly this is the first time the word Kingdom appears in the Bible. We are told in verse 10 that the kingdom he founded was Babel This is Babylon the city on the Euphrates River.  Babylon and has been a symbol of hostility against God for 1000’s of years now. Let me just tell you this city of Babylon will also show up in the Book of Revelation as the ultimate city that stands in opposition to God. What this table of nations is trying to tell us is that nations are growing, and some are now in outright opposition to God and Nimrod establishes the first of those large modern rebellious city states. The passage then goes on to tell us that he built more cities in Syria and he even goes on to build Nineveh, and we will pick up the story in verse 13 next time.

[i] History of the Armenians - Appendix 9: Book One of Moses of Khorene’s (Extracts)THE GENEALOGY OF THE GREAT ARMENIA