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Chapter 10 deals more with the descendants of Noah. Verses 1 through 5 tell us that the descendants of Japheth populated the "Isles of the Gentiles". Jeremiah 25:22 tell us that " all places beyond the sea (Mediterranean) from Judea were called Isles". Isaiah says, "The Isles shall wait for His law -- the conversion of the Gentiles to faith in Christ". Other scholars relate this to the coastal areas of Asia Minor and Europe and the Islands of the Mediterranean and England. They believe that these descendants of Japheth became the Maritime Nations of the world, each with his own language.
The descendants of Ham populated the Middle East from Egypt northward. Such people as Nimrod, a mighty hunter, who built Babel in the Kingdom of Shinar. From there he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, became the Philistines and the Canaanites and built cities like Sodom and Gomorrah. The descendants of Ham became nations, each with their own language.
The descendants of Shem became the children of Eber or Heber, the father of the Hebrews. From Heber came Abraham. From Abraham came God's covenant people. Also from Heber came the "holy tongue", Hebrews. It was retained through the confusion of
Babel as a special token of God's favor. So Shem has the honorable title of "Father of the Hebrews".
We should take notice here that the seed of Japheth would not forever be shut out of the church for later Moses reminds us that Japheth was the brother of Shem not only in birth but in blessing and that he was to dwell eventually in the tents of Shem.
From the descendants of Ham, we have one of note, a man by the name of "Nimrod". He was a great man of his day. He had the same "spirit" as the giants before the flood. He was also a great hunter. Some believe that he rid his country of the wild beasts that infected it. Others think that under the pretense of hunting he gathered a great army. Nimrod was against the Lord. He set up idolatry. He built the city of Babel, and Babel was the "mother" of harlots. He carried on oppression and violence in defiance of God. He became a great ruler by sheer power. He destroyed all who would oppose him. He also was a great builder. He was probably the architect of the tower of Babel. When God brought destruction upon Babel, Nimrod went into Assyria and built the city of Nineveh.
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