While chapter 11 of Genesis gives us the reason for the dispersion of the peoples following the Flood, chapter 10 records where the descendants of Noah’s three sons dispersed and the nations that came from them.
This chapter, though often overlooked by Bible students, is valuable because we learn the origin of the nations as well as the names of each nation’s “father.” This in turn is needful in a study of the prophets. In prophetic literature the Lord typically refers to a nation by the original father of that nation. “Cush,” for example, is the father of the Ethiopians, but in Isaiah 45:14 the nation is referred to as “Cush.” By having an idea of the key nations in Genesis 10, one is better prepared for a study of the prophets.
All of mankind descended from Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives. Generally speaking, their descendants migrated into three general areas. The descendants of Japheth moved primarily into the northern part of the world and are represented by the European nations including Russia. Shem’s descendants went to the middle part of the world and are primarily represented by the Jews and Arabs. It is believed that Chinese were mostly Shemites. Ham’s descendants migrated to the southern part of the world. Ham had four sons representing four key nations. Cush became Ethiopia. Mizraim became Egypt and one of his sons became the Philistines (10:14). Put became Libya, and Canaan fathered the Canaanite nations.
The fact that all nations, including all the races of people on the earth with their varying distinguishing characteristics, came from three men and their wives shows the great genetic variety found in those original families. In fact, Dr. Gary Parker, writes in Creation: the Facts of Life, that understanding human genetics shows how easily variety in produced in the human gene pool. Just considering skin color, Parker points out that if one human couple, each with medium skin color and recessive genes of both white and black, had sixteen children, on average they would have six children with the skin color of their parents, four children medium white, four children medium dark, one child white with no capability of passing on any other skin color, and one child black with no possibility of passing on any other skin color. This illustrates how quickly the varying human races developed following the dispersion after the Flood.