13Caphtorim. And Canaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth; 14and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite; 15and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite; and the 16Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.
17The sons of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad,
13. Canaan begat] Of the four sons of Ham—viz. Cush, Mizraim, Put, Canaan—note that the sons of Put are omitted. After the sons of Cush (ver. 9), and of Mizraim (ver. 11), we here pass to the sons of Canaan.
Zidon his firstborn] From the time of David downwards Tyre takes precedence of Zidon in any mention of the Phoenician cities in the O.T., but Zidon was the older of the two cities, as is here implied and as the Roman historian Justin (XVIII. 3) asserts. So we find the Phoenicians in the earlier books of the O.T. called Zidonians, not Tyrians (e.g. Judg. iii. 3; 1 Kin. v. 6). Homer also refers not to Tyre but to Zidon.
Heth] i.e. the Hittites, a northern non-Semitic race, who from about 1800—700 B.C. were a great power, extending over part of Asia Minor and northern Syria from the Orontes to the Euphrates. The references to them in the O.T. make it probable that Hittite settlements were to be found in various parts of Palestine. This fact and their dominant influence, c. 1300 B.C., throughout Canaan and Phoenicia probably accounts for their inclusion as a "son" of Canaan.
14. the Jebusite] the ancient population of Jerusalem, cp. Judg. i. 21; 2 Sam. v. 6.
the Amorite] cp. Num. xiii. 29, xxi. 21; Judg. i. 35. The name (probably a racial one) was frequently used of the pre-Israelitish inhabitants of Canaan ("Canaanites" being the geographical description). In a more restricted sense it was used to denote the people of Sihon, east of the Jordan.
15. the Hivite] In Josh. xi. 3, the Hivites are placed in the extreme N. of the land, "the Hivite under Hermon," but the word may be an error for Hittite (see above ver. 13). In Josh. ix. 7 and Gen. xxxiv. 2 they are located at Gibeon and Shechem. The Arkite and Sinite lived in Lebanon, the Arvadite (cp. Ezek. xxvii. 8) on the sea-coast N. of Gebal (Byblus), the Zemarite a little to the S. of the Arvadite, and the Hamathite furthest to the north on the Orontes.
17 (= Gen. x. 22, 23). The Sons of Shem.
17. The sons of Shem] These occupied the middle geographical "zone."
Elam] is the name of a land and nation N. of the Persian Gulf and E. of Babylonia, and is often referred to in the O.T. Though settled by Semites at a very early date, it was subsequently, c. 2280 B.C., possessed by a non-Semitic race, who even extended their power over Babylonia itself. The inclusion of Elam among the Semites is doubtless due to its proximity to Asshur, and, though not strictly correct, is very natural.
Asshur] The Assyrians, who are so frequently referred to in the
