Genesis 10

he genealogies of the Bible meant a lot more to the ancient Jews than they do to many modern Christian readers who tend to skim through them. The genealogies gave them a sense of belonging and continuity with the past. Their mission was to continue the genealogy. Among them lived the ancestors of the Messiah promised in Genesis 3, or perhaps even the Messiah himself.

Genesis most likely preserves for us the oral tradition of their origins, tracing back to the first man. It also seems noteworthy that in this genealogy are the ancestors of the Canaanites, the Jebusites, the Ninevites and other traditional enemies of the Israelites. By recording them as distant cousins, the Jewish scriptures affirm that all people are made in God's image, whereas other cultures might treat other races as subhuman, justifying their subjugation or annihilation. Like the fact that both male and female are created in God's image in Genesis 1 and 2, affirming the dignity of the woman; Genesis 10 affirms that all tribes are the sons of Adam and possess the divine image, capable of being brought into the covenant with God as the prophets would foretell.