Genesis 10:20

Summary

This verse closes the genealogical list of Ham's descendants in Genesis 10, providing a summary formula that organizes them according to four categories: clans, languages, lands, and nations. It functions as a structural marker signaling the end of one genealogical section before the text moves to Shem's line.

Key words

• 'Eleh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle that opens the verse, pointing back to the preceding list of names as the referent being summarized.
• venei- ("sons of", H1121A) — masculine plural construct noun, linking "these" to Cham, establishing the genealogical relationship "the sons of Ham."
• mishpechotam ("their clans", H4940) — feminine plural construct noun with 3rd person masculine plural suffix, meaning "the clans belonging to them."
• leshonotam ("their languages", H3956H) — feminine plural construct noun with pronominal suffix, referring to the languages proper to these groups.
• goyehem ("their nations", H1471A) — masculine plural construct noun with pronominal suffix, closing the fourfold classification with "nations."

What the text says

The verse is built as a closing formula, a syntactic pattern that recurs in Genesis 10 to mark the end of each genealogical branch (compare the parallel structures for Japheth and Shem). The demonstrative 'Eleh ("these", H0428) opens the sentence and refers anaphorically to the list of Ham's descendants already given. This is followed by the construct phrase venei-Cham ("sons of Ham"), which restates the genealogical heading.

The remainder of the verse consists of four prepositional phrases, each built on a plural construct noun bearing the third-person masculine plural suffix -am/-hem ("their"): le-mishpechotam ("to/according to their clans", H4940), li-leshonotam ("to/according to their languages", H3956H), be-'artzotam ("in their lands", H0776G), and be-goyehem ("in their nations", H1471A). The prepositions vary: the first two use le ("to", H9005), while the last two use be ("in", H9003). This alternation of prepositions is a feature of the Hebrew that does not necessarily carry into translation, where all four terms are often rendered with a uniform "according to" or "by," flattening the distinction between the le- and be- constructions found in the source text.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete text as given) shows a truncated or corrupted rendering, with the phrase "οὗτοι υἱοὶ" ("these are sons") lacking the specification "of Ham" (Χάμ) that appears in the Hebrew venei-Cham, and includes a repeated "ἐν ἐν" that does not correspond to any doubled preposition in the Hebrew text. The Vulgate (Clementine) renders the four Hebrew nouns as cognationibus ("kinships"), linguis ("tongues"), generationibus ("generations"), and gentibus ("nations/peoples"), adding "generationibus" as a fourth category where the Hebrew has only mishpechotam, leshonotam, 'artzotam, and goyehem — four terms in Hebrew corresponding to five in the Vulgate's list (cognationibus, linguis, generationibus, terris, gentibus).