Gen 10: Japeth's, Ham's and Shem's lineages: the founders of the nations

Japheth's line lived in the isles; Ham's included Nimrod and the Canaanites who were a mighty and great nation in their time; Shem's lived in the east.

• v1: The author begins with Japheth's family, then Ham and finally Shem.
• v5: "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands". (KJV) The descendants of Japeth were allotted to the isles of the Gentiles (note all places beyond the sea from Judea were referred to as isles: And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea - Jer 25:22, KJV). This directs us to understand the promise in Isaiah of the conversion of the Gentiles: "and the isles shall wait for his law" (Isa 42:4)
  
• v6-14: Nimrod stood out among all the other men: he was a great hunter, a great ruler, and a great builder. And yet, despite his worldly success, his lineage was cursed before God.
• v15-20: The descendants of Ham built a "great city" and their territory extended far beyond that of Japeth's and Shem's. The nations mentioned here are ones that will eventually be subdued before Israel, and their land would in time become the holy land. In the meantime, Canaan, while under a divine curse, thrived and prospered greatly.
• v21: Shem is referred to as the father of all the children of Eber. This is because Abraham and his seed, God's covenant people, descended from Eber (Gen 14:13 - "Abram the Hebrew"). Paul looked upon it as a privilege that he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews (Phil 3:5). We can infer that the language of Hebrew was retained in the confusion of Babel as a sign of God's favour upon him. And yet, at the time Genesis was written, the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt, while Canaan was prospering. When God gives us a title and name as an honour, we cannot necessarily expect material benefit, for God is more concerned with the spiritual than the physical.
• Shem is also referred to as the brother of Japeth, yet no mention is made of Ham ->union of Gentiles with the Jews in the church, for Japeth was to dwell in the tents of Shem. Note that God, in dispensing His grace, does not go by seniority, so the last shall be first and the first last.
• v25: Peleg = division. We are told that Eber saw cause to name his son as a remembrance of the earth's division, which possibly refers to when God divided the nations by the confusion of tongues.