For the sake of the narrative, we have to repopulate the planet. That’s what is happening in chapter 10.
We may see nothing but a list names with few clues to assign meaning. But here we see the faithfulness of Noah and his family.
God said be fruitful and multiply, and so they did.
And here’s another way to see this.
Tradition tells us Moses wrote this, that Genesis thru Deuteronomy is one continuous thought. We ask Genesis: Who are we? Why is the world the way that it is? What if these first followers of God were asking the same questions?
What we see here in this chapter is every other major player in the Israel story, particularly the nations that will become antagonists to God’s people, get name checked. Egypt. Canaan. Assyria. Babylon.
This isn’t just a random list of names, but an introduction of characters in this epic drama.
What if the message here is that all of us–the whole wide world, third world to first world, allies and enemies–is from one family? What if we are part of a large family?
So what about you? What do you see?
Fiftyeight 