Genesis 10:26-30 - Exposition

And Joktan begat Almodad . Usually said to be Yemen. And Sheleph . The Salapenoi of Ptolemy, belonging to the interior of Arabia. And Hazarmaveth . Hadramaut, southeast of Arabia (Bochart, Michaelis). And Jerah . Contiguous to Hadramaut. And Hadoram . Adramitae of Ptolemy, or the Atramitae of Pliny (Bochart) And Uzal . Awzal, the capital of Yemen (Bochart). And Diklah . The palm-bearing region of Arabia Felix (Bochart); a tribe between the mouth of the Tiber and the Persian Gulf (Michaelis). And Obal, and Abimael , whose settlements are not known. And Sheba . Vide supra, Genesis 10:7 . And Ophir . In Arabia; probably in Oman, on the Persian Gulf (Michaelis, Rosenmüller, Kalisch, Keil), though it has also been located in India (Josephus, Vitringa, Gesenius, Delitzsch). The gold of Ophir celebrated ( 1 Kings 9:27 , 1 Kings 9:28 ; 2 Chronicles 9:10 , 2 Chronicles 9:13 , 2 Chronicles 9:21 ). And Havilah . The Chaulan in Arabia Felix, but vide supra, Genesis 10:7 . And Jobab . The Jobabitae of Ptolemy, near the Indian Sea (Michaelis, Rosenmüller); but more probably a tribe in Arabia Deserta if Jobab—Arabic jebab, a desert (Bochart, Gesenius, Kalisch). All these were the sons of Joktan . And their dwelling was from Mesha . The seaport of Muza (Bochart); Messene, at the mouth of the Tigris (Michaelis, Rosenmüller, Kalisch). As thou goest into Zephar. Zafar or Dhafari, on the coast of the Hadramut. The difficulty of identifying a seaport town with a mountain is got over (Kalisch) by reading "to the" instead of a mount of the east —the thunderous range of hills in the vicinity.