_Aram_] the “Syrians” of the Authorized Version; better called Arameans. They were widely settled in the lands to the north and north-east of Palestine, with important centres in Damascus (Syria proper) and the north of the Euphrates valley (the _Aram-Naharaim_ of the Old Testament). So great and lasting was their influence on Israel that the Aramean dialect eventually superseded Hebrew and was the ordinary language of Palestine in the time of Christ. _Uz_] From Genesis x. 23 it appears that in Chronicles the words “And the children of Aram¹” have dropped out, so that “Uz” etc. appear as the immediate descendants of Shem. ¹ The Alexandrine MS. (A) of the LXX. has the words. Neither Uz nor the three following names have been satisfactorily identified. For “Meshech” Genesis x. 23 (Hebrew but _not_ LXX.) reads “Mash.” =18‒23= (= Genesis x. 24‒29). APPENDIX TO THE SONS OF SHEM. SOUTH ARABIAN TRIBES. ¹⁸And Arpachshad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber. =18.= _Eber_] The Hebrew word usually means “the land beyond” and may have originated as a personification of the population beyond the Euphrates. It is further possible that Eber is an eponym, not merely of the Hebrews, but of the Habiri, a much wider stock of Semitic nomads, of whom the Hebrews formed an element, and who overran and harassed the settled peoples of Palestine in the fifteenth century B.C. ¹⁹And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. =19.= _two sons_] one (Peleg) representing, roughly speaking, the northern or Mesopotamian Semites; the other (Joktan), the south Arabian tribes. _Peleg_] see below on verse 25. ²⁰And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah; ²¹and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah; ²²and Ebal¹, and Abimael, and Sheba; ²³and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. ¹ In Genesis x. 28, _Obal_. =20.= _Joktan begat Almodad_] All the names of the sons of Joktan here given, so far as they have been identified, represent peoples situated in south Arabia or on the west coast of the Red Sea lying over against south Arabia. The only familiar name is that of the unidentified Ophir, which possibly but not certainly may be the “El Dorado” to which Solomon sent his fleet for gold. =24‒27.= THE DESCENT OF ABRAHAM FROM SHEM. These verses are compressed within the smallest limits from Genesis xi. 10‒26. For another example of this extreme abbreviation compare verses 1‒4 (= Genesis v. 3‒32). ²⁴Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah; ²⁵Eber, Peleg, Reu; ²⁶Serug, Nahor, Terah; ²⁷Abram (the same is Abraham). =25.= _Peleg_] the name perhaps signifies “Division” (see verse 19), and may refer to some great period of migration among the Semitic tribes.