2 Cainan, Malaleel, Jared,
3 Henoc, Mathusale, Lamech,
4 Noe, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.
v.4
VERS. 4.-- *Noe.* That Noe is the tenth from Adam is shown both in Genesis and in Paralipomenon, and fittingly the tenth, because he is perfect. Whence, *Noe was a just man and perfect in his generations,* etc. He begot Sem, Cham and Japheth, through whom after the flood the offspring of men is spread abroad anew.
5 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, Thubal, Mosoch, Thiras.
v.5
VERS. 5.-- *The sons of Japheth.* These possessed the land in Asia, from Amanus and Taurus, the mountains of Syria Cheles and of Cilicia, as far as the river Thanais. In Europe, as far as Gadara, leaving names to places and to peoples, of which very many were afterwards changed, while the rest remain. *Thubal.* The Iberians, who are also the Spaniards, from whom Celtiberia, though some suspect the Italians. *Mosoch.* The Cappadocians, whence their city is called Masacha to this day. But the Seventy translators judge the Gapthorim to be Cappadocians.
6 And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez, and Riphath, and Thogorma.
7 And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cethim and Dodanim.
v.7
VERS. 7.-- *But the sons.* From these were divided the islands of the nations, the tongues, the kindreds and the peoples. From the Ionians, that is the Greeks, are born the Elisaeans, who are also the Aeolians. Whence that tongue is called in Greek Aeolic. *Tharsis.* Josephus judges these to be the Cilicians, whence their metropolis also is called Tharsis, glorious by Paul the apostle. *Cethim.* From whom the Cithaeans, otherwise the Cithians, from whom a city of Cyprus is called Cithia, otherwise Cithium, to this day. *Dodanim.* The Rhodians, for so the LXX translated. Let us read the books of Varro on antiquities, and those of Sinnius Capito, and the Greek Phlegon and the rest, and we shall see that almost all the islands and the shores of the whole world, and the maritime lands, are occupied by Greek settlers: who from Amanus and Taurus possess all the seaboard as far as the British ocean.
8 The sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesrai, and Phut, and Chanaan.
v.8
VERS. 8.-- *Phut.* The Libyans, from whom also a river of Mauretania is called Phut, and the region Phutensis. Now many writers, Greek as well as Latin, are witnesses of this thing. But why in one part of the clime the ancient name of Libya remains, and the rest of the land is called Africa, it is not for this time to discuss.
9 And the sons of Chus: Saba, and Hevila, Sabatha, and Regma, and Sabathaca. And the sons of Regma: Saba, and Dadan.
v.9
VERS. 9.-- *Saba.* From whom the Sabaeans, it is now interpreted *Saba Arabia,* whence in Psalm LXXI, where we have: Kings of the Arabians and of Saba; in the Hebrew it stands: Kings of Saba and Saba, the first through Schin, the second through Samech.
10 Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty upon earth.
v.10
VERS. 10.-- *He began to be mighty in the earth.* Because he was the first to seize an unwonted tyranny. He was a strong hunter before the Lord, because he turned men away from the worship of God. Whence Josephus: But he made them lifted up unto the injury and contempt of God. Nemrod, the son of Cham, the son of Noe, who, since he was over-bold and most strong of hand, urged men to ascribe their happiness not to God, but to their own strength. Thus he called men back from the fear of God, that he might set his hope in his own strength. And therefore they thought that God was threatening a flood. Whence they urged that a tower be built which the water could not climb. But the multitude was ready to obey Nemrod, accounting it a heavy servitude to obey God. Now Nemrod reigned in Babylon and in Areth. This is Edessa and Macha which is Nisibis and in Chalamne, which was called Seleucia from king Seleucus, or which is now called Thesiphon.
11 But Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Laabim, and Nephtuim,
v.11
VERS. 11.-- *And Mesraim begot.* Excepting the Laabim, from whom the Libyans were named, who before were the Phutaeans, and the Castium, who afterwards were called Philisthiim, whom we corruptly call Palestinians. The other nations are unknown to us, because, overthrown in the Ethiopic war, they passed into forgetfulness of their former names. And they possessed the land from Gaza as far as the furthest borders of Egypt.
12 Phetrusim also, and Casluim: from whom came the Philistines, and Caphtorim.
13 And Chanaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and the Hethite,
14 And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite,
v.14
VERS. 14.-- *The Gergezaean, the Hevaean.* He founded the town Archas over against Tripolis at the roots of Libanus, not far from which was another city by the name of Sim, which, overthrown by the varying issue of wars, kept for the place only its former name.
15 And the Hevite, and the Aracite, and the Sinite,
16 And the Aradian, and the Samarite, and the Hamathite.
v.16
VERS. 16.-- *The Aradian also.* From whom the Aradians, who possessed the island Aradus, parted by a narrow strait from the Phoenician shore. *And the Samarean.* From whom the city Samaria of Syria Cheles, which now also is called, both by the Syrians and by the Hebrews, as it was before among the ancients. *The Hamathaean.* From whom the city Emath. The Macedonians, who after Alexander reigned in the East, named it Epiphania. Others think that Antioch was so called. Others, not truly consulting their own opinion with a plausible word, think that Emaus, the first stage from Antioch for those journeying to Edessa, is so called, and that the same was Emath among the ancients.
17 The sons of Sem: Elam and Asur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Hus, and Hul, and Gether, and Mosoch.
v.17
VERS. 17.-- *The sons of Sem,* etc. These hold the parts of Asia from the Euphrates as far as the Indian ocean. And there is Aelam, from whom the princes of Persia. *Hus and Hul.* Or Us, the founder of Trachonitis and of Damascus, held the chief place between Palestine and Coelesyria, from whom the land of Hus, of which Job was; whence, according to the LXX, there was a man in the region of Ausitis by the name of Job, as it were of Husitis.
18 And Arphaxad begot Sale, and Sale begot Heber.
19 And to Heber were born two sons, the name of the one was Phaleg, because in his days the earth was divided; and the name of his brother was Jectan.
v.19
VERS. 19.-- *Phaley.* By a certain prophecy. For Phaleg is division, because in his days the tongues were divided in Babylon. And Philo relates, in the book of Questions upon Genesis, that from the three sons of Noe, while he himself was yet living, there were born thirteen thousand men and a hundred, besides women and little ones, having leaders over them. The sons of Sem, Jectan as leader; the sons of Cham, Nemroth; the sons of Japhet, Suphene. But after the death of Noe the leaders came together with their companies into the plain of Sennaar, that they might there build a tower. And while they were building, God divided their tongues, and changed their features, and no man knew his brother, nor heard the tongue of his neighbour. But when the masters sought stones, the servants brought water, and when those sought water, these brought straw. And so, their design frustrated, they ceased to build and were scattered over the face of the earth.
20 And Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth, and Jare,
v.20
VERS. 20.-- *And Jectan.* The later names of these nations I have not been able to find, but down to the present, because they are far from us, either they are called as at the first, or those that have been changed are unknown; and they possessed, from the river Cofene, all that region of India which is called Hieria.
21 And Adoram, and Usal, and Decla,
22 And Hebal, and Abimael, and Saba,
23 And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab. All these are the sons of Jectan.
24 Sem, Arphaxad, Sale,
v.24
VERS. 24.-- *Sem, Ar.* As in the beginning he set ten generations from Adam as far as Noe; so from Sem as far as Abram, not without the mystery of a sacrament.
27 Abram, this is Abraham.
28 And the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ismahel.
29 And these are the generations of them. The firstborn of Ismahel, Nabajoth, then Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam,
v.29
VERS. 29.-- *The firstborn.* Twelve sons are born to Ismael: the firstborn Nabaioth, from whom the whole region from the Euphrates as far as the Red Sea is called Nabaiothena: which is a part of Arabia. For their families and towns and villages, and their small forts and tribes, are celebrated by the name of these, from one of them, Cedar in the desert: and Duma another region, and Thebaram toward the South, and Cedema toward the Eastern quarter.
30 And Masma, and Duma, Massa, Hadad, and Thema,
31 Jetur, Naphis, Cedma: these are the sons of Ismahel.
32 And the sons of Cetura, Abraham's concubine, whom she bore: Zamran, Jecsan, Madan, Madian, Jesboc, and Sue. And the sons of Jecsan, Saba, and Dadan. And the sons of Dadan: Assurim, and Latussim, and Laomin.
v.32
VERS. 32.-- *Of Cetura.* As it were, the joined one, whence the Hebrews suspect her to be Agar, who, when Sara was dead, passed over from a concubine into a wife, lest the old man should be charged with having wantoned in a new marriage. And the sons of Caetura, according to the historians of the Hebrews, occupied Troconitis, others Traconitis, and Arabia: which is now called Eidormo, as far as the borders of the Red Sea. *Assurim.* Some contend that the Syrians were named from Assurim, and that the regions of India were occupied by very many of the sons of Abraham by Cetura.
33 And the sons of Madian: Epha, and Epher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaa. All these are the sons of Cetura.
v.33
VERS. 33.-- *Epher.* He is said to have led an army against Libya, and to have settled there as victor, and that his posterity named Africa from his name.
34 And Abraham begot Isaac: and his sons were Esau and Israel.
35 The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Rahuel, Jehus, Ihelom, and Core.
36 The sons of Eliphaz: Theman, Omar, Sephi, Gathan, Cenez, and by Thamna, Amalec.
v.36
VERS. 36.-- *Thamna.* It is asked: since Thamna is read in Genesis to be the concubine of Eliphaz, of the race of the Horrhaeans, who dwelt among the Idumaeans in the land of Seir, and bore him Amalec, how is she numbered among the sons, when in what follows the same Thamna is read to be the sister of Lotam the son of Seir, who is also Edom? But Seir in Hebrew is called hairy, who was shaggy after the manner of a hide. And Edom in Hebrew is red or tawny. From this, therefore, that he sold his birthright for red food, he was called Edom. But the Hebrews resolve it thus. They say that Thamna was the concubine of Eliphaz, and bore him Amalec, but that she was brought up by him as a daughter among his sons.
37 The sons of Rahuel: Nahath, Zara, Samma, Meza.
38 The sons of Seir: Lotan, Sobal, Sebeon, Ana, Dison, Eser, Disan.
39 The sons of Lotan: Hori, Homam. And the sister of Lotan was Thamna.
40 The sons of Sobal: Alian, and Manahath, and Ebal, Sephi, and Onam. The sons of Sebeon: Aia, and Ana. The son of Ana: Dison.
v.40
VERS. 40.-- *Aliam,* who is of the race of the Horrhaeans. In Genesis is written Aluham, that is, exalted. But in Paralipomenon Alian, that is, cast out, signifying that the Horrhaeans were exalted before Edom took their land, but afterwards cast out. *Sephi.* That is, one-footed. In Genesis Sepho, that is, two-footed; yet both through the letter schin. And he is called two-footed because with the process of time, through the multitude of his offspring, he had greater efficacy than at the first.
41 The sons of Dison: Hamram, and Eseban, and Jethran, and Charan.
v.41
VERS. 41.-- *Hamran.* In Paralipomenon Hamram, that is, reddened, foul or swollen. In Genesis Amdan, that is, desirable; but both are names of one man.
42 The sons of Eser: Balaan, and Zavan, and Jacan. The sons of Disan: Hus and Aran.
v.42
VERS. 42.-- *Jacan.* Jacan the son of Aser, of the race of the Horraeans, is named in Genesis Acan, that is, the troubler. In Paralipomenon Jacan, that is, the troubled. For names are changed by varying events, that varied mysteries may be signified.
43 Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there was a king over the children of Israel: Bale the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Denaba.
v.43
VERS. 43.-- *Denaba.* The city of Hala the son of Beor, king of Edom, after whom Jobab reigned. Yet there is to this day a village Denaba, at the eighth milestone from Areopolis, for those journeying to Armon, and another Denaba above mount Phegor, at the seventh stone from Jebus. Jerome, on Jesbii.
44 And Bale died, and Jobab the son of Zare of Bosra, reigned in his stead.
v.44
VERS. 44.-- *Jobab the son of Zarae,* whom they suspect to be Job. But the Hebrews assert that he was begotten of the stock of Nachor; while Philo, in the book of Questions upon Genesis, relates that he lived in these times and took to wife Dina, the daughter of Jacob: and he says that before the contest of his temptation she bore him seven sons and three daughters, who were destroyed in the temptation. But when he was healed the Lord restored to him all things double, and again the wife bore seven sons and the aforesaid three daughters, whose names were the same as those of the former, that is, Eliphaz, Armoe, Diasath, Philasia, Dipharceluth, Thelon, and of the daughters Meru, Lizath, Zeli. *Bosra,* etc. Which is Bosor, a city in the desert beyond the Jordan in the tribe of Ruben. Another city of Esau in the mountains of Idumea is also called Bosor, of which it is said: *His garments are tawny from Rosor*
45 And when Jobab also was dead, Husam of the land of the Themanites reigned in his stead.
v.45
VERS. 45.-- *Of the Themanites.* Theman, a region that drew its name from Theman the son of Eliphaz. There is to this day a village Theman, distant five miles from the city Petra, and where a garrison of Roman soldiers has its seat, from which place was Eliphaz king of the Themanites: one of the sons of Ismael also was called Theman. And it is to be known that every southern region is called Theman in Hebrew.
46 And Husam also died, and Adad the son of Badad reigned in his stead, and he defeated the Madianites in the land of Moab: the name of his city was Avith.
v.46
VERS. 46.-- *Madian,* a city so called from the least of the sons of Abraham and of Cetura. And it is beyond Arabia in the desert of the Saracens, over against the east of the Red Sea, whence they are called Madianites, and the region Madianaean. The daughters of the father-in-law of Moses are also called daughters of Madian; but this is another city, of the same name with it, near Armon and Areopolis, whose ruins are still shown.
47 And when Adad also was dead, Semla of Masreca reigned in his stead.
48 Semla also died, and Saul of Rohoboth, which is near the river, reigned in his stead.
v.48
VERS. 48.-- *Rohoboth.* It is a city beside the river where the king of Edom was, and to this day there is a garrison in the region of Gabalena, and a great village which is so called.
49 And when Saul was dead, Balanan the son of Achobor reigned in his stead.
50 He also died, and Adad reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Phau, and his wife was called Meetabel the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezaab.
v.50
VERS. 50.-- *Of Matred the daughter,* etc. Two mothers are here numbered, to signify a mystery, that the goldsmith should have begotten the stewardess, and the stewardess the loving-kindness of the Lord, because out of depth of understanding is born eloquent speech, which deserves to beget a clean faith, the grace of God, in the hearts of hearers.
51 And after the death of Adad, there began to be dukes in Edom instead of kings: duke Thamna, duke Alva, duke Jetheth,
v.51
VERS. 51.-- *Dukes,* etc. It is to be noted that he first spoke of kings in Edom, afterwards of dukes, though they were before: of whom he names certain mothers, as Oolibama and Thamna. *Duke Aliha.* Alva is read in Genesis, whose interpretation is a lifting up; in Paralipomenon Aliha, that is, upon her.
52 Duke Oolibama, duke Ela, duke Phinon,
53 Duke Cenez, duke Theman, duke Mabsar,
54 Duke Magdiel, duke Hiram. These are the dukes of Edom.