LatineEnglish
{These are the sons of Sem according to their kindreds and tongues and regions in their nations.}1
Isti sunt filii Sem secundum cognationes et linguas et regiones in gentibus suis.
MOSES hoc loco commemoravit viginti sex posteros Sem, hoc est quinque filios ipsius Sem, quatuor filios Aram, duos filios Arphaxad, duos item filios Heber, tredecim denique filios Iectan: ex quibus omnibus existit summa, ut diximus, viginti sex posterorum Sem. Et hac quidem in re tam Latina translatio quam paraphrasis Chaldaica omnino concordat cum Scriptura Hebraica. At vero Graeci codices nonnihil discordant. Etenim numerant sex filios Sem, addentes supradictis quendam Cainan. Tum memorant tres filios Arphaxad, adiicientes unum alium dictum etiam Cainan; filios tamen Iectan similiter atque nos enumerant tredecim. Quocirca secundum Graecos codices, posteri Sem memorati hoc loco a Mose essent viginti octo. B. Augustinus sequitur codices Graecos, eo tantum ab illis discrepans, quod filios Iectan non tredecim sed duodecim tantum recenset: quo fit ut posteros Sem viginti septem numeret. Nos, quo facilius animo comprehendi possent, posteros omnes Sem hic memoratos a Mose, suo quosque ordine digestos, in subiecta tabella lectori, uno quasi aspectu contuendos, proposuimus. [Tabula: Sem genuit — Aelam; Assur; Arphaxad (→ Sale → Heber → Phaleg; et → Iectan, qui genuit Elmodad, Saleph, Asarmeth, Iare, Adoran, Uza, Decla, Hebal, Habimael, Saba, Ophir, Heuila, Iobab); Lud; Aram (→ Hus, Hul, Gether, Mes). Omnes XXVI.]
Moses in this place mentioned twenty-six descendants of Sem, that is, five sons of Sem himself, four sons of Aram, two sons of Arphaxad, two sons likewise of Heber, and finally thirteen sons of Jectan: from all of which arises the sum, as we said, of twenty-six descendants of Sem. And in this matter both the Latin translation and the Chaldaic paraphrase agree entirely with the Hebrew Scripture. But the Greek codices disagree somewhat. For they count six sons of Sem, adding to the aforesaid a certain Cainan. Then they record three sons of Arphaxad, adding one other also called Cainan; the sons of Jectan, however, they enumerate as thirteen, just as we do. Wherefore, according to the Greek codices, the descendants of Sem here mentioned by Moses would be twenty-eight. Blessed Augustine follows the Greek codices, differing from them only in this, that he reckons the sons of Jectan not as thirteen but as twelve only: whereby it comes about that he counts the descendants of Sem as twenty-seven. We, that they might more easily be grasped in the mind, have set forth all the descendants of Sem here mentioned by Moses, each arranged in his own order, in the subjoined table for the reader, to be viewed as it were at a single glance. [Table: Sem begot — Aelam; Assur; Arphaxad (→ Sale → Heber → Phaleg; and → Jectan, who begot Elmodad, Saleph, Asarmeth, Iare, Adoran, Uza, Decla, Hebal, Habimael, Saba, Ophir, Heuila, Iobab); Lud; Aram (→ Hus, Hul, Gether, Mes). Total: 26.]2
AIT porro hoc loco Moses enarrari a se posteros Sem secundum cognationes et linguas et regiones in gentibus suis. Dixit „Secundum cognationes,“ quia unus quilibet eorum qui hic sunt nominati per se facit unam cognationem sive familiam sive genus: ut, sicut nominantur viginti sex aut viginti septem posteri Sem, ita totidem cognationes vel familias ab istis profectas esse intelligere oporteat. Dixit „Secundum linguas,“ quia quilibet istorum, sicut unam condidit familiam et gentem, ita quoque diversam linguam sortitus est: non quidem statim ut natus est, sed postquam, propter aedificationem turris, divisio linguarum facta est. Ac licet ex iis qui memorantur hoc loco multi nati fuerint filii, et idcirco multas quoque illi familias nominare, non secus ac patres ipsorum, potuissent; attamen quia non contigerunt illis diversae linguae ab iis quas patres eorum habuerant, idcirco non hic commemorantur, ut supradicti, quod diversas cognationes et familias non effecerint. Addit praeterea „Et regiones,“ quia post divisionem linguarum diversa terrae petierunt loca, diversasque regiones inhabitarunt, unde diversitas nationum orta est: neque enim isti miscebantur inter se ut ex ipsis unus aliquis coalesceret principatus et regnum, sed multa regna diversique populi exstiterunt. Denique adiecit „In gentibus suis“: non enim isti erant una gens sed diversae gentes, diversis nominibus, diversis linguis diversisque regionibus separati atque distincti.
Moses says, moreover, that in this place the descendants of Sem are narrated by him according to their kindreds and tongues and regions in their nations. He said ‘According to kindreds,’ because each one of those who are here named makes by himself one kindred, or family, or stock: so that, as twenty-six or twenty-seven descendants of Sem are named, so just as many kindreds or families are to be understood to have proceeded from them. He said ‘According to tongues,’ because each of these, as he founded one family and nation, so also obtained a different tongue: not indeed immediately when he was born, but after, on account of the building of the tower, the division of tongues was made. And although of those who are mentioned in this place many sons were born, and on that account they too could have named many families, no otherwise than their fathers; nevertheless, because there did not befall them tongues different from those which their fathers had, therefore they are not here mentioned like the aforesaid, since they did not produce different kindreds and families. He adds besides ‘And regions,’ because after the division of tongues they sought different places of the earth and inhabited different regions, whence the diversity of nations arose: for these did not mingle among themselves so that from them some one sovereignty and kingdom should coalesce, but many kingdoms and diverse peoples arose. Finally he added ‘In their nations’: for these were not one nation but diverse nations, separated and distinguished by different names, different tongues, and different regions.3
Translator’s notes
- Gen 10:31 (verse lemma). ↩
- §157. Gen 10:31. Moses lists 26 descendants of Sem (5 sons of Sem + 4 of Aram + 2 of Arphaxad + 2 of Heber + 13 of Jectan) — the Vulgate, Chaldee, and Hebrew agreeing. The Greek codices differ: they add a Cainan among Sem's sons and another among Arphaxad's (= 28); Augustine follows them but reckons Jectan's sons as 12, making 27. Pererius supplies a genealogical table of all 26. Margins: the discrepancy of the Greek codices from the Latin and Hebrew on the number of descendants; Augustine. ↩
- §158. The four phrases of Gen 10:31 explained: ‘according to kindreds’ — each named man is one kindred/family (so 26 or 27 kindreds); ‘according to tongues’ — each got a distinct tongue (not at birth, but after the division at the tower); descendants whose tongue did not differ from their fathers' are not listed; ‘and regions’ — after the division they settled diverse lands, whence the diversity of nations (no single realm coalescing); ‘in their nations’ — diverse nations distinguished by name, tongue, and region. ↩