Genesis 10:1 - Meaning and Application

Moses begins with Japheth’s family, either because Japheth was the oldest, or because his family lived farthest from Israel and had the least direct connection to Israel at the time Moses wrote. For that reason, he mentions Japheth’s line only briefly and moves quickly to Ham’s descendants, who were Israel’s enemies, and then to Shem’s descendants, who were Israel’s ancestors. Scripture is mainly the history of God’s people, and it speaks about the nations around them only as those nations relate to Israel and to God’s work in history.

Notice two things here. First, the text points out that Noah’s sons had children after the flood, as God rebuilt the human race that the flood had destroyed. The one who had judged by killing now gives life again. Second, Japheth’s descendants were assigned to the “isles of the Gentiles” (Genesis 10:5), meaning the lands set apart for the nations, likely including our own island as well. Any lands beyond the sea from Judea are called “isles” (Jeremiah 25:22), and this helps explain the promise that “the isles shall wait for his law” (Isaiah 42:4), which points to the Gentiles coming to faith in Christ.