Genesis 10:5
“By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.”
KJV
Read in Genesis 10Meaning
The descendants of Japheth are portrayed as spreading into coastlands by lands, languages, families, and nations. The verse advances the chapter's ordered account of post-flood peoples.
Read carefully
This summary uses the ancient categories of family, language, land, and nation; it should not be forced into modern racial or political classifications.
Reflection
Genesis 10 presents human diversity as developing within one post-flood human family, while preserving distinct peoples, places, and lines of descent.