In this survey, necessarily defective, of the important tenth chapter of Genesis, the chief aim has been to present the view taken of the races of the ancient world by a Hebrew writer, or, more exactly, by Hebrew writers. Two features stand out prominently in this view—firstly, the breadth of the writers’ horizon ; secondly, their indifference to the ethnic relationships among the peoples grouped together. The main factors in determining this group are, again, two—(1) geographical affinity, and (2) natural dislikes. It is the combination of these two factors that leads te many of the incon- sistencies in the grouping that we have noted. The writers are not merely interested in those races with which the Hebrews have come in contact, but extend their view to those which stand outside of this limit, and yet they do not pass farther than Elam and Armenia in the east ; the western limits are the islands of the Mediterranean adjacent to the southern and western coasts of Asia Minor; they take in all of northern Africa, and embrace Arabia from the extreme south up to the moun- tains of Syria. The aim of the writers being to include all mankind, the limitations of the chapter fairly represent the bounds of historical know- ledge at the time of composition. The races of the OT in the larger sense, and as revealed by this chapter, cover the civilized States grouped around the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf, together with the less cultured races and tribes of this district. While the tenth chapter of Genesis occupies a unique place in the OT by virtue of the large number of races and peoples enumer- ated, yet the prophets furnish the proof that the knowledge evidenced by this chapter was not exceptional. A trait of the great prophets is their
fondness for including in their view many other nations besides the people whom they addressed,
RACES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Book of Amos opens (chs. 1. 2) with a series of denunciations of a variety of districts : Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab being introduced as a means of heightening the dramatic effect when Judah and Israel are reached. Isaiah (chs. 13-23), Jeremiah (46-51), and Ezekiel (21-32 and 88. 39) similarly have a series of ‘oracles’ directed against nations near to and remote from the Hebrews, and in addition to this they incidentally introduce many others by way of illustration to their arguments. So, ¢.g., Ezk 38 is a miniature reproduction of Gn 10. The prophet enumerates in the course of his oration Gog, Meshech, Tubal (v.2), Persia, Ethiopia (Cush), Put (v.°), Gomer, Togarmah (v.®), Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish (v.18), Elsewhere (ch. 27) We encounter Tyre (v.°), Zidon, Arvad (v.8), Persia, Lud, and Put (y.1), Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Togarmah, Dedan, Aram (vv.10-16), Arabia, Sheba, Raamah, Eden, Assyria (vv.*2°3), Through these references, the explanation of the races mentioned in Gn 10 is considerably advanced, though new problems are also presented by the mention of nations not otherwise known. So in the two chapters of Ezekiel under consideration we en- counter for the first time Persia, Arabia, and also Eden.* The omission of Persia in the Genesis list (though referred to probably in the supplemental mention of Elam) has already been commented upon. In the case of ARABIA, it is the name rather than the race that is new; while EDEN— corresponding, perhaps, to Bit-Adini in cuneiform literature and occurring with HARAN and CANNEH (probably an error for Calneh)—is covered in Genesis by Assyria and Babylonia.
More important, however, than the variation in nomenclature and the additions, to be gathered from the prophetical orations, to the ethnological phases of the OT, is the circumstance that the prophets in question should have an acquaintance with so many races. The prophets would not have referred to these many nations had they not been certain of being understood by the people to whom they address themselves. From this point of view, the prophetical books reveal the existence of an international intercourse in ancient times on a much larger scale than is ordinarily supposed. The tenth chapter of Genesis is an illustration of this general acquaintance with the races of a con- _ siderable section of the ancient world; and while the list rests in part on a theoretical basis, and is prepared for a scholastic purpose, yet it cannot be doubted, in view of the evidence furnished by the prophetical books, that a majority of the peoples there mentioned are races with which, either
olitically or commercially, the Hebrews came into
irect contact.
In this way the treatment of the races of the OT resolves itself, after all, into a consideration mainly of those associated with the Hebrews. While, therefore, the distinction made at the be- ginning of this article may be maintained [(a) the subdivisions of the Semitic race and of the pre- Israelitish inhabitants of Palestine, (6) the non- Semitic and mixed races with whom the contact was less constant and in many cases less close where it did exist], the races introduced from the purely theoretical point of view form a comparatively small minority. To be sure, the underlying principle of the chief source for the larger view of OT ethnology which divides the whole of mankind into three divisions is deprived by modern ethnological in- vestigation of its scientific value. The races enu- merated under each one of these divisions do not, as we have seen, necessarily form a homogeneous