References (7)
The second river is called Gihon [meaning: to break, to gush forth],
it is the one that flows around (meanders) the whole land of Cush. [Later in the Old Testament, Cush refers to the area of the upper Nile (present-day Ethiopia/Sudan), here it probably refers to the land of the Kassites in Mesopotamia east of the Tigris.]
[A total of 30 descendants of Ham are mentioned. Ham's sons mainly moved southwest towards Egypt and North Africa, but also to the Arabian Peninsula. Canaan (who lived in the land of Canaan that the Israelites conquered) also belongs to this group.]
The sons of Cham (Ham) were:
Cush [meaning "black"; corresponds to the African kingdom of Nubia; present-day southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan] and
Mitsrajim [Egypt] and
Put (Hebr. Pot) [corresponds to present-day Libya, see ; ; ] and
Canaan [present-day Israel].
[Ham's first son] The sons of Cush were:
Sheba (Saba) [Upper Egypt (southern Egypt)] and
Havilah (Hebr. Chavila) [the Ishmaelites, see ; eastern Arabia and the Persian Gulf] and
Savetta [people of Arabia] and
Raama [people of Arabia] and
Savettecha.
[Kush's fourth son] The sons of Raama were:
Sheba [meaning "seven" or "oath"; probably Saba in present-day Yemen or Aksum in Ethiopia]
and Dedan [people of Arabia; present-day Saudi Arabia].
Kush [Ham's first son, see ] begot Nimrod.
He became a mighty one on earth. [The name Nimrod comes from the verb marad, which means "to rebel" and is associated with the Tower of Babel, see , see also ; .]
The sons of Ham were:
Cush [African kingdom of Nubia; present-day southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan]
and Mizraim [Egypt]
and Put (Hebr. Pot) [corresponds to present-day Libya, see ; ; ]
and Canaan [present-day Israel].
The sons of Cush were
Sheba and
Havilah (Hebr. Chavila) and
Sabta and
Raama and
Sabteka.
The sons of Raama were
Sheba and
Dedan.
Cush became the father of Nimrod,
who was the first to gain great power on earth.
