10:25 Peleg. Peleg means “division,” and he was apparently given the name by Eber because of the great event that took place just before his birth. He may also have given his name to the Pelasgians.

10:25 the earth divided. The “division” that took place was, most likely, the traumatic upheaval at Babel. A division in Genesis 10:5,32, is mentioned, where the division is “after his tongue.” Nimrod was in the same generation as Eber, and this is the only place in the Table of Nations where the meaning of a son’s name is given, indicating the importance of the event it commemorated. However, it is true that two different words are used (Pelag in Genesis 10:25, parad in Genesis 10:5,32). Although the two words are essentially synonymous, this might indicate a different type of division. Many Bible teachers have suggested, therefore, that Genesis 10:25 might refer to a splitting of the single post-Flood continent into the present continents of the world. They associated the modern scientific model of sea-floor spreading and continental drifting with this verse. It should be remembered, however, that the continental drift hypothesis has by no means been proved; and the verse seems to refer more directly to the division into families, countries and languages. Furthermore, even if the continents have separated from a single primeval continent, such a split more likely would have occurred in connection with the continental uplifts terminating the global deluge (Psalm 104:6-9).