10:1 the generations. This is the fourth toledoth of the book of Genesis (previously noted at Genesis 2:4; 5:1; and 6:9), presumably marking the signatures of Shem, Ham and Japheth after completing their narrative of the Flood and the immediate post-Flood years. Shem then took over the task (Genesis 11:10) and his family records, now known as the Table of Nations, constitute (according to premier archaeologist William P. Albright) an “astonishingly accurate document.”

10:1 Japheth. It is possible that the name Japheth was later corrupted by the Romans to Jupiter (or Iu-pater–the “father” of the gods).

10:1 after the flood. This marks the end of the first–and only authentic–account of the great Flood, written down by the only eye-witnesses who could record it accurately, the men who experienced it and survived to tell about it. As their descendants scattered over the earth, especially after their dispersion from Babel (Genesis 11:9), they carried the story with them. However, with the changes in language and the passage of time, the story assumed different forms in the different cultures, though always still recognizable as coming from the same source. One of the earliest of the more than three hundred of these “flood legends” from all over the world is the one found in Babylon itself, the famous Gilgamesh Epic.