9:18 Japheth. The original meanings of these names are uncertain, but the most probable meanings are: Shem means “Name” or “Renown;” Ham means “Warm” or “Hot;” Japheth means “Enlarged” or “Beautiful.”

9:19 whole earth overspread. This plain declaration (see also Genesis 10:32) leaves no possibility that any other people survived the worldwide Flood. All the world’s present peoples are descendants of Noah’s three sons and their wives. The gene pool from these six individuals (all originally from Adam and Eve, of course) provided far more than enough genetic variational potential to account for the wide range in national and tribal characteristics which have surfaced since the Flood. The world’s present population of approximately six billion people likewise could easily have been developed in, say, 4000 years. An average annual growth rate of ½% (only one-fourth the present rate), or an average family size of only 2.5 children per family, could easily accomplish this.