Aftermath to the Flood

Much like the flood narrative that preceded it, the survey of Noah’s postflood offspring in Gen 10:1–11:9 appears to have been the conflation of a well-preserved Priestly overview of Noah’s sons (10:1a, 2–7, 20, 22–23, 31–32), with portions of a non-P overview of Noah’s sons (e.g., Gen 10:13–19, 21) along with a non-P fragment about Nimrod (Gen 10:8b–12). Within the present text this survey has been reframed by the previously-discussed non-P story of Noah and his sons (Gen 9:18–27) and a non-P account of human spreading from Babel (Gen 11:1–9). The chapter argues that this non-P treatment of Noah and his sons evolved over time, initially featuring the story of Noah and his sons (Gen 9:18–27) along with a brief overview of Shem’s fathering of a proto-Hebrew group “the sons of Eber” (Gen 10:21) versus Canaan’s fathering (10:15) of Sidon (standing for Phoenicia) and Het (standing for inhabitants of inland Canaan). New elements were added to this when Noah was transformed into the flood hero and father of post-flood humanity, including elements about how Noah’s family populated the whole earth (Gen 9:19; 11:1–9) and elements anticipating Egypt (10:13–14) and Mesopotamia (Gen 10:8b–12). The Priestly overview of Noah’s descendants appears to build on both levels of the non-P tradition. Other materials—e.g., Gen 10:1b, 8a, 16–19, 24–30—are later additions, most added with the conflation of P and non-P.