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1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, namely, of Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras[a].

3 And the sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.

4 And the sons of Javan were Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

5 Of these were the isles of the nations divided in their lands, every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

6 And the sons of Ham were Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.

7 And the sons of Cush were Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan.

8 And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one[a] in the earth.

9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD, wherefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.”

10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and built Nineveh, and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah,

12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (the same is the great[a] city).

13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,

14 and Pathrusim, and Casluhim (whence went forth [c]the Philistines), and Caphtorim.

15 And Canaan begat Sidon his first-born, and Heth,

16 and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite,

17 and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,

18 and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite; and afterward were the families of the Canaanite spread abroad.

19 And the border of the Canaanite was from Sidon, as you go toward Gerar, unto Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, unto Lasha.

20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, in their nations.

21 And unto Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born.

22 The sons of Shem were Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram.

23 And the sons of Aram were Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.

24 And Arpachshad begat Shelah; and Shelah begat Eber.

25 And unto Eber were born two sons; the name of the one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.

26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,

27 and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,

28 and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,

29 and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.

30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar; the mountain of the east.

31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

[2a] 'Tiras' – Rashi writes, “This is Persia.” (Yoma 10a)

[8a] 'mighty one' Rashi again likens 'mighty' to 'rebellious against God'. “Mighty in causing the whole world to rebel against the Holy One, blessed be He, by the plan he devised for the generation that witnessed the separation of the races to build the Tower of Babel.” (Genesis Rabbah 23:7)

[9] 'a mighty hunter' – He ensnared the minds of people by his words, misleading them to rebel against the Omnipresent (Genesis Rabbah 37:2). The word “Nimrod” means “let us rebel,” and so Nimrod’s hunting was a form of rebellion, not by the grace of God, but rather against God (Torat Kohanim, Bechukotai 2:2)

[9] 'before the lord' – intending purposely to provoke Him to His face.

From Josephus; “Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah-a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny-seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence upon his own power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers!” (Antiquities I: iv: 2)

Upon further discussion we find https://christiananswers.net/dictionary/nimrod.html which is an excellent article and suggests the translation “Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a tyrant in the Earth. He was a tyrannical hunter in opposition to the Lord. Thus it is said, 'Nimrod the tyrannical opponent of YHWH.'”

[11] R. “Out of that land went forth Asshur,” — As soon as Asshur saw that his sons listened to Nimrod, rebelling against the Omnipresent by building the Tower, he went forth out of their midst (Genesis Rabbah 37:4).

[12a] 'great city' – This refers to Nineveh (not to Calah or Resen), as it is said in Jonah 3:3 “Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city.” (Yoma 10a)

[14] They (the Philistines) were descended from both of them for the Pathrusim and the Casluhim used to live together in promiscuous intercourse, and the Philistines were their offspring (Genesis Rabbah 37:5).

[21] 'eber' means the “side” or “other side” of a river. The father of all the children of eber (the other side of the River Euphrates), was Shem.

[21] 'the brother of Japeth, the Elder' is ambiguous; it could refer to Shem or to Japeth. One cannot from here determine whether Japheth was the elder or Shem. However, since it states in 10:10 “Shem was a hundred years old … two years after the flood” we say Japheth was the elder. Because Noah was 500 years old when he first had children (see 5:32), and the Flood happened in the six hundredth year of his life (see 7:11), consequently the eldest of his sons was then one hundred years old, whereas Shem reached his hundredth year only two years after the Flood; therefore Japheth was the elder of the two (Genesis Rabbah 37:7).

It does not state “brother of Ham”, because those two honoured their father whereas Ham put him to shame.

[25] “pe-leḡ” (divided) – The languages became confounded and they (the peoples) were scattered abroad from the plain of Shinar, and were dispersed throughout the whole world. We may learn from this that Eber was a prophet, for he gave his son the name “pe-leḡ” (division) after an event which was to happen in the future (Genesis Rabbah 37:7). For we learn in Seder Olam that it was during the last of his days that they were dispersed abroad. For if you argue that this happened early in his life (and that therefore he was not anticipating the future in so naming his son, but that the name referred to an event that had already happened), behold, his brother Joktan was younger than he and he had begotten many families previous to the dispersion, as it is said in 10:26 “And Joktan begot etc.” and only afterwards is it stated “And the whole earth was etc.” (with reference to the dispersion). If, on the other hand, you argue that the dispersal happened in the middle period of his life, then I reply that the verse surely does not intend to refer to the time when the dispersion took place in an indefinite manner, but to state quite definitely when it was. Hence you may learn that it was in the year of Peleg’s death that they were dispersed.

[25] “yā-qə-ṭān” (joktan) – He was called the little one”) because he was so humble and thought little (ומקטין) of himself; therefore he merited the privilege of rearing all these families (Genesis Rabbah 37:7).

Selected commentary.

h.ותירס AND TIRAS — This is Persia (Yoma 10a).

h.להיות גבור TO BE A MIGHTY ONE — Mighty in causing the whole world to rebel against the Holy One, blessed be He, by the plan he devised for the generation that witnessed the separation of the races (דור הפלגה) to build the Tower of Babel (Genesis Rabbah 23:7).

h.גבור ציד A MIGHTY HUNTER — He ensnared the minds of people by his words, misleading them to rebel against the Omnipresent (Genesis Rabbah 37:2).

h.‘לפני ה BEFORE THE LORD — intending purposely to provoke Him to His face

h.על כן יאמר WHEREFORE IT IS SAID — Regarding any man who brazenly acts wickedly — knowing his Master and yet of set purpose rebelling against Him — it is said. “This man is like Nimrod a mighty hunter” (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 2 1-2).

h.‘מן הארץ וגו OUT OF THAT LAND WENT FORTH ASSHUR — As soon as Asshur saw that his sons listened to Nimrod, rebelling against the Omnipresent by building the Tower, he went forth out of their midst (Genesis Rabbah 37:4).

h.העיר הגדלה THE GREAT CITY — This refers to Nineveh (not to Calah the last mentioned city nor to Resen), as it is said (Jonah 3:3) “Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city” (Yoma 10a).

h.להבים LEHABIM — So called because their faces were fiery as a flame.

h.ואת פתרסים ואת כסלחים אשר יצאו משם פלשתים AND PATHRUSIM AND CASLUHIM OUT OF WHOM CAME PHILISTIM — They (the Philistines) were descended from both of them for the Pathrusim and the Casluhim used to live together in promiscuous intercourse, and the Philistines were their offspring (Genesis Rabbah 37:5).

h.ואחר נפוצו AND AFTERWARDS WERE SPREAD ABROAD — From these many families were spread abroad (besides those already mentioned. 5:15—18).

h.גבול הכנעני THE BOUNDARY OF THE CANAANITE means the end of his land: wherever גבול occurs it signifies end and extremity.

h.באכה AS THOU COMEST - This word is a noun. I think it is a colloquial expression like that used by a person who says to another: This boundary stretches until you come to such and such a boundary.

h.ללשנתם בארצתם AFTER THEIR TONGUES, IN THEIR LANDS — Although these were of different tongues and lands they are nevertheless all sons of Ham.

h.אבי כל בני עבר THE FATHER OF ALL THE CHILDREN OF EBER — (עבר means the “side” or “ other side” of a river) — The father of all the children of עבר הנהר, the other side of the River (Euphrates), was Shem.

h.אחי יפת הגדול [SHEM …] THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH, THE ELDER — (The Hebrew is ambiguous: “the elder” may refer either to Shem or to Japheth). One cannot from here determine whether Japheth was the elder or Shem. Since, however, it states (10:10) “Shem was a hundred years old … two years after the flood” you must admit that Japheth was the elder. Because Noah was 500 years old when he first had children (5:32), and the Flood happened in the six hundredth year of his life (7:11), consequently the eldest of his sons was then one hundred years old, whereas Shem reached his hundredth year only two years after the Flood (and therefore Japheth was the elder of the two) (Genesis Rabbah 37:7).

h.אחי יפת THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH — It does not state “brother of Ham”, because those two honoured their father whereas Ham put him to shame.

h.נפלגה [THE EARTH] WAS DIVIDED — The languages became confounded and they (the peoples) were scattered abroad from the plain of Shinar, and were dispersed throughout the whole world. We may learn from this that Eber was a prophet, for he gave his son the name פלג, “division” after an event which was to happen in the future (Genesis Rabbah 37:7). For we learn in Seder Olam that it was during the last of his days that they were dispersed abroad. For if you argue that this happened early in his life (and that therefore he was not anticipating the future in so naming his son, but that the name referred to an event that had already happened), behold, his brother Joktan was younger than he and he had begotten many families previous to the dispersion, as it is said (10:26) “And Joktan begot etc.” and only afterwards is it stated “And the whole earth was etc.” (with reference to the dispersion). If, on the other hand, you argue that the dispersal happened in the middle period of his life, then I reply that the verse surely does not intend to refer to the time when the dispersion took place in an indefinite manner, but to state quite definitely when it was. Hence you may learn that it was in the year of Peleg’s death that they were dispersed.

h.יקטן JOKTAN — He was so called (“the little one”) because he was so humble and thought little (ומקטין) of himself; therefore he merited the privilege of rearing all these families (Genesis Rabbah 37:7).

h.חצרמות He was so called (Court of Death) after his city. So is the statement of the Agada (Genesis Rabbah 37:8).