Verse 23. - And the children of Aram; Uz, from whom was named the land of Uz (Job 1:1), south-east of Palestine, a tract of the Arabia Deserta. And Hul. In Armenia (Josephus); that part called Cholobetene, or house of Hul (Bochart); the Hylatae of Syria, near the Emesenes (Delitzsch); Coele-syria (Michaelis); Huleh, near the sources of the Jordan (Murphy). And Gether - of uncertain situation - and Mash - traced in Mous Masius of Armenia (Bochart).
10:15-32 The posterity of Canaan were numerous, rich, and pleasantly seated; yet Canaan was under a Divine curse, and not a curse causeless. Those that are under the curse of God, may, perhaps, thrive and prosper in this world; for we cannot know love or hatred, the blessing or the curse, by what is before us, but by what is within us. The curse of God always works really, and always terribly. Perhaps it is a secret curse, a curse to the soul, and does not work so that others can see it; or a slow curse, and does not work soon; but sinners are reserved by it for a day of wrath Canaan here has a better land than either Shem or Japheth, and yet they have a better lot, for they inherit the blessing. Abram and his seed, God's covenant people, descended from Eber, and from him were called Hebrews. How much better it is to be like Eber, the father of a family of saints and honest men, than the father of a family of hunters after power, worldly wealth, or vanities. Goodness is true greatness.
And the children of Aram,.... The four following persons are called the sons of Shem, 1 Chronicles 1:17 being his grandsons, which is not unusual in Scripture:
Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash: the first of these sons of Aram, Uz, is generally thought to be the founder of Damascus; so Josephus (t) says. Usus founded Trachonitis and Damascus, which lies between Palestine and Coelesyria: there was a place called Uz in Idumea, Lamentations 4:21 and another in Arabia, where Job dwelt, Job 1:1 but neither of them seems to be the seat of this man and his posterity, who, in all probability, settled in Syria: his second son Hul, whom Josephus (u) calls Ulus, according to him, founded Armenia; which notion may be strengthened by observing that Cholobotene is reckoned a part of Armenia by Stephanus (w); which is no other than Cholbeth, that is, the house or seat of Chol, the same with Hul; and there are several places in Armenia, as appears from Ptolemy (x), which begin with Chol or Col, as Cholus, Cholua, Choluata, Cholima, Colsa, Colana, Colchis: but perhaps it may be better to place him in Syria, in the deserts of Palmyrene, as Junius and Grotius; since among the cities of Palmyrene, there is one called Cholle, according to Ptolemy (y). Gether, the third son, is made by Josephus (z) to be the father of the Bactrians; but these were too far off to come from this man, and were not in the lot of Shem: Bochart (a) finds the river Getri, which the Greeks call Centrites, between Armenia and the Carduchi, whereabout, he conjectures, might be the seat of this man; but perhaps it may be more probable, with Grotius and Junius, to place him in Coelesyria, where are the city Gindarus of Ptolemy (b), and a people called Gindareni, by Pliny (c); though Bishop Patrick thinks it probable that Gadara, the chief city of Peraea, placed by Ptolemy (d) in the Decapolis of Coelesyria, had its name from this man: Mr. Broughton derives Atergate and Derceto, names of a Syrian goddess, from him, which was worshipped at Hierapolis in Coelesyria, as Pliny says (e). The last of the sons of Aram, Mash, is called Meshech, in 1 Chronicles 1:17 and here the Septuagint version calls him Masoch; his posterity are supposed to settle in Armenia, about the mountain Masius, thought to be the same with Ararat, and which the Armenians call Masis; perhaps the people named Moscheni, mentioned by Pliny (f), as dwelling near Armenia and Adiabene, might spring from this man.
(t) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4.) (u) Ibid. (w) Apud Bochart. Phaleg. l. 2. c. 9. Colossians 81. (x) Geograph. l. 5. c. 13. (y) Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. (z) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4.) (a) Phaleg. l. 2. c. 10. (b) Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. (c) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 23. (d) Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 5. c. 15.) (e) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 23. (f) Ib. l. 6. c. 9.
Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash: the first of these sons of Aram, Uz, is generally thought to be the founder of Damascus; so Josephus (t) says. Usus founded Trachonitis and Damascus, which lies between Palestine and Coelesyria: there was a place called Uz in Idumea, Lamentations 4:21 and another in Arabia, where Job dwelt, Job 1:1 but neither of them seems to be the seat of this man and his posterity, who, in all probability, settled in Syria: his second son Hul, whom Josephus (u) calls Ulus, according to him, founded Armenia; which notion may be strengthened by observing that Cholobotene is reckoned a part of Armenia by Stephanus (w); which is no other than Cholbeth, that is, the house or seat of Chol, the same with Hul; and there are several places in Armenia, as appears from Ptolemy (x), which begin with Chol or Col, as Cholus, Cholua, Choluata, Cholima, Colsa, Colana, Colchis: but perhaps it may be better to place him in Syria, in the deserts of Palmyrene, as Junius and Grotius; since among the cities of Palmyrene, there is one called Cholle, according to Ptolemy (y). Gether, the third son, is made by Josephus (z) to be the father of the Bactrians; but these were too far off to come from this man, and were not in the lot of Shem: Bochart (a) finds the river Getri, which the Greeks call Centrites, between Armenia and the Carduchi, whereabout, he conjectures, might be the seat of this man; but perhaps it may be more probable, with Grotius and Junius, to place him in Coelesyria, where are the city Gindarus of Ptolemy (b), and a people called Gindareni, by Pliny (c); though Bishop Patrick thinks it probable that Gadara, the chief city of Peraea, placed by Ptolemy (d) in the Decapolis of Coelesyria, had its name from this man: Mr. Broughton derives Atergate and Derceto, names of a Syrian goddess, from him, which was worshipped at Hierapolis in Coelesyria, as Pliny says (e). The last of the sons of Aram, Mash, is called Meshech, in 1 Chronicles 1:17 and here the Septuagint version calls him Masoch; his posterity are supposed to settle in Armenia, about the mountain Masius, thought to be the same with Ararat, and which the Armenians call Masis; perhaps the people named Moscheni, mentioned by Pliny (f), as dwelling near Armenia and Adiabene, might spring from this man.
(t) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4.) (u) Ibid. (w) Apud Bochart. Phaleg. l. 2. c. 9. Colossians 81. (x) Geograph. l. 5. c. 13. (y) Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. (z) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4.) (a) Phaleg. l. 2. c. 10. (b) Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. (c) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 23. (d) Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 5. c. 15.) (e) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 23. (f) Ib. l. 6. c. 9.