Though the nation of Elam receives limited attention in Scripture, the history of this ancient civilization spans nearly the entire breadth of the Bible from Genesis to Acts. After being listed among the descendants of Shem (Genesis 10:22), Elam is noted as one of the four Mesopotamian nations whose kings traveled to Canaan during Abraham’s time to deal with the cities of the plain that ceased paying tribute (Genesis 14). After this there is a long span of silence about Elam in the biblical record until Isaiah prophesied that the Root of Jesse will gather the surviving remnant of his people from faraway lands, including Elam (Isaiah 11:10-12). Later the prophet Jeremiah mentioned Elam in his prophecies as well, but his was a message of doom and exile for the Elamites, though he notes that the Lord would eventually restore their fortunes (Jeremiah 49:34-39). Ezekiel likewise foretold of destruction for the Elamites, who were among those who “spread terror in the land of the living” (Ezekiel 32:23-25). By the time of Daniel, Elam had been subjugated by the Babylonians. In one of Daniel’s visions he saw himself standing by the Ulai Canal in the citadel of Susa, the capital of the province of Elam. There has been much debate regarding which tributary Daniel was referring to, and virtually every tributary in the area has been suggested as a candidate. It appears that in ancient times all the rivers in this region flowed into what the Greeks called the Pasitigris River, which eventually emptied into the Persian Gulf. This river system has also been suggested by some scholars to be the Gihon River of the Garden of Eden, assuming that the “land of Cush” refers to the ancient homeland of the Kassites (Genesis 2:13). Like the rest of the ancient Near East, Elam eventually came under the domination of the Persian Empire. The Persians ruled their vast empire from three capital cities, including the ancient city of Susa in Elam. Thus, it was in Susa that Esther became the new queen of Persia and thwarted Haman’s plans to destroy the Jews. It was also in Susa where Nehemiah served as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia before receiving permission to travel to Jerusalem to rebuild it (Nehemiah 1). Susa also formed the eastern terminus of the great Persian Royal Road, from which government officials and couriers could travel with great efficiency all the way to Sardis near the western coast of Anatolia. The Elamite language–one of the oldest written languages in the world–served as one of the official languages of the Persian Empire. The last mention of Elam in the Bible is in the book of Acts, when Jews from all over the world, including Elam, were gathered in Jerusalem as the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles (Acts 2:1-13).
Table of Nations: Japheth’s Descendants
Genesis 10
The descendants of Noah’s son Japheth are listed in what is commonly called the Table of Nations, the Israelites’ oldest catalog of the peoples of the ancient Near East. While it is difficult to identify with certainty where many of these peoples lived, generally they are believed to have been located as shown here. Japheth’s sons Gomer and Javan gave rise to other people groups cited in the list, so they have been shown as broad regions on the map rather than as specific people groups. Japheth’s sons Magog, Madai, Tubal, Meshek, and Tiras are displayed this way as well, though no specific peoples are listed as descending from them.
Table of Nations: Shem’s Descendants
Genesis 10
The descendants of Noah’s son Shem are listed in what is commonly called the Table of Nations, the Israelites’ oldest catalog of the peoples of the ancient Near East. While it is difficult to identify with certainty where many of these peoples lived, generally they are believed to have been located as shown here. Shem’s sons Elam, Arphaxad, and Aram each gave rise to other people groups cited in the list, so they have been shown as broad regions on the map rather than as specific people groups. Shems’s sons Asshur and Lud are displayed this way as well, though no specific peoples are listed as descending from them. The Israelites were descended from Arphaxad through Shelah, Eber (thus, the Hebrews), and Peleg. In Luke’s account of Jesus’ genealogy an ancestor named Cainan is inserted between Arphaxad and Shelah as well (Luke 3:35-36), suggesting that genealogies are sometimes abbreviated in the Bible, and the term son can convey the broader meaning of “descended from.” It is interesting to note that Peleg’s descendants are not further detailed while those of his brother Joktan is extensively delineated. Perhaps this is because the Israelites’ immediate ancestors would have already been very familiar to the readers, who were Israelites, so this did not require further explanation. It is also interesting to note a few areas of overlap between Shem’s descendants and the descendants of Ham and Japheth, such as Havilah, Sheba, and Meshech. Meshech in verse 23 reads Mash in Hebrew, but Meshech is the reading of the Septuagint and the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 1:17, and it makes geographic sense by physically connecting Lud with the rest of the Shemite (also called Semite) peoples.
Table of Nations: Ham’s Descendants
Genesis 10
The descendants of Noah’s son Ham are listed in what is commonly called the Table of Nations, the Israelites’ oldest catalog of the peoples of the ancient Near East. While it is difficult to identify with certainty where many of these peoples lived, generally they are believed to have been located as shown here. Ham’s sons Cush, Egypt, and Canaan each gave rise to other people groups cited in the list, so they have been shown as broad regions on the map rather than as specific people groups. Ham’s son Put is displayed this way as well, though no specific peoples are listed as descending from him. By viewing the sons as regions, one thing that becomes clear is that for the Israelites the term Cushites referred to more than just the people living directly south of Egypt. It also included those along the entire eastern coast of the Red Sea (see also Numbers 12:1; 2 Chronicles 14:8-14) and even the area surrounding Babylon.
Places Referenced by Trees in the Bible
When modern readers encounter a verse in Scripture that references a “great tree” to locate where an event took place, there is a good chance they will dismiss it as somewhat irrelevant to the significance of the passage. But for the original audience of Scripture, these tangible references provided a very real connection to the event and allowed people to readily visualize what took place, because many of these people were probably already familiar with the great tree referenced or could possibly go see it for themselves. There are at least a dozen references to seven different great trees in Scripture (Genesis 12:6; 13:18; 14:13; 18:1; 35:4-8; 1 Samuel 10:3; Deuteronomy 11:30; Joshua 24:26; Judges 4:4-11; 6:11; 9:6; 1 Chronicles 10:12), and these references span from the time of Abraham to the time of Saul. There were no doubt other great trees that existed that were simply never mentioned in the Bible. The trees noted in Scripture were typically oaks or terebinths, although even palm trees could become noteworthy landmarks. For example, the judge Deborah held court under a palm tree between Bethel and Ramah (Judges 4:4-5). Besides simply being points of reference, these trees sometimes took on ceremonial significance as well, either religiously or politically. When the citizens of Shechem gathered to crown Abimelek king during the time of the Judges, they did so beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem (Judges 9:6). The prophet Hosea later condemned Israel for offering pagan sacrifices under “oak, poplar, and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant” (Hosea 4:13). No doubt many of these pagan sacrifices were performed under great trees that served as recognized places for making offerings. It is not surprising, then, that most of the locations associated with great trees in the Bible lay along main routes in Israel, especially the Central Ridge Route, which ran from Shechem to Beersheba. On a more personal note, while my wife and I were teaching at a Bible college in rural Kenya we witnessed a similar method of place referencing by means of a great tree. Our campus was dominated by a massive, 500-year old mumbu tree (typically called a baobab tree by Westerners), and, as a result, the town nearby was named Mumbuni (“place of the mumbu”). The college president, who was Kenyan, told us that before the coming of Christianity to the area, the tree had been a place where locals offered animal sacrifices to spirits.
