Genesis 10:25 “And unto Eber
were born two sons; the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was
the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.”
Gen 10:25 is sometimes understood
as a scientific comment on plate tectonic movement as indicating a time when
the land masses (that once formed a super continent called Pangea) split
asunder. In turn this is used to suggest that the earth is “young” (less than
6,000 years old). Apart from the fact that a catastrophic separation of
continents in a very short period of time is a geophysical impossibility this
is a classic example of bad interpretation.
Even a casual (contextual)
reading of this verse suggests that we are dealing with the fall of the tower
of Babel (in the very next chapter) when the earth was of “one language” (11:1)
and they were “scattered” (11:9) by God. Although a different Hebrew word is
employed (not divided), the idea is the same—God scattered and divided the
human race in the Levant by confusing the language and there making “global”
cooperation more difficult.
If one doubts this interpretation,
then one simply has to look at the genealogy of Eber. The genealogy of Eber (or
Heber 1 Chron 5:13; 8:22; Luke 3:35) demonstrates that he was a descendant of
Shem through Arpaachsad (Gen 10:22, 24); and a progenitor of a group of peoples
(v. 21), embracing the Hebrews (ch. 11:16-26). So we can safely say that the “tower
of Babel” incident exactly fits the timeframe of (H)eber’s son Peleg whose very
name means “division”. So it was in his days that the earth was divided into
separate language communities and the project of globalism was halted. This is
relevant (especially today) because a similar global project is underway, not
driven by common language but by finance (the language that everyone
understands) in the construction of another all-pervasive controlling Babylon.
In conclusion, when we combine
very poor Bible interpretation with pseudo-science in order to build “creation
theories” we get utter nonsense. (Paul Wyns, “Marginal Notes: Gen 10:25,” Christadelphian
EJournal of Biblical Interpretation [October 2015]: 422)
