What Does Genesis 10:7 Mean?

The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. Cush's line extends into sub-Saharan and Arabian territories, and within it, Sheba and Dedan emerge as specific nations. Sheba will later be famous through the queen who visited Solomon in Jerusalem, bringing gold and spices and hard questions. Dedan appears in the prophets as a trading people. The genealogy here grants both nations an origin that connects them to the larger human family through Ham's son Cush.

The inclusion of Sheba and Dedan both within Cush's line here and, in verse 28-29, within Shem's line, has occasioned considerable discussion. It is possible that "Sheba" and "Dedan" designate overlapping or related peoples, or that the same names were used for different groups in different regions. What is clear is that these trading nations of the Arabian region were important enough to appear twice, which suggests their economic and cultural significance in the world the text was addressing.

The queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon is one of the most celebrated cross-cultural encounters in the Hebrew scriptures. Jesus referenced it directly: the queen of the South came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon's wisdom, and something greater than Solomon was present in His own ministry. What the Table of Nations establishes is the genealogical ground under that story: the queen was a descendant of Noah, like everyone else, and her seeking of wisdom from Jerusalem was a prefiguration of all nations turning toward the wisdom of God.