Genesis

"And God... (v1)" Elohim, the same name for God He delivered of Himself in Genesis 1:1, of the root eloah (god), in the plural "elohim." Capitalized as such, this is not a reference to "gods," but to the triune, singular God of the universe, creator of the heavens and the earth. In this reference, God affirms a new beginning, but following His command to be fruitful and multiply, He can no longer command Noah, the new Adam, to have dominion over it (Gen 1:26). He has just blotted all other life from the face of the earth. Now God is commanding to "fill" the earth. And as the earth is repopulated, the beasts, birds, and fish are also different (v2). First, the fear and the terror of mankind will be on every moving thing. The Lord Yahweh uses this same language when reaffirming His covenant with Israel before they cross the Jordan to subdue the Canaanites of the Promised Land and to possess it. “No man will be able to stand before you; Yahweh your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you." (Deut 11:25). The second difference is that man is now given flesh to eat (v4), which makes sense then that they would fear man. This also coincides with the institution of animal sacrifice, so eating flesh would prevent waste. God affirms that "never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh" with a rainbow in the cloud. This persists today as part of His everlasting covenant (v16). Then Noah began to be a man of the land and planted a vineyard (v20), completing the image of Adam in the garden (Gen 2:15). So too, the curse immediately follows in v21ff, and the origin of Canaan's future enmity with God's people is revealed.

The importance of this chapter of the Bible cannot be overstated. The depth included is unmatched by any historical record of the origin and geographical distribution of mankind. Genesis Chapter 10 is quite literally the record of the dispersion of all peoples to all places. Before Chapter 11 begins the description of the events leading to the dispersion, the sons of the forefathers of all nations, Japeth (14 descendants named), Ham (30 descendants named), and Shem (26 descendants named), are listed and readily associated with nations that were formed in their name. They are too numerous to detail, but note that reference is twice made to the scattering that occurred at the Tower of Babel (vv18,25). The sons of Noah are not listed in order of their birth but in order of their theocratic importance.

The family record detailed in the previous chapter does not affix dates with which we can correlate historical events. Much of that problem is resolved in the Genesis 11 genealogical record of the generations of Shem and Terah. The line of Terah is significant because he is the father of the patriarch Abram (later Abraham, Gen 17:5). Chapter 11 opens with the first significant response God had to man's disobedience post-deluge - their failure to populate the earth was in direct disobedience to God's command in Genesis 9:1 "And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." Man was doing the opposite. God's response was to confuse the languages (v7), by making 70 separate languages (Genesis 10 Table of Nations) instead of one. The confusion of languages has continued to spread such that there are now over 7,100 languages spoken in the world. The Biblical record dates the dispersion to the year 2233 BC, most likely the year Nimrod began to rule Assyria (Gen 10:11). This date is not just accurate from Biblical math, but has also been scientifically confirmed by historical astronomy. https://answersresearchjournal.org/tower-of-babel/chronological-framework-ancient-history-2/
With this record, it is appropriate to be in awe of the accuracy with which God lays the foundation for our understanding of all that follows in His Holy Word. We have no need to doubt this record or any of the narrative that follows. God is. His Word testifies to every truth of which we need access.

The origin of the Hebrew people is found in chapter 12. Yahweh appears to Abram and institutes the covenant that He will reinforce many times with Abraham, his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob. God promises Abraham 1) land, 2) numerous descendants, 3) blessings for him and his descendants, and 4) blessings through him for all nations. The locations mentioned in this chapter (vv5-9) have great significance in the coming history of the people of God. In Moses' farewell address to the Hebrew people after 40 years wandering in the wilderness, in the Devarim ("Words"), he cites these locations as promised places of both blessing and curse and reference (Deut 11:29-30). The city of Ai (v8) is adjacent to the place where Abram began to participate in regular formal worship of Yahweh, but it is also the second stronghold of conquest destroyed when the Israelites enter the Promised Land (Joshua 8:28). Recent archaeological discoveries regarding Ai have had profound implications for Biblical studies. The Biblical pattern of entering Egypt during times of famine or trial begins here (v10). Despite Abram (Abraham) being attributed a man of faith, he demonstrates his lack of faith by having his wife Sarai pretend to be his sister so that the men of Egypt will not kill him in order to take his wife (vv11-12). Ironically, this is only the first of two times he does this, and Sarai is in truth; actually, Abram's half-sister - they share the same father (Gen 20:12). Abram's son Isaac later does the same thing with his wife Rebecca in Gen 26:6-7. Despite God's promise to Abram that through him all the families of the earth will be blessed, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph (the patriarchs of the Israelites) were not always good at blessing other nations (vv17-20).