Abstract
The so-called Table of Nations from Genesis 10 is a fictional text that employs the categories of lineage and kinship as a representational means for arranging the existing world into a spatial order through narrative. Genesis 10 depicts the nations as autonomous powers of their own right, and groups them systematically into three entities (corresponding to the three imperial spheres). By representing the tribes as interrelated, the Table makes it clear that all people, despite their cultural differences, are related to one another. Within the narrative of the Book of Genesis, the Table of Nations functions as an etiology for the propagation of mankind in space and as a fulfillment of the blessing of creation: All of the existing nations belong to mankind as created by God. Furthermore, the Table of Nations served the function of situating the nations geographically and of placing them in relation to one another through genealogical ties. Genesis 10 reflects its author’s worldview and political views of the time of its origin.