Peleg
("division".) Eber's son, Joktan's brother (Gen 10:25; Gen 11:16). "In his days the earth was divided."
His name marks an epoch in the world's history: (1) God's intimation of His will that the earth was to be divided in an orderly distribution of the various families of mankind, which order the Hamitic Babel builders tried to contravene (Gen 11:4), in order to concentrate their power; also the Hamite Canaanites in "spreading abroad" broke the bounds assigned by God, seizing the sacred possession of Shem where Jehovah was to be blessed as "the Lord God of Shem" (Gen 9:26; Gen 9:18-20).
(2) The division of Eber's family; the younger branch, the Joktanids, migrating into S. Arabia the elder Peleg remaining in Mesopotamia.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Peleg
Peleg pe'-leg (pelegh, "watercourse," "division"): A son of Eber, and brother of Joktan. The derivation of the name is given: "for in his days was the earth divided" (niphleghah) (Ge 10:25; compare Lu 3:35, the King James Version "Phalec"). This probably refers to the scattering of the world's population and the confounding of its language recorded in Ge 11:1-9. In Aramaic pelagh and Arabic phalaj mean "division"; in Hebrew pelegh means "watercourse." The name may really be due to the occupation by this people of some well-watered (furrowed), district (e.g. in Babylonia), for these patronymics represent races, and the derivation in Ge 10:25 is a later editor's remark. ⇒See a list of verses on PELEG in the Bible. S. F. Hunter ⇒See also the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Peleg
One of the two sons of Eber, the other being JOKTAN (wh. see), Gn 10% 1116 (φάλεκ) =1Ch 1" (Bom., A Φάλεκ) 35 (B Φάλεχ, A Φάλεκ), ef. Lk 3535 (Φφάλεκ, whence AV Phalec). In Gn 10% a characteristic etymology is given for the name by J, ‘Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided (niphlégah).’ ‘The earth’ here should probably be taken to mean ‘the ulation of the earth,’ as in 11} (so Dillmann), end tha ‘dividing’ to refer to the narrative in 11}: of the confusion of tongues and the dispersion of men ‘over the face of all the earth.’ In all probability the remark is due, not to the original J, but to a redactor of the same school (Rs, so Budde and Kuenen). The name Peleg has been sought by some (e.g. Knobel) in Phailga, a place at the junction of the Chaboras with the Euphrates, b garde (Orientalia, ii. 50) in al-Falj on the road between Basra and Yemfma, and by Sprenger (Geog. Arab, 233, 294) in el-Falaj in Yemima. The common noun peleg in Heb. means ‘a watercourse,’ and Peleg might appropri- ately enough be the designation of a people dwell- ahr a land furrowed by watercourses, whet…
Smith's Bible Dictionary on Peleg
(division, part), son of Eber and brother of Joktan. (Genesis 10:25; 11:16) The only incident connected with his history is the statement that “in his days was the earth divided.” an event embodied in the meaning of his name—“division.” The reference is to a division of the family of Eber himself, the younger branch of which (the Joktanids) migrated into southern Arabia, while the elder remained in Mesopotamia.
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia