Peleg

פלג

Genesis 10:25 names him as a son of Ever (עבר).

Genesis 10:21 says that Shem was the father "of all the children of Ever", which appears to be the first known reference to the "Hebrews", and thereby clearly defines them as Semites. Genesis 10:25 ff lists all of the sons of Ever in a line that finishes, not surprisingly, with Terach (תרח) and his sons Av-Ram, Nachor and Haran.

1 Chronicles 1:19 gives similar details, but also an aetiological explanation of his name: "and unto Ever were born two sons; the name of the first was Peleg - because in his days the Earth was divided - and his brother's name was Yoktan."

Peleg, from the root Palag (פלג), does indeed mean "to divide", but it is mostly used for a channel or watercourse or small stream, which is the use it has in Job 20:17. Judges 5:15 is slightly more complicated, because the word is used there, adjacent to the streams, to mean divisions in the military sense: "Ba emek shulach be reglav; bi phelagot Re'u-Ven - בָּעֵמֶק שֻׁלַּח בְּרַגְלָיו; {ס} בִּפְלַגּוֹת רְאוּבֵן - into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. Among the divisions of Re'u-Ven [there were...]..."

For Yoktan, or perhaps Yaktan, click here.

There is also a Shem-Ever, which appears to combine the two names as one, but the detail suggests it is in fact quite separate; click on his name for more detail.

2 Chronicles 35:5 has Pelugah (פלגה) for a hierarchical division of the priesthood. The modern Ivrit word Pelugah = "class" - in the sense of societal divisions - comes from this.

A city named Peleg has been located in the Middle Euphrates region and is mentioned in the Mari letters.

Captain Peleg was a Nantucket seaman, now retired, who co-owned the ship the "Pequod" in Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick". The captain was named Ahab. The narrator of the tale was named Ishmael. The whale is compared both with Leviathan and Jonah's whale. Elijah plays a cameo role.

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