Peleg

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("division".) Eber's son, Joktan's brother ( Genesis 10:25;  Genesis 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 ( Genesis 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" ( Genesis 9:26;  Genesis 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.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 10:25 Genesis 11:16-19 1 Chronicles 1:25 Luke 3:35 Genesis 11:8-9 peleg   Job 29:6 Psalm 1:3 Psalm 46:4 Psalm 119:136 Proverbs 5:16 Proverbs 21:1 Isaiah 30:25 Isaiah 32:2Table Of Nations

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Son of Eber, a descendant of Shem. The name signifies 'division,' and apparently he was so called because 'in his days was the earth divided.'  Genesis 10:25 . This doubtless means, as is said in  Genesis 10:5 , "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; " and again in  Genesis 10:32 , "By these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood." In the next chapter is the account of the confusion of tongues and the scattering of the people generally.  Genesis 11:16-19;  1 Chronicles 1:19,25 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Pe'leg. (Division, Part). Son of Eber, and brother of Joktan.  Genesis 10:25;  Genesis 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.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

PELEG. A descendant of Shem in the fourth generation, according to the table of peoples given in   Genesis 10:1-32 . In   Luke 3:35 he stands a generation further off through the interpolation of Cainan from the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] . The etymology of the name is uncertain. Its reference may be geographical, or racial, or, as the word means ordinarily ‘a water-course,’ it may denote a land cut up by streams.

W. F. Cobb.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Son of Eber, and fourth in descent from Shem. He was called Peleg, division, because in his time the earth was divided,  Genesis 10:25;  11:16 .

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

PELEG. —Mentioned as a link in our Lord’s genealogy ( Luke 3:35, Authorized Version Phalec ).

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

Son of Eher. ( Genesis 11:16) So called from Pillig, to cut or divide.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 10:25

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. id. פֶּלֶג , Division; Sept. Φαλέγ v. r. Φαλέκ , Φαλέχ ; Josephus, Φάλεκος , Ant. 1:6, 5), the son of Eber, and father of Reu ( Genesis 11:16-19). B.C. 24152176. He was the elder brother of Joktan, and the fourth in descent from Shem. This name is said to have been given him "because in his days was the earth divided" ( Genesis 10:25;  1 Chronicles 1:19). This notice is usually thought to refer, not to the general dispersion of the human family subsequently to the Deluge, but to a division of the family of Eber himself, the younger branch of whom (the Joktanids) migrated into southern Arabia, while the elder remained in Mesopotamia. The name Phaliga occurs for a town at the junction of the Chaboras with the Euphrates; but the late date of the author who mentions the name (Isidorus of Charax) prevents any great stress being laid upon it. The separation of the Joktanids from the stock whence the Hebrews sprang finds a place in the Mosaic table, as marking an epoch in the age immediately succeeding the Deluge. According to others, however, the name indicates a mere earthquake, or at most an actual division of the earth in some geological convulsion, in which islands and continents were separated and formed by volcanic agency, and followed by extensive emigrations ( Genesis 9:19;  Genesis 10:32;  Deuteronomy 32:8-9). Peleg is called Phalec ( Φαλέκ ) in the New Test. ( Luke 3:35). (See Dispersion Of Nations).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pē´leg ( פּלג , 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" ( niphleghāh ) (  Genesis 10:25; compare  Luke 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  Genesis 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  Genesis 10:25 is a later editor's remark.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Pe´leg, son of Eber, and fourth in descent from Shem. His name means division, and is said to have been given him 'because in his days the earth was divided' .