After these things occurred, certain officials approached me and said "The people of Israel, the priests, and the descendants of Levi have not separated themselves from the people of the lands or from the detestable behavior of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, ...
20These were the sons of Ham, according to their ethnic groups, their languages, their lands, and their nations. The Descendants of Shem 21Sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth,[a]the father of all the descendants of Eber. ...
The descendants of Ham, when "dwelling in the tents of Shem," might have formed for themselves a similar language. But that the Aramaic, which was spoken throughout Syria and Palestine, was closely similar to the Hebrew, we have overwhelming evidence. Not only is there clear proof that ...