The genealogy of Noah’s sons found here makes it clear that all the people living on earth today are descended from them. The entire earth’s population, scattered around the world following the episode recorded in Genesis 11:1–32, and now speaking different languages,  is descended from Noah and his family.

The purpose of this genealogy is not to show us the rest of the history of God’s people. This is discussed again in Genesis 11, where we find another genealogy—that of Shem. We are now dealing with the genealogy of not only Shem, but also Ham and Japheth, and the focus here is on the world’s population as a whole. This genealogy shows that Israel was a part of the world’s population. It is not as if Israel had a different ancestry than the other nations; they share in the same descent and are therefore also conceived and born in sin. The people of Israel have no superior lineage and are of themselves in no way better than other peoples.

This chapter of Genesis 10 also amplifies what Paul says on the Areopagus: And he [God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him, Acts 17:26.

Shem’s genealogy in Genesis 11:1–32 is focused on Israel, on the church.