Island People

Genesis 10:5 KJV

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

John Gill writes,

“….it is usual with the Hebrews, of whom Moses, the writer of this history, was, to call all places beyond the Mediterranean sea, or whatsoever they went to by sea, or that were upon the sea coasts, islands, as Greece, Italy, &c. Moreover, the word sometimes signifies countries…”

Hawkers Poor Man's Commentary remarks,

“This verse is, in my apprehension, the most interesting, to us of the Gentile church, of any in the chapter. Reader! pause over it, and remark, that as the posterity of Japheth is here said to have the isles divided unto them for an inheritance; and as the prophet Isaiah, in Isa 42:4, saith The isles shall wait for the Redeemer’s law; is it not highly probable, that the faithful, in this our British Isle, to which we belong, are of the descendants of Japheth? Moreover, it is said in Gen 9:27, that Japheth shall dwell in the tents of Shem; meaning, no doubt, that the Gentile and the Jewish church, shall; in the latter day glory, be one fold under one Shepherd."

Here then is the first reference to the Gentile people of Europe and the American Continent, with a prophecy concerning the greatness of God's work among them. The first reference to Gentile people calls them people of isles. After the Flood, everything not in the Middle East had to be obtained through sea traffic. Every major population lives on an island from the perspective of the Middle East.