Editing Generations of Noah (section)

===Problems with identification===
Because of the traditional grouping of people based on their alleged descent from the three major biblical progenitors (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) by the three Abrahamic religions, in former years there was an attempt to classify these family groups and to divide humankind into three races called [[Caucasoid]], [[Mongoloid]], and [[Negroid]] (originally named "Ethiopian"), terms which were introduced in the 1780s by members of the [[Göttingen school of history]].<ref>D'Souza (1995), p. 124</ref> It is now recognized that determining precise descent-groups based strictly on patrilineal descent is problematic, as nations are not stationary. People are often multi-lingual and multi-ethnic, and people sometimes migrate from one country to another<ref>According to [[Eusebius]]' ''[[Onomasticon (Eusebius)|Onomasticon]]'', after the [[Hivites]] were destroyed in [[Gaza City|Gaza]], they were supplanted by people who came there from [[Cappadocia]]. See Notley, R.S., ''et al.'' (2005), p. 62</ref> - whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Some nations have intermingled with other nations and can no longer trace their paternal descent,<ref>According to an ancient Jewish teaching in [[Mishnah]] (''Yadayim'' 4:4), [[Sennacherib]], the king of Assyria, came up and put all the nations in confusion. Therefore, Judah, a person who thought he was of [[Ammonites (people)|Ammonite]] descent, was permitted to marry a daughter of Israel.</ref> or have [[Cultural assimilation|assimilated]] and abandoned their mother's tongue for another language. In addition, [[phenotypes]] cannot always be used to determine one's ethnicity because of interracial marriages. A [[wikt:nation|nation]] today is defined as "a large aggregate of people inhabiting a particular territory united by a common descent, history, culture, or language." The biblical line of descent is irrespective of language,<ref>A case study are the Bulgar tribes who, in the 7th-century, migrated to the lower courses of the rivers [[Danube]], [[Dniester]] and [[Dniepr]]. Being influenced by the Goths, they at one time spoke a Germanic language, evidenced by the 4th-century translation of the [[Wulfila Bible]] by a small Gothic community in [[Nicopolis ad Istrum]] (a place in northern Bulgaria). Later, because of an influx of south Slavs in the region from the 6th century, they adopted a common language on the basis of Slavonic.</ref> place of nativity,<ref>A case in point is Bethuel the Aramean ("Syrian") in Gen. 25:20, who was called an "Aramean", not because he was descended from Aram, but because he lived in the country of the Aramaeans (Syrians). So explains [[Nethanel ben Isaiah]] (1983:121–122).</ref> or cultural influences, as all that is binding is one's patrilineal line of descent.<ref>[[Babylonian Talmud]], ''Yebamot'' 62a, RASHI, s.v. '''חייס'''; ibid. ''Baba Bathra'' 109b. Cf. [[Maimonides]], [[Mishne Torah]] (''Hil. Nahalot'' 1:6).</ref> For these reasons, attempting to determine precise blood relation of any one group in today's [[Modern Age]] may prove futile. Sometimes people sharing a common patrilineal descent spoke two separate languages, whereas, at other times, a language spoken by a people of common descent may have been learnt and spoken by multiple other nations of different descent.

Another problem associated with determining precise descent-groups based strictly on patrilineal descent is the realization that, for some of the prototypical family groups, certain sub-groups have sprung forth, and are considered diverse from each other (such as Ismael, the progenitor of the [[Arabs|Arab nations]], and Isaac, the progenitor of the [[Israelite]] nation, although both family groups are derived from Shem's patrilineal line through [[Eber]]. The total number of other sub-groups, or splinter groups, each with its distinct language and culture is unknown.