The birth of children should complete the first family. But sin is an active force now. God warns the firstborn, Cain, that sin wants to attack him. But Cain fails to rule (mashal) over sin (Genesis 4:7) and he murders his brother Abel. Cain’s descendants follow his sinful example.
Adam and Eve’s third son is Seth. When Seth becomes a father, “people began to call upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4:26). It seems that Seth’s descendants follow his good example. But in time these “sons of God” intermarry with Cain’s line, “the daughters of man” (Genesis 6:2, 4). The eventual result is such wickedness that God brings a devastating flood on the earth (Genesis 6-7). The only survivors are Noah, his family and the animals with them. From these few survivors, the earth is re-populated.
The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth…. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed (Genesis 9:18-19).
Genesis 10 shows the genealogy—the line of descendants—from Noah’s sons. This genealogy continues the pattern set by Cain’s genealogy (Genesis 4) and Seth’s genealogy (Genesis 5). Invariably, fathers and sons form the main list of names. In a few cases, women are mentioned. such as Lamech’s wives Adah and Zillah (Genesis 4:19-22).
Of Adam and Eve’s children only three names appear: Cain, Abel and Seth. Their wives are not named in the biblical record. The rest of Adam’s children are summed up in the phrase, “and he had other sons and daughters” (Genesis 5:4). The record goes on to name Noah and his sons, but it never names their wives, the mothers of all people on earth. This patrilineal trend in genealogies continues throughout the Old Testament and into the New Testament (Matthew 1 and Luke 3).