Sabtah is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Sabtah was one of the sons of Cush, listed among the descendants of Noah through Ham. He appears in the genealogies of the nations recorded in Genesis 10, often called the Table of Nations, where Scripture traces how the peoples of the earth were divided after the flood. In that setting, Sabtah is named alongside his brothers Seba, Havilah, Raamah, and Sabtechah, and his nephews Sheba and Dedan, the sons of Raamah.
The Genesis account presents Sabtah simply as a son of Cush, with no further narrative about his life. He is not shown doing anything, speaking, or traveling; he is remembered only as a name within a lineage. What Scripture says of him is limited to his place in this family line: he was a descendant of Ham, a son of Cush, and a brother to the men named with him.
His inclusion in the Table of Nations means he stands among the ancestors from whom the nations of the world descended. The passage records that these families spread and populated the earth after the flood, so Sabtah belongs to the wider account of how humanity multiplied and was divided into peoples and lands. Beyond this single mention, the Bible gives no additional information about him, his descendants, or his later significance.
The Name
The name Sabtah is a Hebrew name whose exact meaning is not clearly recoverable. Various suggestions have been offered by scholars, but none is established with enough certainty to state confidently what it means. What can be said plainly is that Scripture itself gives no explanation of the name, and it is best to acknowledge that its meaning remains uncertain rather than to assign it a definition that the text does not provide.
A Closing Thought
Sabtah is one of the many people in Scripture who appear only once, named in a list and never mentioned again. Yet his name was written down and preserved for generations. This is a quiet reminder that God remembers those the world would overlook. Most of us will never be widely known, and our lives may seem small beside the great figures of the faith. But every person has a place in God’s account, and being known by Him matters far more than being remembered by the crowd.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- Genesis 10:7 — And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.