Japheth
Son of Noah, ancestor of Magog in the Table of Nations
- Father
- Noah
- Brothers
- Shem, Ham
- Sons (Genesis 10:2)
- Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Tiras
- Region linked
- Anatolia, the Aegean, the Caucasus
- Main texts
- Genesis 9–10
Noah's son whose descendants in Genesis 10 include Magog, a plain genealogical name that later became an apocalyptic enemy.
What is Japheth known for?
Japheth is one of Noah's three sons. After the Flood, Genesis 10 lists his seven sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. These names correspond to peoples to the north and west of Israel, in Anatolia, the Aegean and the Caucasus; Javan, for example, is the Hebrew name for the Ionian Greeks. Scholars have long compared his name with Iapetus, a Titan of Greek myth.
In Genesis, Magog is just one name in this list. By the time of Ezekiel 38–39, Gog "of the land of Magog" has become a hostile ruler from the far north, and in later Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition Gog and Magog grow into end-time nations shut behind a barrier. Medieval European writers, from Isidore of Seville onward, also traced the peoples of Europe to Japheth.
Japheth is known from Genesis and the genealogical traditions based on it.
The site cites Japheth as Magog's father to show how Gog and Magog began as a simple genealogy entry.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeGog and Magog
- PersonNoah
- PersonPartholón
Sources
- Genesis 10 (KJV), Bible GatewayPrimary text
- Wikipedia, 'Japheth'Reference
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