Genesis 10:2
in Genesis 10The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
KJV
The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
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This verse in Genesis 10
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThe sons of Japheth,.... Who though mentioned last, the genealogy begins with him, by a figure which rhetoricians call a "chiasm". The posterity of Japheth are those whom Hesiod (z) often calls ιαπετιονιδης, "Iapetionides", and him ιαπετος, "Iapetus". According to Josephus (a), the sons of Japheth inhabited the earth, beginning from the mountains Taurus and Amanus, and then went on in Asia unto the river Tanais, and in Europe unto Gadira.
This site's exposition
The sons of Japheth
on Genesis 10:2-4
Japheth's line is taken first, though verse 1 names him last. Ezekiel 38:2 and 6 name Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and Togarmah again in the oracle against Gog. Noah had asked God to expand the territory of Japheth at 9:27, and this list counts that expansion out, clearing the outer nations before the story narrows.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 10, Verse 2.) The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. Japheth, son of Noah, had seven sons who possessed the land in Asia from Mount Amanus and Mount Taurus to the mountains of Syria Coele and Cilicia, all the way to the River Tanais. In Europe, they journeyed as far as Gades, leaving names to places and tribes: many of these were later changed, but others remain as they were.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The sons of Japheth - Japheth is supposed to be the same with the Japetus of the Greeks, from whom, in an extremely remote antiquity, that people were supposed to have derived their origin. Gomer - Supposed by some to have peopled Galatia; so Josephus, who says that the Galatians were anciently named Gomerites. From him the Cimmerians or Cimbrians are supposed to have derived their origin. Bochart has no doubt that the Phrygians sprang from this person, and some of our principal commentators are of the same opinion.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The intent thereof is to imply that even though they were fit to have children before the flood — for in those generations it was normal to beget children at about sixty years of age. See above,:15,.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יֶ֔פֶת | yefet | Japheth | H3315 → | 11 times |
| גֹּ֣מֶר | gomer | [were] Gomer | H1586 → | |
| וּמָג֔וֹג | umagog | and Magog | H4031 → | |
| וּמָדַ֖י | umadai | and Madai | H4074 → | |
| וְיָוָ֣ן | veyavan | and Javan | H3120 → | |
| וְתֻבָ֑ל | vetuval | and Tubal | H8422 → | |
| וּמֶ֖שֶׁךְ | umeshekh | and Meshech | H4902 → | |
| וְתִירָֽס׃ | vetiras | and Tiras | H8494 → |
בְּנֵ֣י[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יֶ֔פֶתJapheth
yefetH3315 →11 times
גֹּ֣מֶר[were] Gomer
gomerH1586 →
וּמָג֔וֹגand Magog
umagogH4031 →
וּמָדַ֖יand Madai
umadaiH4074 →
וְיָוָ֣ןand Javan
veyavanH3120 →
וְתֻבָ֑לand Tubal
vetuvalH8422 →
וּמֶ֖שֶׁךְand Meshech
umeshekhH4902 →
וְתִירָֽס׃and Tiras
vetirasH8494 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 66:19I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who…
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:15
so He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For they will see what they have not been told, and they will understand what they have not heard.
- Romans 15:21
Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
- Ezekiel 27:10
Men of Persia, Lydia, and Put served as warriors in your army. They hung their shields and helmets on your walls; they gave you splendor.
- Isaiah 52:15
Through
Ezekiel 38:2“Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him
it leads to
- Ezekiel 39:1
“As for you, O son of man, prophesy against Gog and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
- Ezekiel 39:1
Through
Revelation 20:8and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 38:1
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Revelation 16:14
These are demonic spirits that perform signs and go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
- Revelation 20:3
And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released…
- Revelation 20:10
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day…
- Ezekiel 38:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.