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Japheth
Japheth /ˈdʒeɪfɛθ/ (Hebrew: ‫ ֶיפֶת‬Yép̄ eṯ, in pausa ‫ ָיפֶת‬Yā́p̄ eṯ; Greek:
Japhet (Biblical character)
Ἰάφεθ Iápheth; Latin: Iafeth, Iapheth, Iaphethus, Iapetus), is one of the
three sons of Noah in the Book of Genesis, in which he plays a role in
the story of Noah's drunkenness and the curse of Ham, and
subsequently in the Table of Nations as the ancestor of the peoples of
the Aegean Sea, Anatolia, and elsewhere.[1] In medieval and early
modern European tradition he was considered to be the progenitor of
European and, later, East Asian peoples.[2][3][4]

Contents
Etymology
"Japhet third son of Noah", as
Japheth in the Book of Genesis
depicted in Promptuarii Iconum
Origin of Japheth Insigniorum (c. 1553)
Place in Noah's family Children Gomer
Descendants Magog
Europeans Madai
In Islamic tradition Javan
Tubal
See also
Meshech
References Tiras
Citations
Parent(s) Noah
Bibliography
External links

Etymology
The meaning of the name Japheth is disputable. There are two possible sources to the meaning of the
name:[5]

From Aramaic root ‫פתה‬, meaning to extend. In this case, the name would mean may He extend (Rashi).
From Hebrew root ‫יפה‬, meaning beauty, in which case the name would mean beautiful.

Japheth in the Book of Genesis

Japheth first appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the three sons of Noah, saved from the Flood through
the Ark. In the Book of Genesis, they are always in the order "Shem, Ham, and Japheth" when all three are
listed (Genesis 5:32 (https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0105.htm#32), 9:18 (https://www.mechon-
mamre.org/p/pt/pt0109.htm#18) and 10:1 (https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0110.htm#1)).[6]
However Genesis 9:24 (https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0109.htm#24) calls Ham the youngest,[6]
and Genesis 10:21 (https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0110.htm#21) refers ambiguously to Shem as

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"brother of Japheth the elder," which could mean that either is the
eldest.[7] Most modern writers accept Shem-Ham-Japheth as
reflecting birth order, but this is not always the case: Moses and
Rachel also appear at the head of such lists despite explicit
descriptions of them as younger siblings.[8]

Following the Flood, Japheth is featured in the story of Noah's

drunkenness. Ham sees Noah drunk and naked in his tent and tells his
brothers, who then cover their father with a cloak while avoiding the
Noah's Drunkenness, painting by
sight; when Noah awakes he curses Canaan, the son of Ham, and
James Tissot (between 1896 and
blesses Shem and Japheth: "Blessed be the Lord God of Shem and may
1902), Jewish Museum (Manhattan,
Canaan be his slave; and may God enlarge Japheth and may he dwell
New York). The painting depicts Noah
in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave!” (Genesis 9:20-27 lying in his tent; Shem and Japheth
(https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0109.htm#20)). are holding up the cloak with their
back to Noah; Ham is standing to the
Chapter 10 of Genesis, the Table of Nations, describes how the entire side.
Earth was populated by the sons of Noah following the Flood,
beginning with the descendants of Japheth:

Japheth

Gomer Magog Madai Javan Tubal Meshech Tiras

Ashkenaz Riphath Togarmah Elishah Tarshish Kittim Dodanim

Origin of Japheth
The Book of Genesis is the first of the five books of the Torah, that contains the account of Israel's origins as
a people. Scholars increasingly see this as a product of the Achaemenid Empire (probably 450-350 BCE),
although some would place its production in the Hellenistic period (333-164 BCE) or even the Hasmonean
dynasty (140–37 BCE).[9] As almost none of the persons, places and stories in the first eleven chapters of
Genesis (called the primeval history) are ever mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, leading scholars to
surmise that the story of Japheth and his brothers is a late composition, attached to Genesis to serve as an
introduction to that book and to the Torah.[10][11]

Japheth (in Hebrew, Yafet or Yefet) may be a transliteration of the Greek Iapetos, the ancestor of the
Hellenic peoples.[12][13] His sons and grandsons associate him with the geographic area of the eastern
Mediterranean and Asia — Ionia/Javan, Rhodes/Rodanim, Cyprus/Kittim, and other points in the region of
Greece and Asia Minor — approximating to one of the kingdoms (Lysimachus) into which the generals of
Alexander the Great divided his empire on his death (the descendants of Shem and Ham respectively
correspond to the other two, those of the Ptolemies and Seleucids).[13][14] The point of the "blessing of
Japheth" seems to be that Japheth (a Greek-descended people) and Shem (the Israelites) would rule jointly
over Canaan (Palestine). From the 19th century until the late 20th century it was usual to see Japheth as a
reference to the Philistines, who shared dominion over Canaan during the pre-monarchic and early
monarchic period of Israel's history.[15] This view accorded with earlier understanding of the origin of the
Book of Genesis, which was seen as having been composed in stages beginning with the time of King

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Solomon, when the Philistines still existed (they vanished from

history after the Assyrian conquest of Canaan). However, Genesis
10:14 (https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0110.htm#14)
identifies their ancestor as Ham rather than Japheth.[12]

Place in Noah's family

Diadochi kingdoms (300 BCE).
For those who take the genealogies of Genesis to be historically Kingdom of Seleucus
accurate, Japheth is commonly believed to be the father of
Kingdom of Cassander
Europeans. The link between Japheth and the Europeans stems
from Genesis 10:5 (https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0110. Kingdom of Lysimachus
htm#5), which states: Kingdom of Ptolemy
Epirus
"By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their
lands."

According to Genesis, Japheth and his two brothers formed the three
major races:

Japheth is the father of the Japhetic race

Shem is the father of the Semitic race
Ham is the father of the Hamitic race

William Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part II contains a wry comment

about people who claim to be related to royal families. Prince Hal
notes of such people,

...they will be kin to us, or they will fetch it from Japhet.

(II.ii 117-18)

Descendants The world as known to the Hebrews

(based on 1854 map).
In the Bible, Japheth is ascribed seven sons: Gomer, Magog, Tiras,
Javan, Meshech, Tubal, and Madai. According to Josephus
(Antiquities of the Jews I.6):

Japhet, the son of Noah, had seven sons: they inhabited so,
that, beginning at the mountains Taurus and Amanus, they
proceeded along Asia, as far as the river Tanais (Don), and
along Europe to Cadiz; and settling themselves on the lands
which they light upon, which none had inhabited before,
they called the nations by their own names. Geographic identifications for the
Sons of Noah (Flavius Josephus, c.
100 AD); Japheth's sons shown in
Josephus subsequently detailed the nations supposed to have descended red.
from the seven sons of Japheth.

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The "Book of Jasher", published by Talmudic rabbis in the 17th century, provides some new names for
Japheth's grandchildren not found in the Bible, and provided a much more detailed genealogy (see
Japhetic).

Europeans

In the seventh century, the Roman Catholic archbishop Isidore of

Seville wrote his noted encyclopedic-historical work, in which he
traces the origins of most of the White nations of Europe back to
Japheth.[16][17] Scholars in almost every European nation continued to
repeat and develop Isidore of Seville's assertion of descent from Noah
through Japheth into the nineteenth century.[4]

The Georgian historian and linguist Ivane Javakhishvili associated

Japheth's sons with certain ancient tribes, called Tubals (Tabals,
Greek: Tibarenoi) and Meshechs (Meshekhs/Mosokhs, Greek:
Moschoi), who they claim represent non-Indo-European and non-
Semitic, possibly "Proto-Iberian" tribes of Asia Minor of the 3rd-1st Shem, Ham and Japheth, painting by
James Tissot (between 1896 and
millennia BC.[3]
1902), Jewish Museum (Manhattan,
New York)
In the Polish tradition of Sarmatism, the Sarmatians, an Iranic people,
were said to be descended from Japheth, son of Noah, enabling the
Polish nobility to imagine that their ancestry could be traced directly
to Noah.[4]

In Scotland, histories tracing the Scottish people to Japheth were

published as late as George Chalmers' well-received Caledonia,
published in 3 volumes from 1807 to 1824.[18]

In Islamic tradition
Japheth is not mentioned by name in the Quran but is referred to
indirectly in the narrative of Noah (Quran 7:64 (http://www.perseus.t
ufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2002.02.0006%3Asur
a%3D7%3Averse%3D64), Quran 10:73 (http://www.perseus.tufts.ed This T and O map, from the first
u/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2002.02.0006%3Asura%3D1 printed version of Isidore's
0%3Averse%3D73), Quran 11:40 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopp Etymologiae (Augsburg 1472),
er/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2002.02.0006%3Asura%3D11%3Av identifies the three known continents
erse%3D40), Quran 23:27 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex (Asia, Europe and Africa) as
t?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2002.02.0006%3Asura%3D23%3Averse% respectively populated by
3D27), Quran 26:119 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc descendants of Sem (Shem), Iafeth
=Perseus%3Atext%3A2002.02.0006%3Asura%3D26%3Averse%3D11 (Japheth) and Cham (Ham).
[19]
9)) . Muslim exegesis of the Quran, however, names all of Noah's
sons, and these include Japheth.[20] In identifying Japheth's
descendants, Muslim exegesis mostly agrees with the Biblical tradition.[21] In Islamic tradition, he is usually
regarded as the ancestor of the Gog and Magog tribes, and, at times, of the Turks, Khazars, and Slavs. Some
Muslim legends narrated that 36 languages of the world could be traced back to Japheth.[19]

See also
Caucasian race
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Japhetic
Japhetic theory (linguistics)
Indo-European languages
Mongoloid race
Proto-Indo-Europeans
Sons of Noah
Whites
Wives aboard the Ark
References
Citations
1. Hunt 1990, p. 430.
2. Reynolds, Susan (October 1983). "Medieval
Origines Gentium and the Community of the
Realm". History. Wiley-Blackwell. 68 (224): 375–
390. doi:10.1111/j.1468-229X.1983.tb02193.x (htt
ps://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1468-229X.1983.tb021
93.x). JSTOR 24417596 (https://www.jstor.org/st
able/24417596).
3. Ivane Javakhishvili, Historical-Ethnological
problems of Georgia, the Caucasus and the Near
East. Tbilisi, 1950, pp. 130–135 (in Georgian).
4. Kidd 2004, pp. 28-31.
5. Hirsch, Emil G.; Seligsohn, M.; Schechter,
Solomon (1906). "Japheth" (http://www.jewishen
cyclopedia.com/articles/8516-japheth). Jewish
Encyclopedia. Kopelman Foundation. Retrieved
31 July 2020.
6. Haynes 2002, pp. 204, 269.
7. Garcia Martinez 2012, p. 33 fn.7.
8. Greenspahn 1994, p. 65.
9. Greifenhagen 2003, pp. 206-207, 224 fn.49.
10. Blenkinsopp 2011, p. 2.
11. Sailhamer 2010, p. 301.
12. Day 2014, p. 39.
13. Glouberman 2012, p. 112.
14. Gmirkin 2006, p. 165 fn.192.
15. Day 2014, pp. 38-39.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japheth
Japheth - Wikipedia
16. Leyser, Karl (1994). Communications and Power
in Medieval Europe: The Carolingian and
Ottonian Centuries (https://books.google.co.uk/b
ooks?id=efy4NAcXOSkC&pg=PA5&dq=Isidore+
descent+from+Noah+through+Japhet+europe&hl
=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjt5I_g-PfjAhWxThUIH
TskDEkQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=Isidore%20d
escent%20from%20Noah%20through%20Japhe
t%20europe&f=false). A & C Black. p. 5.
ISBN 9781852850135. Retrieved 10 August
2019. "Already in Isidore of Seville they were the
founders of towns and regions in Europe, Asia
and Africa.14 The whole human race must be
descended from them and they, Shem, Ham and
Japheth therefore divided the world between
them. Europe was Japheth’s share, and his
numerous offspring and their descendants in turn
were the ancestors of all the greater European
peoples: Franks, Latins, Alemans and Britains, to
name but some."
17. Richard Cole (2015). "Proto-Racial Thinking and
its Application to Jews in Old Norse Literature".
In Heß, Cordelia; Adams, Jonathan (eds.). Fear
and Loathing in the North: Jews and Muslims in
Medieval Scandinavia and the Baltic Region (http
s://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pBGsCAAAQB
AJ&pg=PA258&dq=Isidore%27s+assertion+of+d
escent+from+Noah+through+Japhet+europe&hl=
en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjV7d7A9_fjAhWMQEE
AHd89BY4Q6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&q=Isidor
e's%20assertion%20of%20descent%20from%20
Noah%20through%20Japhet%20europe&f=fals
e). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 258.
ISBN 9783110346473.
18. Kidd 2004, p. 52.
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19. Heller, B.; Rippin, A. (2012) [1993]. "Yāfith". In 20. Tabari, Volume I: Prophets and Patriarchs, 222
Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; 21. Tabari, Volume I: Prophets and Patriarchs, 217
van Donzel, E. J.; Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.).
Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Leiden: Brill
Publishers. doi:10.1163/1573-
3912_islam_SIM_7941 (https://doi.org/10.1163%
2F1573-3912_islam_SIM_7941). ISBN 978-90-
04-16121-4.

Bibliography
Bremmer, Jan N. (2004). "Remember the Titans!". In Auffarth, Christoph; Stuckenbruck, Loren T. (eds.).
The Fall of the Angels (https://books.google.com/?id=lhNyGFkT3QYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage
&q&f=false). BRILL. ISBN 9004126686.
Day, John (2014). "Noah's Drunkenness, the Curse of Canaan". In Baer, David A.; Gordon, Robert P.
(eds.). Leshon Limmudim: Essays on the Language and Literature of the Hebrew Bible in Honour of A.A.
Macintosh (https://books.google.com/?id=3YJnAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false).
A&C Black. ISBN 9780567308238.
Garcia Martinez, Florentino (2012). Between Philology and Theology: Contributions to the Study of
Ancient Jewish Interpretation (https://books.google.com/?id=EXF8O8Hd9KoC&printsec=frontcover#v=o
nepage&q&f=false). BRILL. ISBN 9004243933.
Glouberman, Mark (2012). The Raven, the Dove, and the Owl of Minerva: The Creation of Humankind in
Athens and Jerusalem (https://books.google.com/?id=GgHWfi4B6eEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage
&q&f=false). University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9781442645059.
Gmirkin, Russell (2006). Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus: Hellenistic Histories and the
Date of the Pentateuch (https://books.google.com/?id=CKuoAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepag
e&q&f=false). Bloomsbury. ISBN 9780567134394.
Greenspahn, Frederick E. (1994). When Brothers Dwell Together: The Preeminence of Younger Siblings
in the Hebrew Bible (https://books.google.com/?id=oN9pzqTWUzUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=When+Br
others+Dwell+Together:+The+Preeminence+of+Younger+Siblings+in+the+Hebrew+Bible#v=onepage&q
=Japheth&f=false). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195359558.
Greifenhagen, Franz V. (2003). Egypt on the Pentateuch's Ideological Map (https://books.google.com/?i
d=r1evAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA207&dq=%22final+form+sometime+in+the+Persian+period%22#v=onepage
&q=%22final%20form%20sometime%20in%20the%20Persian%20period%22&f=false). Bloomsbury.
ISBN 9780567391360.
Haynes, Stephen R. (2002). Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery (https://books.
google.com/?id=KS3fXC7X3jcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Noah%27s+Curse:+The+Biblical+Justification
+of+American+Slavery#v=onepage&q=Noah%27s%20Curse%3A%20The%20Biblical%20Justification%
20of%20American%20Slavery&f=false). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198032601.
Hunt, Harry B., Jr. (1990). "Japheth". In Mills, Watson E.; Bullard, Roger Aubrey (eds.). Mercer
Dictionary of the Bible (https://books.google.com/?id=goq0VWw9rGIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage
&q&f=false). Mercer University Press. ISBN 9780865543737.
Kidd, Colin (2004) [1999]. British Identities Before Nationalism: Ethnicity and Nationhood in the Atlantic
World, 1600-1800 (https://books.google.com/books?id=I2EIlJISeUMC&pg=PA28). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62403-7.
Kvanvig, Helge (2011). Primeval History: Babylonian, Biblical, and Enochic: An Intertextual Reading (htt
ps://books.google.com/?id=e1hnJYbShWMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false). BRILL.
ISBN 9004163808.
Thompson, Thomas L.; Wajdenbaum, Philippe (2014). "Making Room for Japheth". In Thompson,
Thomas L.; Wajdenbaum, Philippe (eds.). The Bible and Hellenism: Greek Influence on Jewish and
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ge&q&f=false). Routledge. ISBN 9781317544265.

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Wajbenbaum, Philippe (2016). "Genesis-Kings as a Platonic Epic". In Hjelm, Ingrid; Thompson, Thomas
L. (eds.). Biblical Interpretation Beyond Historicity (https://books.google.com/?id=wDt-CwAAQBAJ&print
sec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false). Routledge.

External links
"Japheth" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Japheth).
Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 (11th ed.). 1911.
Easton Bible dictionary about Japheth (http://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/ebd/T0001900.html#T0001970)
Smith's Bible Dictionary about Japheth (http://www.biblestudytools.net/Dictionaries/SmithsBibleDictionar
y/smt.cgi?number=T2252)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Japheth (http://www.sbl.org/biblestudies/biblejourney/dictiona
ry/isbe/j/japheth.htm)
Japheth (http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=154&letter=J&search=japheth) in the Jewish
Encyclopedia
Japheth's family tree (http://www.complete-bible-genealogy.com/names/japheth_28.htm) at complete-
bible-genealogy.com

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