japheth Summary and Overview

wide spreading: "God shall enlarge Japheth" (Heb. Yaphat Elohim le-Yephet, Gen. 9:27. Some, however, derive the name from "yaphah", "to be beautiful;" hence white), one of the sons of Noah, mentioned last in order (Gen. 5:32; 6:10; 7:13), perhaps first by birth (10:21; compare 9:24). He and his wife were two of the eight saved in the ark (1 Pet. 3:20). He was the progenitor of many tribes inhabiting the east of Europe and the north of Asia (Gen. 10:2-5). An act of filial piety (9:20-27) was the occasion of Noah's prophecy of the extension of his posterity. After the Flood the earth was re-peopled by the descendants of Noah, "the sons of Japheth" (Gen. 10:2), "the sons of Ham" (6), and "the sons of Shem" (22). It is important to notice that modern ethnological science, reasoning from a careful analysis of facts, has arrived at the conclusion that there is a three-fold division of the human family, corresponding in a remarkable way with the great ethnological chapter of the book of Genesis (10). The three great races thus distinguished are called the Semitic, Aryan, and Turanian (Allophylian). "Setting aside the cases where the ethnic names employed are of doubtful application, it cannot reasonably be questioned that the author [of Gen. 10] has in his account of the sons of Japheth classed together the Cymry or Celts (Gomer), the Medes (Madai), and the Ionians or Greeks (Javan), thereby anticipating what has become known in modern times as the 'Indo-European Theory,' or the essential unity of the Aryan (Asiatic) race with the principal races of Europe, indicated by the Celts and the Ionians. Nor can it be doubted that he has thrown together under the one head of 'children of Shem' the Assyrians (Asshur), the Syrians (Aram), the Hebrews (Eber), and the Joktanian Arabs (Joktan), four of the principal races which modern ethnology recognizes under the heading of 'Semitic.' Again, under the heading of 'sons of Ham,' the author has arranged 'Cush', i.e., the Ethiopians; 'Mizraim,' the people of Egypt; 'Sheba and Dedan,' or certain of the Southern Arabs; and 'Nimrod,' or the ancient people of Babylon, four races between which the latest linguistic researches have established a close affinity" (Rawlinson's Hist. Illustrations).

(enlargement), one of the three sons of Noah. The descendants of Japheth occupied the "isles of the Gentiles," #Ge 10:5| --i.e. the coast lands of the Mediterranean Sea in Europe and Asia Minor-- whence they spread northward over the whole continent of Europe and a considerable portion of Asia.

JA'PHETH (enlargement), the second son of Noah. Gen 5:32; Gen 10:21. The prophetic blessing pronounced on Japheth by his father, Gen 9:27, was accomplished to the full extent of the promise. From him have come, (1) Gomer, or the Cymri or Celts; (2) Magog, or the Scythians and Sarmatians (Slavonians); (3) Madai, or the Medes or Aryans; (4) Javan, or the Greeks; (5) Tubal, or the Tibareni; (6) Meshech, or the Moschi; (7) Tiras, or the Teutons. The Japhetic races have occupied "'the isles of the Gentiles' -- i. e. all the coastlands in Europe and Asia Minor and islands of the Mediterranean -- whence they spread northward over Europe and much of Asia, from India and Persia in the east to the extreme west of Europe, and now to America and Australia." -- Fausset: Englishman's Bible Cyclopaedia. The other branch of prophecy, "he (God) shall dwell in the tents of Shem," was fulfilled when the divine Presence was manifested in the tabernacle and temple; or if we read, "he (Japheth) shall dwell in the tents of Shem," it was fulfilled literally when the Greeks and Romans (descended from Japheth) subdued Judaea, the inheritance of Shem, and figuratively when the descendants of Japheth (the Gentiles) received the gospel, which the Jews, who were of the seed of Shem, rejected.