Difference between revisions of "Japheth"

<p> ("enlargement".) From pathah "to extend" (&nbsp;Genesis 9:27); [[Gesenius]] from yaphah "to be fair," from the fair complexion of James and his descendants. Probably the second son of Noah, from the youngest (&nbsp;Genesis 9:24; &nbsp;Genesis 10:2; &nbsp;Genesis 10:6; &nbsp;Genesis 10:21, where the Syriac, the Arabic, and the [[Vulgate]] translate as Gesenius "the elder brother of Japheth"; but Septuagint as KJV). If "younger son" in &nbsp;Genesis 9:24 is [[Canaan]] not Ham, the invariable order of the names represents also the order of their ages," Shem, Ham, and Japheth" Shem's genealogy is put last, being traced from &nbsp;Genesis 10:21 onwards uninterruptedly as the line of Messiah. These three are persons, the names of their descendants are ethnic. [[Written]] more than 3,000 years ago the genealogical account in Genesis 10 is the oldest and most. trustworthy history of the dispersion of mankind. It states from James came: </p> <p> '''(1)''' Gomer, i.e. the Cymri or Celts; </p> <p> '''(2)''' Magog, the Scythians and [[Sarmatians]] (Slavonians); </p> <p> '''(3)''' Madai, the [[Medes]] or Aryans; </p> <p> '''(4)''' Javan, the Ionians (Greeks); </p> <p> '''(5)''' Tubal, the Tibareni; </p> <p> '''(6)''' Meshech, the [[Moschi]] (these two declined between 1100 and 400 B.C., leaving no literature, so that modern ethnology does not notice them); and </p> <p> '''(7)''' Tiras, the Thracians (Tentons). Moses thus, under the Spirit, anticipates the discoveries of ethnology, which comprises one great family of mankind under five heads: </p> <p> '''1,''' Indo-Persians or Aryans; </p> <p> '''2,''' Celts; </p> <p> '''3,''' Teutons; </p> <p> '''4,''' Graeco-Italians; </p> <p> '''5,''' Slaves. </p> <p> Moses rightly makes the nations N. and W. of [[Mesopotamia]] and Syria Japhetic, comprising seven principal races within the geographical limits known to him. They occupied "the isles of the Gentiles," i.e. all the coast lands in Europe and Asia Minor, and islands of the Mediterranean, whence they spread northwards over Europe and much of Asia, from India and [[Persia]] in the E. to the extreme W. of Europe, and now to [[America]] and Australia. &nbsp;Genesis 9:27, "He (God, &nbsp;John 1:14, or Japheth) shall dwell in the tents of Shem." James by expansive energy and enlargement overpasses his own hounds and dwells in the tents of Shem, as the Medo-Persian, Greek, Roman, and modern European and American empires exemplify. </p> <p> But mainly James dwells in Shem's tents spiritually. [[Superior]] in secular enterprise and capacity for rule, yet in spiritual concerns James is inferior to Shem, through whose posterity alone all revelations from heaven have come, culminating in "God manifest in the flesh" (&nbsp;Romans 9:5). James's descendants, as converts to "the Lord God of Shem" (&nbsp;Genesis 9:26), dwell in spirit in Shem's tents (&nbsp;Isaiah 60:3; &nbsp;Isaiah 60:5). The full consummation of the prophecy will be when Israel, sprung from Shem, shall be spiritual head of the nations, and they shall flock to [[Jerusalem]] where Israel's king shall reign (&nbsp;Jeremiah 3:17). </p>

<p> [[Japheth]] (''Jâ'Pheth'' ), ''Enlargement.'' One of the three sons of Noah. The descendants of Japheth occupied the "isles of the Gentiles," R. V. "isles of the nations," &nbsp;Genesis 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. </p>

<p> (Heb. Ye'pheth, יֶפֶת, in pause ''Yaipheth, י'' פֶת, ''Wide-Spreading'' [comp. &nbsp;Genesis 9:27], although some make it ''Signify Fair,'' referring to the light complexion of the Japhethites; Sept. Ι᾿άφεθ; Josephus. Ι᾿αφέθας, ''Ant.'' 1:4, 1), one of the three sons of Noah, mentioned last in order (&nbsp;Genesis 5:32; &nbsp;Genesis 6:10; &nbsp;Genesis 7:13; &nbsp;Genesis 9:18; &nbsp;Genesis 10:1; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 1:4), although it appears from &nbsp;Genesis 10:21 (&nbsp;Genesis 9:24) that he was the eldest of Noah's sons, born one hundred years before the flood (Michaelis, ''Spicil.'' 2, 66). B.C. 2616. He and his wife were two of the eight persons (&nbsp;1 Peter 3:20) preserved in the ark (&nbsp;Genesis 7:7). In &nbsp;Genesis 10:2 sq. he is called the progenitor of the extensive tribes in the west (of Europe) and north (of Asia)of the Armenians, Medes, Greeks, Thracians, etc. (comp. Syncellus, [[Chronicles]] p. 49; Mala, ''Chronogr.'' p. 16; see Tuch on &nbsp;Genesis 10:27). (See Ethnography). </p> <p> De Wette ''(Kritik, P.'' 72) justly repudiates the opinion of the ''Targumim,'' both [[Jonathan]] and Hieros., who make Japheth the progenitor of the African tribes also. The [[Arabian]] traditions (D'Herbelot, ''Biblioth. Orient.)'' attribute to Japheth wonderful powers (Weil, ''Biblische Legenden, 8,'' 46), and enumerate eleven of his sons, the progenitors of as many Asiatic nations, viz. [[Gin]] or Dshin (Chinese), Seklah (Slavonians), Manshuge, Gomari, Turk (Turks), Khalage, Khozar, Ros (Russians), Sussan, Gaz, and Torage. In these traditions he is called ''Aboultierk'' (Hottinger, ''Hist. Orient.'' p. 37). To the seven sons of Japheth mentioned in &nbsp;Genesis 10:2 and &nbsp;1 Chronicles 1:5, the Sept. and Eusebins add an eighth, ''Elisha,'' though not found in the text. Some (Buttmann, ''Mytholog.'' 1, 222; Bochart, Phal. 3:1; and Hasse, Entdeckung, 2, 131) identify Japheth with the Irenrog of Greek fable, the depository of many ethnographical traditions (see Smith's Dict. of Classic. Biogr. s.v. Japletus), while others, again, connect him with Hereus, mentioned by the ancient historian Sanchoniathon. His act of filial piety, in conjunction with Shem, as related in &nbsp;Genesis 9:20-27 (where some understand the clause, "He shall dwell in the tents of Shem," to refer to God, and not to Japheth), became the occasion of the prophecy of the extension of his posterity (see Iengstenberg's ''Christology,'' i, 42). (See Shem). </p>