Japheth
From BibleWiki
Meaning: 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; Gen 6:10; Gen 7:13), perhaps first by birth (Gen 10:21; comp. Gen 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 10:2ff). An act of filial piety (Gen 9:20ff) 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" (Gen 10:6), and "the sons of Shem" (Gen 10:22). 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).
He had 7 sons, Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.
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—Biblical Data:
One of the sons of Noah, and the ancestor of a branch of the human race called "Japhetites." Japheth and his two brothers, Shem and Ham, were born when Noah had attained his five hundredth year (Gen 5:32). It is not clearly indicated which of the three brothers was the eldest. Japheth usually comes third in order (ib. vi. 10, vii. 12, ix. 18, x. 1), but in the genealogy of their descendants the order is inverted (ib. x. 2-22). The words "the elder" (ib. x. 21) are more probably applied to Shem. Still, it seems, from a comparison of Gen 5:32, vii. 6, and xi. 10, that Japheth was by two years Shem's senior. Japheth with his brother Shem covered the nakedness of their father when he lay drunken in his tent, for which deed he received from his father the blessing that his descendants might extend over the surface of the earth and that Canaan should be his as well as Shem's servant (ix. 23, 27). Japheth was married before the Flood, and had his wife with him in the ark (vii. 13); but his seven sons were born after the Deluge (x. 1).
The name "Japheth" is derived, according to Gen 9:27, from the Aramaic root (missing hebrew text) = "to extend," in allusion to the expansion of the Japhetites. Saadia and the modern lexicographers, as Gesenius and others, derive it from (missing hebrew text) = "fair"; but this interpretation had already been rejected by Ibn Ezra.
As to the identification of Japheth with the Iapetos of the Greek mythology, see D. S. Margoliouth in Hastings, "Dict. Bible"; comp. also Sayce in "Tr. Soc. Bibl. Arch." 1883, p. 154. See Biblical Ethnology.
—In Rabbinical Literature:
Japheth is considered by the Talmudists to have been the eldest son of Noah (Sanh. 69b; Gen. R. xxvi.). The reason why Shem's name always appears first is that the sons of Noah are named in the order of their ability (i.e., as wise men, among whom Shem excelled; Sanh. l.c.). According to the Midrash, the prosperity of Japheth is alluded to in Ps 13: "and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" (Gen. R. l.c.). In the act of covering Noah's nakedness it was Shem who first took "the cover"; but Japheth came afterward to help him and was repaid therefor in that his descendants Gog and Magog were granted burial (Ezek 39:11 et seq.; Gen. R. xxxvi.).
The words "yaft elohim le-Yefet" (Gen 9:27) are interpreted as alluding to the construction of the Second Temple by Cyrus, who was descended from Japheth (Yoma 10a). Bar Ḳappara interpreted the passage as meaning that the Law will be explained in the language of Japheth (Gen. R. xxxvi.; Deut. R. i.); R. Ḥiyya b. Abba, interpreting "yaft" as derived from the root (missing hebrew text) , meaning "beauty" (see Japheth, Biblical Data), explains it more clearly thus: "The Law will be explained in the beautiful language of the Greeks, descendants of Japheth" (Meg. 9b). According to the Targum pseudo-Jonathan (ad loc.), the passage means that the descendants of Japheth will become proselytes and will study the Law in the schools of Shem.
When God blessed Noah and his sons (Gen 9:1), He in blessing Japheth promised that all of his sons should be white; and He gave them as their portion deserts and fields (Pirḳe R. El. xxiv.).
