Japheth: Wide spreading: "God shall enlarge Japheth" (Heb. Yaphat Elohim
le-Yephet,
(Genesis 9:27) Some, however, derive the name from yaphah, "to
be beautiful;" hence white), one of the sons of Noah, mentioned last
in order
(Genesis 5:32; 6:10; 7:13) perhaps first by birth
(Genesis 10:21) comp.
(Genesis 9:24) He and his wife were two of the eight saved in the ark
(1 Peter 3:20) He was the progenitor of many tribes inhabiting the east
of Europe and the north of Asia
(Genesis 10:2-5) An act of filial piety
(Genesis 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"
(Genesis 10:2) "the sons of
Ham"
(Genesis 10:6) and "the sons of Shem"
(Genesis 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]
(Genesis 10:1)ff 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).
