John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 38:6

"Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with thee." — Ezekiel 38:6 (ASV)

Gomer, and all his bands
Or all his army, as the Targum. Gomer was the eldest son of Japheth, (Genesis 10:2) , from whom descended the people called by the Greeks Galatians, or Galio-Grecians, as Josephus ^F9 says, who before were from him called Gomarians: others think that Phrygia, and the inhabitants of it, are meant; but, whether one or the other, they were both people of the lesser Asia, which is now in the hands of the Turks:

the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands ; Togarmah was one of the sons of Gomer, (Genesis 10:3) whose posterity, according to the Greeks, as Josephus ^F11 says, were the Phrygians; but others rather think the Cappadocians descended from him; and that Togarmah designs their country, which also is a part of the Turkish dominions; (See Gill on Ezekiel 27:14).

Several moderns, as Calmet ^F12 observes, believe that the children of Togarmah peopled Turcomania in Tartary, and Scythia, and which he approves of; and the Turks are mentioned by Ben Gorion ^F13 as one of the ten families of Togarmah. The Targum renders it here the province of Germany; as it is also interpreted in the Talmud ^F14 , but wrongly: and many people with thee ; from other places and nations, besides those named; especially out of the lesser Asia, as Pamphylia, Cilicia, and other places; and perhaps from Tartary, and elsewhere,

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FOOTNOTES:

• F9: Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.
• F11: lbid.
• F12: Dictionary in the word "Togarmah".
• F13: Heb. Hist. l. 1. c. 1. p. 3.
• F14: T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 10. 1.