John Gill Commentary Genesis 10

Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah
The genealogy of them, and which is of great use to show the original of the several nations of the world, from which they sprung, and by whom they were founded; and to confute the pretended antiquity of some nations, as the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Chinese, and others; and to point out the particular people, who were to be the seat of the church of God for many ages, and from whom the Messiah was to spring; which seems to be the principal view of the history of Moses, and of this genealogy, with which should be compared (1 Chronicles 1:1–25) Shem, Ham, and Japheth; see (Genesis 5:32) (6:10) (7:13) (9:18)

and sons were born to them after the flood; for none were born to them either before the flood or in it; they were married before the flood, for their wives went into the ark with them; but it does not appear they had any children before, though they then were near an hundred years old; and if they had, they were not in the ark, and therefore must perish with the rest, which is not likely: Shem's son Arphaxad was born two years after the flood, (Genesis 11:10) when the rest were born, either his or his brethren's, is not said; however they were all born after the flood;

though some pretend that Canaan was born in the ark ^F25 , during the flood, for which there is no authority; yea, it is confuted in this chapter, where Canaan stands among the sons of Ham, born to him after the flood.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25:
  See Bayle's Dictionary, vol. 10. art. "Ham", p. 587.

The sons of Japheth
Who though mentioned last, the genealogy begins with him, by a figure which rhetoricians call a "chiasm". The posterity of Japheth are those whom Hesiod ^F26 often calls (iapetionidhv) , "Iapetionides", and him (iapetov) , "Iapetus". According to Josephus ^F1 , the sons of Japheth inhabited the earth, beginning from the mountains Taurus and Amanus, and then went on in Asia unto the river Tanais, and in Europe unto Gadira. Seven of his sons are mentioned, and the first is Gomer; from whom, according to the same writer ^F2 , came the Gomareans or Gomerites, in his time called by the Greeks Galatians, that is, the Gauls of Asia minor, who inhabited Phrygia; both Gomer and Phrygia signifying the same, as Bochart ^F3 observes, and the country looking as if it was torrified or burnt; and Pliny ^F4 makes mention of a town in Phrygia, called Cimmeris; and the Cimmerians and Cimbri are derived by some from this Gomer, whom Herodotus ^F5 mentions as in Asia and Scythia, and speaks of a country called Cimmerius, and of the Cimmerian Bosphorus; and these seem to be the Gauls before mentioned, under a different name; and it is to be observed that the Welsh, who sprung from the Gauls, call themselves to this day Cumero, or Cymro and Cumeri.

It is plain from (Ezekiel 38:6) that Gomer and his people lay to the north of Judea, and the posterity of Japheth went first into the northern parts of Asia, and then spread themselves into Europe: six more of his sons follow, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras; the first of these, Magog, was the father of a northern people which bore his name, see (Ezekiel 38:2Ezekiel 38:15) and according to Josephus ^F6 , who is generally followed, are the same who were called Scythians; from Madai came the Medes, often spoken of in Scripture, along with the Persians; so Josephus ^F7 says, from him came the nation of Madaeans, whom the Greeks call Medes; and very frequently in Scripture the Medes go by the name of Madai, their original ancestor; see (Daniel 5:28) (Daniel 6:8Daniel 6:12Daniel 6:15) but Mr. Mede ^F8 is of opinion that Macedonia was the seat of this Madai, which was formerly called Aemathia; that is, as he gives the etymology of it, (aia) , "Madai", the country of Madai; but the former sense is generally received.

Javan is agreed by all to be the father of the Grecians; hence Alexander, king of Grecia, is in (Daniel 8:21) called king of Javan; and one part of Greece bore the name of Ionia; and the sea that washed it is called the Ionian sea. And his posterity are (iaonev) , "Iaonians", in Homer ^F9 and Aristophanes ^F11 ; and the scholiast of the latter says that the Barbarians call all Greeks Iaonians.

The next son of Japheth is Tubal or Thobel, as Josephus calls him. He says ^F12 the Thobelians in his time were called Iberians, a people in Asia, that dwelt near the Euxine sea; and in Albania was a place called Thabilaca, as may be seen in Ptolemy ^F13 , and another called Thilbis, from whom might spring the Iberians in Europe, now called Spaniards; but Bochart ^F14 thinks that the Tibarenes are the descendants of Tubal, a people that dwelt between the Trapezuntii and Armenia the less; and he wonders that this never was thought of by any, but in that he is mistaken, for our countryman Mr. Broughton ^F15 makes the Tibarenes to spring from Tubal, and Epiphanius ^F16 many hundreds of years before him.

Meshech, his next son, is mentioned along with Tubal in (Ezekiel 27:13) (38:2) (39:1) From him came the Mosocheni, as Josephus {q}, who in his time were called Cappadocians, with whom there was a city then named Mazaca, since Caesarea ^F18 ; and these seem to be the same that Pliny ^F19 calls Moscheni, who inhabited the mountains Moschici, which were at the north east of Cappadocia. Some derive the Muscovites from them, which is not improbable.

The last of Japheth's sons is Tiras or Thiras, which Jarchi interprets very wrongly by Paras, or Persia. Much better are the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, and so a Jewish chronologer ^F20 , who interpret it by Thracia; for the descendants of Thiras, as Josephus ^F21 observes, the Greeks call Thracians; and in Thrace was a river called Atyras ^F23 , which has in it a trace of this man's name; and Odrysus, whom the Thracians worshipped, is the same with Tiras, which god sometimes goes by the name of Thuras; and is one of the names of Mars, the god of the Thracians.

FOOTNOTES:

• F26: In Theogonia.
• F1: Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.
• F2: Ib.
• F3: Phaleg. l. 3. c. 8. col. 171, 172.
• F4: Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 30.
• F5: Clio sive, l. 1. c. 16, 103. & Melpomene sive, l. 4. c. 11, 12, 13.
• F6: Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.)
• F7: Ib.
• F8: Dissert. 48.
• F9: Iliad. 13. ver. 685.
• F11: Acharneus. act. 1. scen. 3. p. 376.
• F12: Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.
• F13: Geograph. l. 5. c. 12.
• F14: Phaleg. l. 3. c. 12. col. 180.
• F15: See his Works, p. 2, 58.
• F16: Ancorat. p. 546.
• F18: Vid. Ammian. Marcellin. l. 20. p. 170. Ed. Vales.
• F19: Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 9, 10.
• F20: Sepher Juchasin, fol. 145. 1. Vid. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 10. 1.
• F21: Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.)
• F23: Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 4. c. 11.

And the sons of Gomer
Who was the first of the sons of Japheth, three of whose sons are mentioned, and they are as follow:

Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah ;
the first of these seated himself in the lesser Asia, in Pontus and Bithynia, where were some traces of hisname in the river Ascanius, and in the Ascanian lake or bay; and also in the lesser Phrygia or Troas, wherewas a city called Ascania, and where were the Ascanian isles ^F24 , and the Euxine Pontus, orAxeine ^F25 , as it was first called, which is the sea that separates Asia and Europe, and is noother than a corruption of the sea of Ashkenaz. It seems to have been near Armenia, by its being mentionedalong with Minni or Armenia, in (Jeremiah 51:27) .

Germany is by the Jews commonly called Ashkenaz; perhapssome of the posterity of Ashkenaz in Asia might pass into Europe, and Germany might be a colony of them; soMr. Broughton ^F26 observes of the sons of Gomer, that they first took their seat in Asia, and thencame north and west into Muscovy and Germany.

The next son of Gomer was Riphath. Josephus ^F1 says,that the Riphathaeans which came from him are the Paphlagonians, a people of Asia Minor, near Pontus, so thathe settled near his brother Ashkenaz; perhaps his posterity are the Arimphaei of Pliny ^F2 , andthe Riphaeans of Mela ^F3 , who inhabited near the Riphaean mountains, which might have their namefrom this son of Gomer, who in (1 Chronicles 1:6) is called Diphath, the letters (r) and (d) being very similar.

His third son is calledTogarmah, who had his seat in the north of Judea, see (Ezekiel 38:6) his posterity are the Phrygians,according to Josephus; but some place them in Galatia and Cappadocia; and Strabo ^F5 makesmention of a people called Trocmi, on the borders of Pontus and Cappadocia; and Cicero ^F6 of theTrogmi or Trogini, who may have their name from hence; for the Greek interpreters always call him Torgama orThorgana.

The Jews make the Turks to be the posterity of Togarmah. Elias Levita says ^F7 , thereare some that say that Togarmah is the land of Turkey; and Benjamin of Tudela ^F8 calls a Turkishsultan king of the Togarmans, that is, the Turks; and among the ten families of Togarmah, which Josephus benGorion ^F9 speaks of, the Turks are one; and perhaps this notion may not be amiss, since thecompany of Togarmah is mentioned with Gog, or the Turk, (See Gill on Ezekiel 38:6).

The Armenianspretend to be the descendants of Togarmah, who, with them, is the son of Tiras, the son of Gomer, by his sonHaik, from whom they and their country, from all antiquity, have borne the name of Haik ^F11 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: Strabo Geograph. l. 12. p. 387, 388. & l. 14. p. 468. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 4. 12. & 5. 30, 31, 32.
• F25: Vid. Orphei Argonautic, ver. 84.
• F26: See his Works, p. 2, 58.
• F1: Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.)
• F2: Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 2.
• F3: De Situ Orbis, l. 1. c. 2.
• F5: Geograph. l. 4. p. 130. & l. 12. p. 390.
• F6: De Divinatione, l. 2.
• F7: In Tishbi, p. 259.
• F8: ltinerarium, p. 27, 54.
• F9: Hist. Heb. l. 1. c. 1. p. 3.
• F11: See the Universal History, vol. 1. p. 377.

And the sons of Javan
Another son of Japheth; four sons of Javan are mentioned, which gave names to countries, and are as follow:

Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim; the first of these, Elishah, gave name to the Elysaeans, now called Aeoles, as Josephus^F12 says; hence the country Aeolia, and the Aeolic dialect, all from this name; and there are many traces of it in the several parts of Greece. Hellas, a large country in it, has its name from him; so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem interpret Elishah by Allas. Elis in Peloponnesus, Eleusis in Attica, the river Elissus, or Ilissus, and the Elysian fields, are so called from him.

Tarshish, second son of Javan, gave name to Tarsus, by which Cilicia was formerly called, as Josephus says^F13, of which the city named Tarsus was the metropolis, the birth place of the Apostle Paul, (Acts 22:3). Hence the Mediterranean sea is called Tarshish, because the Cicilians were masters of it; and Tartessus in Spain might be a colony from them, as Broughton observes; and so Eusebius says, from the Tarsinns are the Iberians, or Spaniards; and which Bochart^F14 approves of, and confirms by various evidences; and Hillerus,^F15 makes Tarshish to be the author of the Celtae, that is, of the Spanish, French, and German nations.

The third son of Javan is Kittim, whom Josephus^F16 places in the island of Cyprus, a city there being called Citium, from which Zeno came: but rather the people that sprung from him are those whom Homer^F17 calls Cetii; and are placed by Strabo^F18 to the west of Cilicia, in the western parts of which are two provinces, mentioned by Ptolemy^F19, the one called Cetis, the other Citis.

Likewise this Kittim seems to be the father both of the Macedonians and the Latines; for Alexander the great is said to come from Cittim, and Perseus king of Macedon is called king of Cittim, ``And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece,'' ``Beside this, how they had discomfited in battle Philip, and Perseus, king of the Citims, with others that lifted up themselves against them, and had overcome them:''

And Macedonia is sometimes called Macetia, as it is in Gellius^F20, which has something of the name of Cittim or Cetim in it; and also the Latines or Romans seem to spring from hence, who may be thought to be meant by Cittim in (Numbers 24:24) (Daniel 11:30).

And Eusebius says the Citians are a people from which the Sabines came, who also are Romans; and in Latium was a city called Cetia, as says Halicarnassensis^F21; and Bochart^F23 has shown, that Latium and Cethem signify the same, and both have their names from words that signify to hide; "latium a latendo", and "celhem", from (Mtk), "to hide", see (Jeremiah 2:22) in which sense the word is frequently used in the Arabic language; and Cittim in the Jerusalem Targum is here called Italy.

The last son of Javan mentioned is Dodanim; he is omitted by Josephus: his country is by the Targum of Jonathan called Dordania; and by the Jerusalem Targum Dodonia; and he and his posterity are placed by Mr. Mede in part of Peloponnessus and Epirus, in which was the city of Dodona, where were the famous temple and oracle of Jupiter Dodonaeus, under which name this man was worshipped.

In (1 Chronicles 1:7) he is called Rodanim, and in the Samaritan version here; and the word is by the Septuagint translated Rodians; which have led some to think of the island of Rhodes as the seat, and the inhabitants of it as the posterity of this man.

But Bochart^F24 is of opinion, that they settled in the country now called France, gave the name to the river Rhodanus, and called the adjacent country Rhodanusia, and where formerly was a city of that name, much about the same tract where now stands Marseilles; but this seems too remote for a son of Javan.

FOOTNOTES:

• F12: Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.)
• F13: Ib.
• F14: Phaleg. l. 3. c. 7.
• F15: Onomastic. Saer. p. 944.
• F16: Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.)
• F17: Odyss. 11. ver. 520.
• F18: Geograph. l. 13. p. 423.
• F19: Ibid. l. 5. c. 8.
• F20: Attic. Noct. l. 9. c. 3.
• F21: Hist. l. 8. p. 376.
• F23: Phaleg. l. 3. c. 5. col. 159, 160.
• F24: Phaleg. l. 3. c. 6. col. 163, 164.

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their
lands
That is, by those sons of Japheth before mentioned; and by "isles" are meant, not countries surrounded with water, for the isles in this sense would not have been sufficient for the posterity of Japheth; nor can it be thought they would leave the continent, where there was room enough for them, and go into islands; and besides must have found it difficult to get there, when shipping and navigation were little known: but it is usual with the Hebrews, of whom Moses, the writer of this history, was, to call all places beyond the Mediterranean sea, or whatsoever they went to by sea, or that were upon the sea coasts, islands, as Greece, Italy Moreover, the word sometimes signifies countries, as it does in (Job 22:30) (Isaiah 20:6) and so should be rendered here, as it is by some ^F25 , "the countries of the Gentiles";

so called, because in the times of Moses, and at the writing of this history, those countries were inhabited by Heathens and idolaters, strangers to the true religion: and this division was not made at random, and at the pleasure of a rude company of men, but in an orderly regular manner, with the consent, and by the advice and direction of the principal men of those times; and especially it was directed by the wise providence of the most High, who divided to the nations their inheritance, and set the bounds of the people, (Deuteronomy 32:8) .

everyone after his tongue, after their families, in their nations ;
this shows, that what is said concerning the division of countries to the sons of Japheth is by way of anticipation; and that, though thus related, was not done till after the confusion of languages, since the partition was made according to the different languages of men. Those that were of the same language went and dwelt together, the several nations of them, and the several families in those nations; by which it appears that this was done by consultation, with great care and wisdom, ranging the people according to their tongues; of which nations were formed, and with them were taken the several families they consisted of.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: (Mywgh yya) "regiones gentium", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Patrick.