Ham (Hebrew: חָם, Modern H̱am Tiberian Ḥām ; Greek Χαμ, Kham ; Arabic: حام, Ḥām, "hot" or "burnt"), according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was a son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan.^[2][3]

Ham in the Bible[link]

This picture from the Nuremberg Chronicle uses the spelling "Cham".
Wrong Labels?
The figure raising Noah's outer and inner garment to expose his nakedness is labelled SEM(Shem), rather than CHAM(Ham), who is shown looking away toward IAPHET(Japeth) who has his hands over his eyes. Note CHAM's hand holding IAPHET's sleeve, and the scene is outdoors, not in a tent, as in the biblical account in Genesis 9.

Genesis 5:32 indicates that Noah begat Shem, Ham and Japheth while he was still 500 years old. (Noah was 600 years old at the time of the flood in Genesis 7.) The story of Ham is related in Genesis 9:20-27.

Genesis 9:20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: ²¹ And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. ²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. ²³ And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

²⁴ ¶ And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. ²⁵ And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. ²⁶ And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. ²⁷ God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
—Authorized Version

Curse of Canaan[link]

Ham was "blessed" in Genesis 9:1 - Noah did not curse him directly.

The Talmud deduces two possible explanations (attributed to Rab and Rabbi Samuel) for what Ham did to Noah to warrant the curse. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 70a.) According to Rab, Ham castrated Noah on the basis that, since Noah cursed Ham by his fourth son Canaan, Ham must have injured Noah with respect to a fourth son. Emasculating him thus deprived Noah of the possibility of a fourth son. According to Samuel, Ham sodomized Noah, on the analogy between “and he saw” written in two places in the Bible: With regard to Ham and Noah, it says, "[22] And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. [23] And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness." (Genesis 9:20-27 – while in Genesis 34:2, it says, "And when Shechem the son of Hamor saw her (Dinah), he took her and lay with her and defiled her." According to this argument, similar abuse must have happened each time that the Bible uses the same language. The Talmud concludes that, in fact, "both indignities were perpetrated."^{[citation needed]}

In more recent times, some scholars have suggested that Ham may have had intercourse with his father's wife.^[4] Under this interpretation, Canaan is cursed as the "product of Ham's illicit union."^[5]

Jubilees[link]

This "curse of Canaan" by Noah was likely connected to the conquest of Canaan by Israel. Both the conquest of Canaan and the curse, according to the Book of Jubilees 10:29-34, are attributed, rather, to Canaan's steadfast refusal to join his elder brothers in Ham's allotment beyond the Nile, and instead "squatting" within the inheritance of Shem, on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, in the region later promised to Abraham.^{[citation needed]}

The chronological scheme of Jubilees has Ham born in the year 1209 A.M. — two years after Shem, three before Japheth, and 99 before the flood. It gives the name of his wife who also survived the flood as Na'eltama'uk. After his youngest son Canaan was cursed in 1321 A.M., he left Mount Ararat and built a city named for his wife on the south side of the mountain. In 1569 A.M., he received a third division of the earth along with his two brothers for his inheritance: everything west of the Nile River, and to the south of Gadir. In 1639 A.M. when the nations were scattered following the failure of the Tower of Babel, Ham and his children journeyed to their allotment, with the exception of Canaan, who settled in Shem's territory, thus receiving another curse.^{[citation needed]}

Etymology[link]

According to the Bible, Ham was one of the sons of Noah who moved southwest (modern compass direction) into Africa and parts of adjoining areas of Asia, and was the forefather of the nations there. The Bible refers to Egypt as "the land of Ham" in Psalms 78:51; 105:23,27; 106:22; 1Ch 4:40. The Hebrew word for Egypt was Mizraim (a dual probably referring to the two lands), and was the name of one of Ham's sons. The Egyptian word for Egypt was Kemet (or Kmt), meaning "black land." Some scholars claim it was in reference to the fertile dark soil along the Nile Valley.^[6][7][8] Ham could plausibly be a name derived from Khem (Egypt), or vice versa, via sound change, due to the change in language between Egyptian and Hebrew, corresponding to the well known phonological change of /k/ into /x/ (voiceless velar fricative) into /h/. The names of Ham's other children correspond to regions at times within Egyptian influence - Kush, Canaan, and Phut.^{[citation needed]}

Ivan Ksenophontov. The damnation of Ham

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Counter arguments are often put forward that the connection is only between the Egyptian word and the typical modern pronunciation of Hebrew ? as /x/ ("kh") rather than /ħ/ (as was the case with biblical Hebrew, and suggest that the appearance is lessened with the original Hebrew ?? Ḥam with Northwest Semitic /ħ/ (such as in Hebrew, Phoenician, and Syriac). Further, Kam, the version of the name in Ge'ez—a South Semitic language—is seemingly borrowed from Biblical Hebrew via the Hebrew Bible and perhaps does not reflect a native derivation of the word.

In the 19th century, there was an erroneous transcription of the Egyptian for Min as ĥm ("khem"), purely by coincidence. Since this Khem was worshipped most significantly in Akhmim, the separate identity of Khem was reinforced, Akhmim being understood as simply a corruption of Khem. However, Akhmim is a corruption of ?m-mnw, meaning Shrine of Min, via the demotic form šmn. The existence of a god named Khem was later understood as a faulty reading, but unfortunately it had already been enshrined in books written by E. A. Wallis Budge—now out of copyright and widely reprinted. Thus this error still finds a home among some writers, who often use it to identify Ham with the imaginary god Khem, who may also be identified with the Greek Titan Cronos. (See the article Min (god) for more details.)

See also[link]

• Curse of Ham
• Noach (parsha)
• Sons of Noah
• Wives aboard the Ark

References[link]

Noah
Noah's sacrifice by Daniel Maclise
Antediluvian Patriarch, Prophet, Holy Forefather, Constructor of the Ark, 'Grateful Servant of God', 'Preacher of Righteousness'
Born	Mesopotamia (?)
Honored in	Judaism Christianity Islam Mandaeism Baha'i Faith
Influenced	Many Jews, Christians and Muslims

Noah ( /ˈnoʊ.ə/^[1]; or Noé, Noach; Hebrew: נֹחַ,‎ נוֹחַ, Modern Noaẖ Tiberian Nōăḥ; Arabic: نُوح‎ Nūḥ; Ancient Greek: Νῶε) was the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The story of Noah and the ark is told in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, which is followed by the story of the Curse of Ham. Outside Genesis his name is mentioned in Ezekiel, Isaiah and Chronicles. He was the subject of much elaboration in later Abrahamic traditions, including the Qur'an.

Noah in Genesis[link]

Mosaic depiction of Noah sending the dove

Noah was the tenth of the pre-Flood Patriarchs. His father Lamech named him nûaḥ (the final ḥ is a more gutteral sound than the English h), saying, "This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh from the ground which the LORD hath cursed."^[2] This connects the future patriarch's name with nāḥam, "comfort", but it seems better related to the word nûaḥ, meaning "rest", and is more a play on words than a true etymology.^[3][4]

In his five hundredth year Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. In his six hundredth year God, saddened at the wickedness of mankind, sent a great deluge to destroy all life, but because Noah was "righteous in his generation" God instructed him to build an ark and save a remnant of life. After the Flood Noah offered a sacrifice (the word nihoah, describing the "pleasant" odour of the sacrifice, is yet another pun on Noah's name) and entered into a covenant with God regulating the shedding of blood (i.e., mankind's permnission to kill under regulated circumstances).^[5] After this he became "the first tiller of the soil", planted a vineyard, and drank the wine, and fell asleep naked; Noah's son Ham saw his father naked and told his brothers, and Noah cursed Ham's son Canaan.^[6]

Noah died 350 years after the Flood, at the age of 950,^[7] the last of the immensely long-lived antediluvian Patriarchs. One of the longest human lifespans, as depicted by the Bible, diminishes rapidly thereafter, from almost 1,000 years to the 120 years of Moses. (The longest recorded lifespan was that of Methuselah, who lived to be 969 years old. – Gen. 5:27)

Origins[link]

According to the documentary hypothesis, the first five books of the Bible (Pentateuch/Torah), including Genesis, were collated during the 5th century BC from four main sources, which themselves date from no earlier than the 10th century BC. Two of these, the Jahwist, composed in the 10th century BC, and the Priestly source, from the late 7th century BC, make up the chapters of Genesis which concern Noah. The attempt by the 5th century editor to accommodate two independent and sometimes conflicting sources accounts for the confusion over such matters as how many pairs of animals Noah took, and how long the flood lasted.^[8][9]

Noah is described by three phrases: “a righteous man”, “blameless” and “walked with God”. He stands out from his contemporaries as a man of right conduct.^[10] who forewarned doom, by preaching.

In terms of Julius Wellhausen's critiquing, the story of Noah is categorized as an ethnological tradition that emerges from the conflict between Israel and Canaan. The passage “Canaan will serve Shem” reflects Israel’s conquest of the promised land.^[11]

According to Randall Bailey, the curse against Canaan was as a direct result of Ham performing a suspicious sexual act against his father, Noah. He suggests that the purpose for this redaction was to keep Israel from adopting sexual practices linked with Egypt and Canaan (Lev 18:3) and to demean the ancestor of Africans because Israelite custom regarded Africa as a standard of valuation.^[12]

According to Umberto Cassuto, Ham’s transgression is an allegory that represents the Canaanite people. The Canaanites were to suffer the curse not because of Ham’s sin, but because they acted like him by their own transgressions. The passage of Canaan serving Shem refers to the children of Canaan who served under Chedorlaomer, king of Elam,^{[Gen 14:4]} son of Shem.^[13]

A vineyard mosaic

Noah and wine[link]

Commentators, as early as the Classical era, on Genesis 9:20–21 have excused Noah’s excessive drinking because he was considered to be the first wine drinker, the first person to discover the soothing, consoling, and enlivening effects of wine.^[14] John Chrysostom, a church father, writes that Noah’s behaviour is defensible: as the first human to taste wine, he would not know its aftereffects: “Through ignorance and inexperience of the proper amount to drink, fell into a drunken stupor”.^[15]

Philo, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher also exonerates Noah by noting that one can drink in two different manners: (1) to drink wine in excess, a peculiar sin to the vicious evil man or (2) to partake of wine as the wise man, Noah being the latter.^[16]

In Jewish tradition, Rabbis blame Satan for saturating the vine with intoxicating properties from the blood of certain animals, thus Noah behaved not knowing what he was doing.^[17]

Noah and Ham[link]

In the field of Psychological biblical criticism, J. H. Ellens and W. G. Rollins address the narrative of Genesis 9:18–27 that narrates the unconventional behavior that occurs between Noah and Ham. Because of its brevity and textual inconsistencies, it has been suggested that this narrative is a “splinter from a more substantial tale”.^[18][19] A fuller account would explain what exactly Ham “had done to” his father; or why Noah directed a curse at Canaan for Ham’s misdeed; or how Noah came to know what occurred. The narrator relates two facts: (1) Noah became inebriated when he “uncovered himself within his tent” and (2) Ham “saw his father’s nakedness.” Thus, these passages revolve around sexuality and the exposure of genitalia as compared with other Hebrew bible texts, such as Habakkuk 2:15 and Lamentations 4:21.^[20]

Religious views[link]

Jewish views[link]

A Jewish depiction of Noah

The righteousness of Noah is the subject of much discussion among the rabbis.^[21] The description of Noah as "righteous in his generation" implied to some that his perfection was only relative: In his generation of wicked people, he could be considered righteous, but in the generation of a tzadik like Abraham, he would not be considered so righteous. They point out that Noah did not pray to God on behalf of those about to be destroyed, as Abraham prayed for the wicked of Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, Noah is never seen to speak; he simply listens to God and acts on his orders. This led such commentators to offer the figure of Noah as "the man in a fur coat," who ensured his own comfort while ignoring his neighbour. Others, such as the medieval commentator Rashi, held on the contrary that the building of the Ark was stretched over 120 years, deliberately in order to give sinners time to repent. Rashi interprets his father's statement of the naming of Noah (in Hebrew נֹחַ) “This one will comfort (in Hebrew– yeNaHamainu יְנַחֲמֵנו) from our work and our hands sore from the land that the Lord had cursed”,^[22] by saying Noah heralded a new era of prosperity, when there was easing (in Hebrew – nahah – נחה) from the curse from the time of Adam when the Earth produced thorns and thistles even where men sowed wheat and that Noah then introduced the plow.

Christian views[link]

An early Christian depiction showing Noah giving the gesture of orant as the dove returns

According to 2 Peter 2:5, Noah is considered a "preacher of righteousness". Of the Gospels in the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke compares Noah's Flood with the coming Day of Judgement: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.”^[23]

The First Epistle of Peter compares the saving power of baptism with the Ark saving those who were in it. In later Christian thought, the Ark came to be compared to the Church: salvation was to be found only within Christ and his Lordship, as in Noah's time it had been found only within the Ark. St Augustine of Hippo (354–430), demonstrated in The City of God that the dimensions of the Ark corresponded to the dimensions of the human body, which corresponds to the body of Christ; the equation of Ark and Church is still found in the Anglican rite of baptism, which asks God, "who of thy great mercy didst save Noah," to receive into the Church the infant about to be baptised.

In medieval Christianity, Noah's three sons were generally considered as the founders of the populations of the three known continents, Japheth/Europe, Shem/Asia, and Ham/Africa, although a rarer variation held that they represented the three classes of medieval society – the priests (Shem), the warriors (Japheth), and the peasants (Ham). In the 18th and 19th centuries the view that Ham's sons in general had been literally "blackened" by the curse of Noah was cited as justification for black slavery.^{[citation needed]}

In Latter-day Saint theology, the angel Gabriel lived in his mortal life as the patriarch Noah. Gabriel and Noah are regarded as the same individual; Noah being his mortal name and Gabriel being his heavenly name.^[24]

Islamic views[link]

An Islamic depiction of Noah

Noah is a highly important figure in Islam, and is seen as one of the most significant prophets of all. The Qur'an contains 43 references to Noah in 28 chapters and the seventy-first chapter, Chapter Noah, is named after him. Noah's narratives largely consist around his preaching as well the story of the Deluge. Noah's narrative lays the prototype for many of the subsequent prophetic stories, which begin with the prophet warning his people and then the community rejecting the message and facing a punishment. Noah is not the first prophet sent to mankind, according to the Quran (The first prophet according to Islam is Adam, who was the first man and thus the first prophet as he was the only one to deliver the message at that time). Noah has several titles in Islam, based primarily on praise for him in the Qur'an, including True Messenger of God (XXVI: 107) and Grateful Servant of God (XVII: 3). The Qur'an further states that God chose Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham and the family of Amram above all mankind (III: 33).

The Qur'an focuses on several instances from Noah's life more than others, and one of the most significant events is the Deluge. God makes a covenant with Noah just as with Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad later on (XXXIII: 7). Noah is later reviled by his people and reproached by them for being a mere human messenger and not an angel (X: 72-74). Moreover, the people of Noah mock Noah's words and call him a liar (VII: 62) and even suggest that Noah is possessed by a devil when the prophet ceases to preach (LIV: 9). Only the lowest in the community join Noah in believing in God's message (XI: 29), and Noah's narrative further describes him preaching both in private and public. The Qur'an narrates that Noah received a revelation to build an Ark, after his people refused to believe in his message and hear the warning. The narrative goes on to describe that waters poured forth from the Heavens, destroying all the sinners. After the Great Flood ceased, the Ark rested atop Mount Judi (Qur'an 11:44).

Gnostic views[link]

The tomb of Noah in the Nakhchivan area of the Azerbaijan Republic. The name Nakhchivan is believed to derive from the meaning "The place where Noah landed after the flood"

Gnosticism was an important development of (and departure from) early Christianity, blending Jewish scriptures and Christian teachings with traditional pagan religion and esoteric Greek philosophical concepts. An important Gnostic text, the Apocryphon of John, reports that the chief archon caused the flood because he desired to destroy the world he had made, but the First Thought informed Noah of the chief archon's plans, and Noah informed the remainder of humanity. Unlike the account of Genesis, not only are Noah's family saved, but many others also heed Noah's call. There is no ark in this account; instead Noah and the others hide in a "luminous cloud".

Baha'i views[link]

The Bahá'í Faith regards the Ark and the Flood as symbolic.^[25] In Bahá'í belief, only Noah's followers were spiritually alive, preserved in the ark of his teachings, as others were spiritually dead.^[26][27] The Bahá'í scripture Kitáb-i-Íqán endorses the Islamic belief that Noah had a large number of companions, either 40 or 72, besides his family on the Ark, and that he taught for 950 (symbolic) years before the flood.^[28]

Comparisons in other religions[link]

Noah's first burnt offering after the Flood – relief in Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc

Ancient Greek[link]

In Greek mythology, Noah has often been compared to Deucalion, the son of Prometheus and Pronoia. Like Noah, Deucalion is a wine maker or wine seller; he is forewarned of the flood (this time by Zeus and Poseidon); he builds an ark and staffs it with creatures – and when he completes his voyage, gives thanks and takes advice from the gods on how to repopulate the Earth. Deucalion also sends a pigeon to find out about the situation of the world and the bird return with an olive branch. This and some other examples of apparent comparison between Greek myths and the "key characters" in the Old Testament/Torah have led recent biblical scholars to suggest a Hellenistic influence in the composition of the earlier portions of the Hebrew Bible.^{[citation needed]}

Mesopotamian[link]

The earliest written flood myth is found in the Mesopotamian Epic of Atrahasis and Epic of Gilgamesh texts. Many scholars believe that Noah and the Biblical Flood story are derived from the Mesopotamian version, predominantly because Biblical mythology that is today found in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Mandeanism shares overlapping consistency with far older written ancient Mesopotamian story of The Great Flood, and that the early Hebrews were known to have lived in Mesopotamia.^[29]

Gilgamesh’s historical reign is believed to have been approximately 2700 BCE,^[30] shortly before the earliest known written stories. The discovery of artifacts associated with Aga and Enmebaragesi of Kish, two other kings named in the stories, has lent credibility to the historical existence of Gilgamesh.^[31]

The earliest Sumerian Gilgamesh poems date from as early as the Third dynasty of Ur (2100–2000 BC).^[32] One of these poems mentions Gilgamesh’s journey to meet the flood hero, as well as a short version of the flood story.^[33] The earliest Akkadian versions of the unified epic are dated to ca. 2000–1500 BC.^[34] Due to the fragmentary nature of these Old Babylonian versions, it is unclear whether they included an expanded account of the flood myth; although one fragment definitely includes the story of Gilgamesh’s journey to meet Utnapishtim. The “standard” Akkadian version included a long version of the flood story and was edited by Sin-liqe-unninni sometime between 1300 and 1000 BC.^[35] In the Mesopotamian epics, Nu-Atrahasis (Utnapishtim) is glorified as a hero for his epic deeds of building and loading the ark, whereas Genesis simply says, “Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.” Obedience to God, not human courage, is the focus in the later Genesis narrative.^[36]

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Noah

• Jewish Encyclopedia: Noah from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Noah
• MuslimWiki: Nuh

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This T and O map, which abstracts that society's known world to a cross inscribed within an orb, remakes geography in the service of Christian iconography and identifies the three known continents as populated by descendants of Shem (Sem), Ham (Cham) and Japheth (yafeth)

The Sons of Noah, or Table of nations, is an extensive list of descendants of Noah appearing in Genesis 10 of the Hebrew Bible, representing a traditional ethnology. The significance of Noah in this context is that, according to Genesis, the population of the Earth was completely destroyed during the Flood because of the wickedness of the inhabitants, and Noah and his family were the sole eight survivors to continue the human race. The view of history presented by the Bible is thus that all humans on Earth are descended from Noah's family.

Historicity and coverage[link]

The world according to the Mosaic account (1854 map)

A literal interpretation of Genesis 10 suggests that the present population of the world was descended from Noah's three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. Until the mid-19th century, this was taken by many as historical fact, and still is by many Orthodox Jews, and Christians.^{[citation needed]}

There are disputes about how many of the peoples of the Earth this story was intended to cover, and as to its accuracy. Many Jews and Christians retain the belief that the table applies to the entire population of the earth, while others read it as a guide only to local ethnic groups.^{[citation needed]}

The sons of Noah have not been mentioned in the Qur'an, except for the fact that one of the sons was among the people who did not follow his own father, not among the believers and thus was washed away in the flood. Also the Qur'an does not hint at a global deluge, but rather a regional flood, a great calamity, enough to have destroyed Noah's people, but to have saved him and his generations to come.^[1]

In the Biblical view, the listed children of Japheth, Shem and Ham correspond to various historic nations and peoples. In the typical interpretation, these sons of Noah correspond to three races: European, Semitic, and African. Alternate divisions claim Euro-Asian Japhet, Semitic Shem, and Afro-Asian Ham.^{[citation needed]}

Table of nations[link]

Shem, Ham and Japheth. Illustration by James Tissot 1904.

According to Genesis 10, Noah had three sons:

• Ham, forefather of the southern peoples (Hamitic)
• Shem, forefather of the middle peoples (Semitic)
• Japheth, forefather of the northern peoples (Japhetic Eurasia)

The names of these sons are thought to have significance related to Semitic roots. Ham means "warm".^[2] Shem merely means "name" or "renown", "prosperity".^[3] Japheth means "open".^[4]

It then proceeds to detail their descendants. The identification of several of the first generation is aided by the inclusion of the second, although several of their identifications are less certain. (The copy of the table in the biblical book of 1 Chronicles chapter 1 has occasional variations in the second generation, most likely caused by the similarity of Hebrew letters such as Resh and Daleth). Forms ending in -im are plurals, probably indicating names of peoples, and not intended as the name of a single person.

Japheth's descendants[link]

• Gomer, son of Japheth. Usually identified with the migratory Gimirru (Cimmerians) of Assyrian inscriptions, attested from about 720 BC.^{[citation needed]}
  • Ashkenaz, son of Gomer. It has been conjectured that this name arose from a misprint in Hebrew for "Ashkuz", by reading a nun for a vav. Ashkuz and Ishkuz were names used for the Scythians, who first appear in Assyrian records in the late 8th century in the Caucasus region, and at times occupied vast areas of Europe and Asia. Additionally, in Medieval Hebrew, Germany is known as Ashkenaz, and is the origin of the term Ashkenazic Jews.^{[citation needed]}
  • Riphath (Diphath in Chronicles), son of Gomer. Identification with Paphlagonians of later antiquity has been proposed, but this is uncertain.^{[citation needed]}
  • Togarmah, son of Gomer. Some Armenian and Georgian traditions have claimed descent from Togarmah; other authors have attempted to connect them with Turkic peoples.^{[citation needed]}
• Magog, son of Japheth. This name appears in the Assyrian texts as mat gugu, The Land of Gugu, and means Lydia. Gugu is known in Greek texts as Gyges of Lydia, a historical king of Lydia and the founder of the Mermnad dynasty (ruled c.716-678 BC). Is claimed as an ancestor in both Irish and Hungarian medieval traditions. Flavius Josephus, followed by Jerome and Nennius, makes him ancestor of the Scythians who dwelt north of the Black Sea. According to Johannes Magnus, Magog migrated to Sweden (via Finland) 88 years after the flood, and one of his sons was the first king of Sweden. His accounts became accepted by the Swedes, and the numbering of Swedish Monarchs was altered accordingly. Magog is also sometimes said to be the ancestor of the Goths, Finns, Huns, and Slavs.
• Madai, son of Japheth. The Medes of Northwest Iran first appear in Assyrian inscriptions as Amadai in about 844 BC.^{[citation needed]}
• Javan, son of Japheth. This name is said to be connected with the Ionians, one of the original Greek tribes.^{[citation needed]}
  • Elishah, son of Javan. Identifications have been proposed with various Aegean peoples such as Elis of northwestern Peloponnesos, or Ellis of Phthia.^{[citation needed]}
  • Tarshish (Tarshishah in Chronicles), son of Javan. Has been variously connected with Tarsus in Anatolia, or Tartessus in southern Spain.^{[citation needed]}
  • Kittim, offspring of Javan. Usually connected with Kition in Cyprus, but name appears in other texts with a variety of interpretations.^{[citation needed]}
  • Dodanim (Rodanim in Chronicles), offspring of Javan. Usually connected with large Aegean island of Rhodes near the coast of Asia Minor.^{[citation needed]}

Note: the Greek Septuagint (LXX) of Genesis includes an additional son of Japheth, "Elisa", in between Javan and Tubal; however, as this name is found in no other ancient source, nor in I Chronicles, he is almost universally agreed to be a duplicate of Elisha, son of Javan. Nevertheless, the presence of Elisa (as well as that of Cainan son of Arpachshad, below) in the Greek Bible accounts for the traditional enumeration among early Christian sources of 72 families and languages, from the 72 names in this chapter, as opposed to the 70 names, families and languages usually found in Jewish sources.^{[citation needed]}

• Tubal, son of Japheth. He is connected with Tabal, an Anatolian kingdom, and by way of the ancient tribe of the Tibareni both with the Iberians of the Caucasus and those of the Iberian peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal). Sometimes he is also seen as the ancestor of the Illyrians and Italics. In the book of Jubilees he was bequeathed the three 'tongues' of Europe.^{[citation needed]}
• Meshech, son of Japheth. He is regarded as the eponym of the Mushki tribe of Anatolia. The Mushki are sometimes considered one of the ancestors of the Georgians, but also became connected with the Sea Peoples who roved the Mediterranean Sea.
• Tiras, son of Japheth. This name is usually connected with that of Thracians, an ancient nation first appearing in written records around 700 BC. It has also been associated with some of the Sea Peoples such as Tursha and Tyrsenoi, with the river Tiras (Dniester), and sometimes with the Anatolian region of Troas, dating to the later 13th century BC. In tractate Yoma, of the Talmud, it states that Tiras is Persia.^{[citation needed]}

Japheth is traditionally seen as the ancestor of Europeans, as well as some more eastern nations; thus Japhetic has been used as a synonym for Caucasians. Caucasian itself derives in part from the assumption that the tribe of Japheth developed its distinctive racial characteristics in the Caucasus, where Mount Ararat is located. The term Japhetic was also applied by the early linguists (brothers Grimm, William Jones, Rasmus C. Rask and others) to what later became known as the Indo-European language group, on the assumption that, if descended from Japheth, the principal languages of Europe would have a common origin, which apart from Uralic, Kartvelian, Pontic, Dagestanian, and Basque, appears to be the case. In a conflicting sense, the term was also used by the Soviet linguist Nikolai Marr in his Japhetic theory intended to demonstrate that the languages of the Caucasus formed part of a once-widespread pre-Indo-European language group.^{[citation needed]}

Ham's descendants[link]

• Cush, son of Ham. The Empire of Kush to the south of Egypt is known from at least 1970 BC, but this name has also been associated by some with the Kassites who inhabited the Zagros area of Mesopotamia, the Sumerian city of Kish.^{[citation needed]}
  • Seba, son of Cush. Has been connected with both Yemen and Ethiopia, with much confusion with Sheba below. (The Shibboleth-like division amongst the Sabaeans into Sheba and Seba is acknowledged elsewhere, for example in Psalm 72, leading scholars to suspect that this is not a mistaken duplication of the same name, but a genuine historical division. The significance of this division is not yet completely understood, though it may simply reflect which side of the sea each was on.)^{[citation needed]}
  • Havilah, son of Cush. Usually considered to be a part of the Arabian peninsula near the Red Sea.^{[citation needed]}
  • Sabtah, son of Cush. Sometimes connected with Hadhramis (their ancient capital being Saubatha) in eastern Yemen.^{[citation needed]}
  • Raamah, son of Cush. Has been connected with Rhammanitae mentioned by Strabo in the southwest Arabian peninsula, and with an Arabian city of Regmah at the head of Persian Gulf.^{[citation needed]}
    • Sheba, son of Raamah. Has been connected with Sabaeans and peoples on either side of the narrowest part of the Red Sea, in both Yemen/South Arabia, and Eritrea/Ethiopia/Somalia.^{[citation needed]}
    • Dedan, son of Raamah. Apparently a region of the Tabuk Province of Saudi Arabia.^{[citation needed]}
  • Sabtechah, son of Cush. Possibly Sabaiticum Ostium, Sabaeans living around a specific harbour in Eritrea.^{[citation needed]}
  • Nimrod, son of Cush, also identified as a mighty hunter before God, and the founder of ancient Babel, Akkad, Sumer, and possibly cities in Assyria. The Hebrew wording of Genesis 10:11 has led to some ambiguity as to whether Asshur here is the son of Shem or a city built by Nimrod; either interpretation can be found in various modern versions.^{[citation needed]}
• Mizraim, son of Ham. Mizraim is a name for Upper and Lower Egypt and literally translates as Ta-Wy in Ancient Egyptian ("The Two Lands"). The -aim in Mizraim represents dual number. Arabic-speaking modern Egyptians refer to their country as Miṣr.
  • Ludim, offspring of Mizraim. Sometimes considered a scribal error for Lubim, a reference to the Lebou of Eastern Libya.^{[citation needed]}
  • Anamim, offspring of Mizraim. There is a reference in an Assyrian inscription from Sargon II's time to Anami, a tribe located in Cyrene, Libya.^{[citation needed]}
  • Lehabim, offspring of Mizraim. Identification uncertain, possibly Libya.^{[citation needed]}
  • Naphtuhim, offspring of Mizraim. Has been connected with Na-Ptah, the Egyptian form of Memphis.^{[citation needed]}
  • Pathrusim, offspring of Mizraim. Possibly connected with Egyptian word Pa-To-Ris meaning southerners.^{[citation needed]}
  • Casluhim ("out of whom came Philistim").(Genesis 10:14, 1Chronicles 1:12)
  • Caphtorim, offspring of Mizraim, associated with Caphtor in northeast Egypt near Philistia.(Genesis 10:14, 1Chronicles 1:12)
• Phut, son of Ham. Ancient authorities are fairly universal in identifying Phut with the Libyans (Lebu and Pitu), the earliest neighbors of Egypt to the west. (Although more recent theories have tried to connect Phut with Phoenicia, or the currently unidentified Land of Punt.)^{[citation needed]}
• Canaan, son of Ham. This is known to be the name of a nation and people who settled the Eastern shore of the Mediterranean in what is now called Israel and Lebanon and Syria.
  • Sidon, firstborn son of Canaan, and name one of the oldest city-states on the Phoenician coast.^{[citation needed]}
  • Heth, son of Canaan, considered ancestor of "Hittites", a people of Canaan, possibly connected with Hatti, a powerful entity in Anatolia.^{[citation needed]}
  • "the Jebusite", offspring of Canaan, a tribe that lived around Jerusalem, that was formerly known as Jebus according to the Books of Kings.^{[citation needed]}
  • "the Amorite", offspring of Canaan, a people living between the Jordan and Euphrates rivers by at least 2000 BC, known as Amurru to the Akkadians and Egyptians.^{[citation needed]}
  • "the Girgasites", offspring of Canaan
  • "the Hivite", offspring of Canaan
  • "the Arkite", offspring of Canaan, probably city-state of Arqa in Phoenicia.^{[citation needed]}
  • "the Sinite", offspring of Canaan, possibly connected with the Wilderness of Sin, or the Sinn river in Syria.^{[citation needed]}
  • "the Arvadite", offspring of Canaan, refers to the Phoenician city-state of Arwad, now; inhabited island in Syria.^{[citation needed]}
  • "the Zemarite", offspring of Canaan, refers to the Phoenician city-state of Zemar.^{[citation needed]}
  • "the Hamathite", offspring of Canaan, refers to Syrian city of Hamath.^{[citation needed]}

Africans were thus anciently understood to be the sons of Ham, particularly his descendant Cush, as Cushites are referred to throughout scripture as being the inhabitants of East Africa, and they and the Yoruba still trace their ancestry through Ham today. Beginning in the 9th century with the Jewish grammarian Judah ibn Quraysh, a relationship between the Semitic and Cushitic languages was seen; modern linguists group these two families, along with the Egyptian, Berber, Chadic, and Omotic language groups into the larger Afro-Asiatic language family. In addition, languages in the southern half of Africa are now seen as belonging to several distinct families independent of the Afro-Asiatic group. Some now discarded Hamitic theories have become viewed as racist; in particular a theory proposed in the 19th century by Speke, that the Tutsi were supposedly Hamitic and thus inherently superior.^{[citation needed]}

The 17th-century Jesuit, Athanasius Kircher, thought that the Chinese had also descended from Ham, via Egyptians.^[5]

Shem's descendants[link]

Shem is traditionally held to be the ancestor of the Semitic people; Religious Jews and Arabs consider themselves sons of Shem through Arpachshad (thus, Semites).

In the view of some 17th century European scholars (e.g., John Webb), the people of China and India descended from him as well.^[5]

• Elam, son of Shem. The Elamites called their land Haltamti and had an empire (capital Susa) in what is now Khuzistan, modern Iran. Elamite, however, is not a Semitic language.
• Ashur, son of Shem, associated with Assyria.
• Arpachshad, (also transcribed Arphaxad) son of Shem. He or his immediate descendants are credited in early tradition^[6] with founding the city of Ur of the Chaldees, usually identified (following archaeologist Wooley) with the Sumerian city of Ur on the south bank of the Euphrates^[7].
• Lud, son of Shem. Most ancient authorities assign this name to the Lydians of Eastern Anatolia.
• Aram, son of Shem. There are references to a campaign against a place called 'Arame' as early as 2300 BC in the inscriptions of Naram-Sin of Akkad^[8]
  • Uz, son of Aram.
  • Hul, son of Aram.
  • Gether, son of Aram.
  • Mash, son of Aram (1 Chronicles has Meshech).

Arpachshad's family (genealogy of Abraham) and the Line of Joktan[link]

The genealogy at this point lists several generations of Arpachshad's descendants, on account of their connection with the Hebrew nation and the rest of Genesis:

• Cainan is listed as the son of Arpachshad and father of Shelah in some ancient sources. The name is omitted in the Hebrew Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, but the Greek Septuagint and genealogy of Jesus in St. Luke 3:36 include the name.
• Shelah (also transcribed Salah) son of Arpachshad (or Cainan).
  • Eber son of Shelah.
    • Peleg, son of Eber. In the table, it is said that the Earth was divided in the days of Peleg. A threefold division among Ham, Shem and Japheth preceding the Tower of Babel incident, is elaborated on in several ancient sources^[9].
    • Joktan, son of Eber.

Joktan's Sons[link]

• Almodad, son of Joktan. According to Easton's Bible Dictionary "Almodad" means "immeasurable", however it has also been translated as "not measured",^[10] "measurer",^[11] "measure of God",^[12] "the beloved," or, "God is beloved",^[13] "God is love",^[14] and "God is a friend".^[15][16]

• Sheleph, son of Joktan. Sheleph means "drawing out" or "who draws out" (Hitchcock's Bible Dictionary).^{[Full citation needed]}
• Hazarmaveth, son of Joktan. Hazarmaveth, also transcribed Hazarmaueth, means "dwelling of death" (Hitchcock's Bible Dictionary).^{[Full citation needed]}
• Jerah, son of Joktan.
• Hadoram, son of Joktan. According to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's footnotes: "Hadarom: Some interpret this as denoting 'the south.'^{[Full citation needed]}
• Uzal, son of Joktan.
• Diklah son of Joktan.
• Obal, son of Joktan.
• Abimael, son of Joktan.
• Sheba, son of Joktan.
• Ophir, son of Joktan.
• Havilah, son of Joktan.
• Jobab, son of Joktan.

In historiography[link]

In Flavius Josephus[link]

Geographic identifications of Flavius Josephus, c. 100 AD

The first century Jewish-Roman historian Flavius Josephus, in Antiquities of the Jews Book 1, chapter 6, was among the first of many who attempted to assign known ethnicities to some of the names listed in Genesis chapter 10. His assignments became the basis for most later authors, and were as follows^[17]:

• Gomer: "those whom the Greeks now call Galatians, [Galls,] but were then called Gomerites".
  • Aschanax (Ashkenaz): "Aschanaxians, who are now called by the Greeks Rheginians".
  • Riphath: "Ripheans, now called Paphlagonians".
  • Thrugramma (Togarmah): "Thrugrammeans, who, as the Greeks resolved, were named Phrygians".
• Magog: "Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians".
• Madai: "the Madeans, who are called Medes, by the Greeks".
• Javan: "Ionia, and all the Grecians".
  • Elisa: "Eliseans... they are now the Aeolians".
  • Tharsus (Tarshish): "Tharsians, for so was Cilicia of old called". He also derives the name of their city Tarsus from Tharsus.
  • Cethimus (Kittim): "The island Cethima: it is now called Cyprus". He also derives the Greek name of their city, which he spells Citius, from Cethimus.
• Thobel (Tubal): "Thobelites, who are now called Iberes".
• Mosoch (Meshech): "Mosocheni... now they are Cappadocians." He also derives the name of their capital Mazaca from Mosoch.
• Thiras (Tiras): "Thirasians; but the Greeks changed the name into Thracians".

• Chus (Cush): "Ethiopians... even at this day, both by themselves and by all men in Asia, called Chusites".
  • Sabas (Seba): Sabeans
  • Evilas (Havilah): "Evileans, who are called Getuli".
  • Sabathes (Sabta): "Sabathens, they are now called by the Greeks Astaborans".
  • Sabactas (Sabteca): Sabactens
  • Ragmus (Raamah): Ragmeans
    • Judadas (Dedan): "Judadeans, a nation of the western Ethiopians".
    • Sabas (Sheba): Sabeans
• Mesraim (Misraim): Egypt, which he says is called Mestre in his country.
  • "Now all the children of Mesraim, being eight in number, possessed the country from Gaza to Egypt, though it retained the name of one only, the Philistim; for the Greeks call part of that country Palestine. As for the rest, Ludieim, and Enemim, and Labim, who alone inhabited in Libya, and called the country from himself, Nedim, and Phethrosim, and Chesloim, and Cephthorim, we know nothing of them besides their names; for the Ethiopic war which we shall describe hereafter, was the cause that those cities were overthrown."
• Phut: Libya. He states that a river and region "in the country of Moors" was still called Phut by the Greeks, but that it had been renamed "from one of the sons of Mesraim, who was called Lybyos".
• Canaan: Judea, which he called "from his own name Canaan".
  • Sidonius (Sidon): The city of Sidonius, "called by the Greeks Sidon".
  • Amathus (Hamathite): "Amathine, which is even now called Amathe by the inhabitants, although the Macedonians named it Epiphania, from one of his posterity."
  • Arudeus (Arvadite): "the island Aradus".
  • Arucas (Arkite): "Arce, which is in Libanus".
  • "But for the seven others [sons of Canaan], Chetteus, Jebuseus, Amorreus, Gergesus, Eudeus, Sineus, Samareus, we have nothing in the sacred books but their names, for the Hebrews overthrew their cities".

• Elam: "Elamites, the ancestors of the Persians".
• Ashur: Assyrians, and their city Niniveh built by Ashur.
• Arphaxad: "Arphaxadites, who are now called Chaldeans".
  • Sala
    • Heber (Eber): "from whom they originally called the Jews Hebrews".
      • Phaleg (Peleg): He notes that he was so named "because he was born at the dispersion of the nations to their several countries; for Phaleg among the Hebrews signifies division".
      • Joctan
        • "Elmodad, Saleph, Asermoth, Jera, Adoram, Aizel, Decla, Ebal, Abimael, Sabeus, Ophir, Euilat, and Jobab. These inhabited from Cophen, an Indian river, and in part of Asia adjoining to it."
• Aram: "Aramites, which the Greeks called Syrians".
  • Uz: "Uz founded Trachonitis and Damascus: this country lies between Palestine and Celesyria".
  • Ul (Hul): Armenia
  • Gather (Gether): Bactrians
  • Mesa (Mesh): "Mesaneans; it is now called Charax Spasini".
• Laud (Lud): "Laudites, which are now called Lydians".

In Hippolytus[link]

The chronicle of Hippolytus of Rome (c. 234), existing in numerous Latin and Greek copies,^[18] make another attempt to assign ethnicities to the names in Genesis 10, in some cases similar to those of Josephus, but with many differences, which are:

• Gomer – Cappadocians
  • Ashkenaz – Sarmatians
  • Riphath – Sauromatians
  • Togarmah – Armenians
• Magog – Galatians, Celts
• Javan
  • Elishah – Siculi (Chron Pasc: Trojans and Phrygians)
  • Tarshish – Iberians, Tyrrhenians
  • Kittim – Macedonians, Romans, Latins
• Tubal – "Hettali" (?)
• Meshech – Illyrians
• Misraim
  • Ludim – Lydians
  • Anamim – Pamphylians
  • Pathrusim – Lycians (var.: Cretans)
  • Caphtorim – Cilicians
• Put – Troglodytes
• Canaan – Afri and Phoenicians
  • Arkite – Tripolitanians
• Lud – Halizones
• Arpachshad
  • Cainan – "those east of the Sarmatians" (one variant)
    • Joktan
      • Elmodad – Indians
      • Saleph – Bactrians
      • Hazamaveth, Sheba – Arabs
      • Adoram – Carmanians
      • Uzal – Arians (var.: Parthians)
      • Abimael – Hyrcanians
      • Obal – Scythians
      • Ophir – Armenians
      • Deklah – Gedrosians
• Aram – "Etes" ?
  • Hul – Lydians (var: Colchians)
  • Gether – "Gaspeni" ?
  • Mash – Mossynoeci (var: Mosocheni)

The Chronicle of 354, the Panarion by Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 375), the Chronicon Paschale (c. 627), the History of Albania by the Georgian historian Movses Kaghankatvatsi (7th century), and the Synopsis of Histories by John Skylitzes (c. 1057) follow the identifications of Hippolytus.

In Jerome[link]

Jerome, writing ca. 390, provided an 'updated' version of Josephus' identifications in his Hebrew Questions on Genesis. His list is substantially identical to that of Josephus in almost all respects, but with the following notable differences:

• Thubal, son of Japheth: "Iberians, who are also the Spaniards from whom derive the Celtiberians, although certain people suppose them to be the Italians."
• Gether, son of Aram: "Acarnanii or Carians"
• Mash, son of Aram: Maeones

In Isidore of Seville and later authors[link]

The scholar Isidore of Seville, in his Etymologiae (ca. 600), repeats all of Jerome's identifications, but with these minor changes^[19]:

• Joktan, son of Eber: Indians
• Saleph, son of Joktan: Bactrians
• Magog, son of Japheth: "Scythians and Goths"
• Ashkenaz, son of Gomer: "Sarmatians, whom the Greeks call Rheginians".

Isidore's identifications for Japheth's sons were repeated in the Historia Britonum attributed to Nennius. Isidore's identifications also became the basis for numerous later mediaeval scholars, remaining so until the Age of Discovery prompted newer theories, such as that of Benito Arias Montano (1571), who proposed connecting Meshech with Moscow, and Ophir with Peru.

Shem as the Father of the Far East[link]

The Emperor Yao, whom the Figurist Jesuits thought to be the image of Noah on the traditional Chinese history

In the view of some 17th century European scholars (e.g., John Webb), the people of China and India descended from Shem.^[5] Both Webb and the French Jesuits belonging to the Figurist school (late 17th-early 18th century) went even further, identifying the legendary Emperor Yao of Chinese history with Noah himself.^[5]

Extrabiblical sons of Noah[link]

There exist various traditions in post-biblical sources claiming that Noah had children other than Shem, Ham, and Japheth — born variously before, during, or after the Deluge.

According to the Quran (Hud v. 42–43), Noah had another unnamed son who refused to come aboard the Ark, instead preferring to climb a mountain, where he drowned. Some later Islamic commentators give his name as either Yam or Kan'an.^[20]

According to Irish mythology, as found in the Annals of the Four Masters and elsewhere, Noah had another son named Bith, who was not allowed aboard the Ark, and who attempted to colonise Ireland with 54 persons, only to be wiped out in the Deluge.

Some 9th century manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles assert that Sceafa was the fourth son of Noah, born aboard the Ark, from whom the House of Wessex traced their ancestry; in William of Malmesbury's version of this genealogy (c. 1120), Sceaf is instead made a descendant of Strephius, the fourth son born aboard the Ark (Gesta Regnum Anglorum).

An early Arabic work known as Kitab al-Magall or the Book of Rolls (part of Clementine literature) mentions Bouniter, the fourth son of Noah, born after the flood, who allegedly invented astronomy and instructed Nimrod.^[21] Variants of this story with often similar names for Noah's fourth son are also found in the ca. 5th century Ge'ez work Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan (Barvin), the ca. 6th century Syriac book Cave of Treasures (Yonton), the 7th century Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius (Ionitus^[22]), the Syriac Book of the Bee 1221 (Yônatôn), the Hebrew Chronicles of Jerahmeel, ca. 12th–14th cent. (Jonithes), and throughout Armenian apocryphal literature, where he is usually referred to as Maniton; as well as in works by Petrus Comestor c. 1160 (Jonithus), Godfrey of Viterbo 1185 (Ihonitus), Michael the Syrian 1196 (Maniton), Abu Salih the Armenian c. 1208 (Abu Naiţur); Jacob van Maerlant c. 1270 (Jonitus), and Abraham Zacuto 1504 (Yoniko).

Martin of Opava (c. 1250), later versions of the Mirabilia Urbis Romae, and the Chronicon Bohemorum of Giovanni di Marignola (1355) make Janus (i.e., the Roman deity) the fourth son of Noah, who moved to Italy, invented astrology, and instructed Nimrod.

According to the monk Annio da Viterbo (1498), the Hellenistic Babylonian writer Berossus had mentioned 30 children born to Noah after the Deluge, including sons named Tuiscon, Prometheus, Iapetus, Macrus, "16 titans", Cranus, Granaus, Oceanus, and Tipheus. Also mentioned are daughters of Noah named Araxa "the Great", Regina, Pandora, Crana, and Thetis. However, Annio's manuscript is widely regarded today as having been a forgery.^[23]

See also[link]

Notes[link]

• Dillmann, A., Genesis: Critically and Exegetically Expounded, Vol. 1, Edinburgh, UK, T. and T. Clark, 1897, 314.
• Kautzsch, E.F.: quoted by James Orr, "The Early Narratives of Genesis," in The Fundamentals, Vol. 1, Los Angeles, CA, Biola Press, 1917.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Latin Vulgate and English Douay-Rheims
• English Septuagint
• King James Version and Revised Standard Version
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Entry for "Genealogy" - a 1901/6 view (the early days of comparative linguistics and the documentary hypothesis).
• The connection of modern nations to the table according to a creationist source (with Europe as descended from the tribes of Israel, and the UK and USA from Joseph (but by different sons)).
• Custance, Arthur C., The Roots of the Nations. A more standard creationist account that associates Japheth with Europe.