10:2 The sons of Japheth 1 were Gomer, 2 Magog, 3 Madai, 4 Javan, 5 Tubal, 6 Meshech, 7 and Tiras. 8 10:3 The sons of Gomer were 9 Askenaz, 10 Riphath, 11 and Togarmah. 12 10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, 13 Tarshish, 14 the Kittim, 15 and the Dodanim. 16 10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.
10:6 The sons of Ham were Cush, 17 Mizraim, 18 Put, 19 and Canaan. 20 10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, 21 Havilah, 22 Sabtah, 23 Raamah, 24 and Sabteca. 25 The sons of Raamah were Sheba 26 and Dedan. 27
1 sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.
2 sn Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 49-61.
3 sn For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 22-24.
4 sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.
5 sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.
6 sn Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
7 sn Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
8 sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.
9 sn The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.
10 sn Askenaz was the ancestor of a northern branch of Indo-Germanic tribes, possibly Scythians. For discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 63.
11 sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.
12 sn Togarmah is also mentioned in Ezek 38:6, where it refers to Til-garimmu, the capital of Kammanu, which bordered Tabal in eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 26, n. 28.
13 sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.
14 sn The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.
15 sn The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.
16 tc Most of the MT
17 sn The descendants of Cush settled in Nubia (Ethiopia).
18 sn The descendants of Mizraim settled in Upper and Lower Egypt.
19 sn The descendants of Put settled in Libya.
20 sn The descendants of Canaan lived in the region of Phoenicia (Palestine).
21 sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.
22 sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.
23 sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.
24 sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.
25 sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.
26 sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.
27 sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.