Genesis 10:2-5

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.

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 mss read “Dodanim” here, but 1 Chr 1:7 has “Rodanim,” perhaps referring to the island of Rhodes. But the Qere reading in 1 Chr 1:7 suggests “Dodanim.” Dodona is one of the most ancient and revered spots in ancient Greece.