Japheth Son of Noah

Japheth

Japheth, from the Hebrew word meaning enlargement,  is one of Noah’s sons along with Shem and Ham. He is usually referred to as Yafeth bin Nuh or Japeth son of Noah in Arabic records.

He was born when Noah was more than 500 years old. And is often listed as the last among Noah’s three sons ( ie Shem, Ham, and Japheth) which made people think he was the youngest son. But there are also instances where he is treated as the eldest son.  He is listed on the Amazing Bible Timeline with World History at 2450 BC.

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Japheth was identified as a philosopher filled with knowledge and responsible for spreading vast intellect to humanity. He and his brother Shem showed enormous respect to their father when they covered Noah’s nakedness the time he was very drunk inside his tent. Because of this, Japeth was blessed by expanding his territory and given the privilege to live in the “tents of Shem” with Canaan under his command.

He was one of the eight people saved by Noah’s ark during the great flood along with his wife who was not named by the Bible. They were able to propagate seven sons after the flood, namely; Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

Where did Japheth and his descendants live?

Japheth is usually thought of as the “Father of the Europeans” and the “Father of the Japhetic Race” equating the Japhetic nations to Europeans. He is known to be the ancestor of all Indo-European nations. The majority of his descendants are situated in north western regions like Anatolia and Aegean. However, there are also assumptions that Japheth is the “Father of the Asian or Mongoloid People.”

After what happened to the Tower of Babel, the Japhetic race went to the east of Europe and north of Asia to propagate. The Bible phrase that states they migrated to the “isles of the Gentiles” is generally thought to be the Greek isles but some consider that it refers to the islands in Asia and the Pacific Islands. His sons and their people started to multiply in the mountains of Taurus and Amanus. Then they dwelt to the lands of presently known as the Mediterranean Russia, Asia, and the Americas.  A fraction of them stayed in Europe until the conquest of the Shemite tribes that drove them to the northern areas. Soon after they were forced further to the east of Asia when the Shemite tribes invaded and occupied the entire South of Europe.

Early Greeks have their deity, Iapetos or Iapetus, the son of heaven and earth and the father of many nations, whereas, India worshipped Pra-Japati, the sun and perceived Lord of Creation. And later on the Greeks have Iupater then Jupiter while the Saxons have their Sceaf. All of these are different versions of the Japheth’s name. The ancient Irish Celts and Britons also outlined their royal houses from Japheth.

What does the Bible state about Japheth?

Genesis 5:32. The 500-year old Noah became a father to Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 6:10, 1 Chronicles 1:4. Japheth as one of Noah’s three sons.

Genesis 7:13. Japheth and his wife were among the eight people who entered Noah’s ark.

Genesis 9:18-19. The sons of Noah; Shem, Ham, and Japheth came out from the ark and became the ancestors of all the people on earth.

Genesis 9:23-27. Shem and Japheth, avoiding looking at the naked Noah, covered the nakedness of their father. And for doing such, Japheth was blessed by extending his territory, sharing the “tents of Shem”, and having Canaan as his slave.

Genesis 10:1-2. Japheth had seven sons after the flood.

1 Chronicles 1:5. The seven sons of Japheth.

Genesis 10:21. Japheth as the younger brother of Shem.

Related Articles

Are There Triplets in the Bible

Noah

Ham

Shem

References:

http://creationwiki.org/Japheth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japheth

http://ldolphin.org/cooper/appen3.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/japheth

http://www.bible-truth.org/GEN10.HTM

http://www.keyway.ca/htm2006/20060806.htm

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65 thoughts on “Japheth Son of Noah

  1. v informative – thank you

    1. You’re welcome. We’re glad it was useful to you.

    2. I don’t agree with aspects of your research. When you say “Japeth was blessed by expanding his territory and given the privilege to live in the “tents of Shem” with Canaan under his command.”
      This is misleading and based on a narrow and bigoted interpretation of those verses from the original Hebrew. I hope you will expand your scholarship and write truth.

      1. The word enlarge was an inappropriate interpretation. The original word denotes more of a deception rather than what the word enlarge conveys. Japheth was a deceiver. Living in the tents of Shem is a warning for the true Shemites. The Bible as it stands today is not truth but some truth can be gleaned. I suspect Ham and Japheth are not characterized correctly. The adversary never leaves a smoking gun.

        1. The RH Negative Europeans are the 10 lost tribes of Israel. They are not Jews they are the founders of Israel, the real Israelites. Jaffa named after Japheth, is the oldest, biggest and Holiest port in Israel. Still there today and all of Israel says Japheth built not only the port but what would later become Tel Aviv and the temple was all facilitated through his port.

      2. Genesis 9:20-27 Noah’s Shame and Canaan’s Curse

        20And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23And 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. 24And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

        25And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

        Shem’s Blessing and Noah’s Death

        26And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

        27God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
        That should answer your questions.

  2. why will the the descendents of Japheth be the enemy of the sons of Shem Israel in the end.
    They were both the nicer brothers?

    1. Not all of Japheth’s descendants will be against Israel (just the bad ones … ). The Celtic part of the map in Appendix 10 is around Ireland, Scotland, England, and France. My ancestors were from Ireland where Christians left to come to America because they were being killed for their religion. My opinion.

      1. This article is very erroneous. Ham was the youngest son Noah who descendants are represented in Africans, indigenous Australians, Pacific islanders, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Pakistanis, Native Americans, (Olmecs,Toltecs, Mayans, Incas Aztecs) Shem, the middle son is the father of the Middle eastern tribes, except (Canaanites descendants). Japheth, which Genesis 10:21 clearly states to be the eldest of the 3, (contrary to what this article tries to portray) was the father of the Northwestern and Eastern European tribes, except for the farthest Northeastern people of Russia, name Siberia.

        1. So, where did they get the DNA from for Ham, Shem and Japheyh in order to underpin this opinion?

          1. The Ancient Maps are a great reference in regards to tracking the 3 sons pathways around the world.

        2. so where did the tartarian people come from them if they came out of the caucus moutains?

        3. Pakistanis are literally Pashtuns and Punjabis
          Both are Indo Iranian people

          Pakistanis are literally lost tribe races

      2. All of Japhets children are Israel.

        1. European not Israel.. Israelites are Shemites, sceiptures is very clear on genealogy
          ..

    2. The feud is because of birthright. In genesis it reads the brothers went backwards and covered their fathers nakedness which is a metaphor of shame. The expression of going “backwards” in its original connotation communicates “confusion” . Shem and Japheth intermixed to such a degree confusion took root causing the descendants of Japheth/ Shem to usurp the position of Shem and his progeny as “firstborn”.

      1. Uncovering your father’s nakedness is a Hebrew idiom. It’s in Numbers somewhere I think it means to sleep with your father’s wife which in this case was his mother

        1. I’ve been researching this! It blew my mind and completely changed the context of the situation. It also makes the dire punishment God prophesied through Noah make perfect sense.

          Why would God skip over the guy who DID the sin (Ham) and pronounce a curse over his son, Canaan?

          I personally believe Canaan was born of maternal incest because through the Bible you will see attempts by sons to usurp their Patriarchs by sleeping with their wives/concubines. It was about power-grabbing, not sexual desires. Example, King David’s son, Absalom did this when he tried to grab the throne from David. When you do this, you effectively steal the title as patriarch, produce heirs and push your father out of authority. It’s a serious rebellion.
          It’s possible Ham wanted to give HIS family a head start and be the Head Patriarch in the New Post-Flood World. It would also make sense why Ham immediately went and told his brothers what he did. He might have bragged that he was now in charge or even tried to convince his brothers to do the same against their father. If that’s the motive, Ham’s actions make perfect sense.
          That aside, incest is a gross violation of natural order and Ham’s descendants, the Canaanites are described by God in Leviticus 18 to be engaging in all kinds of incestuous practices, to the point God had to list them all out and forbid these practices to his people.”

          So unfortunately Canaan, through no fault of his own, got inflicted with a generational curse because of Ham. But thankfully later in scripture you can see God still trying to save and redeem various descendants of Canaan. Even giving them 400 years to repent before allowing Joshua and the Hebrews to drive them out of the Promised Land as final judgement.

          Another question is why didn’t Noah have any more children? He was still of childbearing age and lived for another 3oo years after the flood. It’s weird that he didn’t have any more kids unless something sad happened to his wife from the incest she suffered… Any thoughts from anyone is welcome and of course, revelation from the Lord.

          Grace and Peace~

          1. The Bible never explicitly says that Noah did not have other sons and daughters after the deluge… in fact God’s command to multiply and replenish the Earth was given both to Noah and his sons.

          2. Hi, just want to mention a couple things in reply.
            “Why would God skip over the guy who DID the sin (Ham) and pronounce a curse over his son, Canaan”
            I’m pretty sure the reason Noah cursed Ham’s son Canaan, at the end of Genesis chapter 9, instead of Ham is because God just blessed Ham at the beginning of Genesis chapter 9 (And God BLESSED Noah and his SONS Gen.9:1). Ham would still live in shame, his son Canaan would bear the price. This also allows Ham’s 3 other sons to escape punishment.

            “Another question is why didn’t Noah have any more children?”

            Genesis chapter 9:1 “God said unto them”. The word “them” being the Sons, they will “multiply and fill the earth”.
            Then over to Genesis 9:19 “These are the tree sons of Noah: and by them was the while earth overspread (populated).

            Thanks for the chat.

            Oh, I should clarify

            “This allows Ham’s other 3 sons to escape punishment

            ‘for this particular sin of Ham (in Gen.9:22)’”.

        2. Nope. Two different Hebrew words are translated. The Genesis one means SAW his father’s nakedness… the numbers one says uncovered and is indeed an idiom regarding his father’s wife.

    3. They always have been but they also drew out a third of the stars of heaven.

    4. True. As it was suppose to be Ham that was a servant of servants to both Japheth and Shem. Ham being the father of Egypt, Ethiopia and etc… It is surprising.

    5. Because what is seen as Israel is not the true Israel (Isitreal?) It is defiled by a people who war within its own kind, spreading war and distraction throughout the world, like a cancer it devours to its own end, like lies.

  3. Is there any truth in the following statement:
    The peoples of the B Positive blood group are descendants of Japheth?

    1. I don’t know how any one could know that but I’ll leave the question up here for others to answer.

      1. My DNA test went back as far as the Ashkenaz Jews. I am B positive blood type, which is through my Mother’s line.

    2. I am a decendant of Japheth and I am rh 0 negative.

      1. I am a direct descendant of Japheth and I am rh O Positive. Interestingly that pretty much all of my Asian friends are A/B blood types. I am 100% European… so I am going to suggest NO… There is no truth to this.

        1. 100% European? Hmm I suggest you study the history of civilization.

          1. Are you referring to Indo-Europeans? If so she can certainly be called 100% European because obviously it’s a statement about the peoples who settled and created the Nations of Europe. . .

      2. I am A+, I am from the Japeth tribe. I am doing Ancestry. I believecone day I will proof what Papa shared with me. I asked Papa(God) since I fo not kniw who my father is, could you at least thdn share with me in wich tribe did I come from. The letters of Japeth rled through my mind. I did not grow up in the word of God much other than knowing the short version the story of Noah and that was mainly knowing about the Ark. And the animals. So the day came when papa rolled the letters through my head and that’s what started my search.

        1. Me too I am O positive he is 152 great grandfather

      3. I’m O- as well and my ancestors came from Ireland, Europe

  4. Very informative. Am named after japheth.
    Had never known biblical meaning of japheth

    1. Japheth means enlargement

    2. You need to read the book of enoch and the book japher get the fill story it was about the cloth he was wearing that was past down from father to son ham took it

  5. Many have misinterpreted Gomer, the Gomerians, the Komerians and Cimmerians (of haplogroup R1b1) as the same as the Samerians (Samaritans), people of Omri, the king of the house of Israel (who are haplogroup J, J1 and J2).

    1. that is incorrect they have the haplogroup of R1a1

  6. I find it unusual that the wives of these four men are overlooked when it comes to ethnic types. It is not stated that Noah’s wife was the mother of any of his sons. Looking at his age, he may have outlived many wives, or had more than one at any time. The brothers must have had reasonably young wives (for the time) and there is nothing to indicate that the four women were from the same ethnic group. Pre tower of Babel fold must have all lived very close, and could have had a variety of personal characteristics.
    Going back to Adam, there is nothing said about the skin colour of either, or what group we may have classified them as. One could have been white while the other black, or maybe of Oriental appearance. Think about it.

    1. I’ve had that same thoughts concerning the wives and the dna. To note, all are descendants of Adam and Eve. Post flood, the earth took on drastic climatic changes that also had impact on human adaptations to their environments. That would include physical features and skin color.

      1. It was not unusual that the wife of Noah or the wives or Noah’s children were not mentioned. Remember Moses wrote this from 1) what was known Hebrew history, and 2) inspired by God. At this time it was customary to mention the male children but not the female children by name, same as the wives. It was just the way it was. There may be some Jewish traditions and non biblical stories that name Noah’s wife but there is no way to know for sure what her name was and apparently according to the author (Moses) it didn’t matter. Sarai was the first woman mentioned after the flood and only Eve and a couple other women were named prior to the flood. Moses wrote that too. They were not important to the story being laid out.

    2. For the colour of Adam (and Eve), the clue is in his name: Adam (Hebrew Adom) means ‘red’.
      It is not unreasonable to assume the colour of his skin gave him his name. The dust, or clay, of the ground being red in colour.
      Esau was also known as Edom. In Hebrew, Adam and Edom are indistinguishable; and Esau/Edom was so called because he was both hairy, and red-haired.
      As an aside, it was his descendants who served the Israelites, not Esau serving Jacob. Those who try to say that Esau served Jacob, have made that prophecy a false one — something God has NEVER given!

      1. Interesting

    3. Not sure why you would find it unusual. For some reason we live in a society that focuses on ethnicity as somehow that is important as is the color of someone’s skin. No it does not state but is implied that Noah’s wife was the mother of Japheth, Shem and Ham. The ages of these pre-flood patriarchs were 10 times longer than we live today. A 500 year old man (as Noah was) would be equivalent to a 45 – 50 year old man today in terms of stamina and reproductive ability. The scriptures also do not mention that Noah (in all probability) had many many other children that did not believe and did not go into the ark and perished in the flood, therefore they simply were not mentioned in Genesis. I would suspect that the wives or Noah’s sons were of the relative same age as the sons and just put off child bearing knowing the coming cataclysm. If you look at the relative reproductive age or the patriarchs in Genesis they were somewhat later than modern man. The named child listed in Genesis 5 was not the first born but the important one that would carry on the line up to Noah through Abraham and to Christ. Each of these Patriarchs including Adam had many sons and daughters that were not named. With the exception of Adam all these men began having children about the age of 35 meaning they aged far slower than we do today. Methuselah didn’t just live an active prosperous life and then began slowing down around 70 or 80 like we do today and then spent the remaining 800 plus years in a nursing home. We age much more rapidly post flood than they did before the flood which means they had a couple hundred years of reproduction life well up to age of 500 as in Noah’s case. They each probably had hundreds of children in their lifetime and yes the women were strong and able to produce many many children. During this time there was no such thing as ethnicity. We are all descendants of Noah through his 3 sons and their wives. They were one people and spoke one language until Babel. After the dispersion from Babel many families became more or less isolated from other family units and certain physical characteristics became more or less prominent due to this and other nutritional and environmental differences which also affected skin color since you mentioned it. There is really nothing to think about considering we all came from Adam and then later Noah. For those who get hung up on skin color it is pretty simple. It is probable that the original skin color was more tan or brown as you find in the Middle East whereas those who migrated after Babel to the northern latitudes where there was less sunlight began losing pigment and developed lighter skin color. Likewise those who moved into the equatorial regions such as Africa and India developed darker skin. There is only one race and we all came from Noah via his three sons. Nothing more and nothing less.

      1. White race came from Japheth (european) black race came from Ham (middle east) brown race came from shem (far east), only one language used the ancient 17 pilasgec divine letters the 7th letter is “HA” means Breath of Life brought from the east Qedem to Europe (ref Baybayin scripts) hidden for thousandth years,…

      2. I tend to agree with your explanation. We are one nation from one family. Skin colour is a mater of environmental and diet. We separated into different parts of the world and populated from there as different cultures developed.

  7. Arabian Christians are the descendants of Shem.

  8. The fair skinned sharp nosed brown eyed ones among the North Indians/Pakistanis are descendants of Japehth, as their ancestors moved in from central Asia south wards to India, while southern Indians who are more indigenous to the subcontinent with blacker skin are the descendants of Ham. Much of India is mix between Japhethic and Hamitic people.

  9. I have done family research for over 50 years. And I was right on target on my family according to my DNA. However what I did not have a clue about is my DNA traced and showed my genetic line goes back to the Ashkenaiz Jews.

    Now in discovery of my research Ashkenanz is the son of Gomer, the son of Japheth, the son of Noah.

    As it turns out my tracked down my direct line many years ago, and low and behold they resided in the same village of Ashkenanz. The bottom line however is, Shoemaker did not disclose their ethnic background and it was a matter of changing the spelling to {Schummacher}. It seems his wife whom I am a descendant on the other hand had no problem.

    Needless to say many other things make sense to now. It seems many other people are from the same circle. I read a lot, including the Bible, the old testament and am happy to say, as I told my family, our direct line is in the Bible Genes 10:13- and several other areas. I think getting the DNA testing is the most wonderful thing a person can do for themselves if they really want to know the truth.

    1. did not know Ashkenanz was son of Gomer. I know however that armenians descend from Gomer, son of Japeth, son of Noah. So, if the Jews do not descend from Japeth, how come the Ashkenanz are jews?

      1. It is all a lie. We could never have Ashkenazi( Japhet) answering Jew(Shem) name… I believe its linked to what Noah said, “God enlarge Japhet, and may he dwell in the tents of shame”.. 44% of Israel is Europeans who claim to be Israelites. Japhet is dwelling in the tent of Shem. Israel is the tent of Shem yet populated by Europeans( Japhet)… Japhet indeed is enlarged.

    2. Hello
      I am trying to find which tribe the Ashkenaz people are part of. I am 50%Ashenazi from my fathers side
      However, really want to know the tribe. Do you have the information or can you tell me where I can find it. Thank you . Cindy (from (Kantrovich, lineage)

      1. Are you Russian?

  10. Adam was made from the ground there are 5 main colors of dirt red, yellow, black, white, and brown, so Adam had all colors each child he had could have been different color bottom lime is we all have every color in us on i have seen two black people have a white child (albino) can happen in any color of people the pigment of the skin determines the color you will be.

    1. This is the only thing that makes sense. The genetic make-up for all of mankind would have had to have been encoded in Adam and Eve and their decendents up until Noah and his sons. After the flood, There was no one left on earth so Shem, Ham and Japheth carried the genetic make-up for all mankind since Noah was a decendent of Adam. It doesn’t matter what color they were. Most likely they were different colors because Shem, Ham and Japheth were the fathers of different nations! The Garden of Eden was filled with variety! Why would the Lord deviate from that when it came to the creation of man?

      We are all unique and wonderfully created children of God! All should rejoice and take pride in that. If you can see the beauty in yourself then God will bless you with the ability of see the beauty in others! Behold the power of the Lord!

      Now, who are the decendents of the Nephilim–the offspring of fallen angels (demons)? Genesis 6:4 says they were on the earth before the Flood AND AFTERWARD. If they were on the earth afterward does that mean that the Nephilim who were on the earth before the flood survived the flood or does that mean more were born after the flood? That is the question. Descendents of a demonic bloodline would come in all colors too. In every race, in all walks of life wherever you find imperfect human beings, you will find the good, the bad, the ugly and the downright evil. To tell angels from demons, pray for Discernment.

      1. Whilst I agree with your version of things. I fail to see where the bible says the Nephillim was there after the flood. Can you help with the Biblical verse there.

  11. The information was really helpful. I am really thankful for this app. I also learned a lot

  12. Hi I am seeing and hearing different things. The planet is older than what it says in the bible? There’s Enoch? There was people around before the flood? The pyramid that’s been around a very long time before the flood? The Mayans? There’s people saying different things Henry Lincoln, Erich von däniken and there’s me seeing strange objects in the sky UFOs. What is the real thing?

    1. According to the Book of Genesis creation took place 6,000 years ago, anything else I would doubt, I believe Gods word

    2. Pyramids are built on sedimentary rock layed down during the flood.

  13. Thank you

  14. Then Stephen what is the truth, if you know it I would like to hear it.

  15. It is quite interesting how many times the word fact was used in this video presentation. It is quite the opposite, however, in that there are no clear cuts facts in the Scriptures. Indeed, every single name has been scrubbed into a familiar nickname in an effort to deco textual identity the protagonists. This was done as part of the cabling of historical events into easily digestible bytes of information. This process is part of making the history into a cartoonish, anecdotal semi mythical children’s morality lesson.

    So when anyone try’s to correlate dates and timelines from Religious texts my first instinct is throw their work out the window and go back to the actual facts. We know for certain the Hebrew Tanaka was written in 6 time periods by at least three, but possibly 12 different authors. This is a clear conflagration or “syncretism” of several pre existing proto cannanite belief systems infused with aspects of ZoroAstrianism, Buddhism, and Persian Pseudoepigripha.

    To be clear Buddhism has been a concrete liturgical religion since long before the Hellensic period or the infusion of Exiled Egyptian slaves and aristocrats into Salem (Jebu +Salem= JebuSalem aka JeruSalem). So from a historical perspective the Tanakh is basically a law book that sites precisely, not a historical narrative to be cited for timeline purposes.

  16. Japheth in Hebrew means, “may he extend; beautiful” frolm the Torah. I am a descendent of Japeth. Blessed be Hashem.

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