Japheth
A son of Noah, named with Shem in the act of covering their father's nakedness by walking in backwards. Noah's oracle over him — 'may God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem' — plays on his name. The table of nations traces from him the peoples of the northern and western rim of the biblical world, including Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan the Greeks, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.
What we know — and how we know it
Where in scripture
Genesis1 ChroniclesNoah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 5:32
Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 6:10
In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth—the sons of Noah—and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ship—
Genesis 7:13
The sons of Noah who went out from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan.
Genesis 9:18
Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness.
Genesis 9:23
May God enlarge Japheth. Let him dwell in the tents of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant.”
Genesis 9:27
Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
Genesis 10:1
The sons of Japheth were: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
Genesis 10:2 — Father of northern peoples
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
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