Japheth
Born 2447 BC traditional (Jones)
Wide spreading: “God shall enlarge Japheth” (Heb. Yaphat Elohim le-Yephet, Gen. 9:27. Some, however, derive the name from yaphah, “to be beautiful;” hence white), one of the sons of Noah, mentioned last in order (Gen. 5:32; 6:10; 7:13), perhaps first by birth (10:21; comp. 9:24).
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- The 11th generation from Adam, counting Adam as the first.
- Born in the era of Creation to the Flood, 4004–2349 BC.
- Named in the same verses as Shem, Ham, Noah, Canaan, Gomer, Javan, Madai, and Magog.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
Two generations up and the children; a button shows the grandchildren. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.
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Stories
6 events in which Japheth takes part, in order of the traditional chronology. Years are traditional (Jones).
- 2347 BCThe Great FloodGen 7:6–8:19
- 2347 BCThe Great Flood beginsGen 7:6-17
- 2347 BCWater covers the earthGen 7:18-24
- 2346 BCThe flood subsidesGen 8:1-14
- 2346 BCLeaving the ArkGen 8:15-19
- 2345 BCNoah gets drunk and Canaan is cursedGen 9:20-27
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 2483–2267 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 6 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
11 tagged verses in 2 books. Select a book to read its verses.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Japheth 11 |
| KJV | Japheth 11 |
| ASV | Japheth 11 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 11 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
Genesis9 verses
- 5:32
After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
- 6:10
And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
- 7:13
On that very day Noah entered the ark, along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and his wife, and the three wives of his sons—
- 9:18
The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan.
- 9:23
Then Shem and Japheth took a garment and placed it across their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
- 9:27
May God expand the territory of Japheth; may he dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant.”
- 10:1
This is the account of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who also had sons after the flood.
- 10:2
The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
- 10:21
And sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth; Shem was the forefather of all the sons of Eber.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
Wide spreading: “God shall enlarge Japheth” (Heb. Yaphat Elohim le-Yephet, Gen. 9:27. Some, however, derive the name from yaphah, “to be beautiful;” hence white), one of the sons of Noah, mentioned last in order (Gen. 5:32; 6:10; 7:13), perhaps first by birth (10:21; comp. 9:24). He and his wife were two of the eight saved in the ark (1 Pet. 3:20). He was the progenitor of many tribes inhabiting the east of Europe and the north of Asia (Gen. 10:2-5). An act of filial piety (9:20-27) was the occasion of Noah’s prophecy of the extension of his posterity.
After the Flood the earth was re-peopled by the descendants of Noah, “the sons of Japheth” (Gen. 10:2), “the sons of Ham” (6), and “the sons of Shem” (22). It is important to notice that modern ethnological science, reasoning from a careful analysis of facts, has arrived at the conclusion that there is a three-fold division of the human family, corresponding in a remarkable way with the great ethnological chapter of the book of Genesis (10). The three great races thus distinguished are called the Semitic, Aryan, and Turanian (Allophylian). “Setting aside the cases where the ethnic names employed are of doubtful application, it cannot reasonably be questioned that the author of [Gen. 10] has in his account of the sons of Japheth classed together the Cymry or Celts (Gomer), the Medes (Madai), and the Ionians or Greeks (Javan), thereby anticipating what has become known in modern times as the ‘Indo-European Theory,’ or the essential unity of the Aryan (Asiatic) race with the principal races of Europe, indicated by the Celts and the Ionians. Nor can it be doubted that he has thrown together under the one head of ’children of Shem’ the Assyrians (Asshur), the Syrians (Aram), the Hebrews (Eber), and the Joktanian Arabs (Joktan), four of the principal races which modern ethnology recognizes under the heading of ‘Semitic.’ Again, under the heading of ‘sons of Ham,’ the author has arranged ‘Cush’, i.e., the Ethiopians; ‘Mizraim,’ the people of Egypt; ‘Sheba and Dedan,’ or certain of the Southern Arabs; and ‘Nimrod,’ or the ancient people of Babylon, four races between which the latest linguistic researches have established a close affinity” (Rawlinson’s Hist. Illustrations).