Noah’s Three Sons: Populating the Whole Earth?
- stephenstrent7
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
This post is from Chapter 4 of my forthcoming book, Noah’s Flood and the Philosophies of Men.
We are told in Genesis 5:28-32, “And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”
Then we read in Genesis 6:9-10, “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”
Genesis 9:18-19 then states, “And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.”
These scriptures all agree that Noah had three sons, and no other children were ever mentioned. Genesis 7:6 states, “And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.” We are not told how many sons, entered the ark, but chapter 9 lists the three sons that came out of the ark: Shem, and Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis chapter 10 is referred to as The Table of Nations; verses 1-5 state, “Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim…”
Then verses 6-8, 13-18 say, “And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod...And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, And Pathrusim, and Casluhim…and Caphtorim. And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.”
Then we are told in verses 22- 29, “The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. And unto Eber were born two sons: …Peleg…and…Joktan. And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.”
A total of 70 nations are listed in chapter 10 as descended from Noah: 26 from Shem, 30 from Ham, and 14 from Japheth. How was this list compiled? Did Moses see this list of seventy, with their names, in vision? Or was this genealogy included later in the record, after years of the genealogies being passed down orally? According to Jewish and Christian belief, the Torah, also known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses, were given by God through the prophet Moses, and were written down by Moses. However, those writings were apparently lost at some point and the Pentateuch became the Oral Torah for centuries. Because of the double destruction of Jerusalem in 597 and 587-586, it is unlikely that many, if any, written records survived into the captivity. It is likely that the Oral Torah continued through the captivity, with the first Written Torah appearing, in scroll form, after the Babylonian exile (c. 539 BC). The genealogies, apparently, were included by that date.1
The Torah, and most other Hebrew scriptures, were incorporated into the early Christian Old Testament. By 250 AD there was almost universal agreement among Christians as to the canon of Hebrew scripture, especially the Pentateuch.2 The first official Catholic canonization of the Old Testament occurred at the Council of Rome in 382 AD. Apparently, Pope Damasus I stated, “Likewise it has been said: Now indeed we must treat of the divine Scriptures, what the universal Catholic Church accepts and what she ought to shun. The order of the Old Testament begins here: Genesis one book, Exodus one book, Leviticus one book, Numbers one book, Deuteronomy one book…”3
Much of Book 1 of Flavius Josephus’ The Antiquities of the Jews (94 AD) recounts the Pentateuch, but the scriptural account is greatly enhanced by his and, apparently, other people’s stories/legends. In his preface, Josephus states, “Now I have undertaken the present work, as thinking it will appear to all the Greeks worthy of their study: for it will contain all our antiquities, and the constitution of our government; as interpreted out of the Hebrew scriptures…those that read my books may wonder how it comes to pass, that my discourse, which promises an account of laws and historical facts, contains so much of philosophy…” Here Josephus is freely admitting that he is writing “the philosophies of men, mingled with scripture”.4
The Old Testament, for the most part, does not say where the descendants of Noah settled, but Josephus does. Here is what Josephus says in Book 1, Chapter 4, paragraph 1: “Now the sons of Noah were three, Shem and Japhet, and Ham, born one hundred years before the deluge. These first of all descended from the mountains into the plains, and fixed their habitation there; and persuaded others, who were greatly afraid of the lower grounds on account of the flood, and so were very loth to come down from the higher places, to venture to follow their examples. Now the plain, in which they first dwelt, was called Shinar. God also commanded them to send colonies abroad, for the thorough peopling of the earth; that they might not raise seditions among themselves, but might cultivate a great part of the earth, and enjoy its fruits after a plentiful manner.”5
Then Josephus says in Book 1, Chapter 6, paragraph 1, “Now they were the grandchildren of Noah, in honor of whom names were imposed on the nations by those that first seized upon them. Japhet, the son of Noah, had seven sons: they inhabited so, that, beginning at the mountain Taurus and Amanus, they proceeded along Asia, as far as the river Tanais, and along Europe to Cadiz; and setting themselves on the land which they light upon, which none had inhabited before, they called the nations by their own names; for Gomer founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians (Galls) [Gauls], but were then called Gomerites. Magog founded those that from him were Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians. Now as to Javan and Madai, the sons of Japhet; from Madai came the Madeans, who are called Medes by the Greeks; but from Javan, Ionia and all the Grecians are derived. Thobel founded the Thobelites, who are now called Iberes; and the Mosocheni were founded by Mosoch; now they are Cappadocians.”6
“There is also a mark of their ancient denomination still to be shown; for there is even now among them a city called Mazaca, which may inform those that are able to understand, that so was the entire nation once called. Thiras, also called those whom he ruled over, Thirasians; but the Greeks changed the name into Thracians. And so many were the countries that had the children of Japhet for their inhabitants. Of the three sons of Gomer, Aschanax founded the Aschanaxians, who are now called by the Greeks Rheginians. So did Riphath found the Ripheans, now called Paphlagonians; and Thrugramma the Thrugrammeans, who, as the Greeks resolved, were named Phrygians. Of the three sons of Javan, also, the son of Japhet, Elisa gave name to the Eliseans, who were his subjects; they are now the Aeolians. Tharsus to the Tharsians; for so was Cilicia of old called; the sign of which is this, that the noblest city they have, and a metropolis also, is Tarsus, the tau being by change put for the theta. Cethimus possessed the island Cethima; it is now called Cyprus: and from that it is that all islands, and the greatest part of the seacoasts, are named Cethim by the Hebrews; and one city there is in Cyprus that has been able to preserve its denomination; it is called Citius by those who use the language of the Greeks, and has not, by the use of that dialect, escaped the name of Cethim. And so many nations have the children and grandchildren of Japhet possessed. Now when I have premised somewhat, I will return and explain what I have omitted; for such names are pronounced here after the manner of the Greeks, to please my readers; for our own country language does not so pronounce them; but the names in all cases are of one and the same ending; for the name we here pronounce Noeas, is there Noah, and in every case retains the same termination.”7
The early Greek historian and geographer Hecataeus of Miletus (c. 550 – c. 476 BC), created a map of the world in 520 BC. I have recreated that map below, as shown in chapter three, but now with the additions of Noah’s descendants.
This map is of The World according to Hecataeus (520 BC). The “sphere” of Jerusalem’s influence (the area occupied by 69/70 of Noah’s descendants) is indicated by the circle, with a radius of 1300 miles from Jerusalem. The circle covers an area of some 5,300,000 square miles; 2.3% of the total earth’s surface of 196,900,000 square miles. If one goes as far as the Columns of Hercules, the “known” world, as shown in this map, was just over 6% of the earth’s surface.
Theophilus Goldridge Pinches (1856 – 1934) said of The Table of Nations, “‘The Table of Nations,’ in fact, excludes the races of which the Semitic East was in ignorance, and which could not, therefore, be given according to their lands, languages, families, and nations…” Those included “All others--the Mongolians of the Far East and Japan, the American Indians, both North and South, the natives of Australia and New Zealand…”8
The only descendants of Noah outside the circle on Hecataeus’ map are the descendants of Gomer, of whom Josephus says, “…Gomer founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians (Galls) [Gauls]…”9 The administrators of the Amazing Bible Timeline with World History have stated, “The Germans, from which the majority of the Western Europe nations such as the French, Spanish, and the Celtic people are descended, are said to have started from Gomer… they travelled across the British Isles and became the forefathers of the present day Gael of Ireland and Scotland and the Cymry of Wales.”10
For the sake of discussion, I am assuming that the territories listed by Josephus, even though not canonized and based on philosophy and tradition, are more-or-less correct. In chapter 8, I am going to focus on the Celtic descendants of Gomer.
Trent Dee Stephens, PhD
References
1. McDermott, John J., Reading the Pentateuch: a historical introduction, Pauline Press, 2002
3. Marshall, Taylor, Decree of Council of Rome (AD 382) on the Biblical Canon; taylormarshall.com/2008/08/decree-of-council-of-rome-ad-382-on.html
4. Book 1 of Flavius Josephus’ The Antiquities of the Jews, 94 AD; penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-1.html
5. Ibid
6. Ibid
7. Ibid
8. T. G. Pinches, biblestudytools.com/dictionary/table-of-nations
9. Josephus Book 1, chapter 6, paragraph 1
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