Post by matu on May 27, 2018 22:57:07 GMT -5
OK, thanks. Just looking for the cite. You are correct. SO it indeed seems that there
are a number of interpretations as to Japheth. Per the Jewish Encyclopedia you give above
there is the 'enlargement' interpretation held by Jewish scholars, and this is a general
holding for many as to the Bible, though as noted, some hold for the 'fair' line..
"The name "Japheth" is derived, according to Gen. ix. 27, from the Aramaic root = "to extend," in allusion to the expansion of the Japhetites. Saadia and the modern lexicographers, as Gesenius and others, derive it from = "fair"; but this interpretation had already been rejected by Ibn Ezra."
I believe you have done a service over the years by pointing out (and documenting using Jewish sources)
that "Shem" can also be held to denote "dark" or "black."
There are a number of theological and social construct debates as to this that fills shelves
but no doubt, these "SHem" people, seen in modern European and American racial constructs, that various
right wingers assert as valid- using their own constructs- these people would have been routed
to the back of the bus, lynched or ethnically cleansed in various places, or discriminated against ir
"profiled" in law enforcement, housing, employment, etc etc in the modern era.
The Biblical narrative of course is concerned with the moral and spiritual aspects not "racial," so Shem could
be very dark-skinned without affecting these core concerns. He could be as black as Anwar Sadat, or black American
actor Lou Gossett who is about same skin color as Sadat, who took much criticism from allegedly more "enlightened"
modern Arabized Egyptians (he was "too black" per some) for portraying Sadat in the 1980s.
Looking more at some of the website you reference, a roundup of locations includes:
The Sons of Japheth.
Biblical. Rabbinical comparison
--------- ---------------------
Gomer. Carthagena (; according to some sources, Gothia).
Magog. Germania.
Madai. Media.
Javan. Macedonia (according to some sources, Ephesus).
Tubal. Bithynia.
Meshech. Mysia.
Tiras. Thracia.
The Sons of Gomer.
Ashkenaz. Asia (preconsuiaris).
Riphath. Adiabene.
Togarmah. Germanicia (city in the province of Commagene).
The Sons of Javan.
Elishah. Æolis (in Asia Minor).
Tarshish. Tarsus (city in Asia Minor).
Kittim. Italy (southern; according to some sources, Hellas).
Dodanim. Dardania (a district in the southwestern part of Mœsia).
-----------------------------------------------
The Sons of Ham.
Cush. Arabia.
Mizraim. Egypt.
Phut. Marmarica (between Egypt and Cyrenaica).
Canaan. Canaan.
The Sons of Cush and Raamah.
Seba. Syene (the frontier town of Egypt to the south).
Havilah. India (in Africa, south of Egypt).
Sabtah. Lembritæ (to the south of Meroë).
Raamah. Libya (between Egypt and Ethiopia).
Sabtecah. Region on the eastern coast of Africa.
Sheba. Mons Samaragdus (along the Red Sea).
Dedan. Mazaces (in Mauritania).
Nimrod's Kingdom and His Foundations.
Frech. Warka (on the left bank of the Euphrates; according to some sources, Charon in Media).
Accad. Cascara (on the Tigris; according to some sources, Nisibin).
Caineh. Nippur (unidentified by the Midrash; according to some sources, Ctesiphon).
Rehobot. Probably a suburb of Nineveh.
Calah. Edessa.
Rosen. Ctesiphon.
The Sons of Mizraim.
Ludim. Nomos Neut.
Anamim. Mareotæ.
Lohabim. Nomos in North Egypt.
Naphtuhim. Pentascoimen.
Pathrusim. Unidentified.
Casluhim. Pentapolis (Cyrenaica).
Caphtorim. Cappadocia.
-----------------------------------------------
--FROM: JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11382-nations-and-languages-the-seventy
^^The only problem I have with the Rabbinical interpretations above is that Cush in the Biblical
narrative while including Arabia and Babylon area SOMETIMES, ALSO heavily references "Cush" to
the south of Egypt. Nubia/Sudan is a valid Biblical locational reference in its own right, and is not
incompatible with Cushite crossovers to Palestine/Arabia. This makes sense for interchange across
the Red Sea down to the Horn of Africa from Yemen and Arabia is a long-standing thing- so "Cush"
in the Sudan, and "Cush" in Arabia are not mutually exclusive concepts or peoples, as some try to make out.
All these people are interrelated at various levels- "sons of Ham" - so to speak.
When Jeremiah asks "Can the leopard change his spots, or the Cushite [Ethiopian] his skin?" among many other
references to the Sudanic peoples, it means that these people can't be "whited out" of the Biblical narrative.
Indeed it was the Cushites that came to the aid of the Hebrews to save Jerusalem at one time.
Just throwing in some background for the new readers- we had a bit of such over at ES.
Anyway, in various Biblical narratives the severest divine judgements fall on the Japhethic nations.
The massive slaughter to come of the cold-climate zone hordes of Gog and Magog in the Valley of
Decision prophesied by Ezekiel and others is one example. Likewise in the Book of Revelation
the severest heavenly plagues and judgements fall on the area that brings forth the anti-christ,
which would be the Western nations area. But that's another take that fills additional shelves.
Too much for this thread..
BTW, just finished reading this book. The Kushites enjoyed the most favorable treatment by Yah, more than any other gentile nation. When you look at the totality of scripture, from Keturah, Jethro, Zipporah, Sheba, Tirharka, Ebed-Melech, Zephaniah, the Ethiopian eunuch in the NT... it's clear the Ethiopians are highly esteemed by the Most High. Really enjoyed this book!