The sons of Japheth Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
The genealogy of 1 Chronicles opens with Adam and runs down to Noah. At verse 5 it turns to seven names that are not Israel at all — the sons of Japheth. Why does Israel's own record start with the nations outside it? And what became of these seven men?
The order of these names is not accidental. One writer traces the same pattern elsewhere in the chapter.
Shem is mentioned first in verse 4, although he is not the firstborn. But the genealogies of Japheth and of Ham come before his (vv. 5-16), as we also see in Genesis 10. In God's eyes Shem, chosen by grace, has first place. Yet in the natural order what is spiritual does not come first. It is the same with Abraham's children. Verse 28 says, "The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael." Isaac is named first, as first in God's thoughts. But Ishmael, the elder, has his line listed first (v. 29), as the seed according to the flesh.
These are not lost names. Commentators trace several of them to peoples and places still on the map.
Next, Magog (compare Ezekiel 38:2) is just as surely the land we call Russia... To these we must add Meshech and Tubal, races long known as the Moschi and the Tibareni. These are the Muskai and the Tuplai of the Assyrian inscriptions, and their representatives today are Moscow and Tobolsk. This is the Slavonic branch.
Not every name is so clear. Of Tiras, the last of the seven, one reference work says only:
A son of Japheth. No one has traced his descendants, but they are thought to match the Thracians.
The list also touches the question of where the world's languages came from.
Scholars learned only recently that these languages had one common source in the east, as Sanskrit proved. But our verse states it with authority: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras were sons of Japheth. So they were all linked together — distinct in dialect, but of one origin. And it is not hard to tell these races apart in general.
The list stops where it does on purpose.
Of the seven sons of Japheth, we have the descendants of only two, Gomer and Javan: three from Gomer, four from Javan — seven named in the second generation, as in the first. No one can doubt that Magog and Madai had sons, for we hear of their descendants down to the latest times, and the same is true of Tubal and Meshech; nor can we doubt it of Tiras. But the design here was not to give details of more. The prophets speak of others who came from these early forefathers to play their part in the last days.
Four of these seven names come back in a prophecy of Ezekiel.
Of these sons of Japheth we get Gomer, Magog, Tubal and Mesec under the same names in Ezekiel 38, as followers of Gog. You will also find Persia there, which was joined to Media (Madai)... so that only Javan and Tiras are left to account for. The nations named above make up Russia, Asia Minor, Tartary and Persia.
Japheth's line was not left out of blessing.
The blessing was to be especially Shem's portion, and to come on Japheth in a secondary way. The blessing, as always, is tied to the name of the Lord, who was to be known as the God of Shem. Japheth was to be enlarged and "dwell in the tents of Shem." This, we gather, means that by being closely joined to Shem, Japheth would also come into the knowledge of God.
A chapter of names will never read like John 17. One writer says so, then makes the case for it anyway.
We do not claim that we should linger over the first chapter of 1 Chronicles with the same interest as over John 17 or Romans 8... But we do say that each of these Scriptures is inspired by God, one just as much as another. More than that: we say 1 Chronicles 1 and passages like it fill a place John 17 cannot fill, and do a work Romans 8 cannot do.
- Order — Japheth's line is written out first. In the natural order what is spiritual does not come first. Shem holds the place of honour in God's thoughts, not in the list.
- Origin — Seven peoples, seven languages, one father. Scholars took centuries to reach the common source this verse states outright.
- Reach — Japheth's portion is enlargement — room on the earth, and the knowledge of God, gained by being joined to Shem.
- Return — Four of these seven names come back in Ezekiel 38 among Gog's followers. The roll call of the past also sketches the days ahead. Not every name is equally sure: no one has traced Tiras.
- Reason — This chapter does a work no other chapter can do, which is reason enough to read it.
-- And the sons of Gomer Ashkenaz, and Diphath, and Togarmah.
The verse names the three sons of Gomer. It is one small link in a chain that runs from Adam through Noah out to the nations of the world. Three names, no story, no verb. So why does God keep such a list, and do these people matter anywhere else in Scripture?
Gomer heads Japheth's line. One commentary traces where his descendants went:
Gomer was the eldest son of Japheth, and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. He is thought to be the ancestor of certain branches of the Celtic family. His descendants settled north of the Black Sea, spreading to the south and west of Europe.
Commentators differ on exactly where each son settled. One writer notes that Scripture says nothing about the location of Riphath, and argues from Jeremiah that Ashkenaz was Asiatic, near the Caspian and Black Seas, rather than European. Another treats the movement as two-directional:
There seems no sound reason to doubt that, just as Ararat and Minni were parts of Armenia and here as elsewhere fall under Togarmah, so Ashkenaz and Riphath occupied the peninsula of Asia Minor at that time... But this in no way weakens the general fact that Gomer pushed westward and into Europe, allowing that at least Togarmah settled in Armenia.
Japheth had seven sons, but only two of them get a second generation here. One writer sets out which families these were:
The line of Japheth is traced first in the early verses, and with marked brevity. Japheth's sons give the broad outline of those who took possession of the north, from east to west, in Asia and Europe. We hear of descendants from only two of them, though no doubt all had them; here we have only the sons of Gomer and of Javan. These were the families who peopled Asia Minor and Armenia in the east. And the sons of Javan we cannot fail to identify with the Greek or Hellenic families, who reached as far as Spain, France, Italy and Sicily.
Verse 4 names Shem first, yet the chapter leaves his descendants until verse 17. It works through Japheth's family, Gomer's sons included, before that. One writer sees a pattern here:
In God's eyes Shem, chosen by grace, has the first place. But in the natural order what is spiritual is not first, as we have already pointed out. It is the same with Abraham's offspring: "The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael." Isaac is named first, seen as first in God's thoughts. But Ishmael, the elder, is listed first as the seed according to the flesh.
These are not dead names. The same list of peoples surfaces again in the prophets:
The names of the nations given here are found throughout the Bible. They also keep their character through all of history, right to the end. In Ezekiel, above all in chapters 38 and 39, many of these names appear in connection with the very last days before the millennium.
Two of the three names in this verse belong to that future scene:
Ezekiel 38 beyond doubt unveils the judgment of Russia at the end of this age. It lets us see its supporters forced to follow and share the general ruin. Among those of the north are Gomer and all his hordes, and the house of Togarmah from the far north and all his.
These lists of names look dry. One writer finds a warm lesson in them:
They teach us a most precious lesson about Jehovah's faithful care of His people Israel. They show His loving interest in them and in everything that concerns them. He watches over them from generation to generation, even though they are scattered and lost to human view. He knows all about the twelve tribes, and He will show them openly in due time. He will plant them in the inheritance meant for them, in the land of Canaan, as He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
- Named. Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah are Gomer's sons. Their descendants spread through Asia Minor, Armenia and on into Europe.
- Selected. Only two of Japheth's sons have children listed: Gomer and Javan. These two families filled the north from east to west.
- Ordered. The chapter records Japheth's and Ham's lines before Shem's. In the natural order, what is spiritual is not first.
- Remembered. Gomer and Togarmah return in Ezekiel's picture of the last days. A genealogy plants names that prophecy later harvests.
- Treasured. Behind the record stands God's care for His people from generation to generation, even when no human eye can trace them. He will yet plant them in the land He promised.