Notes on the text of the book of Genesis : with an appendix online

Urgesch., p. 299 ff.

25. D"^1!1V 11V ^=^ servant 0/ servants' i.e. ^meanest ser-
vant ;' cf. D"'l"'K^n T^J' ^ song 0/ songs' ^choicest song;' see
Ges., § 133. 3. R. 2; M. R., § 81 a; Dav., S., § 34. R. 4.
Canaan is made Shem and Japhet's servant. As Noah's
son Ham sinned against him, so shall he (Ham) be punished
through his own son Canaan, by the curse laid upon him
by Noah. The settlements of Canaan on the islands and
coasts of Asia Minor were at an early date overcome by the
Japhetic races. Cf. Di., ad loc.

26. ych is poetical for Dn^, as often ; cf. Stade, § 345 c,
note I ; Ges., § 103. 2, foot-note 2. Shem is not blessed
directly, but the God of Shem (Deut. 33, 20), i.e. Shem
is blessed through his God, the highest possible form of
blessing. If God is to be blessed for His goodness, which
is implied in blessing Him, how great must be the happiness
of those who are under His protection and enjoy His favour.

27. ' May God spread out Japhet far, and may he divcll in
the tents of Shem! Onq., Baumg., etc. take God as the subject
to ptJ'^l ; but God cannot be spoken of as dwelling in a tent,
and we should in this case rather expect pK^*'' Ninv Some
again (Ges., Schr.) take DK' as meaning 'repute ;' cf. 6, 4
DK' ^t^'DK ; but this is not suitable to the context, and Japhet
could not at that date have had any opportunity of acquiring
fame. Dwelling in the tents of Shem does not mean con-
quest, but points to the friendly relations that should exist



CHAP. 9, VERS. 25 CHAP. lO. 95

between the Semitic and Japhetic races; the latter participating
in the honour paid the former, and sharing the religious privi-
leges enjoyed by them.

10.

In chapter 5 we had a list of the descendants of Adam,
containing ten generadons, and ending with Noah. In
chapter 10 we have a continuation of the list found in
chapter 5, viz. a genealogical table of the sons of Noah, and
the various peoples that sprang from them. In the first verse
we find the sons of Noah given in the same order as in 5, 32;
but in verse 2 — in accordance with the custom observed in
the book of Genesis, to first notice the side branches of the
family tree, in order to prepare the way for mentioning the
chief line — we have the order, Japhet, Ham, Shem ; Ham
standing next to Shem, being, through Canaan, Mizraim, and
Cush, more closely allied to him than Japhet was. It should
be observed in these nn?in that the list of nations is by no
means complete. We find no mention made of nations of a
more modern origin, such as Moabites, Edomites, Ishmaelites,
Keturaeans, nor of some nations, such as the Rephaim and
Amalekites, who were of very ancient descent ; also we find
no allusion to the Chinese and the other Mongolian races of
Eastern Asia, to the Indians or Eranians, probably because
they were entirely unknown in Palestine at the time of the
narrator. ' In general the notice embraces the peoples who
were grouped round the basin of the IMediterranean and its
vicinity, the peoples of the so-called Caucasian race ' (Di.).
The nations mentioned in this table are regarded as the
individuals of a large family, as sons, grandsons, and great-
grandsons, of a common father, e.g. just as Shem, Ham, and
Japhet are Noah's sons, so the Chittim and Dodanim in



96 GENESIS,



ver. 4 are the grandsons of Japhet ; cf. ver. 6, Mizraim as
the son of Ham; ver. 13, Ludim as the son of Mizraim;
and (ver. 16) the similar use of the patronymics (the Amorite
and Jebusite being spoken of as the children of Canaan ;
compare vers. 17. 18).

The table falls into three chief divisions, viz. I. 2-5.
The Descendants of Japhet, the Northern Races. II. 6-20.
The Descendants of Ham, the Southern Races. III. 21-31.
The Descendants of Shem, the Central Races. The list is
repeated with some variations in i Chr. i, 4-23. For a list
of works bearing on this chapter, see Dillmann's Commentary,
p. 170. In the following notes — which are not intended to
form a complete commentary on the chapter — Dillmann has
been chiefly followed, and for fuller information his notes
and the works there cited should be consulted.

1. rmb^in. Cf. the note on 2, 4.
nD*^1. 1 with pretonic qame9, see on i, 2.

2-5. The Descendants of Japhet.

2. 1T2^. LXX, ra/ifjo, mentioned again in Ez. 38, 6
(LXX, Tofxep), as an ally of Gog of Magog. Josephus, An/.,
i. 6. I, considers that "103 = the TaXaTai, who were formerly
called Tofiapus, in Northern Phrygia. Bochart also decides
for Phrygia. 'Usually, since the time of Calmet, supposed
to be the Cimvierii {Kififxepioi, Hom. Od., xi. 14), who dwelt
north of the Pontus Euxinus and Lake Maeotis (Her. iv.
II f.; Strabo, iii. 2, 12 etc.), were driven out in the eighth
century by the Scythians, journeyed through Thrace, and
reinforced by the Trjpqs and other tribes, at the beginning of
the seventh century crossed the Bosphorus and entered Asia
Minor,' Di. Others (Kiepert, Lagarde, etc.) consider that "1D3 is



J



CHAP. lO, VERS. I, 2. 97

Cappadocia, called by die Armenians Gamir (PI.)- Saadiah
explains iDi by d^l ' the Turks! The name is found in
die Assyrian inscriptions, ' Gimirrai-— those who belong to the
people (Ass. land) 0/ Gi?fiir ;' i.e. the inhabitants of the dis-
trict between the north-western provinces of the Assyrians,
in the east, and of the Lydians in the west, i.e. of Cappadocia.
They are first mentioned in the time of Esarhaddon and
Assurbanipal. Whether the land was called after the Gimirrai,
earlier than this time, is uncertain. Cf. Schrader, C. O. T., i.
p. 62, ii. p. 123 ; Del., Par., 245, etc.

T\y(2. 'The second son of Japhet must be sought for
between Gomer and Media. In Ez. 38, 2. 6. 15. 39, 6
Magog appears as a remote and warlike people in the far
north, having Tubal and Meschek under them, and to whom
Gomer and the House of Togarma have attached themselves.'
Josephus 1. c. and Hieron., Quaest. ed. Lagarde, p. 14, explain
y\yo as ' the Scythians! the people of lake Maeotis and the
Caucasus, and this view is the one commonly adopted since
the time of Bochart. See further Di., ad loc, who mentions
some explanations of the name that have been suggested.

"^TD . ' The Aledesl elsewhere mentioned in the O. T.,
viz. 2 Kings 17, 6. 18, 11. Jer. 25, 25. 51, 11. 28. Is. 13, i7f.
21, 2. The name is found on the Assyrian inscriptions,
'Madai^ ('Ma-da-ai'); see Schrader, C.O.T., p. 62.

]V. ' The lonians' ('idoi^ef, 'icifoi/ff), in the whole of the
East, up to India, the name for the Greeks ; also found on
the Assyrian inscriptions of Sargon II 'Javnai' {^Ja-av-naai\
Schrader, C.O.T, p. 63 ; and according to Sayce in the Tel-
el-Amarna Tablet, xlii. a. 16; see Academy^ 1891, p. 341.
They are frequently mentioned in the O. T., e. g. Joel 4, 6.
Ez. 27, 13. Is. 66., 19. Dan. 8, 21. 10, 20. 11, 2.

H



98 GENESIS,



"|t2??^1 bnn. 'Always (except Is. 66, 19, Mass. text,
and Ps. 120, 5) joined together. In Ez. 32, 26 they are
mentioned as having suffered severe reverses, in Ez. 27, 13
(together with Javan, possibly from Gen. 10, 2) as connected
by trade with the Tyrians, whom they supplied with slaves
and vessels of brass. In Ez. 38, 2 f. 39, i they are spoken
of as forming the flower of the army of the Scythian king
Gog, in Is. 66, 19, LXX, as distant peoples. They are
usually identified with the Tibareni and Moschi, who inhabited
the hill country on the south-east of the Black Sea, the
Moschi between the sources of the Phasis and Cyrus, the
Tibareni east of the Thermodon, in Pontus. In the Assyrian
inscriptions (see Schrader, C. O. T., p. 64 ff.) their territory
extended further south, the '' Tabali" (" Tibareni'') up to
Cilicia and the '^ 3Iuski" {^'Moschi'') north-eastwards of the
Tabali. Josephus, Ani., i. 6. i, explains i^aiJl as the Iberians
in the Caucasus land, and y^'O as Mo^a/d$ here and in i Chr. 1. c.

n^n^n, mentioned in Ez. 38, 6 together with Gomer,

H 2



lOO GENESIS,



in the army of Gog; and in Ez. 27, 14 after Javan, Tubal,
and Meshek, as supplying horses and mules for the Tyrian
traders: both times called in Ez. nJDlin r\^2. Josephus
understood HDI^n to mean the Phrygians. But as the
Phrygians are already included in T33K'^55 the view that 'n =
the Armeniaiis^ is to be preferred; 'according to the oldest
sense of the word, Western Armenia,' Di, With this identifi-
cation, Phrygia, Paphlagonia, and Western Armenia naturally
follow one another in the direction from west to east. The
LXX have the name slightly altered, eopya/za; Codex A,
Qipya\xa (so Swete); cf. Lagarde, Gen. Graece, p. 34. Whether
the town Tilgarwimu, in Melitene, mentioned in the Cunei-
form inscriptions (see Del., Par., p. 296, etc.) is to be
connected with nman, is uncertain.

4. The sons of Javan.

ntlJ'^T^t^, mentioned in Ez. 27, 7, ''the coastlands ofElishah'
whence purple was obtained. Josephus thinks that HD'^^X
means the Aeolians ; so Del.^ The Targ. of Jonathan here
takes it io— Hellas. Others, Elis (Boch.). But Di. objects,
firstly, that r\v) — for the Greek nom. ending s — is incon-
ceivable, and secondly that Greece and the Greeks are already
included in Javan. He suggests Italy and Sicily, citing the
Targ. to Ez. I.e. ^