The Different Races

Genesis 10:1-4

“Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.” (Genesis 10:1)

Throughout history there has been a tendency to separate people by skin color. It seems instinctive to assume black, brown, and whites are different, and some have used that concept to imply that some groups are inferior to others. In Acts 17:26, Paul is very specific that God “…hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth…” Every human being is descended from Noah, through one of his three sons, making us all related to one another on both sides of our family. Even dividing according to skin color is a flawed method as we will see in examining the different families. Genetically, every living being can be traced back to one or more of these three. Thanks to interracial marriages, it is some times difficult to narrow it down to just one.

Until God confused the languages at Babel, they stayed largely in one area. After Babel, they began to spread and become identified as individual races and ethnic groups. This chapter gives a brief look at the origins of the different groups. I will attempt to identify some of the their descendants but they have subdivided until it is difficult to be sure of many of them. I have relied heavily on The Early History of Man, by Bill Cooper as found on www. biblebelievers.org. Only some of their descendants are listed. Think how fast the population must have grown with people often living more than three hundred years. Despite wars, disease and old age, Afghanistan’s population is doubling every 14.8 years. Just using that rate of growth, the world population by the time of Peleg’s death, three hundred thirty nine years after the flood would have been over thirty million.

Descendants of Japeth

“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.” (Genesis 10:2-4)

Gomer is believed to be the father of the Cimmerians, who originally settled on the shores of the Caspian sea.
Ashkenaz We know these people as the Scythians. The Celts of the British Isles trace their lineage through the Scythians, and back to Schaif(Japeth), the son of Noah. Various other groups were absorbed by them.
Ripath Settled along the Black sea in northern Asia Minor. Their name is still used for a range of mountains.
Togarmah is believed to have been the original name for what is now called Turkey.

Magog settled in Russia, and some of his descendants are believed to have become the Magyars, a major ethnic group in Hungary. They are very closely related to some of the groups in India. Others of his descendants were absorbed by the Scythians.

Madai is associated with the group later known as the Medes, later a major part of the Medo-Persian Empire in middle East.

Javan appears to be the father of the Ionian people, a Greek tribe, according to Homer’s Illiad.
Elishah father of the Aeolian people, another Greek group. The Elysian fields were named for him.
Tarshish believed to have originally settled in Spain
Kittim original settlers of the area now known as Cyprus
Dodanim father of the Dardanians from the Dardanelle region of Asia Minor

Tubal appears to be the origin of the name of the Tobol river and the city of Tobolsk in modern Siberia. They originally settled in the Russian area known as Georgia.

Meshech seems to be father of the Muscovites and his name is perpetuated in the name Moscow.

Tiras fathered the group known as the Thracians. The city of Troas or Troy was named for him.

“By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.” (Genesis 10:5)

The Jewish word translated ‘Gentile’ referred in particular to the descendants of Japheth, the group many refer to as the white races. The black skinned people of India, darker than most black races are genetically from this group, as are many of the brown races. A dark skin was not indicated by the curse on Canaan.

It is believed that the name Jupiter was a corruption of Japheth, and he was worshipped as a god by the Greeks and various other groups. Tiras was originally worshipped under his own name but later was changed to Mars. As Romans 1:25 says, they “… changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator…”