Asshur is the Hebrew word for Assyria, which produced on the greatest world empires of the past along with Babylon and Egypt. Without exception, every time the words Assyria or Assyrian appear in the Old Testament, it is translated from the word Asshur. Asshur was also the name of the major god of the Assyrians….
We have already looked at Lud, but will mention his name once again as the ancestor of the Lydians. Lydia was in what is now Western Turkey. Their capital was Sardis. Aram is the Hebrew word for Syria. Again, without exception, any time the word Syria appears in the Old Testament it is translated from…
Genesis 10:22 reads, “The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.” Elam is the ancient name for Persia, which is itself the ancient name for Iran. Until the time of Cyrus, they were called Elamites, and they were still often called that even in New Testament times. The Jews from…
It is our purpose only to look very briefly at a few of the grandsons of Ham. We do not wish to labor the question. The descendants of several of the grandsons of Ham are very easy for even the most casual Bible to identify, and for that reason, we will only notice the connections…
Phut is the Hebrew name for Libya. It is translated that way three times in the Old Testament. The ancient river Phut was in Libya. By Daniel’s day, the name had been changed to Libya (Dan. 11:43). Josephus says, “Phut also was the founder of Libyia, and called the inhabitants Phutites, from himself’ (1:vi:2) They…
According to historians Manetho and Herodotus, Mizraim was also known as Menes, the first king of the Egyptians who reigned for about 60 years. Babylonian texts use the term Mizraim for Egypt as is seen inscribed on the Ishtar Gate of Babylon. Other examples of inscriptions include Ugaritic inscriptions that refer to Egypt as Mṣrm…
Genesis 10:6 reads, “And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.” The descendants of Ham settled primarily in Southwest Asia and Africa. The Bible often refers to Africa as the land of Ham (Psa. 105:23,27; 106:22). Cush is the Hebrew word for Ethiopia. Without exception, the word Ethiopia in the Bible…
According to Josephus, the descendants of Tiras were called Thirasians. The Greeks changed their name to Thracians. The Greeks had a habit of changing the names of other people. The Greeks changed the name of Canaan to Palestine. Thrace reached from Macedonia on the South to the Danube River on the North to the Black…
Meshech, the name of Japheth’s fifth son, who along with Tubal, appears in the annals of Assyria under the names Tabali and Mushki. They were their enemies and are seldom named without some of the others – Tubal, Javan, Gog, and Magog. Ezekiel mentions Meshech several times, once as involved in the trade of Tyre…
Javan is the father of Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim, all of which have connections with the Greek people. They are the Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor. Greece, Grecia, or Grecians appears five times in the Old Testament and it is translated from the Hebrew word Javan. Daniel refers to Alexander the Great and calls…