Japheth (יֶפֶת / יָפֶת "Enlarge", Standard Hebrew Yéfet / Yáfet, Tiberian Hebrew Yép̄eṯ / Yāp̄eṯ) is one of the sons of Noah in the Bible. He is most popularly regarded as the youngest son, though some traditions regard him as the eldest son.

In Arabic citations his name is normally given as Yafet ibn Nuh (Japheth son of Noah).

With the adoption of the Bible in Europe, Japheth was taken by European Christians to be the father of the Europeans. Hence the term 'Japhetic' was formerly used to refer to European peoples. The term was also applied by pre-Darwinian writers to what later became known as the Indo-European language group.

It is believed that other cultures mention Japheth: the pagan Greeks knew him as 'Iapetos', the Indian Sanskrit has 'Pra-Japati', and the Romans 'Iu-Pater' or 'Father Jove', which became 'Jupiter'. Others argue that these are mere coincidences. The actual Indo-European etymology of Latin Iuppiter or Iūpiter, i.e. 'Jupiter', is *dyeu-p(e)ter, "O father Jove" [the symbol "(e)" has been used here for the shwa].

In the Bible, Japheth is ascribed seven sons: Gomer, Magog, Tiras, Javan, Meshech, Tubal, and Madai.

Of the above, Tubals (Tabals, Tibarenoi in Greek) and Meshechs (Meshekhs/Mosokhs, Moschoi in Greek) represent ancient, non-Indo-European and non-Semitic, possibly Proto-Iberian tribes of Asia Minor of the 3rd-1st millennias BC.

The table below shows the sons of Japhet and their descendents:

 1. Javan :Greece, Romans, Romance -- French, Italians, Spanish, Portuguese 2. Magog :Scythians, Slavs, Russians, Bulgarians, Bohemians, Poles, Slovaks, Croatians 3. Madai :Indians & Iranic: Medes, Persians, Afghans, Kurds 4. Tubal :South of Black Sea 5. Tiras :Thracians, Teutons, Germans, Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Jutes 6. Meshech :Russia 7. Gomer :Celtic 

See also

• Caucasian peoples

External links

• Easton Bible dictionary about Japheth (http://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/ebd/T0001900.html#T0001970)
• Smith's Bible Dictionary about Japheth (http://www.biblestudytools.net/Dictionaries/SmithsBibleDictionary/smt.cgi?number=T2252)