sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and [1]Diphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of 7Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and [2]Rodanim.
"Tabali" and "Muski" of the monuments. In the time of the later Assyrian Empire they lived as neighbours in the country N.E. of Cilicia, but at a later period the Τιβαρηνοί (Tubal) lived in Pontus, and the Μοσχοί (Meshech) further E. towards the Caspian. (The Meshech of this verse is to be distinguished from the Meshech son of Shem mentioned in ver. 17.)
Tiras] Not the Thracians (so Jos. Ant. I. 6), but most probably the Tyrseni, a piratical people frequenting the coasts and islands of the north Aegean. They are mentioned among the seafarers who assailed Egypt in the reign of Merenptah.
6. Ashkenaz] In Jer. li. 27 "the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz" are to be summoned against Babylon. The home of the Ashkenaz is therefore somewhere in the neighbourhood of Ararat (Armenia); and they are apparently the Asguza of the monuments, and perhaps may be identified with the Scythians.
Diphath] The LXX., Vulg. and some Heb. MSS. have Riphath (so also Gen. x. 3), which is to be preferred. The identity of the place or people is not yet ascertained.
Togarmah] Perhaps in Armenia, but the evidence is inconclusive. That it was a neighbour of Gomer, Tubal, and Meshech appears probable from Ezek. xxvii. 14, where Togarmah is mentioned as trading with Tyre in horses and mules. Cp. also Ezek. xxxviii. 6, and the note above on Magog.
7. Elishah] Ezekiel (xxvii. 7) addressing Tyre, "Blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was thine awning." Elishah has not been identified with certainty. It has been supposed to be Carthage. Another suggestion is Alashiya (of the Tell el-Amarna Letters) which may be a Cilician district, or perhaps rather Cyprus; cp. the note on Kittim below.
Tarshish] generally now identified with Tartessus, a Phoenician town in the south of Spain. This is supported by the various references to Tarshish as a Tyrian colony rich in minerals and far from Palestine (see, e.g. Ezek. xxvii. 12; Jon. i. 3; Ps. lxxii. 10; 2 Chr. ix. 21). To identify it with Tarsus, the famous town in Cilicia, is in some ways attractive, but is on the whole less probable.
Kittim] The inhabitants of Cyprus are meant, "Kittim" being derived from Kition (modern Larnaca), the name of one of its oldest towns. In later times Kittim (Chittim) is used vaguely of Western islands (Jer. ii. 10; Ezek. xxvii. 6) or nations; "the ships of Kittim" (Dan. xi. 30) are the Roman ships; "the land of Chittim" (Χεττιείμ, 1 Macc. i. 1) is Macedonia (ib. viii. 5).
Rodanim] No doubt the Rhodians are meant; their island was
