_Javan_] the Ionians, a branch of the Greek peoples. They were already settled in the Aegean islands and on the west coast of Asia Minor at the dawn of Greek history. Being a seafaring nation and having a slave-trade with Tyre (Ezekiel xxvii. 13; Joel iii. 6 [_Hebrew_ iv. 6 “Grecians”]), they became known to Israel at an early date. In some late passages of the Old Testament (e.g. Zechariah ix. 13; Daniel viii. 21, xi. 2) _Javan_ denotes the world-power of the Greeks, established by the conquests of Alexander the Great and maintained in part by his successors, in particular the Seleucid kings of Syria. _Tubal, and Meshech_] compare Isaiah lxvi. 19; Psalms cxx. 5. They are mentioned together Ezekiel xxvii. 13, xxxii. 26, xxxviii. 2, 3, xxxix. 1; and are to be identified with the Τιβαρηνοί and Μοσχοί of Herodotus III. 94, who are the “Tabali” and “Muski” of the monuments. In the time of the later Assyrian Empire they lived as neighbours in the country north-east of Cilicia, but at a later period the Τιβαρηνοί (Tubal) lived in Pontus, and the Μοσχοί (Meshech) further East towards the Caspian. (The Meshech of this verse is to be distinguished from the Meshech son of Shem mentioned in verse 17.) _Tiras_] Not the Thracians (so Josephus _Antiquities of the Jews_ 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. ⁶And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Diphath¹, and Togarmah. ¹ In Genesis x. 3, _Riphath_. =6.= _Ashkenaz_] In Jeremiah 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., Vulgate and some Hebrew MSS. have _Riphath_ (so also Genesis 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 Ezekiel xxvii. 14, where Togarmah is mentioned as trading with Tyre in horses and mules. Compare also Ezekiel xxxviii. 6, and the note above on _Magog_. ⁷And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim¹. ¹ In Genesis x. 4, _Dodanim_. =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; compare the note on _Kittim_ below.