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Who was Japheth in the Bible?

Lived in the age of the patriarchs

Japheth was one of the three sons of Noah, along with Shem and Ham, as recorded in Gen.5.32 and Gen.6.10. Japheth appears in 5 verses across 2 books of the Bible.

Japheth
Japheth · James Tissot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

What does the Bible say about Japheth?

Japheth was one of the three sons of Noah, along with Shem and Ham, as recorded in Gen.5.32 and Gen.6.10. He and his brothers were born before the Great Flood. Japheth, his wife, and his brothers and their wives entered the ark with Noah and survived the Flood (Gen.7.13). After the Flood, Noah blessed Japheth, saying, "May God extend Japheth's territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth" (Gen.9.27). Japheth's descendants are listed in Gen.10.2-5 and 1Ch.1.5-7, and they are generally associated with the Indo-European peoples, including the Greeks, Medes, and Thracians. The name Japheth means "enlargement" or "expansion," which is fitting given the widespread distribution of his descendants. Japheth's offspring played a significant role in the repopulation of the earth after the Flood and the development of various nations and cultures.

Definition text: STEPBible · Tyndale House Cambridge. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Lightly edited for length and formatting.

Compiled by Protos: the verse list on this page. Where one name belongs to more than one person or place, each of them gets a separate entry.

Where does Japheth appear in the Bible?

Japheth is referenced in 5 verses across 2 books. Every passage below is about this one, not just every verse the word turns up in.

Genesis 41 Chronicles 1

What else appears in these passages?

These turn up in the same passages as Japheth.

ShemGomerCanaanEber

Common questions

How many times does the Bible mention Japheth?

Japheth appears in 5 verses across 2 books, most often in Genesis, which accounts for 4 of them.

Which books of the Bible mention Japheth?

Genesis, 1 Chronicles.

Where can I read every verse about Japheth?

This page lists 5 of them. Protos carries all 5, and opens this entry on the verse you are reading rather than in a separate tab.

Read it in context

Read Genesis with Japheth explained on the verse.

Tap any name, place, or word you do not recognize and the background opens on the verse you are reading. No second tab, no search, no losing your place.

The Protos reader open on Genesis 1 with the How to Read Genesis background sheet raised over it
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