Madai] i.e. Media or the Medes. Of the many allusions in the Old Testament to this famous people, the first is found in 2 Kings xvii. 6; compare also Isaiah xiii. 17; Jeremiah xxv. 25; Esther i. 3; Daniel i. 9. The Median Empire dates from the 7th century B.C., but the Medes are referred to by Assyrian inscriptions of the 9th century, at which time they seem to occupy the mountainous regions to the south and south-west of the Caspian Sea. They were the first Aryan race to play an important part in Semitic history.
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 Diphath[¹], 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 Rodanim[¹].