JAPHETH, the son of Noah. His descendants possessed all Europe and the islands in the Mediterranean, as well those which belong to Europe, as those which depend on Asia. They had all Asia Minor, and the northern parts of Asia above the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates. Noah, when he blessed Japheth, said to him,
Japheth
Japheth
“God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.” This blessing of Noah is supposed to have been accomplished when the Greeks, and after them the Romans, carried their conquests into Asia and Africa, where were the dwellings and dominions of Shem and Canaan.