JAPHETH was, according to the tradition of the "Priestly" stratum of the Old Testament, the third "son" of Noah; but the older tradition of Gen. ix. 20-27 represents him as the second son. The oracle of blessing, Gen. ix. 27 ("God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his serv ant") displays hostility against Canaan, and looks favourably up on Japheth, but is not easy to interpret clearly. "Dwell in the tents of" is usually understood to mean "have friendly inter course with." Bertholet considers the passage late, and suggests that it may have been introduced to express the friendly feeling of the Jews for their Hellenic conquerors, because the table of nations in Gen. x. represents Japheth as the ancestor of the
northern peoples, including those of Asia Minor, and the Medi terranean Sea, as well as Armenia. Others understand the phrase to mean "forcibly dispossess," on which basis Wellhausen found a reference to the Phoenicians or Philistines. Ed. Meyer thinks of the northern peoples, including the Philistines, who descended upon Syria in the 12th century. He connects the name with the Greek Titan Iapetos. Gunkel suggests, with some hesitation, the Hittites. See the Cambridge Ancient History, vol. i. pp. 184 sqq.
(W. L. W.)