While Dhafari is often mentioned as the capital in the history of the Himyeritic kingdom (Caussin, Essai, 1, passim), it was also in the later times of the kingdom the seat of a Christian Church (Philostorgius, Hist. Se'phar (Heb. This page attempts to identify all the possible locations where this biblical place could be. Join today!. See also the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. However, we can also firmly locate Sephar, the Mount of the East to which they migrated as well. A total of seventy nations were credited to Noah by his descendants. The Book of Jubilees sheds light on this topic as it recounts Enoch was taken from among men and conducted into the Garden of Eden. More accurately, it appears to preserve the name mentioned in Ge 10:30, and to be in the district anciently so named. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. Neither is the same Hebrew word nor era as Mesha where Joktan lived. )A place mentioned in describing the boundaries of that part of Arabia inhabited by the descendants of Joktan (Ge 10:30), where it is stated that "their dwelling was from Mesha even unto Sephar, (and beyond even unto . Sephar | Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and - BiblePortal Arphaxads second territory was essentially what we call Israel or formerly Canaan. This is not a new concept as in Babel, the Book of Jubilees 8 records Kainam found stone tablets which caused him to sin owning to them. Bible Lists: 5 sons of Shem and their descendants (And they lived in the hill country of the east, from Mesha unto Sephar.) It is a ludicrous assumption not based on any Biblical aptitude. Sephar will lead to the Philippines. The area where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar. Shem was the ancestor of Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. We find Mesha in Iran by similar name today as Mashhad or Meshad which is the beginning of the Silk Road to the Orient. Enoch will be there in the Garden until the Day of Judgment, thus, he is still there today. This is the same Hebrew word used to describe the region of the Garden of Eden in fact. This refers to all the sons of Joktan in the previous verses. Genesis chapter 10 is commonly referred to as the "Table of Nations.". Probably Dhafar (pronounced Zafar) or Dhafari (pronounced Zafari) in Hadramaut, part of Southern Arabia. It should be in the near vicinity of the land of Shinar where the Tower of Babel was built as the whole earth population lived within that area at that time but would disperse after Babel was destroyed. ; Mesha is also the name of a Benjaminite, a son of Shaharaim and Hodesh (1 Chronicles 8:9). Because of the small dataset, it's best to use this chart for general trends; if one identification is trending much higher than the others, for example, then you can probably have higher confidence in the identification. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia book module. This was not the King of a territory called Mesha but a man named such and not even after the Genesis 10 land which is a different Hebrew word. El-Belid, otherwise called Harkam, is, in M. Fresnel's opinion, the ancient Zafar. What is wrong with reporter Susan Raff's arm on WFSB news? On this topic, we find the scholarship sorely lacking. Why Mesha should wish to increase the time of his people's subjection is not clear, unless, indeed, he thought in this way to magnify the glory of their deliverer.In Mesha the sentiment of patriotism was wedded to some measure of military capacity. Since the two related sites with plausible identifications (i.e., Hazarmaveth and Sheba; q.v.) Labs Sephar', , a numbering; Sept. v.r. Sephar = "a numbering" 1) a place in southern Arabia 5611 Cphar sef-awr' the same as 5610; Sephar, a place in Arabia:-Sephar. 30). In latter chapters, however, you will find there is a very good reason why these references begin to lead down this path of logic. International Standard Bible Dictionary [35] does the same but picks a different word, Qafar, which sounds similar again but still in Saudi Arabia which we already proved, Joktan and his sons never lived near there. Zafar, he tells us, pronounced by the modern inhabitants "Isfor," is now the name of a series of villages situated some of them on the shore, and some close to the shore, of the Indian Ocean, between Mirbat and Ras- Sajir, extending a distance of two days' journey, or seventeen or eighteen hours, from east to west. Where is biblical Sephar today? 2 modern identifications - OpenBible.info See also Qahtan for history of this earliest Arab family. NETBible: Sephar They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. All the rest were exiled to Abulfeda has fallen into an absurd error in his Geography, noticed by M. Fresnel (IVe Lettre, p. 317). He was the older brother of Japheth and the ancestor of the tribes of Eber. A vigorous siege was begun. The Bible says: "And their place of dwelling came to extend from Mesha as far as Sephar, the mountainous region of the East.". ), "a mountain of the east," a line drawn from which to Mesha formed the boundary of the Joktanitic tribes (Ge 10:30). And their dwelling was from Mesha as thou goest unto Sephar, a mount of the east. It also is not Yemen, Saudi Arabia nor Ethiopia which are all horrible guesses in the wrong direction and fit no narrative of Ophir we have ever tested. This is not improbable, if this verse delimits the geographical borders of "the sons of Joktan." Sephar] Probably the same as Daphar, a town on the south coast of Arabia. The assumption is Heaven. Mount Sephar - Bible Truth 4u They lived in the territory that extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the eastern hill country. 22:14) You also will not find the Kabbalistic Tree of Life which is supposedly on another plane of existence which is the root of that doctrine not Bible yet taught in many denominations. Olympic gold medalist wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock: 'I love [38]. Genesis (1 occurrence) 30 and their settlement was from Mesha till you come to Sephar, the mountain on the east. According to Rabi-Kohan Shalomim Y. Halahawi, PHD, DD, ORT, Enoch burned this incense specifically on the Mount of the East which conveys the Hebrew name Mount Qatar or Keter. [40] We will identify this mountain in the Philippines later in Chapter 19. How much is a biblical shekel of silver worth in us dollars? Unger's, Bible Dictionary this is the Arabian area. Genesis 10:30 KJV And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east (qedem: ). Genesis 10:30. M. Fresnel has endeavored to prove that this city, and not the western one, was the Himyeritic capital; and certainly his opinion appears to be borne out by most of the facts that have been brought to light. For less than $5/mo. Substitute "Yahweh" for "Chemosh," and his phraseology might be that of a pious Hebrew king. However, this second inheritance was stolen from Arphaxad and his descendants by Canaan, son of Ham. Once again, we have a reference identifying the Garden. 18). Jubilees 9:4a (R.H. Charles, 1903) And for Arpachshad came forth the third portion, all the land of the region of the Chaldees to the east of the Euphrates. When it is 1,400 years later, a different Hebrew word and associated with a territory known by a different name. All the Biblical information regarding this monarch is contained in 2 Kings 3. [33] Follow the logic here. Pelegs generations drifted more slowly to the West as even by Abrahams era, they lived in Ur, or Iraq today, and it was Abraham who left his family there and migrated to Canaan or what would become Israel which is the Western border of Shem. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east. We will test these spices as well which do not originate in Ethiopia and Yemen which requires a complete ignoring. Strabo mentions the port of Aila(Elath) 1,260 stadia from Gaza where camels converged to trade, the Ptolemies of Egypt established a port not far from Aelana(Elath) confirmed by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy mentions Aelana(Elath) as part of the Nabateans. In later times, as we have already said, it was the seat of a Christian Church one of three which were founded A.D. 343, by permission of the reigning Tubbaa, in Dhafari (written Tapharon, , by Philostorgius, Hist. The confidence levels add up to less than 100%, indicating that the modern location is uncertain. Tools. Sometimes we will field challenges and this is a healthy process because over the years, we have been able to prove out virtually every aspect of this topic. Today, anti-Semitism is a term that has come to mean "prejudice or hostility toward Jews as a religious, . Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abima-el, Sheba, Ophir, Havi-lah, Jobab. 23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. Website HTML, editorial descriptions, and images 2023 StudyLamp Software LLC. As to the two fortresses, one of them is a fortress on the south of San'a, two days' journey from it, in the country of [the tribe of] Benu-Murad, and it is called Dhafari-l-Wadiyeyn [that is, of the Two Valleys]. Then, it renders the first initial distribution of Shem to his sons. Eber's second son was Joktan. Kitto. They lived in the region between Mesha and Sephar. The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country. It was the capital of the Himyarites, a tribe that ruled much of southern Arabia from about 115 bce to about 525 ce. However, as you follow the evidence trail, the bread crumbs lead there and to not continue such path would be a shortcoming in logic. Josephus ("Ant." i. Arphaxad, the ancestor of Joktan and Ophir was only given 2 territories in the days before the Tower of Babel meaning Ophir and his brothers could have only lived in one of these 2 regions. Bible Map: Mesha This chart only reflects the sources I consulted (listed above), not an exhaustive review of the literature. We should require much more of them than to have initials after their name.