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'''Joktan''' was the second of the two sons of [[Eber]] (the Islamic [[Hud (prophet)|Hud]]) ([[Book of Genesis]] 10:25; [[1 Chronicles]] 1:19) mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]]. He descends from [[Shem]], son of [[Noah]]. His name is also written as '''Yoktan''' ({{Hebrew Name|יָקְטָן|Yoktan|Yoqṭān}}, {{lang-ar|يقطان|translit=Yaqṭān}}).
{{Short description|Son of Eber in the Bible}}
{{redirect|Obal|the Belarusian town|Obol (town)}}
{{refimprove|date=February 2018}}
'''Joktan''' was the second of the two sons of [[Eber]] ([[Book of Genesis]] 10:25; [[1 Chronicles]] 1:19) mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]].
 
In the [[Book of Genesis]] 10:25 it reads: "And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was [[Peleg]]; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan."
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Joktan's sons in the order provided in {{bibleref|Genesis|10:26-29}}, were [[Almodad]], [[Sheleph]], [[Hazarmaveth]], [[Jerah]], [[Hadoram]], [[Uzal]], [[Diklah]], [[Obal]], [[Abimael]], [[Sheba]], [[Ophir]], [[Havilah]], and [[Jobab]].
 
In [[Pseudo-Philo]]'s account (ca. 70), Joktan was first made prince over the children of [[Shem]], just as [[Nimrod (king)|Nimrod]] and [[Phenech]] were princes over the children of [[Ham, son of Noah|Ham]] and [[Japheth]], respectively. In his version, the three princes command all persons to bake bricks for the [[Tower of Babel]]; however, twelve, including several of Joktan's own sons, as well as Abraham and Lot, refuse the orders. Joktan smuggles them out of [[Shinar]] and into the mountains, to the annoyance of the other two princes.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/bap/bap21.htm Pseudo-Philo]</ref>
 
== South Arabian Narrative ==
The name is also written as '''Yoktan''' ({{Hebrew Name|יָקְטָן|Yoktan|Yoqṭān}}, {{lang-ar|يقطان|translit=Yaqṭān}}). He has also been identified with Qahtān, the ancestral figure of [[Qahtanite|Qahtanites]], in traditional Arab genealogy.
[[File:Dhamar Ali Yahbur II.jpg|alt=|thumb|Statue of a South Arabian king. According to Arab genealogy, South Arabians descend from Qahtan who is identified with Joktan]]
Joktan has been identified with Qahtān (Arabic: قحطان), the ancestral figure of [[Qahtanite|Qahtanites]], in traditional Arab genealogy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=JOKTAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8746-joktan |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> Three of Joktan's sons have connections to South Arabia. [[Sheba]] is identified as the ancient South Arabian kingdom of Saba.<ref>Finkelstein, Israel; Silberman, Neil Asher (2007). David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition. Simon & Schuster. p. 171.</ref> [[Hazarmaveth]] ([[Biblical Hebrew language|Biblical Hebrew]]: חֲצַרְמָוֶת, [[Romanization of Hebrew|tr.]] Ḥăṣarmāweṯ; [[Arabic language|Arabic]]: حضرموت) has been identified with the South Arabian region of [[Hadhramaut|Hadramawt]] and according to various Bible dictionaries, the name "Hazarmaveth" means "court of death" which reflects a meaning similar to the Arabic folk etymologies of the region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hazarmaveth - Smith’s Bible Dictionary - Bible Dictionary |url=https://www.christianity.com/bible/dictionary/smiths-bible-dictionary/hazarmaveth.html |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=www.christianity.com}}</ref> [[Hadoram]] according to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan is interpreted as denoting "the south" and it was a fortress to the south of Yemen's [[Sanaa|Sana'a]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Some interpret this as denoting 'the south.' This was a fortress to the south of San'a (Kesseth HaSofer). See 1 Chronicles 18:10; Zechariah 12:11. |url=http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=1&CHAPTER=10#C186}}</ref>
 
== Mongoloid Race Theory ==
[[File:The_World_as_Peopled_by_the_Descendants_of_Noah_Shewing_the_Countries_Possessed_by_Shem,_Ham_&_Japhet_and_their_posterity_after_the_confusion_of_tongues..jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Robert Wilkinson (cartographer)|Robert Wilkinson]]'s 1823 map of the descendants of Noah's sons, showing Joktan and his sons as having populated eastern Asia: [[Havilah]] is [[India]], [[Sheba]] is [[Deccan]], [[Jobab]] is [[Mongolia]], [[Obal]] is [[China]], [[Abimael]] is [[Indochina]], [[Diklah]] is [[Japan]], and [[Ophir]] is [[Indonesia]].]]
Obsolete theories (based on a literal reading of {{bibleref|Genesis|10:30}}, which states that Joktan's descendants migrated eastward) suggested that Joktan is the progenitor of the [[Mongoloid race]], including [[east Asians]] and the [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]], with the [[Yucatan peninsula]] supposedly being named after Joktan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=turn&entity=History.McIntosh.p0040&id=History.McIntosh&isize=text|title=History: The origin of the North American Indians with a faithful description of their manners and customs, both civil and military, their religions, languages, dress, and ornaments: To which is prefixed a brief view of the creation of the world ... Concluding with a copious selection of Indian speeches, the antiquities of America, the civilization of the Mexicans, and some final observations on the origin of the Indians: Introduction}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Shalev|first1=Zur|title=Sacred Geography, Antiquarianism and Visual Erudition: Benito Arias Montano and the Maps in the Antwerp Polyglot Bible|journal=Imago Mundi|date=2003|volume=55|page=71|doi=10.1080/0308569032000097495|s2cid=51804916|url=http://research.haifa.ac.il/~zshalev/Articles/IMundi-2003-Montano.pdf|access-date=2017-01-17}}</ref>