Gomer
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Gomer (גֹּמֶר, Standard Hebrew Gómer, Tiberian Hebrew Gōmer, IPA: [ go'mer ]) is the eldest son of Japheth, and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah mentioned in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible. (Genesis x. 2, 3; I Chronicles i. 5, 6).
The eponymous Gomer, "standing for the whole family," as the compilers of the Jewish Encyclopedia expressed it, is also mentioned in Book of Ezekiel xxxviii. 6 as the ally of Gog, the chief of the land of Magog.
The Persian historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (c. 915) recounts a Persian tradition that Gomer, lived to the age of 1000, noting that this record equalled that of Nimrod, but was unsurpassed by anyone else mentioned in the Torah.
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[edit] Traditional identifications
He is traditionally identified with the Cimmerians (Akkadian Gimirru, "complete"), who dwelt on the Eurasian steppes. Welsh traditions also posit that the Welsh people, who call themselves Cymry, are descended from the Cimmerians and from Gomer. The Welsh language is also traditionally called Cymraeg. Josephus placed this legendary Gomer and the "Gomerites" in Anatolian Galatia (Antiquities of the Jews, I:6): "For Gomer founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians, but were then called Gomerites)." "Galatia" takes its name from the ancient Gauls (Celts), from whom the modern Welsh trace their cultural ancestry.
[edit] Gomer's descendants
Three sons of Gomer are mentioned in Genesis 10, namely Ashkenaz, Riphath (spelled Diphath in I Chronicles) and Togarmah. The Yi tribe of China also link themselves to Gomer through even more different sons[citation needed].
[edit] Ashkenaz
The children of Ashkenaz have been identified with the Scythians (Assyrian Ishkuza). It has been conjectured that the term in the original Hebrew was Ashkuz, but that it became Ashkenaz when the Hebrew letter waw was accidentally miscopied as the similar-looking letter nun at some early stage of the transmission.
[edit] Riphath
Riphath most likely settled somewhere in what is now Turkey[citation needed], but not much is known. Irish Genealogy traces itself to Ibath, son of Gomer (Most likely a form of Riphath).
[edit] Togarmah
Ancient Armenian and Georgian legend lists Togarmah as the ancestor of the people originally inhabiting that region. According to Khazar records, Togarmah is regarded as the ancestor of the Turkic-speaking peoples.
[edit] In Hosea
Gomer is also the name of the adulterous wife of the prophet Hosea, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Hosea. Some analysts have suggested that this marriage is really a figurative or prophetic reference to a union between the "lost tribes of Israel" with the above-mentioned people of Gomer, following the Assyrian deportation.
The relationship between Hosea and Gomer has been posited to be a parallel to the relationship between God and Israel. Even though Gomer runs away from Hosea and sleeps with another man, he loves her anyway and forgives her. Even though the people of Israel worshipped other gods, God loved them anyway and took them back.
[edit] See also
Maps of ancient world can be found in the Douay-Rheims version of the bible.
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