THE WORLD KNOWN TO ANCIENT HEBREWS

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. The World Known To Ancient Hebrews

a) The terms Hebrew or Hebrews are used as a synonym for Abraham's descendants (Israelites or the Twelve Tribes of Israel) or occasionally as a reference to Jews. b) The Biblical patriarch Eber (Genesis 10:24, 11:14-26) lived 464 years and was a great grandson of Noah and an ancestor of Abraham (Abram).  It is from his name that the term Hebrew is derived. Abram (Abraham) was referred to as "Abram the Hebrew" (Genesis 14:13). c) In 2328 B.C. eight people survived the great worldwide flood in an ark of God's design - Noah and his wife, Noah's three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their wives. It is from these that the entire world was repopulated. d) Japheth seems to have been Noah's eldest son, although an argument can be made that Shem was the oldest. Japheth's sons were Gomer (the father of oriental nations like China), Magog (Russia), Javan (Japan), Tubal and others. According to the first century historian Josephus, the descendants of Japheth populated the areas around the Taurus and Amanus mountains, living in Asia as far as the river Tansis, and also inhabiting Europe to Cadiz. e) Shem, Noah's second oldest (possibly first) son who survived the deluge, was ninety-eight years old when the flood waters abated. He lived to the age of 600 and is in the physical lineage of Jesus Christ. He and his descendants settled in the land around the Euphrates River that reached, according to Josephus, to the Indian Ocean. They continued to grow as a people and were the ancestors of the Persians, Assyrians, Chaldeans (Babylonians), Syrians and other. It was the people of Shem that first lived in the area of Ur, which would be the birthplace of Abram (Abraham). f) Ham was the youngest of Noah's sons to survive the flood. His sons were Cush (Ethiopians), Mizraim, Phut (Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, etc.) and Canaan. According to Josephus, after the deluge the children of Ham lives in the lands of Syria and Amanus and populated many parts of Egypt. Canaan, Ham's fourth son, lived in the part of the Holy Land later known as Judea and lent his name to the designation of the general area (the Land of Canaan).

The End ...