Editing Japheth (section)

==Ethnogenetic interpretations==
[[File:Noahsworld map Version2.png|thumb|250px|right|A map showing the distribution of the [[Sons of Noah|descendants of Noah]] according to the [[Table of Nations]]. The descendants of Japheth are shown in red.]]

Japheth (in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: ''Yā́p̄eṯ'' or ''Yép̄eṯ'') may be a transliteration of the Greek [[Iapetus (mythology)|Iapetos]], the ancestor of the [[Hellenic people]]s.{{sfn|Day|2014|page=39}}{{sfn|Glouberman|2012|page=112}} His sons and grandsons associate him with the geographic area comprising the [[Aegean Sea]], [[Geography of Greece|Greece]], the [[Caucasus]], and [[Anatolia]]: [[Ionia]]/[[Javan]], [[Rhodes]]/[[Rodanim]], [[Geography of Cyprus|Cyprus]]/[[Kittim]], and other places in the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] region.{{sfn|Glouberman|2012|page=112}}{{sfn|Gmirkin|2006|page=165 fn.192}} The point of the "blessing of Japheth" seems to be that Japheth (a [[Ancient Greeks|Greek-descended people]]) and [[Shem]] (the [[Israelites]]) would rule jointly over [[Canaan]] ([[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]).

From the 19th century until the late 20th century, it was usual to see Japheth as a reference to the [[Philistines]], who shared dominion over Canaan during the pre-monarchic and [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|early monarchic period of Israel and Judah]].{{sfn|Day|2014|pages=38-39}} This view accorded with the understanding of the origin of the Book of Genesis, which was seen as having been composed in stages beginning with the time of [[Kings of Israel and Judah|King]] [[Solomon]], when the Philistines still existed (they vanished from history after the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] [[Canaan#Iron Age|conquest of Canaan]]). However, Genesis 10:14 identifies their ancestor as [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]] rather than Japheth.{{sfn|Day|2014|page=39}}