Gomer

For other uses, see Gomer (disambiguation).

Gomer (Hebrew: גֹּמֶר‎ Gōmer; Greek: Γαμὲρ, romanized: Gamér) was the eldest son of Japheth (and of the Japhetic line), and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah, according to the "Table of Nations" in the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 10).

The eponymous Gomer, "standing for the whole family," as the compilers of The Jewish Encyclopedia expressed it,[1] is also mentioned in Book of Ezekiel 38:6 as the ally of Gog, the chief of the land of Magog.

The Hebrew name Gomer refers to the Cimmerians, who dwelt in Pontic–Caspian steppe, "beyond the Caucasus",[2] and attacked Assyria in the late 7th century BC. The Assyrians called them Gimmerai; the Cimmerian king Teushpa was defeated by Assarhadon of Assyria sometime between 681 and 668 BC.[3]

  1. ^ "Gomer". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls. 1906. p. 40. Archived from the original on July 3, 2004. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  2. ^ Cambridge Ancient History Vol. II pt. 2, p. 425
  3. ^ Barry Cunliffe (ed.), The Oxford History of Prehistoric Europe (Oxford University Press, 1994), pp. 381–382.