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Javan יָוָן

Male Early Patriarch H3120G 9 books

Son of Japheth; ancestor of Greek people

Who is Javan in the Bible?

Javan was a son of Japheth and grandson of Noah, listed in the Table of Nations as the ancestor of the Greek people (Genesis 10:2, 4; 1 Chronicles 1:5, 7). His name is used throughout Scripture as a reference to Greece and the Greek people, appearing in contexts ranging from trade relationships in the Old Testament to interactions with early Christianity in the New Testament. The Greeks descended from Javan were involved in various activities mentioned in the Bible, including commerce and the slave trade, and they later became significant participants in the spread of Christianity as Gentile converts in the early church. Javan's inclusion in the genealogy of nations underscores the biblical framework for understanding the dispersal of humanity after the flood and the role of different peoples in God's redemptive history.

Biography

Javan is mentioned in the Table of Nations (Gen.10.2,4; 1Ch.1.5,7) as one of the sons of Japheth and grandsons of Noah. He is considered the ancestor of the Greek people, and his name is often used in the Bible as a reference to Greece or the Greek people. In the Old Testament, Javan is associated with the trading of slaves (Jol.3.6), suggesting that the Greeks were involved in the slave trade. In the New Testament, the term "Greeks" (Hellenes) is used to refer to non-Jewish people, particularly those influenced by Greek culture. The Greeks are mentioned in various contexts, such as seeking Jesus (Jhn.12.20), attending synagogues (Act.14.1; 17.4; 18.4), and being among the first Gentile converts to Christianity (Act.16.1,3). The inclusion of Greeks in the early church underscores the universal nature of the gospel message (Rom.1.16; 10.12; Gal.3.28). The Greeks are also depicted as seekers of wisdom (1Co.1.22) and are contrasted with the Jews in terms of their religious and cultural background (Rom.1.14; 2.9-10; 1Co.10.32; 12.13). In Mrk.7.26, a Syrophoenician woman is described as a Greek, highlighting the widespread influence of Greek culture in the region.

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In Scripture

9 biblical books ; 8 with study content
Genesis 2 verses
  • Genesis 10:2

    "The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras."

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  • Genesis 10:4

    "And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites."

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1 Chronicles 2 verses
  • 1 Chronicles 1:5

    "The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras."

  • 1 Chronicles 1:7

    "And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites."

John 2 verses
  • John 12:20

    "Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast."

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  • John 7:35

    "At this, the Jews said to one another, “Where does He intend to go that we will not find Him? Will He go where the Jews are dispersed among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?"

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Acts 5 verses
  • Acts 14:1

    "At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed."

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  • Acts 16:1

    "Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where he found a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father."

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  • Acts 16:3

    "Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, so he took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek."

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  • Acts 17:4

    "Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading women."

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  • Acts 18:4

    "Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike."

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Romans 5 verses
  • Romans 1:14

    "I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish."

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  • Romans 2:9

    "There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek;"

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  • Romans 2:10

    "but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek."

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  • Romans 3:9

    "What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin."

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  • Romans 1:16

    "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek."

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1 Corinthians 4 verses
  • 1 Corinthians 1:22

    "Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom,"

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  • 1 Corinthians 1:24

    "but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."

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  • 1 Corinthians 12:13

    "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink."

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  • 1 Corinthians 10:32

    "Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—"

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Names & Aliases

Form Language Script Transliteration Meaning
Named Hebrew יָוָן yāwān Javan , the name of a son of Joktan, and of the race (Ionians, i.e. Greeks) descended from him, with their territory; also of a place in Arabia
Group Hebrew יְוָנִי=יְוָנִי — a Jevanite , or descendant of Javan
Greek Greek Ἕλλην=Ἕλλην Héllēn a Hellen (Grecian) or inhabitant of Hellas; by extension a Greek-speaking person, especially a non-Jew
(same form as previous) Greek Ἕλλην=Ἕλλην Héllēn a Hellen (Grecian) or inhabitant of Hellas; by extension a Greek-speaking person, especially a non-Jew
(same form as previous) Greek Ἕλλην=Ἕλλην Héllēn a Hellen (Grecian) or inhabitant of Hellas; by extension a Greek-speaking person, especially a non-Jew
(same form as previous) Greek Ἕλλην=Ἕλλην Héllēn a Hellen (Grecian) or inhabitant of Hellas; by extension a Greek-speaking person, especially a non-Jew
Group Greek Ἑλληνίς=Ἑλληνίς Hellēnís a Grecian (i.e. non-Jewish) woman
Encyclopedia Article

Javan

ISBE 1915 (Public Domain)

gint Iouan); Isa 66:19; Eze 27:13 Septuagint Hellas, Greece); Da 8:21 m; 10:20; 11:2; Zec 9:13; Joe 3:6 (Hebrew 4:6) Septuagint hoi Hellenes, i.e. "Greeks"), "son" of Japheth, and "father" of Elisha, Tars, Kittim, and Rodarim, i.e. Rhodes (incorrectly "Dodanim" in Ge 10:4). Javan is the Greek Iaon or Ia(v)on, and in Ge and 1Ch = the Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor, probably here = Cyprus. The reference in Eze 27:13 (from which that in Isa 66:19 is copied) is the country personified. In Joe the plural yewanim, is found. In Da the name is extended to the Greeks generally. Corroboration of the name is found in Assyrian (Schrader, editor, Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, II, 43). "The Persian Yauna occurs in the same double reference from the time of Darius; compare Aesch. Persian., 176, 562" (Skinner, Gen, 198). In Egyptian the word is said to be yevan-(n)a; in the Tell el-Amarna Letters Yivana is mentioned as being in the land of Tyre. See HDB, II, 552b.

(2) Place (Eze 27:19); the name is missing in Septuagint.

David Francis Roberts

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jav'-lin, jav'-e-lin.

See ARMOR; ARMS.

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jo, jo'-bon (lechi, "cheek (bone)," "jaw (bone)"):

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