Comentários de Citação sobre Gênesis 10:2

Magog The name of the nation, as Scripture states (Gen. 10: 2): “Gomer and Magog.”

Woe is to me says the congregation of Israel, for I have already suffered in many exiles. Behold I sojourned in Meshech with the sons of Japheth in the kingdom of Persia, Greece, and Meshech.

Regarding this matter that Abram asked about, many have wondered why he requested a sign regarding the inheritance of the land but did not ask for a sign regarding the promise of offspring. I raise an additional question: Why didn’t he ask for a sign about the land immediately when the Holy One, blessed be He, first told him To your offspring I will give this land (Genesis 12:7)? There are many opinions regarding these questions. I say that the sign he requested was not because Abram doubted God’s promise, but rather because he wanted the Holy One, blessed be He, to make a covenant with him to remove any potential claimants or challengers. For earlier, when God said to him I will give to your offspring, it implied just a gift, and for this Abram did not seek a covenant, because who would challenge a gift given by God, as the world and everything in it belongs to Him, and He can give the land to whomever He wishes. However, after God said to him to give you this land to inherit it (Genesis 15:7), this giving that He mentioned implies inheritance. This is because when Noah divided the land among his sons, he gave the land of Canaan to the sons of Shem, and now it was coming to him as an inheritance. Then Abram thought that perhaps Shem’s other heirs would contest their portion, for the sons of Shem were Elam, Arpachshad, Ashur, Lud, and Aram. Since Abram descended from Arpachshad, perhaps the other sons of Shem would contest the inheritance. Therefore he said, How shall I know that I will inherit it? (Genesis 15:8) — What is the sign that I alone am the heir without contest? The answer came to him: Take for me a three-year-old heifer (Genesis 15:9). Just as God made an eternal salt covenant with Aaron to remove Korach’s challenge, so too God made a covenant with Abram to remove all claimants and challengers, for it was customary in those times that all who made covenants would pass between the pieces, as is known.

the young of the flock. The despised of the nations, and our Rabbis [Yoma 10] expounded that it refers to Persia, who was the youngest of Japheth’s sons.

the young of the flock Persia, the youngest of the sons of Japheth.