about surigao first mass

LIMASAWA ISLAD IS BETWEEN SURIGAO AND SOUTHERN LEYTE

gigaquit surigao norte

http://maharlikan.blogspot.com/2013_09_01_archive.html

MAHARLIKAN

Freeing oneself from national mediocrity

Saturday, September 28, 2013

of Magellan, Zamal island, and the Golden Fleece

(This is in continuation with the previous blog, click here)

On the 16th of March, 1521, the Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his fleet of Spanish vessels finally reached the fabled island of Zamal in Mindanao of the Maharlikan lands after 10 days of uneventful trip from the place he dubbed as Ladrones islands (Guam). Had the fleet sailed to Samar as conventionaly believed, the deep and treacherous currents of the Philippine Trench that they must traverse would surely twist and churn the wooden galleons making its harrowing crossing definitely far from uneventful, if the fleet dared that which, contrary to what mainstream history may had misled mainstream society to believe far too long, it less likely didn’t.

As the silhouette of the land of their destiny unfolded before them, the crew that had traveled halfway across the World to reach the place felt both excitement and foreboding, for these mysterious lands where lived the Maharlikans, the Free Peoples, exuded both the enchanting, the danger and adventures, the promise of fabulous wealth that the ancients had since known as the Isles of Gold, and of myths and legends recounted through generations with celebrated voyage of ancient heroes of renown.

from http://developmentcatalyst.blogspot.com 

Magellan had deemed it prudent not to immediately dock in Zamal, for who among them knew of what fate awaited their place in history beyond those enigmatic shores and its ancient dwellers. Instead, he commanded to anchor overnight in the nearby island of Talikod. The island was dearth of water for neither rivers or creeks could be found, but like blessing poured from heaven would they discover two springs with the freshest, limestone filtered water springing forth its life nourishment even to this present day. As Pigafetta wrote hundreds of years ago, Magellan and his crew celebrated such blessing that greeted them and thus named it as the “Watering Place of good signs.” It was on this island that Pigafetta first reported sighting of the precious metal that they had traveled for thousands of leagues for: gold.

Two days after the fleet had docked, the native inhabitants on their bancas from nearby Zamal sought to interact with the pale-skinned visitors and their large wooden ships. Pigafetta mentioned how one of the inhabitants expressed “demonstrations of being very joyous at our arrival,”  while five of the “most showy” of the folks remained to interact with them. Indeed, the elaborately dressed Bagobo peoples from the mainland, whom a historian once referred as the “most handsomely dressed” among tribes, had reasons to be very joyful.

Above the yonder mountain ranges of the mainland, the Bagobo inhabitants that lived along the foothills and mountain ranges of the grand ancient peak, Mt. Apo that Pigafetta described as a “high land,” had their watchtower in Catigan that overlooked the vast Davao Gulf; vigilant village watchers must had seen the strange large ships that sought anchor in Talikod island near Samal, and so they traveled down to Davoh and crossed towards the island with their Sama brethrens to meet the visitors. Magellan, finding the natives to be gracious and reasonable, offered gifts and in return his crew were given provisions as figs a foot long (bananas), umai (rice), the highly versatile coconut that the locals called cochi from where sourced sweet water, oil, meat, vinegar, and of course wine.

from http://isabellesofia.wordpress.com/tag/filipino-tribes/

Long had the ancient Bagobo tribe waited through the ages with the prophecy of their ancestors who spoke of offsprings of the very first children, their long separated brethren that traveled to faraway lands conceived from their foreparents, Humanity’s first man and woman, Toglai ang Toglibon, who shall one day return. That eventful day had come, the offsprings had finally reached the Maharlikan lands. The prophecy of their ancestors was finally fulfilled, and they were very joyous indeed (albeit the offsprings wearing paler skin). 

Eventually, Pigafetta was told of the small island adjacent of Samal where they first sought to land, presently known as Talikod island, by its ancient heavy set name,Humunu. As old as it sounded, the word may had been a remnant language of an extinct, unusual race that once lived in nearby Samal island and wrought havoc among the mainland inhabitants, and even of ancient heroes of yore from faraway lands lost in their voyage thousands of years ago. This mysterious, long extinct tribe was known as the Dinagat; they were the ancient race of giants of whose skeletal remains have even been discreetly dug up and witnessed by not a few people in modern times, their first hand testimonies attest that indeed such entities had once existed.

Pigafetta by then had amassed further knowledge of the scenic geographical vicinity of the Davao Gulf. He later found out that the Samal he initially saw was “not large,” hence it dawned that it was indeed an island surrounded by the “circumjacent islands” of Davao Gulf. The natives also referred to the island as Zuluam, attesting the influence of the Sultanate of Sulu on this side of Mindanao by the 16th Century. By this description of Pigafetta the mainstream position of Samar where Magellan allegedly landed should further be challenged for unlike Samal island, Samar was definitely not a separate but rather an integral part of one of Visayas’ largest islands, hence Pigafetta could never describe the latter as such for it will contradict his statement being “not large,” which mainstream history may had erred all along.

from http://samaloutrigger.lakbayjuan.com

Such error committed had misled generations of Humanity and reduced mainstream history to misdirected position, particularly on the argument that after Samar, Magellan performed the first mass in Limasawa island. It was in 1667 that an alleged Jesuit “historian,” Francisco Combes, may had turned out the culprit. Neither in any earlier documents before Combes would there be heard the name Limasawa. In fact ,it was another Jesuit priest, Fr. Francisco Colins who coined the word in Visayan as he pointed to an island as “Dili Masaua” meaning NOT Masaua (the real Mazzaua was in Butuan, still in Mindanao). Unfortunately the term was misinterpreted by Manila-centric, non-Visayan speaking “historians,” timid to not even scrutinize its veracity  and so stuck unchallenged by prevailing mediocrity in mainstream with warped version established as historical “fact.” As if such twisted contribution were not enough, Combes neither mentioned of any mass held and, despite how Pigafetta otherwise admirably described the Zamal natives to be “with very good manners and gracefulness,”  the contemptible Combes branded them as “barbarians” instead. Worsened still by mediocre mindsets, no considerable figure dared to even challenge the unceremonious and inaccurate description of our noble ancestors by an 

basis that phils is ophir 1 Kings 9:28

1 Kings 9:28  They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons of gold.

Ophir- Ancient name of Islas del Oriente - The Philippine Islands

One of the common practice of tribal Filipinos which is similar to the Jewish Sacrifice is the shedding of the blood of animals. As in my tribe the Higaonons of Bukidnon a ritual called "Pamuhat" is conducted during harvest and planting season wherein  a blood offering is made to the creator. Another ritual is "Tampuda" - when two warring tribes are inconflict with each other, they will dug a hole and put a pig inside the hole. Each tribal chieftain or Datu who are in conflict with each other  take turn in spearing the pig until it dies. Their anger is directed to the pig.  Then they cover the hole  and the two chieftains exchange a porcelain cup signifying that there is peace between them. The cup symbolizes peace between them. Their conflict is appeased by death of an animal . This is very similar to the Hebrew's practice of "Propitiation".  

What the Spaniards believed

After the death of King Solomon, Ophir was abandoned and soon forgotten. After the passage of hundreds of years nobody would know where or what is Ophir. The other word associated with Ophir is the word "Tarshish." Nobody also knew what it meant. In old translations of the Bible it was supposed also to be a place. However, in new translations of the Bible, it is used to refer to the fleet that went to Ophir.

What happened to the Hebrew or Jewish settlements that were established to process the gold before they were shipped back to King Solomon? Nobody also knew. However, we knew that because of their religious beliefs the Hebrews tend to survive as a separate enclave wherever they settled.

Historical facts

In Spain there is a book called Coleccion General de Documentos Relativos a las Islas Filipinas. It is found in the Archivos de Indias de Sevilla. It was reprinted in 1920 in Barcelona, Spain by the Compania General de Tabaccos de Filipinas. Its Tomo III (1519-1522), pages 112-138, contains Document No. 98 describing how to locate the land of Ophir.

This same volume also contains the official documents regarding the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan. It also contains the logbook of Francisco Albo, the chief pilot of the ship Victoria. This logbook is also one of the main references regarding the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan.

Since this book contains important documents, we can discern that the Spaniards did not really believe that Ophir was in India. In fact the Cabot expedition that left Spain on April 3, 1526 had a secret mission, "to search for a route to Tarsis, OPHIR, Oriental Cathay (China), and Japan."

Document No. 98 describes how to locate the land of Ophir. The travel guide started from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to India, to Burma, to Sumatra, to Moluccas, to Borneo, to Sulu, to China, then finally Ophir.

Ophir was "…in front of China towards the sea, of many islands where the Moluccans, Chinese, and Lequios met to trade…"

This group of islands could not be Japan because the Moluccans did not get there. It could not be Taiwan because it is not "of many islands." Only the present day Philippines could satisfy the description.

Jewish Settlements

Along the route described by Document No. 98 are locations of old Jewish settlements.

It would not be surprising for that was the procedure used by King Solomon's fleet.

Settlements were established at selected places to trade and process the gold and silver. The ships will collect the gold and silver and bring it to King Solomon. To the credit of the Hebrew people, their settlement remained true to the Jewish faith even for thousands of years. Settlements were found in India, Burma, Sumatra, and Vietnam (Annam and Cochin China).

Who Were the Lequios?

Spanish records mention of a mysterious people known as Lequios. Modern historians variously identified them as Okinawans, Koreans, or Vietnamese. They were favorite targets of Spanish ships during the time of General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi because the ships of the Lequios were always laden with gold and silver.

According to Documents 98, the Lequios were big, bearded, and white men. They were only interested in gold and silver when trading at Ophir. Okinawans, Koreans, and Vietnamese people are not big nor are they white. Their beards are just small goatees and could not satisfy the word "bearded". Therefore they were not the Lequios. So who could the Lequios be but the remnants of Hebrews and Phoenicians who have made some enclaves along the Southeast Asian shores?

The Hebrew word "LEQOT" or "LIQQET" means to gather, to glean. It resembles closely the word Lequios. It will fit the men of King Solomon's fleet who gathered gold and silver. (Note: The Hebrew alphabet has no small letters.)

Where Was Ophir?

There is no doubt that the group of islands in front of China towards the sea is the present day Philippines. The question is where was Ophir located in the Philippines?

Ancient Chinese records say that the ancient trading places in the Philippines were Ma-yi and Pulilu. Dr. Otley Beyer identified Ma-yi as Mindoro. Dr. Jose Rizal, Blumentrit, Robertson, and Stangl say that it was Luzon in part or in whole.

Dr. Jose Rizal identified "Pulilu" as Bo-ol or Bohol. Nobody disputed Dr. Jose Rizal. So there are only three possible places in the Philippines that could be identified as Ophir, they are Luzon, Mindoro, and Bohol. 


OPHIR 

The Ancient-Name of the Islands of the Philippines

(Only the descendants of Levites Datu Gerson, Datu Merari and few descendants of Datu Cohat reached the island of Ophir, but the High Priest comes in the lineage of Aaron left in Yahrushalom)

People in the Islands of Ophir speaks Ancient-Hebrew Language

Who is Ophir ?

Ophir written in the Old Testament of the Bible 1 Kings 22:48, 9:28 and 22:49,
Psalms 45:9, Isaiah 13:12, Job 22:24, 28:16, 1Chron. 24:4, 1:23, Genesis 10:25-26. 
In Genesis 10:25-30 “ And Heber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for his days was the earth divided and his brother’s name was Yoktan. And Yoktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Yerah, and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, and OPHIR, and Havilah, and Yobab; all these were the sons of Yoktan. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the EAST”.

The language of Ophir

The language of Heber is the same language of Adam and when the language was confused, only Heber retained the original language of Adam and was called Hebrew from Heber’s name and therefore the language of his two sons Peleg and Yoktan will be Hebrew and the language of Ophir the son of Yoktan will be Hebrew also. 

The language of Abraham

Peleg son is Reu, reu son is Serug, Serug son is Nachor, Nachor son is Thare, Thare had tree sons Abram become Abraham, Nahor and Haran the father of Lot. Abraham is Hebrew in Genesis 14:13.

Historians said about Ophir

The western writers garlanded the Philippine land with more names such as Maniolas, Ophir, Islas del Oriente, Islas del Poniente, Archipelago de San Lazaro, Islas de L*****s (Island of Mortars), Archipelago de Magallanes and Archipelago de Legaspi. The western writers and ocean navigators called the islands Ophir before the Western people arrived and re-named it as Felipinas from the name of King Felipe of Spain.

When the first European historian set their foot in the land of Ophir, it was written by historian Gregorio F. Zaide in page 2 and page 24 of History of the Filipino People, that Padre Chirino an eminent Jesuit historian found in Tagalog language that “it has the Mystery and obscurities of the Hebrew language”.
Therefore in the islands of Ophir the people speaks Ancient-Hebrew language.

"The True Ancient Ophir."

By: IKE T. ARTIGO

TAGA-LUZON EMPIRE

"Where is Tarshish and Ophir"

During the early period of European colonization, the Biblical lands of Tarshish and Ophir, or Tarsis and Ofir, as they were called, held the imagination of European explorers. Not only was it believed that the "lost tribes" of Israel were to be found in these lands, but also untold wealth. To these kingdoms King Solomon and King Hiram of Tyre sent ships for trade that "brought from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones," (I Kings 10:11). Concerning Tarshish it is written: "Fro the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram: every three years once came the shop sof Tarshish bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacock." (II Chronicles 9:21)

In Samuel Purchas's well-known travel compendium Purchas His Pilgrim, he devotes the entire first chapter to a discussion of Tarshish and Ophir. In particular, he argues strenously that it is beloved Britain and not Spain that deserved the title as the modern Tarshish and Ophir. Curiously, in Careri's journal of his visit to the Philippines, he mentions that he would not go into the argument raging in Europe at that time over whether the Philippines was originally populated by the descendants of Biblical Tarshish.

In modern times, scholars have attempted to relate Tarshish and Ophir with a number of areas, none of which include the Philippines. However, things were different in Europe prior to the discovery of the Philippines. There, they believed that Tarsis and Ofir were some lands far to the east of biblical Israel. Their reasoning was actually quite logical. King Solomon built the port from which ships departed for Tarsis and Ofir at Ezion-Geber on the coast of the Red Sea. The return journey took about three years, so obviously the location must be somewhere far to the East. In modern times, some scholars have tried to suggest that Solomon's navy circumnavigated Africa to reach the Mediterranean, but the seafaring Europeans of those times would not consider such nonsense. Tarsis and Ofir were unknown lands beyond the Golden Chersonese of Ptolemy. Their discovery would undoubtedly bring untold wealth and great fame in the minds of the people of those times.

But what, one may ask, has this to do with the Philippines? The truth is that the search for Tarsis and Ofir was directly related to the "discovery" of these islands by Magellan!

______________________________________

Magellan and the Search for Ophir

Magellan's contemporary, Duarte Barbosa, wrote that the people of Malacca (in modern Malaysia) had described to him an island group known as the Lequios whose people were as "rich and more eminent than the Chins (Chinese)," and that traded "much gold, and sliver in bars, silk, rich cloth, and much very good wheat, beautiful porcelains and many other merchandises."

However, Barbosa was not the only one to mention the Lequios during Magellan's time. About a decade after Magellan's voyage, Ferdinand Pinto had wrote in his journal of the experience of his crew and himself after being shipwrecked on the Lequios! Pinto was traveling through the Malay Archipelago at the time and he describes the Lequios islands as belonging to large group of islands many of which were rich in gold and silver. He mentions that at that time the Portugese were familiar with Japan and China, and also with the island of "Mindanaus" or Mindanao, so the Lequois islands must have been somewhere between these two areas. Furthermore, Pinto even goes as far as to give the exact latitude of the main Lequios island. He states that is was situated at 9N20 latitude and that the island was on a merdian similar to that of Japan.

Now, in Magellan's time all exploration was done by latitude sailing and dead reckoning, as no navigational clocks were in use. Latitude sailing required fixing one's latitude precisely by means of an astrolabe. Longitude could only be approximated roughly by using a patent log to track the distance the ship has travelled in any particular direction. When Magellan began to suspect he was nearing the region of the Moluccas he deliberately steered on a north course and then turned westward at a latitude of 13 degrees North according to both Pigafetta and Albo. Pigafetta states that the reason was to get near the port of "Gaticara" which was the Cattigara mentioned by Ptolemy. In the book, Magellan's Voyage around the World, the author, Charles E. Nowell, offers another possible reason for Magellan steering so far to the north of the Moluccas. He notes that Magellan himself had rewrote part of Barbosa's book referring to the Lequios, and in his version Magellan substituted "Tarsis" and "Ofir" for the world "Lequios."

Although these lands are not mentioned in Magellan's contract, less than six years after his voyage, Sebastian Cabot signed a contract with Spain which did have as one of its objectives the "lands of Tarshish and Ophir." Magellan had been to Malacca himself, and probably many have heard of the community of Filipino workers and merchants that lived there under the protection of the king of Malacca. Probably many of you already know of the theory that Black Henry, the slave Magellan purchased at Malacca, may have belonged to the Filipino community of Malacca as he was able to speak with the natives at Limasawa. Whatever the case, we know from his own pen that Magellan thought the Lequios islands might be the same as the Biblical Tarsis and Ofir, and it may be that his idea of the position of the Lequios was partly shaped by Barbosa's book, and partly by information he may have received from Filipinos in Malacca. Was the fact that Black Henry was able to converse with the people living at the latitude given by Pinto (but not with the people of Samar or Leyte) a coincidence, or something planned in advance from information gleaned in Malacca?

Even after their discovery, many still regarded the Philippines, rich in gold and silver, to be the same as ancient Tarsis and Ofir. Father Colin, referred to them as such in the early 1600's and even at the turn of the century, the Philippine historian Pedro Paterno, still claimed that the Philippines were really Tarshish and Ophir! Whatever one thinks of these claims though, the search for the Biblical El Dorado appears to have played an important role in the European discovery of the Philippines.

        The following glyphs or symbol was discovered by Gene Savoy in the cliffs far above the Utcabamba River. There was a theory that this is not a symbol but a sketch map going to Ophir using by Phoenician people.

lthough these lands are not mentioned in Magellan's contract, less than six years after his voyage, Sebastian Cabot signed a contract with Spain which did have as one of its objectives the "lands of Tarshish and Ophir." Magellan had been to Malacca himself, and probably many have heard of the community of Filipino workers and merchants that lived there under the protection of the king of Malacca. Probably many of you already know of the theory that Black Henry, the slave Magellan purchased at Malacca, may have belonged to the Filipino community of Malacca as he was able to speak with the natives at Limasawa. Whatever the case, we know from his own pen that Magellan thought the Lequios islands might be the same as the Biblical Tarsis and Ofir, and it may be that his idea of the position of the Lequios was partly shaped by Barbosa's book, and partly by information he may have received from Filipinos in Malacca. Was the fact that Black Henry was able to converse with the people living at the latitude given by Pinto (but not with the people of Samar or Leyte) a coincidence, or something planned in advance from information gleaned in Malacca?
Even after their discovery, many still regarded the Philippines, rich in gold and silver, to be the same as ancient Tarsis and Ofir. Father Colin, referred to them as such in the early 1600's and even at the turn of the century, the Philippine historian Pedro Paterno, still claimed that the Philippines were really Tarshish and Ophir! Whatever one thinks of these claims though, the search for the Biblical El Dorado appears to have played an important role in the European discovery of the Philippines.

        The following glyphs or symbol was discovered by Gene Savoy in the cliffs far above the Utcabamba River. There was a theory that this is not a symbol but a sketch map going to Ophir using by Phoenician people.

ons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth... These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated

ORIENTAL ORIGINS IN THE BIBLE

Sunday, 04 May 2003 @ 10:27 AM SGT

Contributed by: Anonymous
If you wish to have a copy of this article, please download it here.

---

All Bible quotations are from the New King James Version
except for my own translations, or as otherwise indicated.
The Bible speaks about origins and this study examines Biblical genealogy to find the origin of the Oriental peoples, the world’s largest family of nations. The orient has the largest population group of earth. The anthropological and historical evidences show that all East Asian peoples had their origin in China. From the Bible we can identify the first people group that populated China.
All men in fact belong to one family because Adam and Eve were parents of us all (Gen. 3:20), but there are three different genealogies after the Flood. Gen. 9:18-19,
Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth... These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

p> Bible scholars have traced the descendants of Ham mainly into Africa, and also into the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and South Pacific regions. The name Ham means hot and indicates that Hamitic people went to hot climates. The descendants of Japheth have been traced to European and Aryan people, mainly of Europe, and also into central Asia, Iran and north India. The name Japheth means enlargedor expanded, and indicates the nature of this people.
Bible scholarship traditionally has held the view that descendants of Shem only settled in western Asia, thought to be Arabs and Jews mainly. But this conclusion does not take east Asia into account (half of humanity), and gives only a small portion to Shem. But Shem was given the greatest honour of all. Gen. 9:26,
And he said: Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem...
The Bible says that Shem is the original forefather of the West Asian people together with the East Asian people. The genealogy of all the Oriental people can be traced to Shem in the Genesis account.
Shem means honourable name, which fits well to oriental cultural values. The Hebrew Bible often refers to God as “The Honourable Name” (HA-SHÈM), thus joining God with the people of Shem. In Genesis 10:21, Shem is called “The father of all the children of Eber,” meaning the Hebrew race. The word Hebrew means ‘of Eber,’ or ‘descended from Eber.’ Gen. 10:25,
To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.
Hence the Hebrew race has descended from Eber in two branches, of Peleg, or of Joktan. The name Peleg means sectioned or partitioned, thus relating him to Babylon (Gen. 11:7-9), but the name Joktan means Youngson.
Only the first generation of Joktan’s descendants was recorded in the Bible (Gen. 10:26-29; I Chron. 1:19-23). Joktan’s family of thirteen sons is the largest family of early Bible times. It is unusual that their names were even recorded because Joktan’s lineage does not recur in later Bible history. Peleg’s lineage recurs however (Genesis 11), so Bible readers have traditionally thought that Peleg’s descendants are the only Hebrews in existence. But the descendants of Joktan are in fact another, even larger branch of Hebrews. Peleg’s lineage has heightened visibility in the Bible because God chose Abraham’s kindred to lead the Bible narrative; but the disappearance of Joktan’s lineage from the Bible narrative means that Joktan’s family left west Asia entirely and migrated far away to another land.

For more than a century Noah and all the Flood survivors dwelt somewhere in the east. This was eastwards of the Euphrates River plain: the Bible calls it the plain of Shinar. Gen. 11:2, And it came to pass,as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
Later on, the plain of Shinar was renamed Babylon (Gen. 11:9). The phrase “from the east” is MI-KÈDEM in Hebrew, and we can give a literal translation. MI is ‘from,’ or ‘coming from’ (and can not be translated otherwise). KÈDEM is ‘the front of the east,’ or ‘the orient.’ The root idea is “front” —in a geographic sense referring to the coastlands of east Asia facing sunrise. In the time sense it can also mean‘ancient beginnings’ (the front of time), and can sometimes be translated ‘ancient orient.’ In Genesis 11:2, the word KÈDEM reveals that the Flood survivors journeyed from the orient before entering the land of Babylon. (Many Bible versions have poor translations of KÈDEM.)
The earliest sojourn of the Flood survivors was eastwards of Babylon, across the Iranian plateau, taking more than a century according to the genealogy of Gen. 11:10-16. More than a century is indicated (in Gen. 10:25) from the Flood until Peleg, and it could have been many years later that he entered Babylon. Peleg definitely went into Babylon, for his descendants were all dwelling there, including Abraham (Gen. 11). But Joktan did not go with Peleg into Babylon.
The pre-Babylonian sojourn is an important factor for it helps us to know the location of Joktan’s migration route. He evidently separated from the caravan before they came to Babylon because he chose to go east. Gen. 10:30, And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go towards Sephar, the mountain of the east.
The caravan travelling west to Babylon was already in the east, so Joktan’s decision to travel farther east means that he separated from the caravan and turned towards the orient; (we give our own translation of Gen. 10:30 later on).
Some scholars have suggested that Joktan went to Arabia because two of his sons, Sheba and Havilah had the same names as two Arabian tribes. But those Arabian tribes were of Cushite descent in the lineage of Ham and not in the lineage of Shem at all (Gen. 10:6-7). Arabia is part of the migration route to Africa, the land of Cush; therefore the first peoples in Arabia were Cushite. Names may reappear in different genealogies but relationship is not implied.
The separation of Peleg’s clan and Joktan’s clan made two Hebrew peoples, the Western Hebrews of western Asia and the Eastern Hebrews of east Asia, the orient. Orientals are Hebrew people.
Gen. 9:28 says that Noah lived several years beyond the Babylon confusion and so did the other post-Flood Patriarchs (Gen. 11). Therefore they also took part in Babylon’s confusion if they were there. But we doubt that Noah was in Babylon at all. “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen. 6:8) and was righteous (Eze. 14:14; 2 Peter 2:5); hence he certainly would have opposed the ambitions of Babylon and Nimrod’s kingdom (ref. Genesis 10:8-10). The Bible does not say where Noah, Shem, Arphaxed, Salah and Eber then were, but the possibility is that, like Joktan they may have gone eastward, farther into Asia.
We shall now examine the names mentioned in Gen. 10:30. The Flood had erased all former place names but the names in the Bible have meaning, and that is important. Mesha means ‘departure,’ which probably refers to Joktan’s point of departure from the caravan. Joktan’s group took their departure point somewhere on the Iranian plateau, or in central Asia, and that departure point (MÈSHA) became the starting point of Joktanite settlement. Joktan’s clan was certainly the first to scout the ancient Silk Road, which later became the main road of settlement into east Asia. Mesha (the departure point) was the start of the ancient Silk Road. The Silk Road first began near the city of Mashhad, in north-eastern Iran, and that name may derive from the ancient name of Mesha.
The phrase, “towards Sephar” is a translation of SEPHARÀH (in the Hebrew), but it literally means ‘towards a numerous population.’ Instead of a name, if we take word meaning we find a prophecy for the numerous populations that now exist in China and through all the orient.
The phrase, “the mountain of the east” is a translation of HAR HA-KÈDEM, but the literal Hebrew meaning is ‘the mountain of the orient.’ Now we have our own translation of Gen. 10:30,
And their dwelling place shall be from the departure point, as you go towards a numerous population, the mountain of the orient. (translation mine)
“The mountain of the orient” might be a particular mountain that marks the far-eastern extent of the oriental homelands or it could be just a symbolic term for the numerous population of east Asia, but it definitely means that Orientals are Joktan’s descendants. (Joktan is indicated in Gen. 10:30, from the context.)
Chinese history affirms that the early pioneers came into the eastern plains of China from the west, migrating along the Silk Road route. This verifies the accepted dating of early settlements in the Yellow River valley of north China. Bible chronology puts this migration at about 2200 BCE. Tribal diversity in the orient began with Joktan’s thirteen sons and their families. It may also be due to others associated with the Patriarchal families. The whole of east Asia was eventually populated by descendants of those Semitic settlers. We therefore conclude that the East Asian peoples are entirely Semitic and may properly be called Eastern Hebrews. Other west Asian tribes came into China later on, such as the Elamites, the ten northern Israeli tribes, the Persian Jews, and the Assyrians. These were Semitic and they all eventually assimilated into China.
We shall now consider the language aspect of Oriental origins and we want first of all to clear up existing misunderstanding on the subject. Bible scholars have made conclusions about language categorisation and in such conclusions only the languages of Western Semites are regarded as Semitic (from Shem). It is true that Oriental languages appear unrelated to the languages of ancient Western Semites, such as Chaldee, Canaanite Hebrew and Aramaic. This non- relationship has led some to conclude that the peoples of China and the orient are not Semitic. But the East Asian languages are equally unrelated to Hamitic languages and Japhetic Indo-European languages. This means that East Asian languages have another origin—not necessarily based on ancestry. The Bible does not say that all Semitic peoples must have related languages. That is a conclusion of the past that needs more consideration so that the contradictions may be corrected.
But we agree the non-relationship of Oriental languages to other languages is an interesting mystery and deserves an answer. The Bible says that at first all men used the same language; “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech” (Gen. 11:1).
The language brought over with Noah from the pre-Flood world apparently continued into this world more than two centuries. It was a unifying influence until it was confused amongst the Babylonian community. The Bible does not say what happened to the original language. The only reason given us for the confusing of it was that God wanted the Babylonian people to scatter abroad (see Gen. 11:8-9). Therefore God did not change the language of people that were not in Babylon for they were not part of the problem! Everyone that had earlier removed from the Babylon crowd and had chosen their migration route would have continued speaking the language taught them by Noah.
This means that Joktan’s clan remained entirely unaffected by the chaos in Babylon, and kept the ancient original language brought over by Noah. Joktan went to China, and this explains why Chinese is not related to languages that began in Babylon; it also explains why the language of China does not identify ancestry. Chinese legends indicate great antiquity for their language, and the findings of archaeology support this conclusion.
Various Oriental peoples not from China have national languages that seem unrelated to Chinese and unrelated to the other Babylonish languages as well. God might have done a miracle in China, just as He did in Babylon, (although we do not have a Bible record of it), to get people moving into the other lands around China. The miracle of languages may have happened again, and that can explain how the various Oriental languages came to be. As well, some of the Southeast Asian languages developed from foreign language intermixture.
Bible readers might be interested in Zephaniah 3:9, for it says that God will restore a pure language to the people when He sets up His kingdom on earth. The language from Eden probably lasted until Noah, with no major changes. It evidently was brought to China by Joktan—and has continued ever since as the spoken language of China. It might have seen changes during all the time since humanity first began, but much honour surrounds the Chinese language because of its ancient origins.

0 comments

opir us philippines

OPHIR

o'-fer, o'-fir ('owphiyr (Gen 10:29), 'owphir (1 Ki 10:11), 'ophir):
1. Scriptural References:
The 11th in order of the sons of Joktan (Gen 10:29 = 1 Ch 1:23). There is a clear reference also to a tribe Ophir (Gen 10:30). Ophir is the name of a land or city somewhere to the South or Southeast of Israel for which Solomon's ships along with Phoenician vessels set out from Ezion-geber at the head of the Gulf of Aqabah, returning with great stores of gold, precious stones and "almug"-wood (1 Ki 9:28; 10:11; 2 Ch 9:10; 1 Ki 22:48; 2 Ch 8:18). We get a fuller list of the wares 

and also the time taken by the voyage if we assume that the same vessels are referred to in 1 Ki 10:22, "Once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks." The other products may not have been native to the land of Ophir, but it is certain that the gold at least was produced there. This gold was proverbial for its purity, as is witnessed by many references in the Old Testament (Ps 45:9; Job 28:16; Isa 13:12; 1 Ch 29:4), and, in Job 22:24, Ophir is used for fine gold itself. In addition to these notices of Ophir, it is urged that the name. occurs also in two passages under the form "Uphaz" (Jer 10:9; Dan 10:5).
2. Geographical Position:
At all times the geographical position of Ophir has been a subject of dispute, the claims of three different regions being principally advanced, namely (1) India and the Far East, (2) Africa, (3) Arabia.
(1) India and the Far East.
All the wares mentioned are more or less appropriate to India, even including the fuller list of 1 Ki 10:22. "Almug"-wood is conjectured to be the Indian sandal-wood. Another argument is based on the resemblance between the Septuagint form of the word (Sophera) and the Coptic name for India (Sophir). A closer identification is sought with Abhira, a people dwelling at the mouths of the Indus. Supara, an ancient city on the west coast of India near the modern Goa, is also suggested. Again, according to Wildman, the name denotes a vague extension eastward, perhaps as far as China.
(2) Africa.
This country is the greatest gold-producing region of the three. Sofala, a seaport near Mozambique on the east coast of Africa, has been advanced as the site of Ophir, both on linguistic grounds and from the nature of its products, for there all the articles of 1 Ki 10:22 could be procured. But Gesenius shows that Sofala is merely the Arabic form of the Hebrew shephelah. Interest in this region as the land of Ophir was renewed, however, by Mauch's discovery at Zimbabye of great ruins and signs of old Phoenician civilization and worked-out gold mines. According to Bruce (I, 440), a voyage from Sofala to Ezion-geber would have occupied quite three years owing to the monsoons.
(3) Arabia.
The claim of Southeastern Arabia as the land of Ophir has on the whole more to support it than that of India or of Africa. The Ophir of Gen 10:29 beyond doubt belonged to this region, and the search for Ophir in more distant lands can be made only on the precarious assumption that the Ophir of Ki is not the same as the Ophir of Gen. Of the various products mentioned, the only one which from the Old Testament notices can be regarded as clearly native to Ophir is the gold, and according to Pliny and Strabo the region of Southeastern Arabia bordering on the Persian Gulf was a famous gold-producing country. The other wares were not necessarily produced in Ophir, but were probably brought there from more distant lands, and thence conveyed by Solomon's merchantmen to Ezion-geber. If the duration of the voyage (3 years) be used as evidence, it favors this location of Ophir as much as that on the east coast of Africa. It seems therefore the least assailable view that Ophir was a district on the Persian Gulf in Southeastern Arabia and served in old time as an emporium of trade between the East and West.

  gold fton ophir is the business ofqueen o  fsheba