Genesis 10:23

And the children of Aram,.... The four following persons are called the sons of Shem, 1 Chronicles 1:17 being his grandsons, which is not unusual in Scripture,

Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash: the first of these sons of Aram, Uz, is generally thought to be the founder of Damascus; so Josephus t says. Usus founded Trachonitis and Damascus, which lies between Palestine and Coelesyria: there was a place called Uz in Idumea, Lamentations 4:21 and another in Arabia, where Job dwelt, Job 1:1 but neither of them seems to be the seat of this man and his posterity, who, in all probability, settled in Syria: his second son Hul, whom Josephus u calls Ulus, according to him, founded Armenia; which notion may be strengthened by observing that Cholobotene is reckoned a part of Armenia by Stephanus w; which is no other than Cholbeth, that is, the house or seat of Chol, the same with Hul; and there are several places in Armenia, as appears from Ptolemy x, which begin with Chol or Col, as Cholus, Cholua, Choluata, Cholima, Colsa, Colana, Colchis: but perhaps it may be better to place him in Syria, in the deserts of Palmyrene, as Junius and Grotius; since among the cities of Palmyrene, there is one called Cholle, according to Ptolemy y. Gether, the third son, is made by Josephus z to be the father of the Bactrians; but these were too far off to come from this man, and were not in the lot of Shem: Bochart a finds the river Getri, which the Greeks call Centrites, between Armenia and the Carduchi, whereabout, he conjectures, might be the seat of this man; but perhaps it may be more probable, with Grotius and Junius, to place him in Coelesyria, where are the city Gindarus of Ptolemy b, and a people called Gindareni, by Pliny c; though Bishop Patrick thinks it probable that Gadara, the chief city of Peraea, placed by Ptolemy d in the Decapolis of Coelesyria, had its name from this man: Mr. Broughton derives Atergate and Derceto, names of a Syrian goddess, from him, which was worshipped at Hierapolis in Coelesyria, as Pliny says e. The last of the sons of Aram, Mash, is called Meshech, in 1 Chronicles 1:17 and here the Septuagint version calls him Masoch; his posterity are supposed to settle in Armenia, about the mountain Masius, thought to be the same with Ararat, and which the Armenians call Masis; perhaps the people named Moscheni, mentioned by Pliny f, as dwelling near Armenia and Adiabene, might spring from this man.

t Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4.) u Ibid. w Apud Bochart. Phaleg. l. 2. c. 9. col. 81. x Geograph. l. 5. c. 13. y Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. z Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4.) a Phaleg. l. 2. c. 10. b Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. c Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 23. d Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 5. c. 15.) e Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 23. f Ib. l. 6. c. 9.