Madai (, ; el, Μηδος, ) is a son of

Japheth Japheth ( he, יֶפֶת ''Yép̄eṯ'', in pausa ''Yā́p̄eṯ''; el, Ἰάφεθ '; la, Iafeth, Iapheth, Iaphethus, Iapetus) is one of the three sons of Noah in the Book of Genesis, in which he plays a role in the story of Noah's drunk ...

and one of the 16 grandsons of

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

in the '' Book of Genesis'' of the Hebrew Bible.

Associated nations

Medes and related Iranian nations

Biblical scholars have generally identified Madai with the Iranian Medes of much later records. The Medes, reckoned to be his offspring by Josephus and most subsequent writers, were also known as ''Madai'', including in both Assyrian and Hebrew sources. Also linked with Madai is the Iranian city of Hamadan. The Kurds still maintain traditions of descent from Madai.

Others

Some scholars in more modern times have also proposed connections with various earlier nations, such as Mitanni, Matiene, and Mannai.

In the Book of Jubilees

According to the '' Book of Jubilees'' (10:35-36), Madai had married a daughter of Shem, and preferred to live among Shem's descendants, rather than dwell in his allotted inheritance beyond the Black Sea (seemingly corresponding to the British Isles), so he begged his brothers-in-law,

Elam Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...

Asshur Ashur, Assur, or Asur may refer to: Places * Assur, an Assyrian city and first capital of ancient Assyria * Ashur, Iran, a village in Iran * Asur, Thanjavur district, a village in the Kumbakonam taluk of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India * Ass ...

and Arphaxad, until he finally received from them the land that was named after him, Media. Another line in ''Jubilees'' (8:5) states that a daughter of Madai named Milcah (Aramaic: ''Melkâ'') married Cainan, who is an ancestor of Abraham also mentioned in the Septuagint version of Genesis and in the Gospel of Luke (3:36).

Purported link with Medos and Medea

'' Medos'' (), and his mother Medea, were also reckoned to be the ancestors of the Medes in classical Greek mythical history. Christian scholars have proposed linking Hebrew ''Madai'' and Greek ''Medos'' since at least the time of

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

'Etym'' 9.2.28 ca. 600 AD.

References

{{Authority control Book of Genesis people Hebrew Bible nations Japheth Medes Noach (parashah) Book of Jubilees