Reuben, Simeon, Levi & Gad – the Celtic Tribes

Chapter XXXI

In the last chapter, we briefly mentioned Wales identity as Simeon. Wherever Judah is, Simeon will not just be next to them, but part of them. Only one nation and former Principality, could fulfil this role. [Since 1542, Wales have with England, constituted the Kingdom of England. Though Wales ceased being a Principality between 1535 to 1543, it was only in 2011 that its status as a country was made official by the ISO].

Scotland has its own law, distinct from English law, its own issued bank notes and currency of pound sterling and its parliament has law making powers beyond that of the Welsh Parliament. The Welsh have the same law as England and as we learned in the preceding chapter [refer Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin], they constitute with England, the Kingdom of England. 

The ‘lost ten tribes’ is a misnomer as all thirteen tribes were lost. The separating of the tribes into ten for the Kingdom of Israel and two for the Kingdom of Judah is misleading, as not just the House of Benjamin was united with the House of Judah, but many from the family of Kohath from Levi and the tribe of Simeon were also integral to the United Kingdom of Judah; as these four are the core of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Today, Northern Ireland is part of that United Kingdom, though for how long – for its destiny is to join its Israelite brothers. 

It is ironically, ten tribes if we include Joseph as split into three, Ephraim, the half tribe of West Manasseh and the half tribe of East Manasseh. If we don’t split them, as identity researchers would, then it would technically be the ‘eight’ lost tribes: Joseph, Reuben, Issachar, Zebulon, Gad, Asher, Dan and Naphtali. 

As Judah is typically ascribed to the Jews and Benjamin either to the Jews or to Abraham and Keturah’s children of Norway or Iceland; Simeon is ascribed to either Scotland or rightfully, Wales. One identity expert presents a case for the American Irish. In my investigation, Northern England was considered as well. 

Reuben and Gad had a historical relationship, which we will see replicated by other brothers; in that half brothers lived next to each other instead of with their full blood brother. In this case Gad from Leah’s handmaid Bilhah and Reuben from Leah both crossed the River Jordan to settle on the eastern border lands of Israel in Canaan. They lived next to East Manasseh, Ammon and Moab. Today, they live next to each other and share the land of the Emerald Isle. They are in juxtapostion with the three nations on the British mainland and to their west is the half tribe of East Manasseh as would be expected. 

Gad is the Republic of Ireland and Reuben is Northern Ireland, dominated by the Province of Ulster. As the brothers Reuben, Simeon and Levi with their half brother Gad are all intertwined in their histories and within the islands of Ireland and Britain it is logical to discuss them within the same chapter. We will probably revert back to Benjamin and the Picts at times because of their shared history of living in Northern Ireland, prior to settling in Alba. 

Genesis 29:31-34; 30:9-10

English Standard Version

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated [loved less than Rachel], he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 

32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben [see a Son], for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” 33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon [heard]. 34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi [attached]… 9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad [good fortune].

Reuben’s name derives from the verb ra’a, ‘to see’ or ‘understand’ and the noun ben, ‘son’ meaning ‘behold a son, son of vision, a son who’s seen.’ Reuben was Jacob’s first son and first by Leah, born in 1752 BCE. Recall that the Reu prefix is a family name for Arphaxad. Reu was a son of Peleg. There is a Reuel a son of Esau, a Reuel associated with Moses’s father-in-law, a Benjamite [1 Chronicles 9:8] and a chief of Gad, Eliasaph who was the son of a Reuel [Numbers 2:14]. 

Simeon was the second born to Jacob and Leah in 1750 BCE and his name comes from the verb shama’ ‘to hear.’ Levi was Jacob and Leah’s third son, born in 1748 BCE and his name stems from the verb lawa, ‘to join’ or ‘connect.’ Gad meanwhile was born in 1744 BCE to Leah’s handmaid Zilpah. 

Gad was Jacob’s seventh son, Leah’s fifth including Zilpah’s sons and Zilpah’s eldest of two. Gad’s name derives from the verb gadad, ‘to cut, invade’ and ‘expose.’ Jones’s Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names says: ‘Good luck.’ Everyone has heard of “the luck of the Irish.” 

This saying is applicable to the Irish of the Republic. The nation of Ireland is Gad. Reuben equates to the Protestant peoples of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland has a unique status, and so he is ‘a son who’s seen, or behold a son’, as in a people… not a sovereign state; not a province, as it is comprised of six of the total nine counties of Ulster; not a nation; though it is both a region and constituent country of the United Kingdom. 

Gad is invariably ascribed to Switzerland and one identity expert offers Sweden. Reuben is unanimously identified as France. We have discussed the Swiss from Haran and the French from Moab & Ammon in Chapter XXVI Moab & Ammon and the Swedes from Keturah in Chapter XXVII Abraham.

Genesis 34:1-31

English Standard Version

Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. 3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 

4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done.

Shechem had a strange way of showing his love for Dinah, through rape. Shechem became obsessed with Dinah. Dinah must have been alluring in personality as well as in looks. One wonders what seeing ‘the women of the land’ means. Did Shechem mis-read Dinah and then afterwards, realise she was unique and that he wanted her as his wife. We have discussed the fact that Dinah was Zebulun’s twin. This means she was Leah’s last of seven children. Leah was thirty-four in 1740 BCE when she had Dinah. After Jacob had left his father-in-law, Laban and reconciled with Esau in 1720 BCE, he settled in Shechem. Thus Dinah visiting the women of the land, must have been locally where they were living. Recall in Chapter XXIX Esau, we studied Job and the possibility his second wife was a descendant of Dinah.

8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. 9 Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” 11 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me for as great a bride-price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”

We have studied the Hivites and the different peoples that went by that name: the original Hivites from Canaan’s son Hiv [refer Chapter XII Canaan], Nephilim [refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega] and the fact that certain descendants of Shem also became known by Canaanite names after the original sons of Canaan had migrated to North Africa [refer Chapter XXVII Abraham]. These Hivites fall into the third category and their link with the Midianites and Kenites was explored in chapter XXVII Abraham. What is also interesting is that these circumstances of the Israelites living adjacent to the Hivites and the Hivite’s willingness to share has been replicated in South Africa – modern day Sidon [refer Chapter XXIII Aram] – between the Dutch Afrikaans and the British. We will also find that Dinah’s connection with the Hivite, Shechem and that fact her brother is Zebulun, much more than a passing coincidence. 

13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 

14 They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15 Only on this condition will we agree with you – that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. 

16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people [a bold faced lie]. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”

18 Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. 19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter [they may have been married at this point]. Now he was the most honored of all his father’s house. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people – when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” 24 And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

25 On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure [at night] and killed all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away. 27 The [other] sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 

It was a cruel trick that began with a lie and ended in murder; though none less than Shechem deserved. For Shechem had abused his position of authority to do as he liked, assuming Jacob’s family would accept his whims. It would have been enough to stop there, particularly as Shechem wished to make amends and do right by Dinah. It is here that we learn more about Simeon and Levi. If Dinah was about twenty-five – it may have happened earlier – it would have been 1717 BCE and Simeon would have been thirty-three and Levi, thirty-one. 

It is apparent that Simeon and Levi were very similar, they were both emotional and impetuous and they acted in one accord, believing a savage act of retribution was moral. It is admirable that they sought justice for Dinah’s shame, though it was a step too far. It circumnavigated the future that the Creator may have preferred for Shechem, Dinah and not forgetting Simeon. Note that Simeon’s brothers supported him and Levi in following up what they had started. Intriguingly, it did not seem to deter the Eternal from giving Levi’s descendants the responsibility of the priesthood.

28 They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29 All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites.My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” 31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

The chapter ends abruptly, though the trouble Jacob envisioned either didn’t happen or didn’t amount to much. As they were living near the Hivites, it makes sense Jacob was concerned. Jacob is displaying his customary worry; a trait of his – that we have witnessed previously – and not always relying on the Eternal as much as he could. The Hivites and their allies may have deemed the Israelites too dangerous and decided to let it lie. 

Previously, we read the Genesis account of Joseph in Egypt when his brothers visited in 1687 BCE during the seven years of famine that occurred during 1689 to 1682 BCE. We have discussed Jacob’s, Judah and Benjamin’s involvement. Reuben and Simeon are also discussed in the narrative. 

Genesis 42:18-37; 43:16-23

English Standard Version

18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother [Benjamin] to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. 21 Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” 23 They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. 24 Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them.And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 25 And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.

35 As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.” 37 Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons [Hanoch and Pallu were the eldest and second born of four sons] if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” 

16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” 17 The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house. 18 And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.” 

19 So they went up to the steward of Joseph’s house and spoke with him at the door of the house, 20 and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food. 21 And when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us, 22 and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.” 23 He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

Recall that Reubens’s secret plan was to release Joseph so that he wouldn’t die. Judah resorted to a plan that also meant Jospeh wouldn’t die, but unlike Reuben’s plan it meant pretending he had died. Reuben again, feels honour bound to make a bad situation better by offering at that time, both his sons. It is not clear why Simeon is selected to be held as a prisoner. It poses a series of questions. The only matter we know about Simeon is his act of vengeful violence. Could this have been on Joseph’s mind? Dinah is never spoken of again after Simeon and Levi’s atrocity. Some offer that Dinah may have died with her husband during the chaos of that night. If so, circa 1717 BCE meant Joseph would have been nine or ten years of age. Joseph may have held Simeon accountable if Dinah had been lost. If Job married a descendant of Dinah [refer Chapter XXIX Esau] as alleged, did she have a child by Shechem? 

Genesis 48:5

English Standard Version

5 And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.

Jacob is speaking to Joseph and in a dramatic turn of events, takes or adopts his two grandsons as his very own sons. This means they would share in the birthright blessings promised to Joseph. The birthright if you will, skipped a generation, or, that Manasseh and Ephraim were elevated to actual sons of Jacob. Twelve sons became thirteen. What is very interesting is that Reuben and Simeon are stated together. Was the original intention to split the birthright blessing? 

Recall the Sceptre of Rulership and Royalty was given to Jacob’s fourth son Judah. The Priestly line of service was given to Levi, Jacob’s third born son. It appears credible that Reuben and Simeon were to be the recipients of a split blessing. If so, this means one of the peoples that became the Welsh and the Northern Irish would have instead become a great nation and the other would have become an even greater nation comprised of many peoples. All four sons were born to Jacob’s wife Leah and all four sons were caught out in compromising acts of weakness of character. Judah’s were discussed in length in Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin.

The descriptions of Jacob’s sons, with future prophecies are addressed by Jacob, Moses and the Ephraimite Judge Deborah.

Genesis 49:5-7

English Standard Version

5 “Simeon and Levi are [close] brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. 

The Message: Simeon and Levi are two of a kind, ready to fight at the drop of a hat.

Simeon and Levi were joined at the hip as they say and were obviously close brothers. Historically, a sword is a symbol for Simeon as are fortifications or castles. Interestingly, there are far more castles in Wales than any other country in the world per square mile; some six hundred, with some having been lived in for over a thousand years. The King James version says that they were ‘instruments of cruelty.’

6 Let my soul come not into their council [their discussions]; O my glory, be not joined to their company [their plans]. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness [H7522 ratsown: ‘pleasure, desire, self-will’] they hamstrung [H6131 aqar: cut]oxen. 

The Hebrew word means to cut or hamstring, hobble a creature. Simeon and Levi took pleasure in maiming animals regularly for sport.

7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

The punishment for their actions was to diminish their standing as sons of Jacob and strip them of tribal status, absorbing them into the remaining eleven tribes. The key reason for this was because Simeon and Levi misused the circumcision rite, which was an act of setting people apart as sanctified before the Eternal. The brothers had misused it as a weapon of war and revenge. The Creator relents for both brothers and lessens their sentences. In the last chapter it was mentioned that Levi and his descendants were given the role of the Priesthood and ministration as well becoming in today’s parlance, the teachers, lawyers and civil servants of society. Though, they were still to be scattered amongst the Israelite nations. The majority of which as Levi means, attached themselves to the tribes associated with the Kingdom of Judah. Today they equate to the nations of England, Scotland and Wales.

In Judges chapter five, Deborah addresses eleven of the fourteen Tribal splits. The three not mentioned, are Simeon, Levi and Judah who did not take part in the war against the kings of Canaan. In Deuteronomy chapter thirty-three, Moses adds additional prophecies to Jacob’s. The only omission, is Simeon. This is because they were going to be closely aligned with the tribe of Judah. Levi on the other hand, has a more lengthy discourse than some of his brothers.

Joshua 19:1, 9

English Standard Version

The second lot [first lot, Benjamin] came out for Simeon…  according to their clans… The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.

Deuteronomy 33:8-11

English Standard Version

8 And of Levi he said, “Give to Levi your Thummim, and your Urim to your godly one,
whom you tested at Massah, with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;

The account of Massah and Meribah is given in Exodus 17:1-7. The people were thirsty from lack of water when they camped at Rephidim in the wilderness of Sin. Rephidim was Nephilim territory. It is ironic symbolism that the land had no water [Jude 1:12 “. waterless clouds…”] They quarrelled with Moses and tempted the Eternal by saying: “Is the Lord among us or not?” Hence Massah means tempted and Meribah, quarrel. The Eternal did provide water, through a miracle of water gushing from a large rock, after Moses struck it with his staff. 

The Urim and Thummim was a priestly device for obtaining oracles on decisions. The high priest’s ephod – an apron-like garment – had a breast piece, which was an inlaid pouch with twelve precious stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel [Exodus 28:15–30; Leviticus 8:8]. 

Finding the Will of God, Dr Bruce Waltke, page 62-64 – emphasis & bold mine: 

‘The priest could use the urim and thummin to determine God’s will in a particular situation… the priest carried in his breastplate perhaps two… stones, one white and the other black, that would give a yes or no answer to a specific question. Should Israel be preparing for battle, they would somehow shake or toss the [stones]. If they turned up black the Israelites would not go to battle, and if they turned up white they would proceed into battle with the knowledge that they were in the will of God. We read in Exodus 28:30, “Also put the Urim and the Thummin in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.”

1 Samuel 28:6 makes clear a definite answer was not always obtainable, so it may not have been as simple as tossing two stones on [the] ground. Moses never used them; they were given for the high priest in aiding those who could not find God’s guidance any other way. 

Some translate the words urim and thummin to mean “curse” and “blessing,” others simply “dark” and “light,” although the literal translation [from the Hebrew is]… “light” and “perfections.” 

The Old Testament seems to indicate that the urim and thummin faded from use during the early days of Israel’s monarchy, and are only referred to once after the Babylonian exile. This may be so because the institution of monarchy God inaugurated the office of prophet. The prophets now participated in God’s heavenly court and communicated God’s messages to the courts in Jerusalem and Samaria. Apparently prophets who revealed God’s word to the king replaced the urim and thummin, through which He revealed His mind to the priest. Nevertheless, we still find Ezra using this device to determine the ancestry of the priests who returned from the exile in Ezra 2.63. After this the Bible never mentions the urim and thummin again.’ 

9 who said of his father and mother, ‘I regard them not’; he disowned his brothers and ignored his children. Forthey observed your word and kept your covenant.

This appears to be speaking of Levi, yet it is ultimately Aaron who would have the responsibility of carrying the Thummim and Urim on his breast plate and of casting them in decisions. We have read of this ceremony regarding the Azazel, the sacrificial goat on the Day of Atonement [refer Chapter XXI Nimrod].

10 They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law; they shall put incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar. 

Many Levites and all the Priests did not have an easy task. It was hard work maintaining the Tabernacle in their forty year trek through the wilderness and during this time from 1446 to 1400 CE and beyond until 70 CE, the sacrificing of so many animals on a daily basis as well as the ceremonial seven times a year for the annual Feasts was both burdensome and bloody. This is one significant reason why the Son of Man’s sacrifice was liberating. It ended all the ritualistic statutes, judgements and laws that pertained to the levitical sacrificial system. It wasn’t so much a blessing to Levi and his descendants, but a burden of responsibility. Even so, Moses calls for the Creator to bless* and protect Levi and his descendants, in a statement remarkably echoing the one given to Judah regarding his enemies.

11 Bless, O Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries, of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”

Book of Jubilees 31:12-17

12 And the spirit of prophecy came down into [Isaac’s] mouth, and he took Levi by his right hand and Judah by his left. 13 And he turned to Levi first, and began to bless him first, and said to him: May the Almighty of all, the very Yahweh of all the ages, bless you and your children throughout all the ages. 

14 And may Yahweh give to you and to your seed greatness and great splendor, and cause you and your seed, from among all flesh, to approach Him to serve in His sanctuary…15 And they shall be judges and princes, and chiefs of all the seed of the sons of Jacob; They shall speak the word of Yahweh in righteousness, And they shall judge all His judgments in righteousness. And they shall declare My ways to Jacob And My paths to Israel. The blessing of Yahweh shall be given in their mouths To bless all the seed of the beloved. 16 Your mother has called your name Levi, And justly has she called your name; You shall be joined to YahwehAnd be the companion of all the sons of Jacob[scattered in Israel]; Let His table be yours, And do you and your sons eat thereof; And may your table be full unto all generations, And your food fail not unto all the ages. 17 And let all who hate you fall down before you, And let all your adversaries be rooted out and perish; And blessed be he that blesses* you, And cursed be every nation that curses you.’ 

Location of the Tribes of Israel, Herman Hoeh, circa 1950 – emphasis & bold mine: 

‘Simeon received no blessing from Moses. In fact, he does not even mention the tribe! Jacob said God would scatter them throughout Israel. How? Take a map of Palestine for the time of the division of the land. Notice that Simeon did have an inheritance South of Judah. When Judah separated from Israel, Judah occupied that territory, yet Simeon went with Israel! The only explanation is that Simeon migrated into Israel generally, but no new territory was assigned to Simeon.This tribe became scattered. It is possible that the small scattered tribes in Western Europe, variously called the Senones or Semaones or Sennones, represented the fragments of the tribe of Simeon.’ 

It isn’t the only explanation as we have learned. Simeon didn’t go with Israel immediately; instead, it was an integral part of Judah and Benjamin.

‘Levi, the priestly tribe, was to be scattered in Israel (Genesis 49:5-7). God never gave them land to inherit as the other tribes. Therefore, we should not expect them to be given territory today. Nothing is said in Deuteronomy 33 about inheriting land. Among the Jews today we find many bearing the names: Levi, Levy, Levine. Others bear the name “Cohen” and its variations. The Hebrew word “Kohen” means priest and is so translated 725 times in the King James version. Here then, we have the great bulk of Levi scattered among Judah because they left their priestly functions in Israel almost totally (I Kings 12:31).’ 

Agreed, that the priestly Levites of Kohath, from Aaron were associated with the true tribe of Judah and not the Jews. Though they are not to be equated with ‘the great bulk of Levi.’ Levi was scattered amongst all the tribes, as all priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests. 

Certain Simeonites are named who went up against Sier and defeated them, living in part of their land. 1 Chronicles 4:42-43 ESV:  ‘And some of them, five hundred men of the Simeonites, went to Mount Seir, having as their leaders Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. 

And they defeated the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped…’ Numbers 13:5 ESV gives the name of the Simeonite sent with others to spy out Canaan before they invaded: ‘from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori [remarkably similar to Sier’s forbear Hor, as in Horite].’ A selection of verses supporting the close bond Judah and Simeon shared geographically and politically; as England and Wales exhibit today.

1 Chronicles 6:65

English Standard Version

They gave by lot out of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin these cities that are mentioned by name.

Joshua 21:9

English Standard Version

Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name…

Judges 1:3, 17

English Standard Version

And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him… 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction…

In the Book of Jubilees we learn of the names of the wives of Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Gad, with the Book of Jasher offering further details.

Book of Jubilees 34:20-21

And after Joseph perished, the sons of Jacob took unto themselves wives. The name of Reuben’s wife is ‘Ada; and the name of Simeon’s wife is ‘Adlba’a, a Canaanite; and the name of Levi’s wife is Melka, of the daughters of Aram, of the seed of the sons of Terah [Nahor] … and the name of Gad’s wife, Maka… And Simeon repented, and took a second wife from Mesopotamia as his brothers.

Book of Jasher 45:1-3,5-6,9-10

1… Reuben the son of Jacob went to Timnah and took unto him for a wife Eliuram,the daughter of Avi the Canaanite, and he came to her. 2 And Eliuram the wife of Reuben conceived and bare him Hanoch, Palu, Chetzron and Carmi, four sons…

2… Simeon his brother took his sister Dinah for a wife, and she bare unto him Memuel, Yamin, Ohad, Jachin and Zochar, five sons. 3 And he afterward came to Bunah the Canaanitish woman, the same is Bunah whom Simeon took captive from the city of Shechem, and Bunah was before Dinah and attended upon her, and Simeon came to her, and she bare unto him Saul.*

5… Levi… went to the land of the east, and… took… for [a wife a daughter] of Jobab the son of Joktan, the son of Eber; and Jobab the son of Yoktan had two daughters; the name of the elder was Adinah… 6 And Levi took Adinah, and… came to the land of Canaan, to their father’s house, and Adinah bare unto Levi, Gershon, Kehath and Merari; three sons.

9… Gad… went to Haran and took… [a daughter] of Amuram the son of Uz, the son of Nahor… 10… and the name of the [youngest daughter] Uzith… and Gad took Uzith; and brought [her] to the land of Canaan, to their father’s house. 11… Uzith bare unto Gad Zephion, Chagi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Arali, seven sons.

It is not clear who the identity of Reuben’s wife is. As his brothers, Judah and Simeon had a propensity for marrying Canaanite women, a women of Black descent cannot be ruled out. It seems unlikely that Simeon took his sister Dinah as a wife, though the question would remain who his first wife was if his second Canaanite wife gave him only his son S[h]aul.* Levi either took a wife from Joktan’s line – which today equates to the predominantly Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe, though also includes the peoples of Baltic and Balkans descent – or from the same line as his father and grandfather had before him. Gad is stated as marrying from the line of Nahor, as Isaac and Jacob had done before him as well.

In Numbers chapter one, census numbers for the tribes two years after they left Egypt are listed. The Levites are not included in the census figures. These are the numbers for the tribes we have covered this far, including Judah and Benjamin which weren’t included in the previous chapter.

The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month [New Moon, April/May], in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt [1444 BCE], saying, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. 3 From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. 

21 those listed of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500 [4].

23 those listed of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300 [2].

25 those listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650 [3].

27 those listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600 [1].

37 those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400 [5].

But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. 48 For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. 50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle… And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. 52 The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. 53 But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony… And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.”

Notice that Judah is by far the biggest tribe of these five – as England has a sizeable population today – and note Simeon is second. The respective sons and clans of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Gad.

Genesis 46:8-

English Standard Version

8 Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, 9 and the sons of Reuben [4]: Hanoch [inaugarated], Pallu [distinguished], Hezron [enclosure], and Carmi [vinedresser]. 

10 The sons of Simeon [6]: Jemuel [God’s day], Jamin, Ohad [to praise] , Jachin [established] , Zohar [tawny], and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman* [Exodus 6.15]. 

11 The sons of Levi [3]: Gershon [exiled], Kohath [congregation], and Merari [bitter]. 

16 The sons of Gad [7]: Ziphion [hidden], Haggi [festive], Shuni [silence], Ezbon [undertsand], Eri [focused], Arodi, and Areli [lion of God]. 

Gad’s son Eri may have an etymological link with Eri-n and Ire for Ireland. Hanoch was also the name of one of Midian’s five sons, a son of Abraham and Keturah [refer Chapter XXVII Abraham]. Another census was taken as they were entering Canaan some forty years later, circa 1404 BCE.

Numbers 26:1-65

English Standard Version

After the plague, the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war.” 3 And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho… 

These are the clans ofthe Reubenites, and those listed were 43,730. 8 And the sons of Pallu: Eliab. 9 The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram, chosen from the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord 10 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, and they became a warning. 11 But the sons of Korah did not die.

14These are the clans of the Simeonites, 22,200.

18 These are the clans of the sons of Gad as they were listed, 40,500.

51 This was the list of the people of Israel, 601,730.

Did the reader spot the slight decrease in Reuben and Gad’s numbers between the two censuses? More importantly, the huge decrease in the Simeonite number? They went from one of the biggest tribes to the smallest. We will look at this anomaly shortly.

58 These are the clans of Levi: the clan of the Libnites, the clan of the Hebronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the Mushites, the clan of the Korahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram. 59 The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister. 60 And to Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord. 62 And those listed were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward. For they were not listed among the people of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the people of Israel.

63 These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who listed the people of Israel… 64 But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

The extended family and clans for Simeon are listed in the Book of Chronicles. 

1 Chronicles 4:24-43

English Standard Version

24 The sons of Simeon: Nemuel [Jemuel], Jamin [the right hand], Jarib [he contends], Zerah, Shaul [jackal, fox]; 25 Shallum [retribution] was his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. 26 The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei [famous] his son. 27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many children, nor did all their clan multiply like the men of Judah.28 They lived in… five cities, 33 along with all their villages that were around these cities as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record.

34 Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah the son of Amaziah, 35 Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah, son of Seraiah, son of Asiel, 36 Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, 37 Ziza the son of Shiphi, son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah – 38 these mentioned by name were princes in their clans, and their fathers’ houses increased greatly. 39 They journeyed to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks, 40 where they found rich, good pasture, and the land was very broad, quiet, and peaceful, for the former inhabitants there belonged to Ham [Canaan].

Three of Simeon’s six sons have had a name change between the Book of Genesis and the Book of Chronicles. Either that, or they have died and Simeon had another three sons. Ohad, Jachin and Zohar are the original names and the new names are Jarib, Zerah – a family name of Judah] and Shallum.

1 Chronicles 5:1-26

English Standard Version

The sons ofReuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son; 2 thoughJudah became strong among his brothers and a chief came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph), 

3 the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 4 The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog [high] his son, Shimei his son, 5 Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal [Lord, possessor] his son, 6 Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was a chief of the Reubenites. 10 And in the days of Saul they waged war against the Hagrites [refer Chapter XXVIII Ishmael], who fell into their hand. And they lived in their tents throughout all the region east of Gilead.

Two of Reuben’s descendants are worth noting. The first is Gog and the second is Baal. Both formidable names. We touched on the giants in British history named Gog and Magog, or it may have been one giant and also the record of giants in Northern Ireland. This name is quite a coincidence. The name Baal is associated with worship of the Prince of Darkness. It is of even more interest because as we have covered in other chapters, Baal is the storm god and his symbol includes the Bull from the constellation Taurus. Ulster has a plethora of names that include the prefix Baal. Two that standout are Bel-fast and Bal-lymena. Others include: Belleek, Belalt, Ballycastle, Ballygowen and Ballyward. Reuben has left many such names throughout Ireland as well: Ballyshannon, Ballina, Balbriggan and Ballybunnion for example.

11 The sons of Gad lived over against [Reuben] in the land of Bashan… 12 Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat… 13 And their kinsmen according to their fathers’ houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba [family name of Abraham, Joktan and Cush], Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber [family name of Arphaxad], seven. 14 These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead [family name of Manasseh], son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz [family name of Nahor]. 

15 Ahi the son of Abdiel, son of Guni [family name of Naphtali], was chief in their fathers’ houses, 16 and they lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasturelands* of Sharon [great plain]* to their limits.

The words sharon and shannon may be linked, as shannon in Hebrew means fertile plain* and in Irish it means ‘old river’. A plain is fertile because it is close to a river or water. Ironically, there is a renowned Irish musician called… Sharon Shannon.

18 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of [East] Manasseh had valiant men who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, expert in war… 19 They waged war against the Hagrites [sons of Hagar, refer Chapter XXVIII Ishmael], Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20 And when they prevailed over them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea because they trusted in him. 21 They carried off their livestock: 50,000 of their camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 men alive.

… 26 the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan… [Media].

Many from the tribes of Reuben and Gad were taken into captivity together, after living next to each other for some six hundred and seventy years. It is no surprise if they migrated across Europe following each other and if they are now living adjacent to each other, across an expanse of water – the Irish Sea – from Judah, Benjamin and Simeon, who had also shared a geographical proximity. Replicated today in England, Scotland and Wales.

In Luke 3.23-38 we read of Christ’s adoptive father Joseph’s lineage from Judah to David and included are men who are called related family names of the tribes:

29… Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David… 

In Ezekiel chapter forty-eight, Ezekiel describes a future city and the portions the twelve tribes will occupy. For Manasseh and Ephraim as included together. Four gates on each of the four sides are described:

Ezekiel 48:30-35

English Standard Version

30 “These shall be the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, 31 three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. 32 On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan

We will discover that the grouping of Joseph, Benjamin and Dan is no coincidence. Their historical and genetic link a profound part of the Israelite story, coupled with sizeable prophetic outcomes and importance.

33 On the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. 34 On the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. 35 The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.”

Returning to the dramatic decrease in the Simeonite tribe, identity researcher and expert, Steven Collins provides a logical answer. He also concluded that the Simeonites were the historical Spartans, though we have investigated an alternative identity in Chapter XXIX Esau.

The Missing Simeonites, Steven M Collins – emphasis & bold mine:

A logical explanation for the sudden drop in several tribes’ population is that most of the tribe of Simeon and varying contingents of the other tribes literally “walked out” of the camp and left the main body of Israelites to strike out on their own. Where did they go?

In the book of Numbers, we find that the Israelites under Moses undertook a first and second census of the tribes of Israel while they were in the Wilderness. The results of those enumerations of the tribes of Israel reveal some surprising results. In Numbers 1:1-3 and verse 18, we see that the census tallied the number of males “twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel.” Therefore, we should keep in mind that the entire population of Israel’s tribes in the Wilderness consisted of far more than the tally in Numbers 1. 

As a guideline, one would ordinarily double the numbers to allow for one wife per man of military age. Given the polygamous culture at that time, some of the men may have had a number of wives. It is difficult to make an estimate of the number of children, but we should keep in mind that large families were very common at that time. Numbers 1:46 records that 603,550 adult males were numbered in the census. Based on some of the above rough methods of estimating the number of the entire nation of Israel at that time, we can see that the Israelites can be conservatively estimated to be body of approximately 3,000,000 people. For American readers, that number would equal the approximate population of Oregon. The actual number of Israelites was likely higher as the tribe of Levi wasn’t included in this census, nor were the people of the “mixed multitude” which accompanied the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 12:38).

Listed below are the populations of adult males per tribe, given in the order listed in Numbers 1.’

TRIBEPOPULATION
Reuben46,500
Simeon59,300
Gad45,650
Judah74,600
Issachar54,400
Zebulon57,400
Manasseh32,200
Ephraim40,500
Benjamin35,400
Dan62,700
Asher41,500
Naphtali53,400

‘Modern readers will notice that the tribe of Judah was, at that time, the largest tribe. The three smallest tribal figures are the three tribes which descended from Jacob and Rachel: Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. However, when the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are totalled together, they numbered 72,700, showing the actual total of Israelites descended from Joseph constituted the second largest grouping in Israel. Notice that the tribe of Simeon was the third largest tribe in this census…

Now, let’s examine the census taken approximately 40 years later… For purposes of comparison, listed below are the totals from each census and the change in the total of adult males in each tribe. The second census is listed in Numbers 26. Numbers 26:2 confirms that it is the sum of males “twenty years old an upward… all that are able to go to war in Israel,” so each census was conducted with the same criteria.’

TRIBE1st Census2nd CensusChange
Reuben46,50043,700-2,800
Simeon59,30022,200-37,100
Gad45,65040,500-5,100
Judah74,60076,5001,900
Issachar54,40064,3009,900
Zebulon57,40060,5003,100
Manasseh32,20052,70020,500
Ephraim40,50032,500-8,000
Benjamin35,40045,60010,200
Dan62,70064.4001,700
Asher41,50053,40011,900
Naphtali53,40045,400-8000
TOTALS603,550601,730-1,820

The national totals indicate the number of Israelites enumerated under Moses had dropped very slightly, but the tribal totals reveal something very different had transpired. The most evident change is that over half the tribe of Simeon inexplicably “disappeared” from the census totals. What happened? Simeon, the third largest tribe in Israel in the first census, had plummeted to be the smallest tribe of all in the second census! Another anomaly leaps out at the reader.

The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh shared the birthright blessing of the Abrahamic covenant, which included being blessed with large population growth. Manasseh had, indeed, risen dramatically in population, going from 32,200 to 52,700, a gain of 20,500 people, by far the largest increase in any tribe. However, its brother tribe which shared this birthright blessing, Ephraim, dropped 8,000 people to join Simeon at the bottom of the population totals of the tribes in Israel. Even the tribe of Benjamin outnumbered the Ephraimites at that time. Judah was still the largest tribe, but Manasseh’s explosive growth resulted in the tribe of Joseph being the largest tribe if Manasseh and Ephraim were added together. As many readers might observe, something “doesn’t add up” in these figures. As commentator Paul Harvey says here in America, let’s examine what happened to determine “the rest of the story.”

I believe the key to what happened in Numbers 26 is found in the previous chapter. In Numbers 25, we learn that Phineas, a Levite, executed “a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites” (verses 7-14). Phineas leaped to execute this Simeonite prince for his audacity in rebelling against God by taking a Midianite woman into his tent at a time when god was punishing Israel for such deeds. Indeed, God sent a plague among the Israelites which killed 24,000 people, and that plague was stayed by the action of Phineas.’

More violence from the explosive brothers of Simeon and Levi; this time it is between themselves. 

‘The Bible does not record which tribes suffered the most from that plague. Even if one assumes the Simeonites bore the brunt of this plague, it does not begin to account for the drop in population of approximately 56,000 males of 20 years and older among the tribes which lost population between the two censuses. Also, Numbers 25:9 records that 24,000 people died in the plague, it does not state that all those slain were “males 20 years of age and older.” This indicates that 24,000 men, women and children of all ages died in the plague, and that perhaps 6,000 of that total were males 20 years and older. Where did the rest go?

It is my belief that after the execution by a Simeonite prince by a Levitical priest, there was a great dissension in the camp of Israel. We know from the accounts in the Torah of their wanderings in the Wilderness that the Israelites were very prone to revolting against Moses over various provocations. We know from Genesis 34:25 that Simeon and Levi were the two most impulsive sons of Jacob, the two most likely to settle a matter “by the sword.” To put it in modern American terms, they were the kind who “shot first and asked questions later.” Genesis 49:5-7 prophesies that impulsive wrathfulness leading to violence would characterize both Simeonites and Levites through all the millennia up to and including the “latter days.”

In the episode of Phineas the Levite unilaterally executing a Simeonite [prince], the two most violent tribes were likely at loggerhead[s],and a civil war among the tribes was not improbable. God usefully directed the Levites’ propensity to violence into becoming a tribe of butchers, killing, cutting up and sacrificing innumerable animals under the system of animal sacrifices established in ancient Israel. Simeon had no such outlet.

I believe a logical explanation for the sudden drop in several tribes’ population is that most of the tribe of Simeon and varying contingents of the other tribes literally “walked out” of the camp and left the main body of Israelites to strike out on their own. The huge drop in the number of Simeonites indicates that the Simeonites led this partial “exodus” from the Israelite camp. The Simeonites were impulsive and the execution of one of their chieftans (however just) could easily have provoked such an action.

The census figures indicate that the tribes of Ephraim and Napthali contributed most of the remaining Israelites who accompanied most of the tribe of Simeon as it left the Israelite encampment. The census data indicates that the entire tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Issachar and Benjamin stayed with Moses as their second census totals reflect normal demographic growth.

Would God or Moses have allowed so large a mass of Israelite to leave the camp? I think the answer is yes. Indeed, they may have encouraged it as a way to end the dissension in the camp. There was no commandment of God that forbade any Israelites to leave the camp in the Wilderness, so the only penalty that exiting Israelites would bear would be that their children would not enter the Promised land with the children of those who stayed. Remember that every adult (except Caleb and Joshua) were under a death sentence in the Wilderness. For their rebellion, they would wander till the entire generation who refused to go into the Promised Land at first was dead! Under such circumstances, many could have thought: “If my choice is stay and die in this desert or leave and trust to my wits and sword to make a living, I’ll choose the second option.”

The tribe of Simeon, naturally impulsive, would likely have led such a mini-exodus. The fact that Manasseh grew greatly between the censuses and that Ephraim dropped dramatically argues that this can only be explained if a large number of Ephraimites left the camp. Both tribes were the birthright tribes, and they shared the same promises. If no one had left the camp, the population figures of Ephraim and Mansseh should have reflected the same growth.

If we limit our number of exiting Israelites to only those tribes who had net reductions in their tribal totals, we have about 50,000 males above age twenty and all their wives and children (perhaps 200,000 people). The tribes whose populations stayed static indicates that some of the natural growth of those tribes was deleted from the census because contingents of their tribes also joined the exodus. The total of those leaving the camp may have been larger than 200,000. If such an event occurred, there would have been a powerful stimulus to conduct the second census to “see who we have left.” Indeed, Numbers 26:1-2 shows that right after the events described above, God told Moses to take a census of all the tribes.

Where did the departing Israelite go?’

Members from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Ephraim were early arrivals in Ireland, though there were two other tribes who were the very first to arrive in the British Islands of firstly Erin and later Albion. Those two tribes were Dan and Simeon. Both would then enter Britain to explore it, with Simeon making their permanent home there instead of Ireland. It was the Simeonites who moved completely to Britain and were the first Britons with the distinction of the status as the first tribe to settle there, known as Cymry and later as Welsh. Whereas Dan was likely the first to explore Britain, they like the tribe of Benjamin and unlike Simeon had a foothold in both Britain and Ireland; before Benjamin moved entirely to the northern reaches of Britain in Pictavia and later Scotland. The Tribe of Dan’s story is somewhat more complicated. 

 Origin, Yair Davidiy – emphasis & bold mine:

‘Sennacherib recorded having exiled more than 200,000 people from Judah. The Bible mentions him having captured all of the unfenced cities in Judah (2 Kings 18:13) and Midrashim also speak[s] of Sennacherib deporting vast numbers from Judah and Simeon. These exiles joined the deported Tribes of northern Israel and shared their destiny. Sennacherib… intermittently besieged Jerusalem over a number of years but his army was stricken by an angel and 185,000 Assyrians died. Sennacherib returned to Nineveh where he was assassinated by two of his sons who fled to Ararat (Urartu) [refer Chapter XVII Lud] (2 Kings 19:37). 

The Ten Tribes before their exile had been called by the Assyrians, “Khumri”. This term* in Assyrian could also be rendered “GUMRI”. A similar name, “Gimiri” in Babylonian can connote “tribes” and a related term “gamira” can mean mobile exiles. At all events most authorities agree that the Cimmerians of history were composed of several peoples of differing origins. All signs indicate that at least some of these peoples were Israelite! 

The Cimmerians had first been reported of by the Assyrians at the earliest in 714 though the more accepted date is ca.707 BCE. The Scythians though originally part and parcel with the Cimmerians had separated from the main body and were acting independently. Cimmerians and Scythians essentially consisted of the same elements though in different proportions. The king of the Cimmerians was referred to in an Assyrian inscription as “King of the Amurru”. The name “Amuru” was sometimes applied to Israelites and geographically the land of “Amurru” had encompassed the former Israelite areas of “Syria and Palestine”. 

The Celts were believed to have come from the east and to have advanced via the Danube Valley. Welsh Legend stated that their ancestors, the Cymry, had been led by Hu Gadarn from Drephane opposite Byzantium (on the Bosporus) across the sea to Britain. The Welsh call themselves “Gomeru”. In Welsh tradition, they (i.e. Cimmerians) were led by Hu from Drephrobane opposite Byzantium across the sea to Defene in Wales. The name Defene is sometimes rendered as “Daphne” and there was a port named Daphne opposite Byzantium. Daphne of Antiochea was one of the places to which the Ten Tribes were taken into exile.’ 

Ancient Gaul or Gallia in Latin, was a vast region of western Europe that spread far beyond the modern borders of France. The Greek term Galatia is the same as Gallia. The Greeks connected the word Galatai to the ‘milk white’ skin of the Gauls and Galatians, as gala means milk. In turn, the word is related to the Welsh word gallu which means ‘to be able (can)’. 

Even so, Gaul is not related to Gallia, but rather stems from the French Gaule or Waulle, which derives from the Old Frankish word Walholant, meaning ‘land of the foreigners.’ The Old English word Wealh, or Wealas derives from the Proto-Germanic, walhaz – meaning an outlander, foreigner, Celt. An exonym applied by Germanic speakers to Celts and Latin speaking people indiscriminately. It is cognate with the names Wales, Wallonia of Belgium and Wallachia of Romania. Whereas the Irish word Gael – derived from Goidel and Gaidheal – superficially similar with Gaul, are two distinct words and not derived from each other. 

Interestingly, an old Welsh name for Wales was Gwalia and the modern French name for Wales is Pays de Galles; matching the similar Romanian translation of ‘country of the Gauls’. Germanic peoples called the Gauls, Volcae and the Old English word for native Britons was Vahls, which in time become Wales. It must be remembered, these are descriptions of the Welsh by others. The Cymry have always called themselves and their country Cymru and in Gaelic, Gymru.* 

The Genesis 6 Conspiracy, Gary Wayne, 2014, pages 469 – 471 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘… ancient Britons migrated from Troy, from tribes led by a Trojan hero named Britu, one of many nomatives from which Britain derived… legends suggest London’s Celtic name from antiquity was Lloegress, which owned an even more mystical name dating even further back into antiquity, documented as Troja Newydd, or New Troy. 

Brutus of Troy was the grandson of Aeneus, founder of the Romans in Greek mythology. Brutus was the hero of legend who rebelled against the Greeks three generations after the fall of Troy, escaping the wrath of the Greeks by sailing with his people past the Pillars of Hercules to an island known today as Britain. They freed Britain from a race of giants led by Gog, Magog, and Albion… Brutus and his victorious followers settled along the banks of the Thames River, naming it Troia Nova (New Troy), or Trinovantum. Brutus’s ancient kingdom of Britain became identified as Albion… the earliest name by which Britain was known… 

Ancient Welsh legends… record three waves of… immigration that were made up first of the tribe of Cymrey… second invasion came from the tribe of the Lloegrians, and the third invasion derived from the Brython tribe of Llydaw. All three were of the same language, culture, and race. Lloegres was the ancient appellation for southern and central England, while Cymrey was the name given for Wales, northern England, Cornwall and the Scottish border region. After the death of Brutus, Britain split into three kingdoms under the rule of his three sons. The names of those three kingdoms became known as Lloegres, Cymry, and Albyne. 

… the region of Troy, was known in antiquity as Galatia… the Black Sea region is the originating home of the Celts… and home of the Scythians and Sarmatians. The Greeks knew the Celts as Keltoi or Galatia, while the Romans… knew the Celts as the Celtae and Galatai. Julius Caesar… referred to the Celts first as Gauls… they referred to themselves in their own language as Celts. Some scholars think Celt derived from the root key, the Old Irish celim, meaning “hidden,” suggesting they were the hidden people or people that concealed things. Celt, in another version, is thought to have derived from the European root quel, meaning “elevated,” which then evolved to Old Irish as Celthe. The Celts regarded themselves as the elevated or noble race. The noble Celt was… blond, blue-eyed [including] the Irish, British, Welsh, and Scottish… [Celts] had red hair and pale green eyes… [possessing] strikingly similar characteristics to the Tuatha Denaan… Galatea translates as “milky white”… The Celts of Galatia were the very same people to whom [the Apostle] Paul preached.’

Britain’s Trojan History, Bernard Jones – emphasis & bold mine:

Homer, in his epic the Iliad, tells us that Aeneas led the Dardanians in the war against the Greeks whilst Hector led the Trojans. Aeneas was a cousin to Hector, who was killed by the great Achilles. It was said that Hector was the ‘heart’ of Troy whereas Aeneas was its ‘soul’. Aeneas survived the war and led his people in exile to found a new Troy. The voyage of Aeneas had taken seven years when, eventually, he brought his fleet to rest. 

Here, he was received honourably by Latinus the king who, because of an oracle, pledged his daughter in marriage to the Trojan prince. His daughter, however, was already betrothed to a king of the Rutuli and he immediately went to war against the Trojans because of the insult. The war was a bloody affair but ended when the king of the Rutuli was killed by the Trojan prince. Aeneas had a son by his first wife, Creusa, and they called him Ascanius. 

Sadly, Creusa had perished at Troy on the night that the city fell. In due course Aeneas married Lavinia, the daughter of king Latinus and the Trojans built a city and it was called Lavinium, after her.

Brutus the Trojan was the great grandson of Aeneas of Troy. He accidentally killed his father when they were both out hunting and, as a result, was exiled for committing such a crime. He ended up in a certain part of Greece where he discovered descendants of Trojan captives, taken there by the Greeks after the Trojan War. Brutus stayed in the country for quite a time and became known for his skills, his courage and wisdom. 

In due course Brutus was prevailed upon to become the leader of all the Trojans, in order to free them from thralldom under the Greek king. After a number of battles, and against all odds, Brutus captured the Greek king. To save himself from being killed the king agreed to give his daughter to Brutus as his wife, and to let the Trojans depart in peace for another country. The Greeks supplied Brutus with a large number of ships and the Trojans departed, landing eventually in Totnes, in Devon.’

For further information on the identity of Brutus and his entourage, refer Chapter XXX Judah and Benjamin. 

Judah’s Sceptre & Joseph’s Birthright, J H Allen 1902 – emphasis & bold mine: 

‘“… the people of Waels call themselves, in ancient Welsh, ‘Bryth y Brithan,’ or ‘Briths of Briton,’ which means ‘The Covenanters’ of the ‘land of the Covenant.’ The first form of this phrase is almost vernacular Hebrew.” The fact that these “Brythonic Celts” who migrated to the British Isles bore the Hebrew B­R­T root word for “covenant” confirmed their Israelite origin. 

It is also unmistakably recorded in British history that the earliest settlers in Wales and southern England were called Simonii. They came by the way of the sea in the year 720 B. C. At this time there was the greatest influx of the Tuatha de Daanan to Ireland, and this synchronizes with the deportation of the Israelites of the commonwealth of Ephraim to Assyria, and the flight of Dan and Simeon from the seaports and coast country of Palestine. That Simonii is the plural of Simeon we need scarcely mention. 

It has been made clear to our readers that Omri, the sixth king of Israel, built the city of Samaria, the third and permanent capital of Israel, and that eventually the entire country, formerly called “All Israel,” became known as Samaria, because that was the name of its capital also that Samaria became one of the national names of Israel, and is so used in some prophecies concerning them. Hence Omri is regarded as the real founder of the kingdom of Samaria, and Samaria-Israel was often referred to by other nations as the House of Omri. 

When Shalmanesar, the king of Assyria, who led Israel into captivity, made a record of that captivity on the tablets of Assyria, he called them the House of Omri (Beth Khumree); also when Israel was confederate with Resin, king of Syria, and went against the Jews, and the Jews besought Tiglath-Pilesar, who was at that time king of Assyria, to become their confederate, he also in his records referred to Israel as the Beth-Khumree. In the annals of Sargon, who was also a king of Assyria (Isaiah 20:1), successor of Shalmanesar, and predecessor of Senacharib, Israel is called Beth Khumree (House of Omri), and their capital city Khumree. On the Nimroud obelisk, “Jehu, the son of Omri,” is written “Yahua-abil-Khumree.” 

Professor Rawlinson, who does not believe this truth we are enforcing, says: “Jehu is usually called in the Bible the son of Nimshi – although Jehosaphat was his actual father (2 Kings 9:20), but the Assyrians, taking him for the legitimate successor to the throne, named as his father, or rather ancestor, “Omri,” the founder of the Kingdom of Samaria – Omri’s name being written on the obelisk, as it is in the inscriptions of Shalmanesar, where the Kingdom of Israel is always called the country of “Beth Omri.” Dr.Hincks also says: “The title, ’Son of Omri,’ is equivalent to that of King of Samaria, the city which Omri built, and which was known to the Assyrians as Beth Omri, or Khumri.” 

The tribes of both Dan and Simeon belonged, of course, to the Beth Khumree, when used as meaning the Kingdom of Omri, or Samaria. Simeon seems to have clung to this name far more tenaciously than did Dan, for they still call themselves and their country Kymry. Saville says: “This name Kymri, or Cymry, as it is more commonly written, is in reality the plural of Kymro, meaning a Welsh-man, and the country of the Kymry is called by themselves Khymru, which has been Latinized into the well-known name of Cambria. The letter V in the Welsh language has two powers, and both these powers are active in the word Kymry. This letter V sounds as U, except when it stands in the last syllable of CL word, and then it has the sound of the Italian i or the English ee! Hence, the correct pronunciation of the country of Wales, or land of the Cymry, in its ancient tongue would be as near as possible to the names Kumree, Khumree, or Kumri.” 

Thomas Stephens, in the preface to his “Literature of the Kymry,” says: “On the map of Britain, facing St. George’s Channel, is a group of counties called Wales, inhabited by a people distinct from, and but very imperfectly understood by, those who surround them. Their neighbors call them Welsh-men. Welsh or Walsch is not a proper name, but a Teutonic term signifying ‘strangers,’ and was applied to all persons who were not of that family: but the proper name of these people is Kymry. They are the last remnant of the Kimmerioi of Homer, and of the Kimry (Cimbri) of Germany. From the Cimbric Chersonesus (Jut-land) a portion of these landed on the shores of Northumberland, gave their name to the county of Cumberland, and in process of time followed the seaside to their present resting-place, where they still call themselves Kimry, and give their country a similar name. Their history, clear, concise and authentic, ascends to a high antiquity. Their language was embodied in verse long before the languages now spoken rose into notice, and their literature, cultivated and abundant, lays claim to being the most ancient in modern Europe.” 

Thus we find that the Khumree, Kumri, Kimry, Cumbre, Cimbri, or Cambrians, as the name is variously called in different tongues, were strangers and wanderers among the nations until they settled in the isles of the sea with the rest of their brethren, the Brith-ish or covenant people. 

“Herodotus, the ‘Father of History,’ tells us much about the Khumbri, a people who, in his day, dwelt in the Crimean peninsula and thereabout. He particularly notes that they had come into that territory from Media, which he remarks was not their original home or birthplace.” – Our Race. 

We have thus conclusively followed the word Khumree, for the reason that the people who are known as Angles, Saxons, Danes, Celts or Kelts, Jutes, Scots, Welsh, Scyths (or Scythians), or Normans can trace themselves back to Media-Persia, but no further, and find their ancestors in the Khumree, at the place, and at the very time, when Israel was losing her identity and was actually known in the history of that country as the Beth Khumree.’  

Somewhat out of context – as it relates to Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega – but because it is Welsh based, I have included interesting aspects relating to Dragons. Dragons being akin to Seraphim which are themselves, described as fiery flying serpents. The Dragon is a powerful Welsh symbol and is also representative of the Tribe of Dan. 

After the Flood, William Cooper, 1995 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘The early Britons, from whom the modern Welsh are descended, provide us with our earliest surviving European accounts of reptilian monsters, one of whom killed and devoured king Morvidus (Morydd) in ca 336 BC. We are told in the account translated for us by Geoffrey of Monmouth, that the monster ‘gulped down the body of Morvidus as a big fish swallows a little one.’ Geoffrey described the animal as a Belua. Peredur, not the ancient king of that name (306-296 BC), but a much later son of Earl Efrawg, had better luck than Morvidus, actually managing to slay his monster, an addanc (pr. athanc: var. afanc), at a place called Llyn Llion in Wales. At other Welsh locations the addanc is further spoken of along with another reptilian species known as the carrog. The addanc survived until comparatively recent times at such places as Bedd-yr-Afanc near Brynberian, at Llyn-yr-Afanc above Bettws-y-Coed on the River Conwy (the killing of this monster was described in the year 1693), and Llyn Barfog. A carrog is commemorated at Carrog near Corwen, and at Dol-y-Carrog in the Vale of Conwy. 

Moreover, ‘dinosaurs’, in the form of flying reptiles, were a feature of Welsh life until surprisingly recent times. As late as the beginning of the present century, elderly folk at Penllin in Glamorgan used to tell of a colony of winged serpents that lived in the woods around Penllin Castle. As Marie Trevelyan tells us: 

‘The woods around Penllin Castle, Glamorgan, had the reputation of being frequented by winged serpents, and these were the terror of old and young alike. An aged inhabitant of Penllyne, who died a few years ago, said that in his boyhood the winged serpents were described as very beautiful. 

They were coiled when in repose, and “looked as if they were covered with jewels of all sorts. Some of them had crests sparkling with all the colours of the rainbow”. When disturbed they glided swiftly, “sparkling all over,” to their hiding places. When angry, they “flew over people’s heads, with outspread wings, bright, and sometimes with eyes too, like the feathers in a peacock’s tail”. He said it was “no old story invented to frighten children”, but a real fact. His father and uncle had killed some of them, for they were as bad as foxes for poultry. The old man attributed the extinction of the winged serpents to the fact that they were “terrors in the farmyards and coverts”.’

‘This account is intriguing in many respects, not the least being the fact that it is not a typical account of dragons. The creatures concerned were not solitary and monstrous beasts, but small creatures that lived in colonies. Not at all like the larger species of winged reptile that used to nest upon an ancient burial-mound, or tumulus, at Trellech-a’r-Betws in the county of Dyfed, for example. 

But whilst we are in Wales, it is worth noting that at Llanbardan-y-Garrag (is Garrag a corruption of carrog?), the church contains a carving of a local giant reptile whose features include large paddle-like flippers, a long neck and a small head. Glaslyn, in Snowdon, is a lake where an afanc was sighted as recently as the 1930s. On this occasion two climbers on the side of a mountain looked down onto the surface of Glaslyn and they saw the creature, which they described as having a long grey body, rise from the depths of the lake to the surface, raise its head and then submerge again. 

One could multiply such reports by the hundred. In England and Scotland, again until comparatively recent times, other reptilian monsters were sighted and spoken of in many places. The table at the end of this chapter lists eighty-one locations in the British Isles alone in which dinosaur activity has been reported (there are, in fact, nearly 200 such places in Britain), but perhaps the most relevant aspect of this as far as our present study is concerned is the fact that some of these sightings and subsequent encounters with living dinosaurs can be dated to the comparatively recent past. 

… in the 15th century, according to a contemporary chronicle that still survives in Canterbury Cathedral’s library, the following incident was reported. On the afternoon of Friday, 26th September, 1449, two giant reptiles were seen fighting on the banks of the River Stour (near the village of Little Cornard) which marked the English county borders of Suffolk and Essex. One was black, and the other ‘reddish and spotted’. After an hour-long struggle that took place ‘to the admiration of many [of the locals] beholding them’, the black monster yielded and returned to its lair, the scene of the conflict being known ever since as Sharp fight Meadow.

In 1867 was seen, for the last time, the monster that lived in the woods around Fittleworth in Sussex. It would run up to people hissing and spitting if they happened to stumble across it unawares, although it never harmed anyone. Several such cases could be cited, but suffice it to say that too many incidents like these are reported down through the centuries and from all sorts of locations for us to say that they are all fairy-tales. 

For example, Scotland’s famous Loch Ness Monster is too often thought to be a recent product of the local Tourist Board’s efforts to bring in some trade, yet Loch Ness is by no means the only Scottish loch where monsters have been reported. Loch Lomond, Loch Awe, Loch Rannoch and the privately owned Loch Morar (over 1000 ft deep) also have records of monster activity in recent years. Indeed, there have been over forty sightings at Loch Morar alone since the end of the last war, and over a thousand from Loch Ness in the same period. However, as far as Loch Ness itself is concerned, few realise that monstrous reptiles, no doubt the same species, have been sighted in and around the loch since the so-called Dark Ages…

As recently as the 18th century, in a lake called Llyn-y-Gader in Snowdon, Wales, a certain man went swimming. He reached the middle of the lake and was returning to the shore when his friends who were watching him noticed that he was being followed by: ‘…a long, trailing object winding slowly behind him. They were afraid to raise an alarm, but went forward to meet him as soon as he reached the shore where they stood. 

Just as he was approaching, the trailing object raised its head, and before anyone could render aid the man was enveloped in the coils of the monster…’ It seems that the man’s body was never recovered.’ 

The Flag of Wales

Leading into Levi and an important identifying sign of the sons of Jacob, is the fact that the Creator gave ancient Israel dietary guidelines. This would appear to be for good reason. Some animals just weren’t meant for human consumption. Certain sea creatures which are scavengers and look just like big bugs, such as prawns, shrimp, crayfish and lobster, as if these two points weren’t enough of a deterrent in eating them; they then often cause people to develop painful stomach aches after their consumption. Likewise, the pig is an animal that possesses the flesh anatomy rather akin to a human and while under a microscope, can be observed to be teeming with unpleasant and harmful microbes. In eating them, it is the next thing to human cannibalism.

The Eating of human flesh regularly is known to make the eater over time, crazy. As if they weren’t already to even try. People may wonder why some people are not always rational. One aspect not considered, is a diet which consumes a lot of pork, ham and bacon. This may well be a little understood factor, which science will corroborate in the future. Apparently, according to those who abhorrently know, pork is the closest meat in flavour and taste to human flesh and while cooked pork smells like human flesh; conversely, incinerated human flesh has a similar aroma to pork. 

It was more than a coincidence that George Orwell chose the pig as the leading animal in his landmark novel Animal Farm, for they are one of the most highly intelligent species on the Earth – one wonders why? For information on the shocking origin of the  domesticated pig, refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega.

Leviticus 11:1-8

New Century Version

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Tell the Israelites this: ‘These are the land animals you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has split hoofs completely divided and that chews the cud. 4 “‘Some animals only chew the cud or only have split hoofs, and you must not eat them… 

Now the pig has a split hoof that is completely divided, but it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you [because it is not a true herbivore, but rather an omnivore]. 8 You must not eat the meat from these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean for you.

We find considerable evidence of the Levitical influence in ancient Britain. There has also been much written linking the Levitical system with the Druids, who practised a combined pagan and Hebrew tradition. 

Yair Davidy has put together a number of quotes showing historical documentation adapted from his work The Israelite Origin of the Celtic Races, 1996 – emphasis & bold mine. Donald MacKenzie in 1935, examined food prohibitions in Scotland.

“There are still thousands of Highlanders and groups of Lowlanders who refuse to keep pigs or to partake of their flesh”. MacKenzie quotes from Sir Walter Scott (“The Fortunes of Nigel”): “Sir Munko cannot abide pork, no more than the King’s most sacred majesty, nor my Lord Duke Lennox, nor Lord Dalgarno… But the Scots never eat pork strange that! Some folk think they are a sort of Jews.” “The Scots till within the last generation disliked swine’s flesh as an article of food as much as the Highlanders do at  present”. Also from Sir Walter (“The Two Drovers”) we have an account of execration in Gaelic of a Highlander cursing some Englishmen who had been ridiculing him: “A hundred curses on the swine eaters, who know neither decency nor civility!” 

‘James VI of Scotland “hated pork in all its varieties”. In the English Civil War, a song against Scottish partisans of the Rump Parliament (1639-1661) went: “The Jewish Scots that scorns to eat The Flesh of Swine, and brewers beat, ’twas the sight of this Hogs head made ’em retreat, Which nobody can deny.” Dr.Johnson (1773): “The vulgar inhabitants of Skye, I know not whether of the other islands, have not only eels but pork and bacon in abhorrence; and accordingly I never saw a hog in the Hebrides, except one at Dunvegan”. Dean Ramsay (1793-1872): “The old aversion to the `unclean animal’ still lingers in the Highlands… I recollect an old Scottish gentleman who shared this horror, asking very gravely, `Were not swine forbidden under the law and cursed under the gospel?’”.’  

John Toland (1714): “You know how considerable a part of the British inhabitants are the undoubted offspring of [Judah and Levi] and how many worthy prelates of this same stock, not to speak of Lords and commoners, may at this time make an illustrious figure among us… A great number of ’em fled to Scotland which is the reason so many in that part of the Island have a remarkable aversion to pork and black puddings to this day, not to insist on some other resemblances easily observable.” 

‘D. A. MacKenzie… claimed that the taboo preceded Christianity and that the coming of Christian missionaries to Scotland actually weakened the prohibition. Mackenzie stated that after examination it appeared to him that in ancient Scotland there were two different cults or attitudes, one of which regarded the pig with abhorrence while the other revered it. Ancient pictures of wild boars have been found engraved on rocks. A first century BCE grave in Scotland contained what appears to have been a pig offering and other finds indicate the consumption of swine. 

MacKenzie connects the pig taboo with the Galatians… These were a small group of Galatians (also called “Galli”) who had gravitated to Anatolia (modern Turkey), conquered Phrygia and formed their own kingdom called Galatia in which they ruled over the natives. Lucian (“De Dea Syria”) wrote concerning the Galli of Galatia: “They sacrifice bulls and cows alike and goats and sheep; pigs alone which they abominate, are neither sacrificed nor eaten. Others look on swine without disgust, but as holy animals”. 

Mackenzie brings numerous sources showing that in Gaul, in Ireland, in other parts of Britain, pigs were both plentiful and respected. The boar was a favorite symbol. Pigs were reared for meat all over the Celtic area and the Continental Celts even had a developed industry curing swine meat which they sold to the Romans and were famous for. 

Eels, hare, and pike are also forbidden by the Mosaic code and the Scots had prejudices against all of these and refused to eat them though they are popular foods amongst the neighboring English. The obvious place to look for the source of these prohibitions is in a past exposure to and acceptance of the Mosaic Law and this was the source to which observers in the past usually traced them. It is interesting to note that from time to time certain fish and fowl which the Mosaic Code (of Ancient Israel) does permit came under a ban but only in the case of those expressly prohibited by the Law of Moses did the taboo last or become widely accepted.’ 

“Julius Casar found that the ancient Britons tabooed the hare, the domestic fowl and the goose. The hare is still taboo to many Scots”. 

‘It should be noted that abstaining from foods prohibited by the Mosaic Law may have physiological advantages conducive to long-term physical and emotional stability. Our examination of the religious practices of the early Christian Celts revealed that not only food taboos but also a large number of other practices were taken directly from the Mosaic Law and also that there existed a conscious identification with the Jews and ancient Levis. 

Some of these practices had proven parallels in ancient Druidical pre-Christian custom which taken together with other facts proves that at least a portion of these people were of Israelite descent. 

When the Celts became Christian they carried over into Christianity some of the customs of the Druids. There were Biblical Laws among the customs of the Druids that the British and Irish Celts continued to practice after becoming Christians. This explains in part why the original Celtic Christians of Britain adopted many “Old Testament” practices of the Law of Moses. Concerning the Druids: Julius Caesar (in his book “The Conquest of Gaul”) wrote: 

“The Druidic doctrine is believed to have been found existing in Britain and thence imported into Gaul; even today those who want to make a profound study of it generally go to Britain for the purpose… 

It is said that these pupils have to memorize a great number of verses so many, that some of them spend twenty years at their studies. The Druids believe that their religion forbids them to commit their teachings to writing, although for some other purposes, such as public and private accounts, the Gauls use the Greek alphabet”. 

‘The Romans persecuted the Druids and many Druids fled to Scandinavia according to Welsh tradition and this has been confirmed by archaeological finds… Those Druids who remained in West Britain and Ireland founded colleges and communal settlements… When the Celts were converted to Christianity… [these] were transformed into monasteries. 

T. W. Rolleston, (“Myths And Legends of the Celtic Race”, 1911, London) quotes from Bertrand (“L’Irlande Celtique”) – The Druids like the Hebrews… had an Oral Law that it was forbidden to write. They gave tithes and first fruits. Their sacrificial modes were similar to Biblical ones. They practiced ritual purity in ways that are reminiscent of Laws in the Bible about purification. Traditions exist that some of the Celts of Britain and Ireland practiced the Mosaic Law before the coming of Christianity. 

Leslie Hardinge says that the Celtic Christians of the British Isles placed a “strong emphasis on the legal aspects of the Old Testament”. An Irish work (“Liber ex Lege Moisi”) from ca. 800 CE uses Old Testament Law as “a prime directive, for the proper conduct of everyday life”. It is said that the Celtic Church was closer to Judaism than any other branch of Christianity. Harding says: 

“The shared elements include the keeping of the Saturday Sabbath, tithing, the definition of “first fruits” and offerings… inheritance of religious office, and fasting and dietary restrictions. It also appears that the Celts kept Easter by older methods of reckoning, one of which caused Easter to coincide with the Passover. Other scholarship suggests that Irish Churchmen of the seventh and eighth centuries actually considered themselves to be Priests and Levites, as defined under Old Testament law”. 

MRS. Winthrop Plamer Boswell, (“The Roots of Irish Monasticism”, California, 1969) adds to the above listed Jewish features of Celtic religion: 

“…the prominence of Hebrew features in Irish canon law collections (including Biblical cities of Refuge and Jubilee Years) together with Mosaic prohibitions on diet and injunctions on tithes… There was also a Hebrew treatment of the sanctuary… and finally there were many Hebrew words occurring in cryptographic monastic Irish works such as Hisperica Famina”. 

‘… the Celtic Church kept Saturday as the Sabbath Day. Incidentally,John Brand (“Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain”, London, 1841) describes the great lengths the Church went to, to extinguish all possible traces of 7th-day Sabbath keeping amongst the English. An article tracing the early observance of Saturday as the Sabbath noted:

‘[In the 500s CE Scotland]: “In this latter instance they seem to have followed a custom of which we find traces in the early monastic church of Ireland, by which they held Saturday to be the Sabbath on which they rested from all their labours” Columba specifically referred to Saturday as the Sabbath and this was the custom of that early church on Iona, an island off the coast of Scotland. [Scotland and Ireland 600s CE]: “It seems to have been customary in the Celtic Churches of the early times in Ireland as well as Scotland, to keep Saturday as a day of rest from labour. They observed the fourth commandment (that you should not work on the seventh day) literally on the seventh day of the week.” [In the 900s CE Scotland]: “They worked on Sunday, but kept Saturday in a Sabbatical manner.” [In the 1000s CE Scotalnd]: “They held that Saturday was properly the Sabbath on which they abstained from work.” During the 11th century the Catholic Queen of Scotland, Margaret, tried to stamp out those that kept Saturday as the Sabbath Day and who refused to honor Sunday as the Sabbath Day.’


W M Stukeley, in his book Abury, affirms after a close study of the evidence: “I plainly discerned the religion professed by the ancient Britons was the simple patriarchal faith.” [Cited in The Drama of the Lost Disciples, G F Jowett, 2009, page 44]. 

The Book of Chronicles records the main clans from the three sons of Levi.

1 Chronicles 23:1-

English Standard Version

When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.

2 David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites, thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and the total was 38,000 men. 

“Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 shall be officers and judges, 5 4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise.”And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 The sons of Gershon were Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. 9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan. 

10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush [family name of Esau] and Beriah did not have many sons, therefore they became counted as a single father’s house.

12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. 13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the Lord and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever. 14 But the sons of Moses the man of God were named among the tribe of Levi. 

15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief. 17 The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. 19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish [family name of Benjamin]. 22 Eleazar died having no sons, but only daughters; their kinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them. 23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

24 These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, the heads of fathers’ houses as they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord. 25 For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service.”… 28 For their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God. 29 Their duty was also to assist with the showbread, the flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity or size. 30 And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening, 31 and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the Lord on Sabbaths, new moons, and feast days, according to the number required of them, regularly before the Lord. 32 Thus they were to keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and to attend the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the service of the house of the Lord.

The Book of Chronicles also records which Levite families settled in various cities, of the various tribes throughout ancient Israel. The sons of Levi being Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Most of the Kohathites, of which Aaron descended lived in the territories of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin and the tribes that later constituted the Kingdom of Judah.

1 Chronicles 6:54-64

English Standard Version

54 These are their dwelling places according to their settlements within their borders: to the sons of Aaron of the clans of Kohathites, for theirs was the first lot, 55 to them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands, 56 but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 57 To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah with its pasturelands… 

60 and from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon, Geba with its pasturelands… All their cities throughout their clans were thirteen. 61 To the rest of the Kohathites were given by lot out of the clan of the tribe, out of the half-tribe, the half of [West] Manasseh, ten cities. 62 To the Gershomites according to their clans were allotted thirteen cities out of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and [East] Manasseh in Bashan. 63 To the Merarites according to their clans were allotted twelve cities out of the tribes of Reuben, Gad,and Zebulun. 

64 So the people of Israel gave the Levites the cities with their pasturelands. 65 They gave by lot out of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin these cities that are mentioned by name.

The Prophet Malachi gives a powerful prophecy about the time of the end and the Messianic return; with the majority of people who doubt and the few who exhibit faith.  Included, is a return by the Levites to Godly worship. Maimonides stated that during this time each Israelite would be informed of which tribe he belongs to.

Malachi 3:1-18

New Century Version

The Lord All-Powerful says, “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way for me. Suddenly, the Lord you are looking for will come to his Temple; the messenger of the agreement, whom you want, will come.” 2 No one can live through that time; no one can survive when he comes. He will be like a purifying fire and like laundry soap. 3 Like someone who heats and purifies silver, he will purify the Levites and make them pure like gold and silver.Then they will bring offerings to the Lord in the right way. And the Lord will accept the offerings from Judah and Jerusalem, as it was in the past. 5 The Lord All-Powerful says, “Then I will come to you and judge you. I will be quick to testify against those who take part in evil magic, adultery, and lying under oath, those who cheat workers of their pay and who cheat widows and orphans, those who are unfair to foreigners, and those who do not respect me.

“I the Lord do not change. So you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. Since the time of your ancestors, you have disobeyed my rules and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord All-Powerful.

13 The Lord says, “You have said terrible things about me.

“But you ask, ‘What have we said about you?’

14 “You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. It did no good to obey his laws and to show the Lord All-Powerful that we were sorry for what we did. 15 So we say that proud people are happy. Evil people succeed. They challenge God and get away with it.’”

This is highly reflective of our modern age. Many people, not just the world’s elite, use their wealth to take an unfair advantage of the majority of the world, in keeping them impoverished. 

It certainly looks like they are all getting away with their selfishness  and cruelty; particularly as each century passes by with not retribution. But, their own day of reckoning beckons and justice will be served. 

16 Then those who honored the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened and heard them. The names of those who honored the Lord and respected him were written in his presence in a book to be remembered. 17 The Lord All-Powerful says, “They belong to me; on that day they will be my very own. As a parent shows mercy to his child who serves him, I will show mercy to my people. 18 You will again see the difference between good and evil people, between those who serve God and those who don’t.

An odd story concerning Reuben, is his giving mandrakes to his mother Leah, when he was still very young and possibly only ten years of age.

Genesis 30:14-23

English Standard Version

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes [H1736 – duwday: basket, mandrake] in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”  

16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” 

So he lay with her that night. 17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. 19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

22 Then [later] God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.”

Reuben may or may not have known that the mandrake contains aphrodisiac and fertility properties. If he was a child, probably not; though what led him to find the mandrakes for Leah? Did Leah have a liking for them? Was Reuben inspired by the Eternal to look for them? Leah had a temporary barren period from the birth of Judah in 1746 BCE until Issachar in 1742 BCE. It is ironic that she gives the mandrakes to Rachel and conceives herself that night, yet Rachel who likely has the plant root does not bear Joseph until 1726 BCE. Some versions incorrectly call the plant a love apple, that is, a tomato.

The Mandrake is common in Palestine and flourishes in the spring, ripening at the time of the wheat harvest as Genesis states. The mandrake, also known as Satan’s apple, is the fruit – a potent root that somewhat resembles the human form – of the Mandragora officinarum, a member of the Solanaceae order [potato]. 

There is also a British version, the Bryonia Alba. They are said to have mystical and magical properties. It is a member of the Nightshade family, used primarily for its anaesthetic properties and closely allied to the Atropa belladonna or deadly nightshade of southern Europe. If ingested in sufficient quantities it can cause delirium and hallucinations. It is native to the Mediterranean and tellingly, the Himalayas [refer Chapter I Noah]. 

Next we read again of Reuben in Genesis thirty-five, in one small verse sandwiched between the death of Rachel and the death of Isaac. Isaac died in 1697 BCE and Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin circa 1699 BCE. Assuming it is 1698 BCE, Reuben is fifty-four years of age. Reuben is still young, not even middle aged; for he dies at the age of one hundred and twenty-five in 1627 BCE.

Genesis 35:21-22

English Standard Version

21 Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it.

Bilhah was Rachel’s handmaid and someone that Reuben would have known very well. Further details are given in the Book of Jubilees.

Book of Jubilees 33:1-9

33.1 And Jacob went and dwelt to the south of Magdaladra’ef. And he went to his father Isaac, he and Leah his wife, on the new month [New Moon the 1st] of the tenth month [January/February]. 2 And Reuben saw Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place, and he loved [lusted after] her. 3 And he hid himself at night, and he entered the house of Bilhah [at night], and he found her sleeping alone on a bed in her house. 4 And he lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and behold Reuben was lying with her in the bed, and she uncovered the border of her covering and seized him, and cried out, and discovered that it was Reuben. 5 And she was ashamed because of him, and released her hand from him, and he fled. 

6 And she lamented because of this thing exceedingly, and did not tell it to any one.7 And when Jacob returned and sought her, she said to him: ‘I am not clean for you, for I have been defiled as regards you; for Reuben has defiled me, and has lain with me in the night, and I was asleep, and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me.’8 And Jacob was exceedingly wroth with Reuben because he had lain with Bilhah, because he had uncovered his father’s skirt. 9 And Jacob did not approach her again because Reuben had defiled her. And as for any man who uncovers his father’s skirt his deed is wicked exceedingly, for he is abominable before Yahweh.

A tragic experience of rape for Bilhah; coupled with not being able to be close to Jacob ever again. The condemnation against Reuben is severe and one realises the prophesies regarding his offspring are a punishment, as Canaan’s children were punished even though it was Canaan’s sin [refer Chapter XI Ham and Chapter XII Canaan]. It is curious that this incident is a sexual act after the sexual aspect of the mandrake story. It is in part because of this, that identity adherents have labelled France as Reuben. Though we have already discovered their rightful identity [refer Chapter XXVI Moab & Ammon]. 

Reubens Ravishing of Bilhah: A Parallel Account, Dr Rabbi David Frankel – bold his, emphasis mine:

‘We may compare the short original story [refer Chapter XI Ham] of the son (Canaan or Ham) molesting his [grand]father (Ham or Noah) and being cursed with the similarly curt story of Reuben’s sin with his father’s concubine, Bilhah, as related in Genesis 35:21-22, Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.

Once again, we have a brief story about a son who sexually disgraces his father, though in this case it is the eldest son rather than the youngest son, and the disgrace to the father is done indirectly through incest with the father’s concubine, an act that the incest laws in the Torah call “revealing your father’s nakedness”:

Leviticus 18:8 Do not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is the nakedness of your father. Leviticus 20:11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, it is the nakedness of his father that he has uncovered… Deuteronomy 27:20 Cursed be he who lies with his father’s wife, for he has revealed what his father has covered

Many have noted that the ending of the Reuben and Bilhah story is truncated. What happened when Israel “heard about it”? The story could hardly have simply ended there! The parallel with the Noah story suggests that the original continuation may be found in the “blessings” of Jacob before his death in Genesis 49:3-4…

Just as Noah immediately cursed his youngest son for taking sexual advantage of him, so Jacob, upon hearing about the act of his oldest son with his concubine, immediately pronounced the demotion of his status vis-a-vis his brothers. If this conjecture is accepted, the similarity between the two stories is even greater. Note that brothers play no active role in the story of Reuben’s sin just as they play no active role in the reconstructed story of Ham and Canaan. And, at least if we follow the reconstruction of that narrative suggested above, it too ended with the father’s denunciation of the sinful son alone.   

Incidentally, another parallel between the narratives should not be missed: just as the biblical editor sought to “sanitize” the sexual sin in the Noah story so did the Rabbis suggest that Reuben did no more than move his father’s bed from Bilhah’s tent to his mother Leah’s tent.’

Genesis 49:3-4

English Standard Version

3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength [H202 – ‘own: vigour, generative power], preeminent in dignity [loftiness, exaltation] and preeminent in power. 4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it – he went up to my couch!

This is the only time that Jacob inserts his own opinion or feelings amongst the oracles concerning his sons – “he went up to my couch.”  It cost Reuben dearly, as the birthright or at least the lions share, if it was to be split with Simeon, was lost, forever; as Esau had also lost the birthright. Today, Northern Ireland – as a country, that is not a nation – is caught in a no-mans-land, between the lions of Judah and Gad – England and Ireland. It’s past checkered, violent and unstable as predicted. Like water that is never truly calm or still, so has the volatile history of Northern Ireland been between the Catholic, Republican Irish and the Protestant, Loyalists who reside in the majority of Ulster’s  nine Counties.

The Hebrew word for unstable is H6349 pachaz, meaning, as in ‘recklessness, wantoness, unbridled license, frothiness’ – to froth. The word for water is H4325 mayim and has the connotation for ‘danger, violence, transitory.’ It can mean ‘water of the feet’ that is literally, urine. The word preeminence is the Hebrew word H3498 yathar, meaning ‘excel.’ Reuben was not going to have an excess, say like Joseph, but rather a very much smaller inheritance. 

It is interesting to note that the Northern Irish are staunchly loyal and royal in their mindset and policy. Only Canada – apart from the obvious English – rivals them for their patriotism towards the Monarchy figurehead that is Queen Elizabeth II. It is as if they are over-compensating for what might have been as the eldest and even possibly the recipient of the sceptre and orb of rulership. In Northern Ireland the reminder of this is in the use of the frequent use of the word ‘royal as in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the  title for the Northern Irish police force, from 1922 to 2001.

Deuteronomy 33:6

King James Version

Let Reuben live, and not die [H4191]; and let [H1961] not his men [H4962] be few [H4557].

Moses predicts that Reuben would have a lot of descendants… or did he. The King James version – with many others – misleadingly says Reuben would have many offspring. This is in part why identity teachers have unanimously taught Reuben as France. The Interlinear shows that the word not is added. The Hebrew word in question H4962 math, is translated as men [14], few [2], number [1] and small [1]. The connotation is to have less sex and less males. The English Standard version translates  this verse accurately: “Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few.” 

Other translations with the correct context and meaning include:

HCSB: Let Reuben live and not die though his people become few.

CEV: Tribe of Reuben, you will live, even though your tribe will always be small.

MSG: Reuben: “Let Reuben live and not die, but just barely, in diminishing numbers.”

It is clear that Reuben though severely punished, in that he would be a very small tribe; he would still live and not cease to exist. France, aside from its genetic Haplogroup sequencing that shows they are related to the Celtic-Saxon-Viking peoples of Britain and Ireland; they are still not the same, they have a large population and a preeminence of power. France does not fulfil the prophecies for Reuben. Northern Ireland does… and its relationship with Gad from Ireland, makes it the only plausible answer.

Judges 5:15-16

Common English Bible

15… Among the clans of Reuben there was deep soul-searching. 16 “Why did you stay back among the sheep pens, listening to the music for the flocks?” For the clans of Reuben there was deep soul-searching.

The Reubenites were reluctant to get involved in the combined Israel war against the Canaanites during Deborah’s judgeship. In fact they didn’t participate at all. The other tribe that didn’t either was the tribe of Dan. This is a strange coincidence as we will discover when we study Dan. The word used for soul-searching in verse sixteen is different from the one in verse fifteen. The idea is said twice, so the strength of their reticence has been underlined for it to be stated in such a way. 

The first Hebrew word is H2711, cheqeq meaning ‘thoughts, decrees, resolve, statute, action prescribed, an enactment, a resolution.’ It looks like they took so long to deliberate and make an official decision that the war was begun and finished before they could make up their minds. This is indicative of the Northern Irish government’s policy making, as it is not known for its decisiveness. The second word is H2714, cheqer meaning ‘a search, investigation, enquiry, examination, enumeration, deliberation.’ Just the definitions of the word sound painful. Therefore the procrastination of the Reubenites in making a decision, meant they did not get involved at all. 

Genesis 49:19

Amplified Bible

“As for Gad [H1410 – a troop] – a raiding troop [H1416 – gduwd: ‘band, army, company’] shall raid [H1464 – guwd: overcome, invade (with troops)] him, But he shall raid [H1464] at their heels and assault them (victoriously).

NLV: “A group of soldiers [the English] will go against Gad. But he will go against them at their heels [Northern Ireland].

Gad would be attacked but will have the last word. In this verse and context, Gad’s name means a ‘raiding troop’, yet in Genesis 30:11, his name means ‘good fortune’ from H1409 gad. Both definitions are correct and in the Hebrew definition of the name Gad  in Genesis chapter forty-nine, there is a play on the word Gad, as in ‘Gad, a Gad shall Gad.’ The mentioning of raiding at the heels of their enemies is another interesting coincidence, as in the preceding verses, Jacob speaks of Dan as a venomous serpent that with its fangs will bite the ‘horses heels so that his rider falls backward.’ Worth noting is that the tribe of Dan has a primary relationship with Reuben, a secondary one with Benjamin and tertiary connections with both Simeon and Gad.

In Judges five and the war against the Canaanites, we observed that Judah, Simeon and Levi were not involved and Reuben and Dan did not participate. Gad, like Judah and company is not mentioned either. These tribes all have one thing in common and that is that they are on the periphery of the action and war zone so-to-speak. The exception being Machir of the half-tribe of East Manasseh, who also dwelt on the east side of the River Jordan with Reuben and Gad. In Moses’s prophecy Gad chose the best land for himself.

Deuteronomy 33:20-21

English Standard Version

20 And of Gad he said, “Blessed [H1288 – barak: ‘bless oneself, be adored’] be he who enlarges [H7337 – rachab: ‘grow wide, grow large, make room’] Gad! Gad crouches like a lion; he tears off arm and scalp [Guerrilla and terrorist warfare]. 21 He chose the best of the land for himself, for there a commander’s portion was reserved; and he came with the heads of the people, with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments for Israel.”

It could be argued that the Emerald Isle is the best of the land of the two British Isles and even of all the Israelite nations. The identifications of Switzerland or Sweden as Gad fall short in two ways. Arguably, they both have great landscapes and countryside. It is more difficult to assign armies or invaders for either one and their chances of enlarging their territories is highly unlikely. 

Ireland on the other hand had to endure extreme measures while the English occupied their land. The saga of the English interaction and treatment of the Irish is brutal and uncomfortable reading. The Irish eventually won back their nation and became an independent Republic. As a Lion themselves, they stood up to the powerful Lion of Judah. With regard to enlarging their territory, I first considered the massive Irish immigration to the United States of America. Many millions fled the potato famine, which was in large part induced by the English. Only English and German descended Americans outnumber those of Irish descent in America. 

A more accurate interpretation, which in the past may have seemed unlikely, though with the United Kingdom having withdrawn from the European Union and Scotland sabre rattling its intention to leave the union; an Ulster separating itself from England and Scotland and forming an agreement with Ireland does not seem so far fetched. A federated Ireland with either the two capitals of Dublin and Belfast, or a new neutral location working together would be seen as a victory for the Republic. The religious population divide of Ulster could also be a genetic split; in that the Protestants are Reuben and the Catholics are not Reuben, but actually Gad. This could be another interpretation of Gad ‘enlarging his territory.’ 

As the tribes of Israel are all in the process of distancing themselves from Judah and the hold its monarchy exerts; then Northern Ireland leaving the United Kingdom could be inevitable. And before Scotland or Wales would be a sensational political event. The big question of course is whether Scotland or Wales would actually leave the United Kingdom as they historically were the integral tribes comprising the Kingdom of Judah – Judah, Benjamin and Simeon. 

Location of the Tribes of Israel, Herman Hoeh, circa 1950:

‘Reuben, unstable as water and [not] having the excellency of greatness, we have recognized as France. Southern France, settled by the descendants of Javan (the Greeks), is gentile … is unstable, yet sets the styles for the world, has the form of real excellency, and has the same sex weakness as Reuben, is France… And is it not significant that the very country at war with England around 1800 should be France (Reuben), who would lose the birthright in the Napoleonic war? (Napoleon was Italian.)’ 

This identification appears to fit quite well, superficially. Though it unravels when we understand who the French are [refer Chapter VII Javan and Chapter XXVI Moab & Ammon] and that Reuben was to be the smallest Tribe.

‘Gad, which means “the troop” certainly designates Switzerland the only Israelite nation in which every man is mobilized for defense. Against Gad would come the foreign troops, said Jacob, but he will “trod upon their heel.” Moses declared that Gad does NOT “leap,” a characteristic of the colonizing or pillaging tribes. Gad “teareth the arm, yea, the crown of the head” of the Holy Roman Empire, in whose territory “he chose a first part for himself, and there a portion of a ruler was reserved.” To Gad come “the heads of the people” as they do today to Geneva. No other nation on earth so perfectly fits this description of a nation of troops. Switzerland, Geneva particularly, has had a history of being an “international lawgiver.” Note: Even though the migrations of some of the ancestors of Switzerland and Germany are similar, while some have erroneously taught that Germany is Gad, Germany has no history of being a recognized lawgiver – but instead primarily descended from Assyria [refer Chapter XX Asshur and Chapter XXVIII Ishmael].’

No example is given in evidence of the Swiss being tread upon in fulfilment of prophecy; yet a leap is taken for Gad in assigning the Holy Roman Empire a role. A misinterpretation of scripture is applied by assigning a meaning of Gad as having many troops rather than the ordeal of being invaded and ruled, as Ireland endured. Also missed, is the close relationship between Reuben and Gad in dwelling together across the River Jordan. We will find that all the sons of Jacob had a close relationship with one other tribe. It is a startling coincidence, yet all the sons of Jacob paired off, though not always with a full brother, more times it was with a half brother. The exception is Dan, who from the get go was a lone wolf, a maverick and unlike his brothers and more like his cousin Esau or his uncle Ishmael. So far we have the close ties between Judah and Benjamin; between Simeon and Levi and between Reuben and Gad. 

The early history of Ireland is shrouded in the mists of mystery and myth. What is apparent is that there has been an overlapping of various waves of people. We will endeavour to sift through the legends and histories and glean what is relevant to Reuben and Gad. In so doing, we will bump into Benjamin and Zarah from Judah that we have already investigated as well as the tribe of Dan, who will be studied separately in a later chapter [refer Chapter XXXIV Dan]. 

Ireland’s history is ‘based largely upon the pseudo-historical Lebor Gabala, translated into English as the “Book of Invasions”, and Cath Maige Tuired, or the “Second Battle of Maige Tuired”.’ One of the first peoples recorded in Ireland are the Partholians, after their leader Partholon. An intriguing word as it is remarkably similar to the Israelite Parthians we discussed in Chapter XXX Judah and Benjamin. They are supposed to have ruled for three hundred years and then became extinct due to disease. A gap of thirty years separated them and the next peoples, the Nemedians. 

In the Annals of Clonmacnois, written circa 1408 CE, Bartholome is mentioned as arriving in Ireland during the time that Abraham was alive. What is interesting is that the Partholians are thought to have arrived in Ireland circa 2044 BCE. Abraham lived between 1977 and 1802 BCE. An old English version by Roberts of this same tradition said that the people who were led by Bartholomew, sailed to Ireland from Israel via Spain. Bartholome[w] is sometimes given as Partholomew and this may be a representation of the Partholonians. David Hughes in The British Chronicles, 2007, says: ‘the Partholonians were prominent in Ulster and in Scotland where they were referred to as “Parthi”.’ Due to the timing – Jacob being born in 1817 BCE – the Partholonians were not the sons of Jacob [tradition says they descended from Noah’s son Japheth], as the later Nemedians undoubtedly were. 

The Nemedians arrived in approximately 1714 BCE, ruling Ireland for two hundred and seventeen years, to 1497 BCE. Their journey began possibly from Spain with a fleet of thirty-two ships and a thousand people. Only one ship with about thirty people is said to allegedly have survived the journey, which included Nemed and his four sons. The name Nemed in Hebrew means ‘sanctified’ or ‘separated’ and is synonymous with the Hebrew name Peresh, given to the son of Machir from the half tribe of East Man9hasseh [1 Chronicles 7:16]. The Nemedians are claimed ‘to be descendants of Sru, Sera and Isru. 

These names… are all forms of the name Israel.’ Sera-[li] is how the Assyrians rendered the name Israel in at least one inscription.

Another ancient peoples in Ireland, were the Fomorians. The Fomorian origins are reputed as being from North Africa. They worshipped a goddess, Domnu and their leader was Balar or Balor, a form of the word Baal. They were in essence, sea-going – possibly female dominated – pirates. They are not considered as Celtic or permanent as they were a strange race of ugly, misshapen giants who lived on Tory Island off the coast of Donegal in Northwest Ireland. 

The ancient Annals of Clonmacnois records that the Fomorians were: “descended from Cham, the sonne of Noeh, and lived by pyracie and spoile of other nations, and were in those days very troublesome to the whole world.” Previously mentioned, the Giant’s Gateway in Ireland – Cloch-an-na-bh-Fomharigh: ‘causeway or stepping-stones of the Fomorians’ – was associated with giants and hence is also commonly called the Giant’s Causeway. 

The Fomorians were cruel and violent as they would repeatedly raid the mainland. The Fomorians had once fought the Partholanians. Once the numbers of the Nemedians had grown, they were at first successful against the Fomorians, with four decisive victories; but a pestilence decimated the population so that less than two thousand Nemedians survived. Thus the Fomorians ruled over the Nemedians for a while and then later also the Dananns, extracting heavy tributes and taxes from them. 

The Fomorian giants were undoubtedly Elioud descendants of Nephilim [refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. They were an ancient inhabitant of the land and very possibly the first. The Irish Province of Ulster derives its name from them. For they would have been known as the Ulaid or Ulaidh and singularly as the Ulad or Uladh. This is the old Irish spelling for the Hebrew word Elioud also transliterated Eljo; the second generational offspring and beyond, of the Nephilim. The Irish name Uladh being pronounced as Ulla, would then become Ula-ster and hence Ulster. 

An online commentator states – emphasis & bold mine:

The etymology of the… word Elioud is composed of the words, El, Io, and Ud. You will also find this name in Welsh charters, which it is clear it is not originally a Welsh word, but it was Hebrew and taken to the Welsh. The Welsh etymology is also very similar, where it is said the meaning of el is many and iud is lord. I believe that this is a mistranslation, and it has the same meaning as the Hebrew.

The word El is a generic name for God… found in the word Elohim. The word Io is related to the words wisdom and knowledge. Sir Godfrey Higgins had written, “in Syriac Io, was the God of Wisdom or Knowledge… The God of Wisdom was the spiritual fire…” 

The meaning of the word Ud is “brand or branded.” Therefor, the meaning of Elioud would be something like “branded with the spiritual fire of Godly wisdom, or wisdom branded by the spirit fire of God.” Hence, they were [like] the sons of Cain, the accursed and branded by God as it is said in the scriptures when God confronted Cain about Abel’s death; God responded, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over”, and God “set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him” (Gen. 4:15).’

As an aside, in the genealogy of Christ through his father Joseph, should he have been born physically from his seed, one of His ancestors is a certain Eliud [Matthew 1.14–15], the great-great-grandfather of Joseph. The name Eliud is G1664, Elioud and means: ‘God his Praise’ or ‘God of Majesty.’ 

Finally, three Nemedian chieftains led their people in revolt. Attacking the Fomorian stronghold of Tory Island, the Nemedians managed to kill one of the Fomorian kings and captured one of their towers. In the process, the Nemedians were again almost totally annihilated, with purportedly only thirty Nemedians surviving the battle. These survivors fled from Ireland. 

According to legend, one branch of the Nemedians under Fergus Lethderg, fled with his son Briottan [from which ‘Britain’ may be linked] Maol to Alba [Scotland], where the whole island was named after him. This is more probable than Britain being named after Brutus some four hundred years later. These were related peoples to the British peoples who became known as Cymry descended from Simeon. A second branch of the Nemedians were led by Semeon, Semion or Simon Brec a son of Erglan son of Beoan son of Starn son of Nemed. They supposedly fled to Greece, where their descendants would later return to Ireland after being slaves for a long time; now known as the Fir Bolg

According to some versions, Semeon had never been in Ireland only his descendants were. The name Semeon equates to the name Simeon, the son of Jacob. Though it is not the same person rather a shared family name. For this branch of the Nemedians are the tribe of Reuben, who are later known as the Fir Bolg or Firbolgs, one and the same as the Belgae. The Fir Bolge or sons of Bolge are also referred to ‘Ffirvolge.’ Related names include: Firvolgian, Firbolgian, Belgarian and Belgian. 

Ptolemy describes the Tribe of Semoni on the southeast coast of Britain. They adjoined the Iceni whose name according to Yair Davidy “may be understood to be a Phoenician (or North Israelite) form of the appellation Jachin [fourth] son of Simeon (Genesis 46;10). The Welsh in their own and in Irish Literature were referred to as Semoni.” This is an important point, for the Semoni as Simeonites, were also known as Cymru. 

Five sons of Dela, a descendant of Semeon brought their people out of slavery from Greece and Thrace. This was two hundred and thirty years later in 1267 BCE, after they had departed Ireland in 1497 BCE and also prior to the Milesian Scotti – tribe of Zarah-Judah and Gad’s – arrival in 1046 BCE. The sons of Dela divided Ireland into their original five provinces, Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Meath. Their rule was short lived for a mere thirty-seven years and nine kings, until the Tuatha de Danann – tribe of Dan – arrived circa 1230 BCE. Some versions have that the tribe of Dana’s ancestor was Bethac who had left Ireland with the other Nemedians and later returned. The Milesian Scots arrived to find the Tuatha de Danaan had been ruling for one hundred and seventy-four years after the Second Battle of Moytura in 1220 BCE. The Firbolgs were perceived ‘as inferior people, and strangely, quite primitive in comparison to the Tuatha De Danann, and also the later Milesians.’ 

The ancient Book of the Genealogies by MacFirbis states – emphasis & bold mine: 

“Every one who is white (of skin) and brown (of hair), bold, honourable, daring, prosperous, bountiful in the bestowal of property, wealth, and rings, and who is not afraid of battle or combat: they are the descendants of Milesius in Erinn… Every one who is black-haired, who is a tattler, guileful, tale-telling, noisy… the disturbers of every council and every assembly, and the promoters of discord among the people, these are the descendants of the Firbolgs.”

The Firbolgs did not seem to have any trouble with the Fomorians, however they did not like the Tuatha De Danann and fought the First Battle of Moytura with them before they were defeated, circa 1230 BCE. 

The Story of the Irish Race, http://www.ireland.org – emphasis & bold mine:

“The Irish race of today is popularly known as the Milesian Race, because the genuine Irish (Celtic) people were supposed to be descended from Milesius of Spain, whose sons, say the legendary accounts, invaded and possessed themselves of Ireland a thousand years before Christ. 

The races that occupied the land when the so-called Milesians came, chiefly the Firbolg [Reuben] and the Tuatha De Danann [Dan], were certainly not exterminated by the conquering Milesians [Gad and Zarah-Judah]. Those two peoples formed the basis of the future population, which was dominated and guided, and had its characteristics moulded, by the far less numerous but more powerful Milesian aristocracy and soldiery. All three of these races, however, were different tribes of the great Celtic family, who, long ages before, had separated from the main stem, and in course of later centuries blended again into one tribe of Gaels – three derivatives of one stream, which, after winding their several ways across Europe from the East, in Ireland turbulently met, and after eddying, and surging tumultuously, finally blended in amity, and flowed onward in one great Gaelic stream. 

The possession of the country was wrested from the Firbolgs, and they were forced into partial serfdom by the Tuatha De Danann (people of the goddess Dana), who arrived later. Totally unlike the uncultured Firbolgs, the Tuatha De Dannann were a capable and cultured, highly civilised people, so skilled in the crafts, if not the arts, that the Firbolgs named them necromancers, and in course of time both the Firbolgs and the later coming Milesians created a mythology around these. 

In a famed battle at Southern Moytura (on the Mayo-Galway border) it was that the Tuatha De Danann met and overthrew the Firbolgs. The Firbolgs noted King, Eochaid was slain in this great battle, but the De Danan King, Nuada, had his hand cut off by a great warrior of the Firbolgs named Sreng. The battle raged for four days. So bravely had the Firbolgs fought, and so sorely exhausted the De Dannann, that the latter, to end the battle, gladly left to the Firbolgs, that quarter of the Island wherein they fought, the province now called Connaught. And the bloody contest was over. 

The famous life and death struggle of two races is commemorated by a multitude of cairns and pillars which strew the great battle plain in Sligo – a plain which bears the name (in Irish) of “The plain of the Towers of the Fomorians”. The Danann were now the undisputed masters of the land. So goes the honoured legend.” 

The Firbolgs lost the battle because the Dananns had superior ‘technological’ weapons. Tailtiu was the daughter of King of the Mag Mor, “Great Plain”, from the Land of the Dead, which was a poetic name for Spain. Tailtiu married the last Firbolg king, Eochaid Mac Eirc, who died at Moytura. At her husband’s death, she married Eochaid Garb Mac Duach, a Danann warrior. Eventually, Lugh Lamfada led the Danann to overthrow the Fomorian tyranny and oppression and annihilate them, circa 1220 BCE in the Second Battle of Moytura. Balor was their last leader and Lugh killed him. Since Tailtiu was the foster mother of Lugh, she was held in honour by the Tuatha de Danann. The Tribe of Dana subsequently intermarried with the Fomorian giants. 

Fir means ‘man or men’ and Bolg is thought to have derived from the Hebrew Bela[gh] from either the son of Benjamin [Genesis 46:21]; or just as likely, a family head in the tribe of Reuben [1 Chronicles 5:8], who interestingly hailed from Aroer, near Baal-meon. A symbol of Reuben is a Man, which is linked to the water carrier [water from Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 49:4] and the zodiacal sign of Aquarius [refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. 

Yair Davidy comments – emphasis & bold mine: 

The Fir Bolg are identified by researchers with the Belgae who in the 100s BCE sent colonists from their base in North Gaul into southern Britain where they were reported by Ptolemy. T.F. O’Rahilly idenfitied the Belgae in Ireland with the Erain (Iverni in the southwest) [and the] Ulaid (Ulster)… The Belgae gave their name to Belgium. Within the Land of Israel the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Menasseh at an early stage had formerly expanded their territories up to and perhaps even beyond the Euphrates River. Sections of other Israelite tribes, including Benjamin, were also to be found in the Israelite areas between the Jordan and Euphrates Rivers. Ptolemy in his map of “Arabia” records the existence of Israelite clan and territorial names in areas adjoining the Euphrates. Amongst these names are Balagea and Belginaea which appellations relate to the Belgae descendants of Bela(g)h from Benjamin and/or Reuben.’

As both Benjamin and Reuben lived in Northern Ireland, the link to Bela* could relate to both of them. Ultimately, it was the tribe of Reuben who settled there as the ancient Ulaid, becoming the modern Ulster. 

Judah’s Sceptre & Joseph’s Birthright, J H Allen 1902:

‘Israel, as we know, was cast out of her land for idolatry, and Baal-ism* was one of her chief idolatries. Before she was cast out she seems to have acquired the habit of attaching the name of the god Baal to places and cities, for on the ancient maps of Palestine we find Baal-meon, Baal-gad, Baal-ath, Baal-shalisha, Baal-Tamar, Baal-peor, Baal-hazor, Baal-zephon, Mt. Baalah, and others. 

But surely these people carried that same proclivity with them to the islands, for in Ireland this name of the god Baal is found just as frequently, if not more frequently, a circumstance which shows that this idol was honored and worshipped by her eastern colonists. 

The Rev. T. R. Howlett furnishes us with the following list of Baal-it-ish names found in Ireland: Baa-y-Bai, Baal-y-gowan, Baal-y-Nahinsh, Baal-y- Castell, Baal-y-Moni, Baal-y-ner, Baal-y-Garai, Baal-y-nah, Baal-y-Con-El, Baal-y- Hy, Baal-y-Hull-Ish, Baal-NahBrach, Baal-Athi, Baal-Dagon. 

Regarding the evidence given by these names, Howlett says: 

“These certainly are memorials of the Baal worship once prevailing in Ireland. In them we have not only the name of Baal, but its conjunction also with other Hebrew names. How can this be accounted for, except as they were so called by emigrants from Phoenicia and Palestine? One thing that particularly marks the Hebrew origin of these names is their attachment to places but not to persons. The Canaanites and Phoenicians, attached the names of their gods, Baal, Bal, Bel to persons, as Eth-Baal, Itho-bal, Asdru-bal and Han-i-bal. These were family names among the heathen nations surrounding Israel. In like manner, we find among the chosen people the names of their God associated with and forming a part of family and personal names; as “El” and “Jah,” in Isra-el, Ishma-el, Lemu-el, Samu-el, Ezeki-el, El-isha El-ijah.. Baal never found favor among the Hebrews as a personal name, though used freely for localities They gave it to their towns, but not to their children. Its use in Ireland is proof of the Israelitish origin of the earliest settlers – philological evidence of racial unity.”

Linked with the Firbolgs time frame are the Galioin, also associated with the Lagin and Domain and all part of the Gabair peoples who came from Brittany or Amorica in France. Their name is considered a cognate to that of the Galli and Gauls. Yair Davidy states: ‘these names in Hebrew connote both “Exile” (“Goli”, “Gali”) and [the Sea of] Galilee.’ The Domain may be linked to the tribe of Dana and or the Fomorians and their goddess Domnu. As the Tuatha de Danann and Fomorians intermarried it is highly likely. The related Dumnonii were a British tribe found in Devon, Cornwall and also as far north as Scotland. 

The migration of the Dal Riata – the Dalriada Scots – to the West coast of Scotland is expertly and succinctly presented, in the following article. 

The Ulster Kingdoms: 3 – Dalriada (Causeway Coast and Glens Districts), Dr Ian Adamson OBE – emphasis & bold mine:

‘Linguistic and genealogical evidence associates ancestors of the Dál Riata with the prehistoric Iverni [Simeon](Erainn) [Reuben] and Darini, suggesting kinship with the Ulaid [Reuben] of Ulster and a number of Belgic [Reuben?] kingdoms in Munster. The bulk of the inhabitants in County Antrim would have been the Cruthinic Robogdii [Benjamin**], relatives of the Epidian Cruthin [Picts**] across the Sea of Moyle. Ultimately the Dál Riata over-lords [Zarah-Judah], according to the earliest genealogies, are descendants of Deda mac Sin, a prehistoric king or deity of the Belgic Érainn [Reuben].

Dalriada was founded by Gaelic-speaking people from Ulster, including Robogdian Cruthin, who eventually Gaelicised the west coast of Pictland, according to the Venerable Bede, by a combination of force and treaty. The indigenous Epidian [Caledonian Picts of Benjamin] people however remained substantially the same and there is no present archaeological evidence for a full-scale migration or invasion. The inhabitants of Dalriada are often referred to as Scots (Latin Scotti), a name originally used by Roman and Greek writers for the Irish who raided Roman Britain. 

Later it came to refer to Gaelic-speakers in general, whether from Ireland or elsewhere. The name Dál Riata is derived from Old Gaelic. Dál means “portion” or “share” (as in “a portion of land”) [Genesis 49:27, Deuteronomy 33:6] and Riata or Riada is believed to be a personal name. Thus, Riada’s portion.’

‘The kingdom reached its height under Áedán mac Gabráin (r. 574–608), but its growth was checked at the Battle of Degsastan in 603 by Æthelfrith of Northumbria. Serious defeats in Ireland and Scotland in the time of Domnall Brecc (d. 642) ended Dál Riata’s “golden age”, and the kingdom became a client of Northumbria, then subject to the Picts (Caledonian Cruthin). There is disagreement over the fate of the kingdom from the late eighth century onwards. 

Some scholars have seen no revival of Dalriada after the long period of foreign domination (after 637 to around 750 or 760), while others have seen a revival of Dalriada under Áed Find (736–778), and later Kenneth Mac Alpin (Cináed mac Ailpín, who is claimed in some sources to have taken the kingship there in c. 840 following the disastrous defeat of the Pictish army by the Danes). Some even claim that the kingship of Fortriu was usurped by the Dalriadans several generations before MacAlpin (800–858). The kingdom’s independence ended in the Viking Age, as it merged with the lands of the Picts to form the Kingdom of Alba.’

The salient points are 1. the similarity between Robo-gdii and possibly Reube-n. Even so, the link between the Cruthins and Picts is stronger 2. the indigenous Cruithnic Epidians of Caledonia remained unchanged because they were the larger body of people, the Picts from Benjamin 3. the Riada’s portion was either small, with the kingdom not lasting long as is fitting with the small tribe of Reuben. Or alternatively and far more likely it is applicable to Benjamin being the ‘son of the right hand’ and ‘sharing the spoil’.

Though the Dal Riada Scots – an amalgamation of peoples including Zarah-Pharez from Judah, Benjamin and Dan – temporarily assimilated with the Picts to form the new nation of Scotland, these people included a number of those that migrated back to Ulster during its plantation by England. We will investigate the identity of these people in a subsequent chapter. The ruling class of the Dal Riada Scots were those of the Red Hand of Zarah, intermarried with Pharez as discussed [refer Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin]. 

The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel… Found! Steven M Collins, 1992 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘The settlements of the Phoenicians in Spain were originally named after several Hebrew names. One principal settlement was named Gades, Gadir or Gadeira, and today this city is known as Cadiz. 

Located on the Atlantic Ocean, it surely served as a major port for Phoenician expeditions to [Britain] and North America. The prominent historian, George Rawlinson, cites the Phoenician word for “enclosure” or “fortified place” as the source for the name of this ancient port city . He could just as easily have credited ancient Hebrew as the source of its name as the Hebrew word “gadar” means “enclose,” “fence up” or “make (a wall).”  Since the Hebrew word “gadar” would have been written without vowels at that ancient time, its consonants G­D­R serve precisely as the root word for the names Gadir or Gadeira. 

Another historian, L.A. Waddell, states Gades could be rendered “House of the Gads.”Gad was the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and could easily have given its name to the colony of Gades. The tribe of Gad was prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy 33:20 to “be enlarged” (i.e. “have a large population”). As their population expanded over the centuries, it is consistent with this biblical prophecy that Gad would have been one of the tribes most needing to export part of its population to some of Israel’s colonies. 

Another historian, Philip Hitti, cites that Gades was founded as a colony of the Phoenicians around 1000 B.C. , while the Encyclopaedia Britannica states that Cadiz was founded “as early as 1100 B.C.” This time frame for Cadiz’s founding is in the era of Israel’s rise to empire status under Kings David and Solomon, when we would expect to see Israel’s dominance in what is traditionally called the “Phoenician” Empire. That “Gades” bore the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel (Gad) strongly indicates that it was given that name by Israelites rather than by inhabitants of Tyre or Sidon. 

Also, an ancient name of Ireland was Ibheriu or Iberiu, and ancient Gaelic histories record that the ancestors of the Gaelic settlers of Ireland came from Iberia (“Phoenician” Spain). Ancient Ireland was also called Hibernia, a name which also preserved the Hebrew root word “Eber.” Note how closely the words Ibheriu and Iberiu coincide phonetically with the pronunciation of the word Hebrew. 

One other possibility exists for these early names in the British Isles. It was noted earlier that early histories of [Britain] record that the tribe of Asher operated the ancient mines in Cornwall. One of the clans of Asher was named the Heberites (Numbers 26:45), and this Hebrew name also serves as a precise root word for such names as Hibernia and the Hebrides. 

As this large group of Israelites resettled in the Black Sea region, they assumed new identities, but many key factors made them readily identifiable as Hebrews. The region to the east of the Black Sea (and north of Armenia) came to be known as Iberia,  confirming the presence of Hebrews from the ten tribes in that region. The Hebrews had given the old Phoenician/Israelite colony in Spain the name Iberia (after Eber, the namesake of the Hebrews),and it has long been called the Iberian Peninsula. 

The name of a modern Spanish river (the Ebro) still preserves the name of Eber, and is a reminder of the Hebrew (“Phoenician”) presence in the ancient Iberian Peninsula. The appearance of the same Hebrew name (Iberia) in the region north of Armenia verifies that this region became an area of Israelite resettlement for those who escaped Assyrian captivity by voluntary flight.’ 

The Goidels from Gaed-hals are Gaels and are also known as the Hiberi, Milesians and Scots. Their leader was called Gad-elus and they arrived in Ireland according to tradition some four hundred years – in the year 1046 BCE – after the Exodus. Recall, Niul had married an Egyptian princess named Scota, their son’s name Goid-el Glas a contemporary of Moses and the Israelites who were still living in slavery in Egypt. Moses had healed the infant Goidel Glas from a snakebite, and foretold that Goidel’s descendants would one day live in a land with no serpents. Few nations have noe snakes; though Ireland is one with Iceland and New Zealand. Notice the name Glas is the same as the prefix glas, for the city ofGlasgow. 

The name Scotti or Scot is linked to the Hebrew word Succoth which means a dwelling or booth, as in a temporary shelter. Gael is similar to the word Gaul, though does not derive from it. Portugal, is a word that is broken down into port-of-the-Gael; just as H-iber-nia is linked to the Iber-ian Peninsula. The Gaels gave Ireland its name Hibernia from their name the Hiberi, which is derived from the name Hebrew and that stems from Eber, the grandson of Arphaxad. The U’Neills, from which O’Neil derives are descended from the Gaels. The Gaels also gave their name Gaeli, to their language, Gael-ic. 

Judah’s Sceptre & Joseph’s Birthright, J H Allen 1902:

‘It is a remarkable fact that Young in his “Analytical Concordance” gives us the word Leag, as the original Hebrew word, while Strong in his “Exhaustive Concordance” gives us the equally correct word Gael, from the same Hebrew word. But be it Leag to the Hebrew or Gael to the Saxon, it is the same word to the same people, which they have reversed and given to their newer language, which is called the Gael, or Gael-ic tongue… spoken in its primitive simplicity in many places in Wales, Scotland and the north of Ireland. Wa-els is only another form of Gaels…’

Genesis 10:24

English Standard Version

24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber.

Similar to Eber, the name Shelagh is popular in Ireland. According to the website Celtic Female Names of Ireland other derivations are: “Sile – [Shee-la]… Sheela, Sheelah, Sheila, Shelagh, Sheelagh, Shiela, Sheilag, Cicily, Celia, Selia, Sissy.” 

Genesis 46:16

English Standard Version

16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

Numbers 26:35-36

English Standard Version

35 These are the sons of Ephraim according to their clans: of Shuthelah, the clan of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the clan of the Becherites; of Tahan, the clan of the Tahanites. 36 And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the clan of the Eranites.

Ireland was anciently called Erin, Eran and Aran. A number of Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s descendants migrated to Ireland and from there, nearly five million Irish travelled to America between 1820 and 1930. For four decades the Irish constituted one third of all immigrants to the United States. In 2019, thirty-two million Americans identified as having Irish ancestry; ten percent of the total population. The link with Gad’s sixth son Eri is obvious with the name E-ire or Eir-e and the prefix ire. To this day, the Republic of Ireland is called Eire.

Yair Davidy:

“Roberts” in what is described as “one of the oldest histories in the English language” speaks of Israelites led by a certain Bartholome (Numbers 23:36, Eran son of Ephraim son of Joseph) who were driven from Spain and settled in Ireland: “Gwrgan(r)t….directed them (Bartholomew and company)… to go to Ireland, which at that time lay waste and uninhabited… and there they settled… and there their descendants are to this day in Ireland.” “He Bartholome… had his name from a river of Spain called Eirinnal, on the banks of which they had lived… they had arrived from Israel their original country and… their ancestors dwelt in a retired part of Spain, near Eirnia, from whence the Spaniards drove them to sea…”

One Gaelic tribe was known as Syths and the Welsh historian Gildas, records ‘the Skythic Vale’ from which the Clyde and Forth rivers originate. An area they occupied is the Isle of Skye which became known as Sgia or Syiath. In Gaelic it is called ‘Ant-Eilean Sgiathanach’ and later as Scotia. The Scots were also known as Scithae, Scitae, Scuitae and Scotae to the writers of old; as the Greeks called the Scythians, Skuthes. 

Ireland enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity after Lugh Lamfada, a Danite defeated the Fomorians. Lugh ruled Ireland for forty years from 1220-1180 BCE. One of his four wives was called Eri-u. Another wife had an affair with Cermait, the son of Dagda. Lugh killed Cermait for seducing his wife and Dagda is said to have wept tears of blood over the death of his son. Cermait had three^ sons: Sethor MacCuill, Cethor MacCecht and Tethor MacGreine. At Uisnech, the sons of Cermait ambushed and killed Lugh to avenge their father. Dagda succeeded Lugh as king. Dagda had received a mortal wound from Caitlin the wife of the Fomorian king Balor, during the Second Battle of Moytura in 1220 BCE, but did not die until he had reigned for a further eighty years till 1100 BCE. 

Next, the reign of Delbaeth lasted for ten years, before his son Fiachna succeeded him and also ruled for ten years. Fiachna died fighting Eogan of Inber Mor. Fiachna was succeeded by the sons^ of Cermait and they ruled Ireland for twenty-seven years. The three Danite brothers were married to the daughters of Fiachna. The brothers divided the land between themselves. It wasn’t until some seven years later that Ith arrived in 1046 BCE, with some of his companions. Ith was the son of Breogan and brother of Cualnge and Fuat. Ith was most notably, the uncle of Mil Espaine. 

Irish Pedigrees, John O’Hart:

‘Breoghan (or Brigus) was king of Galicia, Andalusia, Murcia, Castile, and Portugal – all which he conquered. He built Breoghan’s Tower or Brigantia in Galicia, and the city of Brigansa or Braganza in Portugal – called after him; and the kingdom of Castile was then also called after him Brigia. It is considered that “Castile” itself was so called from the figure of a castle which Brigus bore for his Arms on his banner. Brigus sent a colony into Britain, who settled in that territory now known as the counties of York, Lancaster, Durham, Westmoreland, and Cumberland, and, after him, were called Brigantes; whose posterity gave formidable opposition to the Romans, at the time of the Roman invasion of Britain. Bilé was king of those countries after his father’s death; and his son Galamh [galav] or Milesius succeeded him. This Bilé had a brother named Ithe.’ 

The Milesians were the sons of Mil or Miled. His ancestors had originally come from Scythia, but Mil had brought them out of Scythia and later Egypt, before they settled in Spain, which was known as the Land of the Dead. 

The Genesis 6 Conspiracy, Gary Wayne, 2014, pages 455-456, 458 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘Mils… known also as Millessius died in Spain, but his… descendants later conquered Ireland… [including] Hyber and Hymec, that later… [claimed] the land for themselves, renaming the island the land of Scota… a son named Eire-Ahmon… became the ancestral forbearer of the [Scot] kings of Ireland… Ireland… was derived from Hyber land, which in Latin was Hibernia and in old English was Iberland, which eventually changed to Iverland and then Ireland. The Irish heritage of Scota eventually migrated to Scotland, with Mor McErc of Dalriada as their leader in the fifth century CE… until 843 CE, when Kenneth McAlpin won and united the Scots with the Picts… [reuniting] two related but separate strains of bloodlines… the Picts migrated to Scotland in 600 BCE. Ireland is additionally the land where the lost eleven tribes of Israel were whispered to have migrated after their defeat at the hands of the Assyrians around 721 BCE.’ 

Irish Pedigrees. John O’Hart:

‘Milesius, in his youth and during his father’s life-time, went into Scythia, where he was kindly received by the king of that country, who gave him his daughter in marriage, and appointed him General of his forces. In this capacity Milesius defeated the king’s enemies, gained much fame, and the love of all the king’s subjects. His growing greatness and popularity excited against him the jealousy of the king; who, fearing the worst, resolved on privately despatching Milesius out of the way, for, openly, he dare not attempt it. 

Admonished of the king’s intentions in his regard, Milesius slew him; and thereupon quitted Scythia and retired into Egypt with a fleet of sixty sail. Pharaoh Nectonibus, then king of Egypt, being informed of his arrival and of his great valour, wisdom, and conduct in arms, made him General of all his forces against the king of Ethiopia then invading his country. Here, as in Scythia, Milesius was victorious; he forced the enemy to submit to the conqueror’s own terms of peace. By these exploits Milesius found great favour with Pharaoh, who gave him, being then a widower, his daughter Scota in marriage; and kept him eight years afterwards in Egypt. During the sojourn of Milesius in Egypt, he employed the most ingenious and able persons among his people to be instructed in the several trades, arts, and sciences used in Egypt; in order to have them taught to the rest of his people on his return to Spain. 

The original name of Milesius of Spain was… “Galamh” (gall: Irish, a stranger; amh, a negative affix), which means, no stranger: meaning that he was no stranger in Egypt, where he was called “Milethea Spaine,” which was afterwards contracted to “Milé Spaine” (meaning the Spanish Hero), and finally to “Milesius” (mileadh: Irish, a hero; Latin miles, a soldier).

At length Milesius took leave of his father-in-law, and steered towards Spain; where he arrived to the great joy and comfort of his people, who were much harasssed by the rebellion of the natives and by the intrusion of other foreign nations that forced in after his father’s death, and during his own long absence from Spain. With these and those he often met; and, in fifty-four battles, victoriously fought, he routed, destroyed, and totally extirpated them out of the country, which he settled in peace and quietness. 

In his reign a great dearth and famine occurred in Spain, of twenty-six years’ continuance, occasioned, as well by reason of the former troubles which hindered the people from cultivating and manuring the ground, as for want of rain to moisten the earth; but Milesius superstitiously believed the famine to have fallen upon him and his people as a judgment and punishment from their gods, for their negligence in seeking out the country destined for their final abode, so long before foretold by Cachear their Druid or magician… the time limited by the prophecy for the accomplishment thereof being now nearly, if not fully, expired. 

To expiate his fault and to comply with the will of his gods, Milesius, with the general approbation of his people, sent his uncle Ithe, with his son Lughaidh (Luy), and one hundred and fifty stout men to bring them an account of those western islands; who, accordingly, arriving at the island since then called Ireland, and landing in that part of it now called Munster, left his son with fifty of his men to guard the ship, and with the rest travelled about the island. 

Informed, among other things, that the three sons of Cearmad, called Mac-Cuill, MacCeacht, and MacGreine, did then and for thirty years before rule and govern the island, each for one year, in his turn; and that the country was called after the names of their three queens – Eire, Fodhla, and Banbha, respectively: one year called “Eire,” the next “Fodhla,” and the next “Banbha,” as their husbands reigned in their regular turns; by which names the island is ever since indifferently called, but most commonly “Eire,”because that MacCuill, the husband of Eire, ruled and governed the country in his turn the year that the Clan-na-Milé (or the sons of Milesius) arrived in and conquered Ireland. And being further informed that the three brothers were then at their palace at Aileach Neid, in the north part of the country, engaged in the settlement of some disputes concerning their family jewels, Ithe directed his course thither; sending orders to his son to sail about with his ship and the rest of his men, and meet him there.’ 

Ith with his nephew’s blessing, decided to travel and explore this beautiful, new land Erin he had been told much about. Ith arrived peacefully in Ireland with his followers. The tribe of Dan welcomed Ith to Erin at first, though became suspicious of Ith’s motives for coming to Erin. Through misunderstanding of Ith’s comment about the land, the Danite kings murdered Ith and his two brothers. The Milesians escaped with Ith’s body. 

When his body was brought back to his family in Spain, the sons of Mil sought to avenge their great uncle’s death. They embarked with their warriors and families to Erin in sixty-five ships. A bard named Amairgin who was the son of Mil, led the warriors to Erin. The Danites chose to avoid a confrontation with the Milesians, so they used their magic to hide Erin in a fog. The Danites also cast a spell of straying on the Milesian fleet. Amairgin then used his own magic to dispel the spell. Eber Donn, a son of Mil, wanted to exterminate all the tribe of Dan, so the Danites sent a magical storm against the Milesian ships, whereby Eber Donn fell overboard and drowned in the raging sea. Amairgin managed to guide his ships to safety and land in Ireland. 

The three wives of MacCuill, MacCecht and MacGreine: Banba, Fodla and Eri-u sought out the Milesian leaders. Each queen asked the Milesians to name Ireland after her. It was Eriu who won the honour. Ireland became known as Erin or Erinn. All three Danite kings and their three queens were killed in the Battle of Tailtiu. The Tuatha de Danaan were defeated and forced to retreat. They did not leave Erin, but continued to live in Northern Ireland. Myth continues with Manannan placing a powerful spell of invisibility over many parts of Ireland – magical palaces were hidden under mounds and these places were called Sidh or Sidhe

With their magic, the Danites were believed to be able to appear or vanish from sight and were considered immortal. We will return to the this aspect of the Danites in Chapter XXXV Dan. Two other sons of Mil, Eber Finn or Heber and Eremon or Heremon partitioned Ireland into north and south and became their respective kings. Heremon ruled northern Ireland and Heber the south. 

Irish Pedigrees, John O’Hart:

‘When Ithe arrived where the (Danan) brothers were, he was honourably received and entertained by them; and, finding him to be a man of great wisdom and knowledge, they referred their disputes to him for decision. That decision having met their entire satisfaction, Ithe exhorted them to mutual love, peace, and forbearance; adding much in praise of their delightful, pleasant, and fruitful country; and then took his leave, to return to his ship, and go back to Spain. 

No sooner was he gone than the brothers began to reflect on the high commendations which Ithe gave of the Island; and, suspecting his design of bringing others to invade it, resolved to prevent them, and therefore pursued him with a strong party, overtook him, fought and routed his men and wounded himself to death (before his son or the rest of his men left on ship-board could come to his rescue) at a place called, from that fight and his name, Magh Ithe or “The plain of Ithe” (an extensive plain in the barony of Raphoe, county Donegal); whence his son, having found him in that condition, brought his dead and mangled body back into Spain, and there exposed it to public view, thereby to excite his friends and relations to avenge his murder. 

And here I think it not amiss to notify what the Irish chroniclers, observe upon this matter… that all the invaders and planters of Ireland, namely, Partholan, Neimhedh, the Firbolgs, Tuatha-de-Danans, and Clan-na-Milé, where originally Scythians, of the line of Japhet, who had the language called Bearla-Tobbai or Gaoidhilg [Gaelic] common amongst them all; and consequently not to be wondered at, that Ithe and the Tuatha-de-Danans understood one another without an Interpreter – both speaking the same language, though perhaps with some difference in the accent. 

The exposing of the dead body of Ithe had the desired effect; for, thereupon, Milesius made great preparations in order to invade Ireland – as well to avenge his uncle’s death, as also in obedience to the will of his gods, signified by the prophecy of Cachear, aforesaid. But, before he could effect that object, he died, leaving the care and charge of that expedition upon his eight legitimate sons by his two wives… 

Milesius was a very valiant champion, a great warrior, and fortunate and prosperous in all his undertakings: witness his name of “Milesius,” given him from the many battles (some say a thousand, which the word “Milé” signifies in Irish as well as in Latin) which he victoriously fought and won, as well in Spain, as in all the other countries and kingdoms he traversed in his younger days. 

The eight brothers were neither forgetful nor negligent in the execution of their father’s command; but, soon after his death, with a numerous fleet well manned and equipped, set forth from Breoghan’s Tower or Brigantia (now Corunna) in Galicia, in Spain, and sailed prosperously to the coasts of Ireland or Inis-Fail, where they met many difficulties and various chances before they could land: occasioned by the diabolical arts, sorceries, and enchantments used by the Tuatha-de-Danans, to obstruct their landing; for, by their magic art, they enchanted the island so as to appear to the Milesians or Clan-na-Milé in the form of a Hog, and no way to come at it (whence the island, among the many other names it had before, was called Muc-Inis or “The Hog Island”); and withal raised so great a storm, that the Milesian fleet was thereby totally dispersed and many of them cast away, wherein five of the eight brothers, sons of Milesius, lost their lives. 

That part of the fleet commanded by Heber, Heremon, and Amergin (the three surviving brothers), and Heber Donn, son of Ir (one of the brothers lost in the storm), overcame all opposition, landed safe, fought and routed the three Tuatha-de Danan Kings at Slieve-Mis, and thence pursued and overtook them at Tailten, where another bloody battle was fought; wherein the three (Tuatha-de-Danan) Kings and their Queens were slain, and their army utterly routed and destroyed: so that they could never after give any opposition to the Clan-na- Milé in their new conquest; who, having thus sufficiently avenged the death of their great uncle Ithe, gained the possession of the country foretold them by Cachear, some ages past…’

The beginning of the Milesians allegedly begins some four hundred and forty years earlier with a Scythian named Phoeniusa Farsaidh, or Fennius Farsa, who was a King of Scythia and a wise and learned man. Phoeniusa Farsaidh erected a school in the valley of Senaar, near the city of Æothena or Athens. Having continued there with his younger son Niul for twenty years, he returned home to his kingdom, which, at his death, he left to his eldest son Nenuall; leaving him no other patrimony other than his learning and the benefit of the school. Niul, after his father returned to Scythia, continued some time at Æothena, teaching the languages and other laudable sciences, until upon report of his great learning he was invited into Egypt by Pharaoh. The king gave him the land of Campus Cyrunt, near the Red Sea to inhabit and his daughter Scota in marriage. 

Irish Pedigrees, John O’Hart elaborates: 

‘Gaodhal [or Gathelus], the son of Niul, was the ancestor of the Clan-na-Gael, that is, “the children or descendants of Gaodhal.” In his youth this Gaodhal was stung in the neck by a serpent, and was immediately brought to Moses, who, laying his rod upon the wounded place, instantly cured him: whence followed the word “Glas” to be added to his name, as Gaodhal Glas (glas: Irish, green; Latin glaucus; Greek glaukos), on account of the green scar which the word signifies, and which, during his life, remained on his neck after the wound was healed. And Gaodhal obtained a further blessing, namely – that no venemous beast can live any time where his posterity should inhabit; which is verified in Creta [Crete] or Candia, Gothia or Getulia, Ireland, etc. 

The Irish chroniclers affirm that from this time Gaodhal and his posterity did paint the figures of Beasts, Birds, etc., on their banners and shields, to distinguish their tribes and septs, in imitation of the Israelites; and that a “Thunderbolt” was the cognizance in their chief standard for many generations after this Gaodhal.’ 

‘The following is a translation of an extract from the derivation of this proper name, as given in Halliday’s Volume of Keating’s Irish History, page 230.’ 

“Antiquaries assert that the name of Gaodhal is from the compound word formed of ‘gaoith’ and ‘dil,’ which means a lover of learning; for, ‘gaoith’ is the same as wisdom or learning, and ‘dil’ is the same as loving or fond.”

Some versions of these legends also say that they kept the Laws of Moses, including unclean meats. The Goidels wandered for forty-two years in North Africa, the land of the Philistines, Syria and onwards to Spanish Galatia in northwestern Iberia. Some records also include ‘Miletus in ancient Caria on the west coast of Anatolia and Messina in Sicily’ as locations of their sojourn.

‘Heber Scut (scut: Irish, a Scot), after his father’s death and a year’s stay in Creta, departed thence, leaving some of his people to inhabit the Island, where some of their posterity likely still remain; “because the Island breeds no venemous serpent ever since.” He and his people soon after arrived in Scythia; where his cousins, the posterity of Nenuall (eldest son of Fenius Farsa, above mentioned), refusing to allot a place of habitation for him and his colony, they fought many battles wherein Heber (with the assistance of some of the natives who were ill-affected towards their king), being always victor, he at length forced the sovereignty from the other, and settled himself and his colony in Scythia, who continued there for four generations. (Hence the epithet Scut, “a Scot” or “a Scythian,” was applied to this Heber, who is accordingly called Heber Scot.) Heber Scot was afterwards slain in battle by Noemus the former king’s son.’ 

Regarding Caleb, Yair Davidy states:

‘Historically the Kings of Egypt very rarely gave their daughters to outsiders but it is recorded that Solomon king of Israel married a daughter of Pharoah. Also Moses the deliverer and Lawgiver of Israel as a child had been adopted by a daughter of Pharoah. 

In Talmudic tradition the foster-mother of Moses was the same “Batya” daughter of Pharoah who later married Mered (1 Chronicles 4:18) from the Tribe of Judah.’ 

1 Chronicles 4:13-18

English Standard Version

13 The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah… and Seraiah fathered Joab, the father of Ge-harashim, so-called because they were craftsmen. 15 The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam; and the son of Elah: KenazThese are the sons of Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered married; and she conceived and bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa. 18 And his Judahite [not Jewish] wife bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.

‘According to Talmudic tradition “Mered” is another name for Caleb, son of Yefunei, the Kenazzi, a Prince of Judah (Numbers 13:6). Caleb, says the Talmud, married “Batya” the daughter of Pharoah who had rescued and raised  Moses.’ 

Recall we studied Caleb in Chapter XXVII Abraham. Davidy has additional details of interest. The account of Caleb being Mered or marrying Pharaoh’s daughter is difficult to align, as Moses was born in 1526 BCE and Caleb was born in 1478 BCE. Moses flees Egypt in 1486 BCE, some eight years before Caleb is born. Caleb was also a slave at the time; his marrying Moses adoptive mother, Queen Sobeknefru is unlikely.

‘Some descendants of Caleb, the “Chelubai” (1 Chronicles 2;9) are traceable to Chalybonitis and to the “Chalybe” people. Chalybonitis was in northwest Syria. Chalybonitis in northern Syria was in an area associated with the Iari descendants of Yair who himself (1 Chronicles 2:22) was a son of Segub son of Hezron ancestor (or “father”) of Caleb (Chaleb): The eponymous ancestor IAR was later recalled in place-names of Ireland and Scotland. The family name of Caleb was “Kenazi” which name connotes “metalworker”. In the Pontus (on the southeast shores of the Black Sea) and Caucasus the Chalybes were famous metallurgists. The Chalybes were considered as of Cimmerian origin.  They are recalled by Greek Chroniclers such as Xenophon. A people of similar name (i.e. the “Calybes”) who were also famous as metal-workers were later reported of in the Galatian area of northwest Spain. Justin (44:3) said that the Calybes were skilled metallurgists. From Galatia (“Galacia”) in Spain Celts identified with the Milesian-Hiberi migrated to Ireland and from there to Britain. The legend of the Milesians that one of their ancestors had been married to the daughter of Pharoah may be connected with the presence of “Chalybes” (or “Calybes”) descendants of Caleb from Judah amongst them.’ 

An interesting point raised by Davidy – emphasis & bold mine:

Gildas said that the British Celts were “Truly Israel of the Exodus”. Gildas wrote about 540 CE. He lived in Britain at the time that it was being conquered by the pagan Angles, Jutes, and Saxons. As a Christian priest and a Celt he was horrified by what he saw. He attributed the calamity to the sins of the native British people and upbraided them. He used Biblical expressions and several times addressed the British princes as Israel and referred to Britain as “a treacherous lioness of Gad” though why he chose Gad out of all the 12 Tribes of Israel is unknown.’

A curious thing for Gildas to say, seeing as the tribe of Gad were well ensconced in Ireland at this time. Yair Davidy says: ‘In 1581 Vincenzio Galilei (father of the astronomer, Galileo Galilei) wrote that the Irish [Royal Milesians] believed themselves descended from David, King of Israel, and that was why they used a harp as their symbol.   

‘Ptolemy listed numerous place and historical ethnic names proving that Israelite tribes once ruled over all the area of northern Syria reaching at least to the Euphrates. Examples are the areas called RAHABENI (i.e. Reuben), MASANI (Menasseh), CAUCHABENI (i.e. Sons of Chauchi, i.e. of Haggi son of Gad), BATHANAEI (Bashan in Aramaic), CHALYBONITIS (Chalybes of Judah), and the cities of Belginaea and Belagaea (Belgae from Bela-g-h), and GABARA from Geber in the region of Bashan (Bathanaei) close to Masani (Menasseh). The “House of Gabbar” were the ruling dynasty of “Yadi”. Yadi was a Judaean enclave in northwest Syria (“Hamath which belonged to Judah” 2-Kings 14:28) known as “Yadi” (i.e. “Judah” in Assyrian) and also garrisoned by the “Dananu” from the Tribe of Dan and somehow associated with the neighbouring Tribe of Gad since its other name “Smal” is synonymous with Zephion a clan of Gad.

The Lagin people gave their name to Leinster in east Ireland. They were also known as GABAIR. After being conquered by the Milesian Goidels, the Lagin Gabair joined forces with them and participated in raids on, and settlement in, Scotland. They have been equated with the Gailian or Galioin, which names may well derive from the Golan in the Land of Israel since GEBER or GABAR appears to have once been an important family name in that general area.  To the northeast of Eboracum (York) and the Parissi in Britain were the GABRANTOVICES. Further north in the Caledonian region (of Scotland) of the Gadeni (Otadeni) was the settlement of Gabrosentas. 

From Gilead (“Galaad”) of Israel emerged the Galatae or “Galadi” of northern Gaul, the Galadon of northern Wales and southern Britain, and the Caledonians of Scotland. These groups had ethnic migratory connections with the Gaels of Ireland. An example of genuine Historical tradition mixed with literary additions and imaginations is found in the Chronicles of Eri. ‘The Chronicles of Eri, being the history of the Gaal Sciot Iber, or the Irish People, translated from the Phoenician dialect of the Scythian language’, by Roger O’ Connor were published in London in two volumes in 1822. 

The Chronicle says that the Gaali had been in Armenia, and the Caucasus. They were traders and metallurgists, and archers. They were oppressed by the Assyrians and fled via Hamath in northern Syria. Hamath adjoined ‘Daphne of Antiochia’ which in effect was a suburb of Hamath. Hamath in Northern Syria or rather ‘Daphne of Antiochia’ was considered by the Talmud as one of three regions through which the Lost Ten Tribes were taken into exile. The Chronicles tells how the Gaali sailed to Spain which was then ruled by the Phoenicians who in turn were directed from Hamath. In Spain the Galli moved from the southern area of Tartessos to Galatia in the northwest. They shook off Phoenician control. Together with the Phoenicians from their base in Spain they had established mining operations in Cornwall, in Britain. 

Some of them moved to Aquitaine in Gaul. Due to war and famine, those of the Galli who were in Spanish Galatia emigrated to Ireland. Though not Phoenicians they worshiped God under the form of baal, received instruction in Phoenician ways, bore Hebrew-sounding names and they had Israelite-values such as an aversion to images and other characteristics. 

The Chronicles connect up with a verse in Isaiah: ‘They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD. They shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore, glorify the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea’ (Isaiah 24:14-15). ‘Cry aloud from the sea’: In Hebrew the word ‘from the sea’ (‘me-yam’) also means ‘from the west’. The major sea was to the West. The Aramaic Translation and Commentators say it means the exiles who will be in the West in the Last Days. Then it goes on to speak of the isles of the Sea meaning Britain. 

According to “The Chronicles of Eri” the Gaali of Sciot (the people he is speaking of) had the custom of lighting beacon fires on the coasts. 

‘All the headlands and promontories belonging to the Gaal of Sciot on the northwest coast of Spain were called in the Phoenician language Breoccean, that is, The Land of Flaming Fires, because of the blaze that was kept up and could be seen at a great distance out to sea. The same custom was observed on the coast of Cornwall and Devonshire after the Gaal of Sciot joined with the Phoenicians in their mining operations there, and that land was called Breotan, Breo meaning Flaming Fire’ (‘BIAR’ = burn in Hebrew).’ 

‘We thus find that the people known as the Gaal of Sciot, the people whom the Chronicles claim were the ancestors of the Irish and Scots… had the custom of lighting fires that could be seen out to sea. They practiced this custom when they were in northwest Spain and later on the southwest coast of [England] when they set up mining operations in that area. We find elsewhere that this practice was known throughout Britain. 

A Polish Linguist named Piotr Gasiorowski reports that the ancient British were in the custom of lighting fires on the hilltops that could be seen out to sea: Piotr Gasiorowski: 

‘I think the tradition of erecting hilltop cairns and mounds as orientation marks, and of using beacon fires for long-distance communication was very strong in Celtic (also Roman) Britain; the landscape of much of the country is as suitable for this purpose as could be. One trace of that is the occurrence of the Brythonic element tan- ‘fire’ (Welsh tan) in hill names (there are many Tan Hills in England). – not only in ancient times but all through history down to the invention of the telegraph. 

For example, a network of beacons set up on hilltops was used in England in 1588 to signal the approach of the Spanish Armada, and once it was spotted off the Scillies (islands southwest of Cornwall in southwest Britain) the news reached the English commanders in no time at all.’

Returning to King Heremon some four hundred years later in 1046 BCE. Heremon was the seventh son of Milesius or Mil; though only the third of the three sons who left any issue. From him were descended the kings and nobility of the Connaught and Dalriada Kingdoms. Heremon with his eldest brother Heber were the joint first Milesian and Gael monarchs of Ireland. The date given in the Library of Ireland, Irish Pedigrees, John O’Hart, 1892, is that they began to reign in 1699 BCE. This is too early, for Judah and Gad were born in 1746 and 1744 BCE respectively and it does not take into account the period of the Nemedians of 217 years, the gap until the Fir Bolgs returned of 230 years, their rule of 37 years, the approximate time the Fomorians ruled the Danites of 10 years and lastly, the Tuatha de Danaan 174 or 197 years kingship of Ireland. 

Heber is recorded as being killed a year later – in the unconventional chronology this equates to 1045 BCE. Heremon then reigned for fourteen years until 1031 BCE. ‘During which time a certain colony – called by the Irish, Cruithneaigh, in English “Cruthneans” or Picts – arrived in Ireland and requested Heremon to assign them a part of the country to settle in, which he refused; but, giving them as wives the widows of the Tuatha-de-Danans, slain in battle, he sent them with a strong party of his own forces to conquer the country then called “Alba,” but now Scotland; conditionally, that they and their posterity should be tributary to the Monarchs of Ireland.’ 

Irish Pedigrees, John O’Hart:

‘Heber and Heremon, the chief leading men remaining of the eight brothers, sons of Milesius aforesaid, divided the kingdom between them (allotting a proportion of land to their brother Amergin, who was their Arch-priest, Druid, or magician; and to their nephew Heber Donn, and to the rest of their chief commanders), and became jointly the first of one hundred and eighty-three Kings or sole Monarchs of the Gaelic, Milesian, or Scottish Race, that ruled and governed Ireland, successively, for two thousand eight hundred and eighty-five years from the first year of their reign, Anno Mundi three thousand five hundred, to their submission to the Crown of England in the person of King Henry the Second; who, being also of the Milesian Race by Maude, his mother, was lineally descended from Fergus Mor MacEarca, first King of Scotland, who was descended from the said Heremon – so that the succession may be truly said to continue in the Milesian Blood from before Christ one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine years down to the present time.’ 

‘Heber and Heremon reigned jointly one year only, when, upon a difference between their ambitious wives, they quarrelled and fought a battle at Ardcath or Geshill (Geashill, near Tullamore in the King’s County), where Heber was slain by Heremon; and, soon after, Amergin, who claimed an equal share in the government, was, in another battle fought between them, likewise slain by Heremon.’

Thus, Heremon became sole Monarch, and made a new division of the land amongst his comrades and friends, viz.: the south part, now called Munster, he gave to his brother Heber’s four sons, Er, Orba, Feron, and Fergna; the north part, now Ulster, he gave to Ir’s only son Heber Donn; the east part or Coigeadh Galian, now called Leinster, he gave to Criomthann-sciath-bheil, one of his commanders; and the west part, now called Connaught, Heremon gave to Un-Mac-Oigge, another of his commanders; allotting a part of Munster to Lughaidh (the son of Ithe, the first Milesian discoverer of Ireland), amongst his brother Heber’s sons. 

From these three brothers, Heber, Ir, and Heremon (Amergin dying without issue), are descended all the [Royal] Milesian Irish of Ireland andScotland, viz.: from Heber, the eldest brother, the provincial Kings of Munster (of whom thirty-eight were sole Monarchs of Ireland), and most of the nobility and gentry of Munster, and many noble families in Scotland, are descended. 

From Ir, the second brother, all the provincial Kings of Ulster (of whom twenty-six were sole Monarchs of Ireland), and all the ancient nobility and gentry of Ulster, and many noble families in Leinster, Munster, and Connaught, derive their pedigrees; and, in Scotland, the Clan-na-Rory – the descendants of an eminent man, named Ruadhri or Roderick, who was Monarch of Ireland for seventy years (viz., from Before Christ 288 to 218). 

From Heremon, the youngst of the three brothers, were descended one hundred and fourteen sole Monarchs of Ireland: the provincial Kings and Hermonian nobility and gentry of Leinster, Connaught, Meath, Orgiall, Tirowen, Tirconnell, and Clan-na-boy; the Kings of Dalriada; all the Kings of Scotland from Fergus. Mor MacEarca down to the Stuarts; and the Kings and Queens of England from Henry the Second down to the present time. 

The issue of Ithe is not accounted among the Milesian Irish or Clan-na-Milé, as not being descended from Milesius, but from his uncle Ithe; of whose posterity there were also some Monarchs of Ireland, and many provincial or half provincial Kings of Munster: that country upon its first division being allocated to the sons of Heber and to Lughaidh, son of Ithe, whose posterity continued there accordingly. 

Milesius of Spain bore three Lions in his shield and standard, for the following reasons; namely, that, in his travels in his younger clays into foreign countries, passing through Africa, he, by his cunning and valour, killed in one morning three Lions; and that, in memory of so noble and valiant an exploit, he always after bore three Lions on his shield, which his two surviving sons Heber and Heremon, and his grandson Heber Donn, son of Ir, after their conquest of Ireland, divided amongst them, as well as they did the country: each of them bearing a Lion in his shield and banner, but of different colours; which the Chiefs of their posterity continue to this day: some with additions and differences; others plain and entire as they had it from their ancestors.’ 

The thirteenth monarch of Ireland was Tigernmas ot Tiernmas and he reigned seventy-seven years; though according to Keating, he reigned only fifty years; of which he fought twenty-seven battles with the family of Heber Fionn, all which he won. It was during his reign that gold was mined near the Liffey and skilfully worked by Inchadhan. Tigernmas also ‘made a law that each grade of society should be’ ranked and ‘known by the number of colours in its wearing apparel’ – believed to have been the origin of the Scottish plaid. ‘According to Keating, one colour was used in the dress of a slave; two colours in that of a plebeian; three, in that of a soldier or young lord; four, in that of a brughaidh or public victualler; five, in that of a lord of a tuath or cantred; and six colours in that of an ollamh or Druid, or chief professor of any of the liberal arts, and in that of the king and queen.’ 

He died in 890 BCE ‘on the Eve of 1st of November or Halloween, with two-thirds of the people of Ireland, at Magh Sleaght [Field of Adoration], in the county of Leitrim, as he was adoring his Sun-God idol, Crom Cruach [the crooked heap].’ Tigernmas was the first to introduce image worship in Ireland. This idol was worshipped up to the time of St. Patrick, by whom it was destroyed. The sun worship was a throwback to the Magi or wise me from the East – the empire of Parthia – who were led to Bethlehem by divine inspiration to see the infant Messiah. 

During his son Smiomghall’s reign, the Picts in Scotland were forced to abide by their oath, and pay homage to the Irish Monarch. Later, King Fiacha Labhrainn, slew Eochaidh Faobharglas, of the line of Heber at the battle of Carman. 

During his reign all the inhabitants of Scotland were brought in subjection to the Irish Monarchy, and the conquest was secured by his son the twentieth Monarch, Aongus Olmucach. In 796 BCE, the Picts had again refused to pay the tribute imposed on them by Heremon, but the Monarch went with a strong army into Alba and in thirty pitched battles overcame them and forced them to pay the required tribute. 

Crimthann-Niadh-Nar was the one hundredth Monarch of Ireland, and styled ‘The Heroic.’ It was in his reign that the Saviour was born in 3 BCE. ‘Crimthann’s death was occasioned by a fall from his horse, B.C. 9. Was married to Nar-Tath-Chaoch, dau of Laoch, son of Daire, who lived in the land of the Picts (Scotland). Tuathal Teachtmar was the 106th Monarch of Ireland. When Tuathal came of age, he got together his friends, and, with what aid his grandfather the king of Alba gave him, came into Ireland and fought and overcame his enemies in twenty-five battles in Ulster, twenty-five in Leinster, as many in Connaught, and thirty-five in Munster. And having thus restored the true royal blood and heirs to their respective provincial kingdoms…’ 

Irish Pedigrees, John O’Hart:

‘Partholan and his followers, called in Irish Muintir Phartholain, meaning “Partholan’s People.” 

2. The Nemedians [Reuben, Simeon & Dan]. 

3. The Fomorians [Giants], 

4. The Firbolgs or Firvolgians, who were also called Belgae or Belgians [(Reuben) Northern Ireland]. 

5. The Tuatha-de-Danans [Dan]. 

6. The Milesians or Gaels [(Hiberi) Gad]. 

7. The Cruthneans or Picts [Benjamin (Scotland)]. 

8. The Danes and Norwegians (or Scandinavians) [Vikings]. 

9. The Anglo-Normans [Judah]. 

10. The Anglo-Saxons (or English) [(Jutes) Judah]. 

11. The Scots from [Benjamin and Zarah-Pharez] North Britain. 

The Nemedians came from Scythia in Europe, and were located chiefly in Ulster at Ardmacha (or Armagh), and in Derry and Donegal; and in Leinster at the Hill of Uisneach, which is situated a few miles from Mullingar, in the county Westmeath. 

The Fomorians are represented as a race of giants, and were celebrated as having been great builders in stone. They were located principally along the coasts of Ulster and Connaught, mostly in Antrim, Derry, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, and Mayo, and had their chief fortress (called Tor Conaing or Conang’s Tower) on Tor Inis or the Island of the Tower, now known as “Tory Island,” which is off the coast of Donegal; and another at the Giants’ Causeway, which in Irish was called Cloghan-na-Fomoraigh or the Causeway of the Fomorians, as it was supposed to have been constructed by this people, who, from their great strength and stature, were, as above mentioned, called giants: hence the term “Giants’ Causeway” – a stupendous natural curiosity of volcanic origin, situated on the sea-coast of Antrim, and consisting of a countless number of basaltic columns of immense height, which, from the regularity of their formation and arrangement, have the appearance of a vast work of art; and hence were supposed to have been constructed by giants. 

After the Fomorians became masters of the country, the Nemedians (neimhedh: Irish, dirt, filth of any kind), were reduced to slavery, and compelled to pay a great annual tribute on the first day of winter – consisting of corn, cattle, milk, and other provisions; and the place where these tributes were received was named Magh Ceitne, signifying the Plain of Compulsion, and so called from these circumstances. This plain was situated between the rivers Erne and Drabhois (drabhas: Irish, dirt, nastiness), between Ballyshannon and Bundrowes, on the borders of Donegal, Leitrim, and Fermanagh, along the sea-shore. – See Connellan’s “Four Masters.” 

Three bands of the Nemedians emigrated with their respective captains: one party wandered into the north of Europe [Dan]; others made their way to Greece [Reuben], where they were enslaved, and obtained the name of “Firbolgs” or bagmen, from the leathern bags which they were compelled to carry; and the third section took refuge in England [Simeon], which obtained its name Britain, from their leader “Briottan Maol.” – See Miss Cusack’s “History of Ireland.” 

The Firbolgsor Firvolgians, who were also Scythians, divided Ireland amongst the five sons of their leader Dela Mac Loich: “Slainge [slane] was he by whom Teamor (or Tara) was first raised.” (Four Masters). One hundred and fifty Monarchs reigned in Tara from that period until its abandonment in the reign of Diarmod, son of Fergus Cearrbheoil, who was the 133rd Monarch of Ireland, and King of Meath. 

The Firvolgians ruled over Connaught down to the third century, when King Cormac Mac Art, the 115th Monarch of Ireland, attacked and defeated the forces of Aodh or Hugh, son of Garadh, King of Connaught, who was the last King of the Firbolg race in Ireland; and the sovereignty of Connaught was then transferred to the Milesians of the race of Heremon – descendants of King Cormac Mac Art. The Firbolg race never after acquired any authority in Ireland, being reduced to the ranks of farmers and peasants; but they were still very numerous, and to this day a great many of the peasantry, particularly in Connaught, are considered to be of Firbolg origin. 

The Tuatha de Danans, also of the Scythian family, invaded Ireland thirty-six years after the plantation by the Firbolgs. According to some annalists, they came originally from Persia, and to others, from Greece; and were located chiefly at Tara in Meath, at Croaghan in Connaught, and at Aileach in Donegal. The Danans being highly skilled in the arts, the Round Towers of Ireland are supposed to have been built by them. The light, gay, joyous element of the Irish character may be traced to them. They were a brave and high-spirited race, and famous for their skill in what was then termed Magic: hence, in after ages, this wonderful people were considered to have continued to live in hills or raths, as the “good people” long so commonly believed in as fairies, in Ireland. But their “magic” consisted in the exercise of the mechanical arts, of which those who had previously invaded Ireland were then ignorant. It is a remarkable fact, that weapons of warfare found in the carns or gravemounds of the Firbolgs are of an inferior kind to those found in the carns of the Tuatha-de-Danans: a proof of the superior intelligence of the latter over the former people. 

The inventor of the Ogham [owam] Alphabet (ogham: Irish, “an occult manner of writing used by the ancient Irish”) was Ogma, father of one of the Tuatha-de-Danan Kings. In McCartin’s Irish Grammar it is stated that there were no less than thirty-five different modes of writing the Ogham, which has hitherto defied the power of modern science to unravel its mysteries. But the truth of our ancient history is strangely confirmed by the fact that the letters of this Alphabet are all denominated by the names of trees and shrubs indigenous to Ireland! According to the “Book of Leinster,” it was “Cet Cuimnig, King of Munster, of the royal line of Heber, that was the first that inscribed Ozam [or Ogham] memorials in Erinn.” This extract gives a clue to the period when Ogham stones were first erected, and why the most of them are to be found in the Province of Munster; for, according to the Septuagint system of chronology, that King of Munster reigned about the year 1257 before the birth of Christ! 

The Milesiansinvaded Ireland one hundred and ninety-seven years later than the Tuatha de Danans; and were called Clan-na-Mile [meel], signifying the descendants of Milesius of Spain. 

The Cruthneansor Picts were also Scythians, and, according to our ancient historians, came from Thrace soon after the arrival of the Milesians; but, not being permitted by the Milesians to remain in Ireland, they sailed to Scotland and became the possessors of that country, but tributary to the Monarchs of Ireland. In after ages colonies of them came over and settled in Ulster; they were located chiefly in the territories which now form the counties of Down, Antrim, and Derry. 

The Danesand Norwegians(or Scandinavians), a Teutonic race of Scythian origin, came to Ireland in great numbers, in the ninth and tenth centuries, and were located chiefly in Leinster and Munster, in many places along the sea-coast: their strongholds being the towns of Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick. 

The Anglo-Normans came to Ireland in the twelfth century, and possessed themselves of a great part of the country, under their chief leader, Richard de Clare, who was also named Strongbow. They were a Teutonic race, descended from the Normans of France, who were a mixture of Norwegians, Danes, and French, and who conquered England in the eleventh century. The English invasion of Ireland was accomplished ostensibly through the agency of Dermod MacMorough, King of Leinster; on account of his having been driven from his country by the Irish Monarch for the abduction of the wife of Tiernan O’Ruarc, Prince of Breffni. For that act, Roderick O’Connor, the Monarch of Ireland, invaded the territory of Dermod, A.D. 1167, and put him to flight. King Dermod was obliged, after many defeats, to leave Ireland, in 1167; throw himself at the feet of King Henry the Second, and crave his assistance, offering to become his liegeman. Henry, on receiving Dermod’s oath of allegiance, granted by letters patent a general license to all his English subjects to aid King Dermod in the recovery of his Kingdom. Dermod then engaged in his cause Richard de Clare or Strongbow, to whom he afterwards gave his daughter Eva, in marriage; and through his influence an army was raised, headed by Robert Fitzstephen, Myler Fitzhenry, Harvey de Monte Marisco, Maurice Prendergast, Maurice Fitzgerald, and others; with which, in May, 1168, he landed in Bannow-bay, near Wexford, which they reduced, together with the adjoining counties – all in the kingdom of Leinster. In 1171, Earl Strongbow landed at Waterford with a large body of followers and took possession of that city. He then joined King Dermod’s forces, marched for Dublin, entered the city, and made himself master. 

King Dermod died in his castle at Ferns, county Wexford, A.D. 1175, about the 65th year of his age. Of him Holingshed says – “He was a man of tall stature and of a large and great body, a valiant and bold warrior in his nation. From his continued shouting, his voice was hoarse; he rather chose to be feared than to be loved, and was a great oppressor of his nobility. To his own people he was rough and grievous, and hateful unto strangers; his hand was against all men, and all men against him.” 

The Anglo-Saxons or English, also a Tuetonic race, came from the twelfth to the eighteenth century. The Britonsor Welsh came in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. These English colonies were located chiefly in Leinster, but also in great numbers in Munster and Connaught, and partly in Ulster.’ 

These ‘English’ and ‘Welsh’ were peoples that as the ‘Irish’ emigrated to America and Canada; being another and different set of people – distinct tribes – as we will discover.

The Scots, who were chiefly Celts of Irish descent, came in great numbers from the tenth to the sixteenth century, and settled in Ulster, mostly in Antrim, Down, and Derry; but, on the Plantation of Ulster with British colonies, in the seventeenth century, the new settlers in that province were chiefly Scotch[Scots Irish], who were a mixture of Celts and Saxons.’ 

These peoples known as Scots Irish and ,Scotch-Irish in America are a separate peoples that we will address in another chapter. Needless to say, they are not from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Levi, Reuben or Gad.

‘Thus the seven first colonies that settled in Ireland were a mixture of Scythians, Gaels, and Phoenicians; but the four last were mostly Teutons, though mixed with Celts; and a compound of all these races, in which Celtic blood is predominant, forms the present population of Ireland. 

Inis-Fail: Thomas Moore, in his Irish Melodies, commemorates this circumstance in the “Song of Inisfail”: 

“They came from a land beyond the sea And now o’er the western main
Set sail, in their good ships, gallantly, From the sunny land of Spain. 

“Oh, where’s the isle we’ve seen in dreams, Our destined home or grave?”
Thus sang they, as by the morning’s beams, They swept the Atlantic wave. 

And lo! where afar o’er ocean shines A spark of radiant green, As though in that deep lay emerald mines, Whose light through the wave was seen.

” ‘Tis Innisfail – ’tis Innisfail!” Rings o’er the echoing sea; While, bending to heaven, the warriors hail That home of the brave and free.

Then turned they unto the Eastern wave, Where now their Day-god’s eye A look of such sunny omen gave As lighted up sea and sky.

Nor frown was seen through sky or sea, Nor tear o’er leaf or sod, When first on their Isle of Destiny Our great forefathers trod.”

After the Flood, William Cooper, 1995:

‘… the early Irish chroniclers were most emphatic in their insistence that the Irish were of Scythian stock. And there is good etymological evidence for this. The Irish were long referred to as Scots even before some of them migrated to the country that today bears their name, and as Brewer tells us: 

Scot (is) the same as Scythian in etymology; the root of both is Sct. The Greeks had no c, and would change t into th making the root skth, and by adding a phonetic vowel we get Skuthai (Scythians), and Skodiai (Skoths). The Welsh disliked s at the beginning of a word, and would change it to ys; they would also change c or k to g, and th to d; whence the Welsh root would be Ysgd, and Skuth or Skoth would become ysgod. Once more, the Saxons would cut off the Welsh y, and change the g back again to c, and the d to t, converting the Ysgod to Scot.’ 

‘It would be no strange thing to find Scythian peoples as far west as Ireland. After all, the land in Asia Minor known of old as Galatia, was populated by a migrating colony of Gallic Celts from whom the country got its name. St Paul wrote his famous epistle to their descendants. Many other examples from history are known of nations seemingly popping up in places where one would normally not expect to find them, so it requires no great stretch of the imagination to accept what the early Irish chroniclers so often insisted upon, namely their descent from the Scythian races. 

Of added interest are certain details that have been handed down to us by Geoffrey of Monmouth. We are told by him how Partholan’s colony consisted of thirty ships. Interestingly, Nennius makes no mention of the number of ships, but does tell us that the colony consisted of 1000 souls, which indicates that he and Geoffrey were working from different sources. 

However, Geoffrey also tells us that the colony had recently. been expelled from the Spanish mainland, and moreover that they were called ‘Basclenses’, or Basques. Now, we know that the present-day Basques of northern Spain are of an entirely mysterious origin, and we also know that they speak a language that is quite unrelated to any known Indo-European tongue. In which context, it is interesting to note what Professor Mackie has written concerning the language of the early Picts who had more than a passing influence on both the early and later history of the Irish: 

The Picts certainly used a form of P-Celtic (the mother of Welsh, Cornish and Breton), with traces of Gaulish forms. However, it is clear, from the few scraps of evidence which survive, that the Picts also used another language, probably unrelated to any “Indo-European” tongue and therefore so different from modern European languages as to be incomprehensible to us.’ 

Presumably, this information would not have been available to that allegedly incorrigible forger, Geoffrey of Monmouth, but it is instinctive to compare Mackie’s remarks with a comment by Cusack, when she says: 

‘…those who have maintained the theory of a Gaulish colonisation of Ireland, have been obliged to make Spain the point of embarkation.’

The next recorded invasion (or settlement) of Ireland took place, according to the chronicles, in Anno Mundi 2859, or ca 1145 BC in our terms. This colony was led by Nemedius (see genealogy), or Nemedh, and it is recorded that the people of Nemedh were credited with having built certain types of fort as well as clearing the land for a particular method of cultivation. A later outbreak of plague took its toll on the population, the remainder of whom are recorded as having fought off an invasion of Ireland by the Formorians, who, according to the Annals of Clonmacnois: 

‘…were a sept descended from Chain (i.e. Ham), the son of Noeh, …(who) …lived by pyracie and spoile of other nations, and were in those days very troublesome to the whole world.’ 

This is of particular interest to us, as we know from the chronicles of the early Britons that the British mainland was at this time being settled by Brutus and his people in ca 1104 BC according to the British chronology. Now, although Brutus is said to have been the first coloniser of Britain, the chronicles do emphatically state that he had to displace an indigenous race of ‘giants’. Whether physical giantism is here intended cannot be certainly resolved, as the early British word ‘gawr’ (like the Hebrew gibbor) could mean simply a great warrior as well as a giant man. 

But we do know from the biblical record that giantism was a particular physical trait amongst certain of Ham’s descendants, Goliath of Gath being the best known example, which lends both the British and Irish accounts a degree of hitherto unsuspected corroboration. The Formorians, it seems, were the displaced natives of Britain who were trying to seek a foothold on the Irish mainland only to be repelled by the Nemedians, thereafter having to live, like many other displaced peoples, by scavenging and piracy. 

After the repulsion of the Formorians, the few Nemedian survivors settled further inland, presumably for safety while they consolidated their numbers. They are then recorded as subsequently dividing themselves into three ‘bands’, each with their respective leaders. One of these groups migrated to northern Europe, where they founded a nation known later to the Irish as the Tuatha de Danann [tribe of Dan]. A second group settled, intriguingly, in the northernmost parts of Britain, apparently the first Pictish settlement [tribe of Benjamin] of what is now Scotland. This settlement of Picts [tribe of Benjamin] from ‘Scythia’ (so states the British record – note etymological derivation given above of Scot from Scythian) into Albany, is recalled in the early British chronicles as having taken place under the Pictish king Soderic. The British chronology seems to have slipped somewhat at this point, but the event is real enough and accurately portrayed [circa 1030 – 1000 BCE]. 

The third group are named as the Firbolgs [Reuben], who migrated to Greece and then returned to Ireland which they subsequently divided up into five provinces. However, in Anno Mundi 3303, or ca. 701 BC in our terms, the Firbolgs were subdued in their turn by the returning colony of Tuatha de Danaun. 

The last colonisation of Ireland is then recorded under Anno Mundi 3500 (i.e. ca 504 BC): 

‘The fleet of the sons of Milidh came to Ireland at the end of this year, to take it from the Tuatha de Danann, and they fought the battle of Sliabh Mis with them on the third day after landing.’

The children of Milidh, known to us as the Milesians [tribe of Gad], had landed unobserved in the mouth of the river Slaney in what is today the county of Wexford, from where they marched to Tara, the central seat of government. 

The word Milesian is still used (though with increasing rarity) to denote the Irish people themselves, or things pertaining to Ireland. And of further interest to our enquiry is the fact that the Milesians were newly arrived (via the Spanish peninsula) from the city of Miletus, whose ruins still stand on the Turkish mainland, and which was finally destroyed by the Persian army in the year 494 BC. Given that the Irish records state ca 504 BC for the landing of the Milesian colony in Ireland [1046 BCE], this is a spontaneous and unexpected chronological correlation that is close enough to give us serious pause for thought. For there’s many an Egyptologist who wishes that he could get that close with Egyptian chronology! 

The lives of the people of Miletus had been made precarious for decades prior to the fall of their city due to the increasingly threatening ambitions of the Persian army, and nothing would have been more natural than that a colony of Milesians should decide to flee in search of a safe haven. They would seek a land that was sufficiently far away to be safe, was fertile, and which was well known to the Phoenician mariners of the eastern Mediterranean, as was Ireland. And that the city of Miletus should also be known to us as an Ionian outpost whose population consisted of, amongst other races, Scythians and Phoenicians, tells us that we should take the claims of the early Irish chroniclers very seriously indeed. 

Moreover, with regard to the equally often stated Phoenician element of Irish descent, we should also note that the ancient Greeks once held that Phoenicia was founded by one Phoenix, whose brother Cadmus had invented the alphabet. Likewise, the early Irish recalled the time when they lived under a king named… Phenius, ‘who devoted himself especially to the study of languages, and composed an alphabet and the elements of grammar.’ So it is clear that at the very least, the early Irish chroniclers were passing on an account, albeit garbled in places, of authentic historical events and personages, and of the equally historic descent of their own race from Phoenician and Scythian stock. And on the subject of that descent, Cusack adds yet again to our store of knowledge: 

‘As the Milesians were the last of the ancient colonists … only their genealogies, with a few exceptions, have been preserved. The genealogical tree begins, therefore, with the brothers Eber and Eremon, the two surviving leaders of the expedition, whose ancestors are [incorrectly] traced back to Magog, the son of Japhet. The great southern chieftains, such as the MacCarthys and O’Briens, claim descent from Eber; the northern families of O’Connor, O’Donnell, and O’Neill, claim Eremon as their head. There are also other families claiming descent from Emer, the son of Ir, brother to Eber and Eremon; as also from their cousin Lugaidh, the son of Ith. From these four sources the principle Celtic families of Ireland have sprung…’ 

As we see in the genealogy, Eber and Eremon were able to trace their own descent from Gadelas, the father of the Gaels and the Gaelic languages, but just how seriously did the early Irish take the question of pedigree? Were they serious enough to take the trouble to keep accurate records over long periods of time? Once more, Cusack answers the question for us: 

‘The Books of Genealogies and Pedigrees form a most important element in Irish pagan history. For social and political reasons, the Irish Celt preserved his genealogical tree with scrupulous precision. The rights of property and the governing power were transmitted with patriarchal exactitude on strict claims of primogeniture, which claims could only be refused under certain conditions defined by law… and in obedience to an ancient law, established long before the introduction of Christianity, all the provincial records, as well as those of the various chieftains, were required to be furnished every third year to the convocation at Tara, where they were compared and corrected.’ 

The beginning of Gad’s ordeal of ‘troops’ treading on them as per prophecy was with the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. Since then, it was an endless cycle of political resistance to English rule and military campaigns to rid the Isle of their oppressors; who’s aim seemed to be to turn the Irish into the English. Most of Ireland gained independence following the Anglo-Irish war from 1919 to 1921 as the Irish Free State in 1922; with full independence as the Republic of Ireland in 1949, with Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom as a ‘constituent country.’

Irish history can be broken down into periods of the invasion by England and the Lordship of Ireland from 1171 to 1542; the Kingdom of Ireland from 1542 to 1800 and its being conquered by England during 1536 to 1691. The period known as the Protestant Ascendancy lasted from 1691 to 1801 until the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, when Ireland merged with the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1922.

Though the Normans had invaded Britain in 1066, it was a century later that they landed in Ireland. In 1169, Anglo-Norman mercenaries set foot in Ireland at the request of Diamait mac Murchada [Dermot MacMurragh], the deposed King of Leinster; who sought their help in regaining his kingship. They Normans achieved this within weeks as well as raiding neighbouring kingdoms. This military intervention was sanctioned by King Henry II of England. In return, Diarmait swore loyalty to Henry, promising land to the Normans and in turn altering the course of Irish history forever. 

During much of the Middle Ages Ireland was ruled as a separate kingdom under the British Crown. Not the whole country, just the eastern half. The English ‘knew that the best way to defeat the cunning Irish was to suppress the entire country, which would have cost a fortune… or they could just build a big wall around the greater Dublin area… they decided on the less painful latter option and called the walled area The Pale.’ It was not till 1603, with victory over the Irish in Ulster that Britain gained complete control of Ireland. 

True(ish) History of Ireland, Garvan Grant:

‘When Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne in 1558, she took a more lenient attitude towards Ireland. She even let the people of Ireland carry on being Catholic, speak their own language and live, which was dead nice of her. In return, all she wanted from the various chieftains who had divided the country up between them was ‘unconditional loyalty’, the swearing of an odd oath and bucket-loads of cash. This suited everyone – until some of the Irish fellas got greedy and started scrapping with their neighbors over bits of land. This led to Elizabeth showing her not so lovely side and coming down quite hard on the Irish. 

Tired of fighting, the English then decided the best way to ‘civilize’ the Irish were to send some nice English, Scottish and Welsh people to live on their lands, so the Irish could see just how brilliant being British was. These ‘Plantations’ might have worked too, except that a lot of the planters weren’t very brilliant – or very nice. They hadn’t signed up for it because they loved the Irish and wanted to make them better people; they came because they were given free land with free peasants (or ‘slaves’) to work on it. It was lovely in theory, but probably not a recipe for success on the ground.’ 

The province of Ulster was troublesome, thus land was confiscated – from members of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland who then fled Ulster – and given to small Scottish farmers, so that they remained and did not sell the land back to the native Irish. Thus Scots migrated to Ireland in large numbers under the government sanctioned Plantation of Ulster and its planned process of colonisation during the reign of James I. The success of this policy was the foundation of the problems Northern Ireland faced until 1998 and in reality till this day. Cromwell after the English Civil War was short of cash to pay his troops, so he confiscated eighty percent of the land for his troops in lieu of money. The dispossessed landowners were offered poor quality land in Connaught in exchange. 

‘Until the seventeenth century war in Ireland had been mainly about unimportant things such as land, money, and power, but after the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, it became more about good, old-fashioned religion. How God felt about this change was anyone’s guess. In 1649, when the latest war in England ended and Charles I lost his head and couldn’t find it anywhere, the English sent over a lovely chap by the name of Oliver Cromwell. He was only in Ireland for nine months but managed to get in more violence than many other English people had done in decades. His theory of how to win a war – and it has yet to be proved wrong – was to kill everybody. He and his army – they were originally going to call it the New ‘Slaughter Everybody’ Army but eventually decided on the much catchier New Model Army – basically attacked anyone they met who wasn’t one of their soldiers.’ 

The British attempt to solve the ‘Irish Problem’ by creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, was a solution that pleased nobody in Ireland; the protest ant ruling class did not want to lose their independence and the Catholics felt betrayed when George III refused to grant Catholic emancipation. 

Within a United Kingdom, Ireland started to struggle for reform. O’Connell and his Catholic Association founded in 1823 led the struggle for Catholic emancipation. The Potato Famine in the years 1845 to 1848 caused enormous upheavals as the population of Ireland fell from nine Million to three million through famine and emigration. No doubt, a London government would not have let this tragedy happen in mainland Britain.

The Easter Rising of 1916 was put down quickly by Westminster. Crass mishandling by the British resulted in many of the leaders of the Easter Rising being shot by firing squad, with the extremists acquiring the status of martyrs. In the 1918 election, seventy-three of the one hundred and six Irish seats went to Sinn Fein. They refused to go to Westminster and set up a provisional government in Ireland. Three years of bitter guerrilla warfare with atrocities on both sides ensued; before a truce was finally signed in 1921. The ‘final solution of the Irish Problem’ was partition. The Irish stalemate continues: Northern Protestants feel they have a right to determine their own future democratically on the basis of being in the majority. Northern Catholics feel they have the right to be part of a united Ireland. 

There are a number of flags associated with Northern Ireland and Ulster. The only official flag is the Union Flag of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Banner [Red Hand Flag, Ulster Flag] was used by the government officially, from 1953 until the parliament was abolished in 1973 – it had received a royal warrant for use in 1924 – has no official status since then, though some loyalists, unionists and sports team have adopted it. It is not to be confused with the similar flag with yellow background, which is the provincial flag of Ulster.

The Saint Patrick’s Saltire resents Northern Ireland indirectly as Ireland in the Union Flag. It is flown during St Patrick’s Day parades in Ulster and some northern Irish royal events.

The term Ulster Scots is used for those peoples residing in Northern Ireland, while those who emigrated to North America are known as Scotch-Irish. We will learn that the peoples who left Ulster for America are not the tribe of Reuben like the Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland. Their ancestors were mostly Protestant Presbyterian Scottish colonists originating from principally Galloway and then Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders and parts of Northern England that bordered Scotland. A minority came from further north in the Lowlands or from the Highlands. 

Ulster Scots emigrated onwards from Ireland in considerable numbers to what is now the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It was just a few generations after arriving in Ulster sizeable numbers of Ulster Scots emigrated to the North American colonies of Great Britain. Between 1717 and 1775, an estimated two hundred thousand migrated to the United States. Ulster Scots also travelled to Britain’s acquisition of New France, becoming Scotch-Irish Canadians. 

In the United States 2000 Census, ‘4.3 million Americans (1.5% of the population of the United States) claimed Scotch-Irish ancestry. Author and former United States Senator Jim Webb suggests that the true number of people with some Scots-Irish heritage in the United States is [more likely over 27 million;] possibly because contemporary Americans with some Scotch-Irish heritage may regard themselves as either Irish, Scottish, or simply American instead.’ This is an important point as these Scots Irish are not the same as the Ulster Scots remaining in Northern Ireland. Nor are they the same as Americans and Canadians of standard Scottish, or Irish stock; though conversely, are the same as those from English, Welsh or German descent. 

Not only do Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Cornwall have a very different genetic make-up from each other, they are also the most different to the rest of England. Proving that the four constituent nations from the United Kingdom are four distinct and separate peoples. England as Judah, Scotland as Benjamin, Wales as Simeon and Northern Ireland as Reuben. Tests reveal that the Welsh have the most DNA of the original settlers in the British Isles. Or in other words, the Welsh have the most undiluted DNA of the British Isles and were the first tribe of peoples to permanently settle in Britain. 

This is underscored by three reasons. first, as we learned from the two census’s of the Israelite’s during their forty year sojourn, the vast majority of Simeon left and struck out on their own. Second, we also know that even if they spent time in Ireland very early on, the tribe of Simeon were based in Britain. Only Dan shared the island with them, for Benjamin arrived later and Reuben and Gad stayed in Ireland. Third, due to its westerly location and mountainous landscape, few invaders such as the Saxons, Romans and Vikings ventured into the Welsh lands.

An article described the Welsh as “the true pure Britons, according to the research that has produced the first genetic map of the UK. Scientists were able to trace their DNA back  to the first tribes that settled in the British Isles… This means the DNA of people living there has not experienced the influx of ‘foreign’ genes like other parts of Britain. The research found that there is no single ‘Celtic’ genetic group.” The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish are all different and not the same. The term Celtic is clearly a cultural and a historical time frame reference, not an ethnic one. 

The research confirmed that the people of Orkney are the most distinct, ‘a result of 600 years of Norwegian rule’ and that ‘the Welsh are the next most distinct. But even within Wales there are two distinct tribes, with those in the north and south of the principality  [nation] less similar genetically than the Scots are to the inhabitants of Kent.’ This is and isn’t a surprise, as Scotland and Kent share the same father Jacob, yet different mothers. Rachel for Scotland and Leah for Kent. If the southern Welsh have the same mother as Judah or England, that is Leah because they are Simeon, then north Wales must have a different mother again. This would lend itself to the North Welsh having one of the Handmaids as their mother. We will return to this conundrum.* 

Khazaria, Welsh – emphasis & bold mine:

Bryan Sykes, professor of human genetics at the University of Oxford and founder of Oxford Ancestors, showed that people from North Wales and Mid-Wales are more genetically interlinked with each other than either are with people from South Wales. 

Y-DNA haplogroups carried by members of “The Wales Cymru DNA Project” include E1b1a1 (E-L117), E1b1a1a1b1a (E-V13), E1b1a1b2a1a (E-M34), G1a1a1, G2a1, I1 (I-M253), I1d1a1a, I2c2a (I-M223, I-P37, etc.), J1, J2, R1a1a (R-M512, R-M198, R-M173, R-Z280), R1b1a (R-M269, R-M173, R-L21), and R1b1a1a1a1a (R-P312), among others.

The SNP subclade Z138+ (also known as Z139+) of the Y-DNA haplogroup I1 is found at low frequencies in Germanic-speaking populations including England and Wales, but also in Portugal, southern Italy, and Romania. STR (short tandem repeats) analysis reveals a western subgroup of I1 where GATA-H4 ≥ 11 that’s most common in Wales that exists at lower frequencies in English and other European populations.’

Y Chromosome Evidence for Anglo-Saxon Mass Migration, Molecular Biology and Evolution,multiple authors, 2002, pages 1008-1021:

They studied English, Welsh, Norwegian, and Frisian men and genetically compared them to each other. Samples included males from 2 towns in North Wales (Abergele and Llangefni) and 5 towns in England as far east as North Walsham in East Anglia. The sampled men from Central English towns genetically resembled each other closely, in contrast to the North Welsh men who “differed significantly both from each other and from the Central English towns.” They found common Germanic roots of the English and Frisian males in the study, confirming that the Anglo-Saxons (but not the Welsh) are largely descended from people not indigenous to the British Isles. Excerpts from the article:

“Our results indicate the presence of a strong genetic barrier between Central England and North Wales and the virtual absence of a barrier between Central England and Friesland… The best explanation for our findings is that the Anglo-Saxon cultural transition in Central England coincided with a mass immigration from the continent. Such an event would simultaneously explain both the high Central English-Frisian affinity and the low Central English-North Welsh affinity… Anglo-Saxon settlements and culture appeared throughout England but, importantly, did not extend into North Wales, where many of the original Celtic Britons living in England are thought to have fled…

‘Extraordinary’ genetic make-up of north east Wales men, BBC News, July 19, 2011: 

Dr. Andy Grierson of the University of Sheffield comments on the finding of E1b1b1 in a large percentage (the article states approximately 30 percent) of men from northeast Wales (the town of Abergele). (Most of the men specifically carry E1b1b1a2, also known as E-V13).This is found in a much higher frequency than populations in the rest of the United Kingdom, which average 1 percent. The sample size was 500 people. Grierson said, 

“This type of genetic makeup is usually found in the eastern Mediterranean which made us think that there might have been strong connections between north east Wales and this part of Europe somewhere in the past. 

But this appears not to be the case, so we’re still looking to find out why it’s happened and what it reveals about the history of the region.”

The fine-scale genetic structure of the British population, Nature 519, multiple authors, 2015, pages 309-314: Welsh form part of this intensive evaluation of autosomal DNA. Excerpts from the Abstract:

“… We use haplotype-based statistical methods to analyse genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from a carefully chosen geographically diverse sample of 2,039 individuals from the United Kingdom… The regional genetic differentiation and differing patterns of shared ancestry with 6,209 individuals from across Europe carry clear signals of historical demographic events… in non-Saxon parts of the United Kingdom, there exist genetically differentiated subgroups rather than a general ‘Celtic’ population.”

Welsh people could be most ancient in UK, DNA suggests, BBC News, June 19, 2012:

This is another article about Professor Donnelly’s team’s research. Excerpts from the article:

”… DNA samples were analysed at about 500,000 different points. After comparing statistics, a map was compiled which showed Wales and Cornwall stood out. Prof Donnelly said: ‘People from Wales are genetically relatively distinct, they look different genetically from much of the rest of mainland Britain, and actually people in north Wales look relatively distinct from people in south Wales.’ While there were traces of migrant groups across the UK, there were fewer in Wales and Cornwall. He said people* from south and north Wales genetically have ‘fairly large similarities with the ancestry of people from Ireland on the one hand and France [Moab & Ammon] on the other…’ He said it was possible that people came over from Ireland to north Wales because it was the closest point, and the same for people coming to south Wales from the continent, as it was nearer. However he added: ‘We don’t really have the historical evidence about what those genetic inputs were…’ 

Because of its westerly position and mountainous nature, Anglo-Saxons who moved into central and eastern England after the Romans left did not come that far west, and neither did the Vikings who arrived in around 900AD… The mountains were also the reason why (Welsh) DNA may have remained relatively unchanged, as people would have found it harder to get from north to south Wales or into England compared with people trying to move across the flatter southern English counties, making them more likely to marry locally and conserve more ancient DNA… ”

DNA links Welsh men to Scotland, Helen McArdle, Herald Scotland, November 24, 2014: 

The team of Alistair Moffat of CymruDNAWales and Scotland’s DNA discovered that 1 percent of Welsh males carry a Y chromosome variety that descends from ancient Picts from Scotland and is related to the modern Scottish variety of this lineage. Excerpts from the article:

“Some 10 per cent of all Scottish men belong to this ‘Pictish’ lineage compared to just 0.8 per cent of Englishmen. It is particularly concentrated in Perthshire, Fife, Angus and Grampian, regions of Scotland with known Pictish heritage. The discovery of shared ancestral ties between men in Scotland and Wales is at the centre of a new theory that this one per cent of Welsh men are direct descendents* of a small band of ancient Scottish aristocrats, who fled the Old Welsh-speaking kingdom of Strathclyde in the ninth century to escape a Viking invasion. They are thought to have headed south, by sea, to find refuge in north Wales after the Viking kings Ivar and Olaf led their dragonships up the Clyde in 870, laying siege to the fortress on Dumbarton Rock and eventually capturing Artgul, the king of Strathclyde.”

DNA survey reveals 25% of Welsh men directly descended from ancient kings and warlords, Nathan Bevan, Wales Online, December 18, 2014: 

Alistair Moffat of CymruDNAWales is interviewed as saying 25 percent of Welsh men whose grandparents were all Welsh inherited their Y chromosomes from about 20 medieval Welsh royals, nobles, and warlords who had many descendants. Moffat also spoke about what the team learned so far about the earliest immigrants to Wales, thousands of years ago. He said, 

“We all suspected that Wales was a Celtic country but no-one was prepared for just how muchthe classic Celtic Y chromosome marker R1b S145 being carried by a whopping 45% of Welsh men, as opposed to just 15% over on the other side of Offa’s Dyke. We have always known that Wales [Simeon] is different from England [Judah], but now here is a statistic that shows there is no question about it.”

‘The Welsh television presenter Angharad Mair had her DNA tested by CymruDNAWales [in 2015]. Upon examining her mitochrodrial DNA, they found that her maternal lineage came from the Levant region (eastern Mediterranean) thousands of years ago. Excerpts:

“… These particular mitochrodrial DNA markers… appear with very high frequency in Wales – at around 11%… However, they are most commonly found among Ashkenazi Jews of Europe, where a third of all maternal bloodlines are Levantine… ‘I was very excited to discover that I had Jewish ancestry – which might’ve only developed in the last two centuries…’ ”

Khazaria, Irish – emphasis & bold mine:

‘The “Celtic” Irish people of the emerald isle of Ireland are closely related to the Scottish people of nearby Scotland, and Irish and the partly Frisian-Anglo-Saxon English people from England are also significantly related. This shows the limitations of assuming we know everything about somebody’s ancestry merely based on what language their ethnic group traditionally spoke (in this case, Irish Gaelic versus English). Also, some Irish people moved to Iceland and are thus partly related to modern Icelanders.

R1b, which originated in western Europe, is the most common Y-DNA haplogroup among Irish men, at a frequency of about 81.5%. I1 is the second most common with 6%, followed by I2b at 5%, R1a at 2.5%, and E1b1b at 2%. G2a is found in only about 1%. Also rare are I2a (1%)and J2 (1%).

According to The ALlele FREquency Database, 8.4% of the 226 Irish people studied carry at least one T allele in the R151C (rs1805007) gene where TT usually causes red hair. That isn’t the only red hair allele that Irish people sometimes carry. Between 4-6% of 23andMe’s Irish customers carry the T red hair allele on the R160W (rs1805008, Arg160Trp) gene, while 4-6% of their Irish customers carry the C red hair allele on the D294H (i3002507) gene… Irish people carry red-hair gene variants including Arg151Cys, Arg160Trp, and Asp294His. There are also correlations between these and light skin.

The Irish DNA Atlas: Revealing Fine-Scale Population Structure and History within Ireland, multiple authors, Scientific Reports 7, December 8, 2017, article number 17199:

‘The “Irish DNA Atlas” project is run by the Genealogical Society of Ireland, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and the University of Leicester. They sought people whose 8 great-grandparents were all born in Irish towns within 30 kilometers of each other. This major autosomal DNA study includes 194 Irish people who told 4 generations of their ancestry and linked their ancestors to specific regions within Ireland. They were compared to 2,039 people from the “Peoples of the British Isles” (PoBI) dataset, to 6,760 people from throughout Europe, and to two ancient Irish individuals. The scientists managed to divide the Irish population into “10 distinct geographically stratified genetic clusters; seven of ‘Gaelic’ Irish ancestry [Ireland], and three of shared Irish-British ancestry [Northern Ireland].” 

They also “demonstrate high levels of North-West French-like and West Norwegian-like ancestry within Ireland.” It has long been known that Norse (Viking) people settled in Ireland during the Middle Ages so this makes sense. They did not, however, interpret the French-like DNA to be a signal of medieval Norman French ancestry since people in northwestern France are related to other Celtic peoples. They also detected some Scottish ancestry that came into Ulster in northern Ireland in the 16th-17th centuries. This again conforms to what we know about the religious and ethnic divide between the substantially Protestant and British communities of Northern Ireland [Reuben] and the traditionally Catholic Republic of Ireland [Gad].’

‘The genetic landscape of Scotland and the Isles, multiple authors, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, September 3, 2019:

‘Irish people were among those who participated in this autosomal DNA study of 2,544 people. The Irish people from County Donegal in northwestern Ireland are shown to represent “the most genetically isolated region of Ireland observed to date. This isolation shows little evidence of the migrations that have impacted the rest of Ulster.” Using admixture analysis, the researchers concluded that “Norwegian (as well as Danish/Swedish) ancestry is also markedly low in Ireland (average 7%) compared with previous estimates”. It is no surprise that the researchers determined that Irish, Welsh, and Scottish people inherited a majority of their ancestry from the ancient “Celts”.’

This due to the fact that the Viking element are contributions from two separate sons of Jacob, two different tribes – of which they then left** to migrate to new lands. 

‘… researchers studied the Y-DNA of Irish men with surnames considered to be of Norse origin. They examined both unique event polymorphisms and short tandem repeat (STR) markers. They found that these Irish men actually didn’t usually have paternal roots from Scandinavia, nor do Irish men in the general population of modern Ireland… “the findings are consistent with a relatively small number of Norse settlers (and [descendants]) migrating to Ireland during the Viking period (ca. AD 800-1200) suggesting that Norse colonial settlements might have been largely composed of indigenous Irish…

Those peoples who have remained** in Scotland and Ireland are the tribes of Benjamin and Gad, with Reuben in Ulster.

Insular Celtic population structure and genomic footprints of migratiuon, PLoS Genetics, January 25, 2018:

…structural clustering for the autosomal DNA of 1,035 Irish individuals. The authors found 23 Irish clusters. The abstract says that these clusters “segregate with geographical provenance.” Excerpts from the Abstract:

“… Cluster diversity is pronounced in the west of Ireland but reduced in the east where older structure has been eroded by historical migrations. Accordingly, when populations from the neighbouring island of Britain are included, a west-east cline of Celtic-British ancestry is revealed along with a particularly striking correlation between haplotypes and geography across both islands. A strong relationship is revealed between subsets of Northern Irish and Scottish populations, where discordant genetic and geographic affinities reflect major migrations in recent centuries. Additionally, Irish genetic proximity of all Scottish samples likely reflects older strata of communication across the narrowest inter-island crossing. Using GLOBETROTTER we detected Irish admixture signals from Britain and Europe and estimated dates for events consistent with the historical migrations of the Norse-Vikings, the Anglo-Normans and the British Plantations. The influence of the former is greater than previously estimated from Y chromosome haplotypes… ”

A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic Ireland, multiple authors, American Journal of Human Genetics 78, February 2006, pages 334-338:

The researchers used 17-marker simple tandem repeat (STR) analysis on the Y chromosomes of samples obtained from Irish men. They discovered that 16.9% of men from northwestern Ireland, and 8.2% of men from Ireland as a whole, descend from a single male ancestor from early-medieval times from the family dynasty of the Uí Néill, since the haplotype is often found in people holding surnames associated with this dynasty. Their abstract calls this a “modal haplotype”.

Population structure and genome-wide patterns of variation in Ireland and Britain, multiple authors, European Journal of Human Genetics 18, 2010, pages 1248-1254:

The researchers studied the genetics of 3,654 including people from Ireland, the United Kingdom (including Aberdeen, Scotland), Sweden, Portugal, Bulgaria, and the American state of Utah (whose people are largely of English descent). Haplotype diversity was found to be lower in Ireland and Scotland than in southern Europe. Also, Irish people have higher levels of linkage disequilibrium and homozygosity compared to other Europeans. The results showed that the population of Ireland has been relatively isolated throughout the millennia. The article notes that Scottish people are “intermediate between the Irish and English cohorts” in principal component analysis. British and Irish people are predominantly “Northwestern” European in origin but also partly “Scandinavian” (more so for English people than Irish people) and have relatively small amounts of “Iberian” and “Balkan” ancestry.

Admixture results based on the Dodecad Ancestry Project showed, at K=11, that Irish are mostly “Northwest European” (as we’d expect), also partly “Northeast European” and “Basque”, with a small slice of “Sardinian”, and a little bit of “West Asian”. The Irish are very similar to British, which is also shown by their clustering together in two main groups.’

Genome-Wide Association Studies of Quantitatively Measured Skin, Hair, and Eye Pigmentaion in Four European Populations, multiple authors, PLoS ONE 7, October 31, 2012): 

As expected, Irish people were found to have overall lighter skin pigmentation than continental Europeans. The article also confirmed that, on average, the hair colors of Irish and Polish people (northern Europeans) are lighter than Italian and Portuguese people (southern Europeans). Within Ireland, Irish females have a pronounced tendency toward lighter hair than Irish males; a sexual dimorphism of this magnitude wasn’t detected in the Poles.Northern Europeans also have, on average, lighter eyes than southern Europeans. Furthermore, both Irish males and females tend to have lighter eyes than even Poles do. Excerpts from the Abstract:

“Pigmentation of the skin, hair, and eyes varies both within and between human populations… Objective and quantitative measures of skin, hair, and eye color were made using reflectance or digital spectroscopy in Europeans from Ireland [Gad], Poland [Havilah-Joktan], Italy [Nahor & Uz-Aram], and Portugal [Hul-Aram]. A GWAS was conducted for the three quantitative pigmentation phenotypes in 176 women across 313,763 SNP loci, and replication of the most significant associations was attempted in a sample of 294 European men and women from the same countries. We find that the pigmentation phenotypes are highly stratified along axes of European genetic differentiation. The country of sampling explains approximately 35% of the variation in skin pigmentation, 31% of the variation in hair pigmentation, and 40% of the variation in eye pigmentation. All three quantitative phenotypes are correlated with each other. 

In our two-stage association study, we reproduce the association of rs1667394 at the OCA2/HERC2 locus with eye color but we do not identify new genetic determinants of skin and hair pigmentation supporting the lack of major genes affecting skin and hair color variation within Europe and suggesting that not only careful phenotyping but also larger cohorts are required to understand the genetic architecture of these complex quantitative traits. Interestingly, we also see that in each of these four populations, men are more lightly pigmented in the unexposed skin of the inner arm than women… ”

DNA blueprint of the Irish revealed, Damian Corless, Irish Independent, September 11, 2010:

This article is based on research by Brendan Loftus of University College Dublin, whose “research team… mapped the complete genetic code of an Irish person for the first time.” Researchers hope that analysis of the Irish genome will help to explain why Irish people are susceptible to particular disorders and try to find preventative measures and cures for those disorders. Excerpts from the article:

“… Ireland’s geography has had a huge part to play in shaping the nature of our society and our closest family ties. According to Loftus: ‘The geographic isolation of Ireland over generations would affect the size of the gene pool by limiting the type and number of potential mating partners.’ Major genetic surveys of Ireland and Britain have established that the gene pool of both islands is amongst the least diluted in Europe. The genetic evidence shows that three quarters of the ancestors of the Irish and British people were the pioneering settlers…’

So much for the widely held, propagandised belief that the British and especially the English are a hybrid, mongrel people.

The inescapable upshot of this is that the Irish are not Celts, any more than the English are Anglo-Saxons. In fact, both the Irish and the British are Basques, with the Irish significantly more Basque than our neighbours across the pond, who’ve absorbed more migrations from Europe over the centuries. The dilution rate for Ireland is estimated at a tiny 12%, against 20% for Wales and Cornwall, 30% for Scotland and 33% for England… 

Ancient Irish legends say that there were six invasions or migrations from the south many generations before the Celts arrived around 300BC. The evidence suggests that the Celtic language, fashions and technologies which are supposed to define our Irish heritage, were acquired as cultural accessories… The Irish and Basques share by far the highest incidence of the R1b gene in Europe, which has a frequency of over 90% in Basque country and almost 100% along parts of Ireland’s western seaboard. 

If further proof were needed, there’s the physical fact that the Basques are distinguished by a very high incidence of fair (and some reddish) hair, pale skin, blue eyes, and, apparently, sticky-out ears. Sound like anyone you know?” [Refer Chapter XXVI Moab & Ammon]

English, Irish, Scots: They’re All One, Genes Suggest, Nicholas Wade, The New York Times, March 5, 2007:

Geneticist Stephen Oppenheimer of the University of Oxford used genetic evidence to disprove the traditional historical narrative that the Irish people are mainly Celts and that they’re very distinct from Englishmen. Oppenheimer suggested, rather, that most of the ancestors of Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and English peoples came from Spain and that their original language was related to Basque. Excerpts:

“… In Dr. Oppenheimer’s reconstruction of events, the principal ancestors of today’s British and Irish populations arrived from Spain… speaking a language related to Basque… Although the Celtic immigrants may have been few in number, they spread their farming techniques and their language throughout Ireland and the western coast of Britain. Later immigrants arrived from northern Europe [who] had more influence on the eastern and southern coasts. They too spread their language, a branch of German… As for subsequent invaders, Ireland received the fewest; the invaders’ DNA makes up about 12 percent of the Irish gene pool, Dr. Oppenheimer estimates, but it accounts for 20 percent of the gene pool in Wales, 30 percent in Scotland, and about one-third in eastern and southern England… ”

In the previous section [refer Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin], we looked at the top mtDNA Haplogroups for England and Scotland and compared them with near family. Flanders, the Netherlands, Germany and France. That is, Sheba, Midian, Ishmael and Lot.

England: H [44.7%] – J [11.5%] – U5 [9.1%] –

K [7.8%] – T2 [6.2%] – H5 [4.1%] – I [4%] –

HV0+V [3.2%] – U [2.7%]

Scotland: H [44%] – J [12.7%] – U5 [8.1%] –

K [6.9%] – T2 [5.9%] – H5 [3.1%] –

HV0+V [3%] – U4 [2.8%] – X [2.5%] 

Belgium: H [46.9%] – K [12.1%] – T2 [ 9.4%] –

H5 [6%] – J [6%] – U [5.4% ] – U5 [3.4%] –

W [3.3%] – HV0+V [2.7%] 

Netherlands: H [45%] – T2 [12%] – J [11%] –

K [10%] – HV0+V [8%] – U5 [7.5%] –

U4 [6.5%] – I [2.5%] – W [2.5%]

Germany: H [45%] – J [9%] – U5 [8.8%] –

T2 [7.8%] – K [6.6%] – H5 [4.8%] –

HV0+V [4%] – U4 [2.9%] – T1 [2.8%] 

France: H [44.3%] – K [8.7%] – U5 [8.2%] –

J [7.7%] – T2 [6.2%] – HV0+V [5%] –

H5 [3.1%] – U4 [2.5%] – I [2%] 

England:         H – J – U5 – K – T2 – H5 – I – HV0+V – U

Scotland:        H – J – U5 – K – T2 – H5 – HV0+V- U4 – X

Germany:       H – J – U5 – T2 – K – H5 – HV0+V – U4 – T1 

France:           H – K – U5 – J – T2 – HV0+V – H5 – U4 – I 

Belgium:         H – K – T2 – H5 – J – U – U5 – W – HV0 + V 

Netherlands:  H – T2 – J – K – HV0 + V – U5 – U4 – I – W

The comparison of the mtDNA Haplogroups showed that England and Scotland were more closely related as expected. Germany mirrored their sequence most closely, then France, then Flanders and the Netherlands the least similar of the six close family members of Judah, Benjamin, Ishmael, Moab & Ammon, Sheba and Midian.

Wales: H [59.8%] – J [15.3%] – K [7.6%] – U5 [4.4%] –

HV0+V [4.3%] – I [3.3%] – T1 [2.2%] –

T2 [1.1%] – X [1.1%] 

Ireland: H [44.1%] – K [12%] – J [10.7%] – U5 [8.4%] –

HV0+V [5.7%] – T2 [5.4%] – I [3%] –

W [2.3%]

Wales:             H – J – K – U5 – HV0+V – I – T1 – T2 – X 

Ireland:           H – K – J – U5 – HV0+V – T2 – I – W 

Adding Ireland – including Northern Ireland – and Wales reveals what we have observed previously with cousins often having more in common with each other than with their siblings. The Irish in sequence at least, are closer to the French than the English and Scots on their mtDNA maternal side. Of the top mtDNA Haplogroups, Ireland shares nine with England and France and eight with Scotland and Germany. Wales reveals a sequence that doesn’t seem to match anyone too closely.

                           H       HV0+V      J          K          T2         U4       U5        T1

Scotland          44            3           13           7           6            3          8          2

England           45            3           12          8           6            2           9          2

Germany         45            4             9           7          8             3          9          3

France             44            5             8           9          6             3          8          2

Ireland            44            6            11         12          5              1          8          1

Netherlands   45            8            11         10        12             7          8          3     

Sephardic       46            9              5          8

Benelux           47            3              6        12          9             3          3          2 

Denmark        47            4             13         9          6              2          6          2

Norway           46            4             11          5         8              3         11          2

Sweden           46            5              8          6         4              3         12          3

Wales              60            4            15          8          1                          4           2

The addition of Ireland and Wales with their near and extended family members is highly revealing. It is only when we study the percentages of the most frequent mtDNA Haplogroups more closely, that we confirm the Irish do have a closer affinity with their French cousins, than with their half-brothers England and Scotland on the maternal side. The Welsh Haplogroups prove categorically that they are the most ancient of Britons and have the least maternal dilution in the British Isles as all the studies have shown. 

The Welsh mtDNA Haplogroup snap shot is a great glimpse into the distant past for what probably all the other nations on the table would have once looked like with a very high majority percentage of H and then perhaps possessing J, K, T and U from 5% to 20% of their total mtDNA inheritance. All other Haplogroups probably additions in the gene pool from admixture and inter-marriage. 

Ireland shares similarity with England and Scotland in Haplogroups H, J, U5 and T2. Wales shares similarity with England and Scotland in Haplogroups J and K and not much with the Irish, except possibly Haplogroup J. What has to be accounted for is that Ireland’s Haplogroups are for both countries. Separating Ireland and Northern Ireland would provide a different picture.

Colour code: Green – Nahor and Haran; Blue – Keturah and Ishmael; Yellow – Esau; Red – Jacob.

                            H       J      T2      K      HV        U5    HV0+V

Wales                60     15       1        8                       4           4

Switzerland      48     12      9        5       0.5          7            5

Benelux            47       6        9      12     0.7           3            3

Denmark          47     13       6        9                      6            4

Norway             46     11       8        5      0.2         11            4

Sweden             46      8       4        6      0.5         12            5

Sephardim       46      5                  8         8                         9

England            45    13       6         8                      9            3

Netherlands     45     11      12      10                      8           8

Germany           45      9       8        7     0.5            9           4

Austria              45      9       8        9     0.8            9           2

Scotland           44    13       6        7      0.2            8           3

Ireland              44    11       5      12          1            8           6

Brazil                 44    11                            2                        11

Portugal            44      7       6        6      0.1           7            5

Spain                 44      7       6        6          1           8           8

France               44     8       6         9         3           8           5

Poland               44     8       7        4                     10           5

Greece               41     10       7        5                     6            2

Russia               41      8        7        4          2        10           4

Italy                  40      8        8       8           3        5             3

Ukraine            39      8        8        5                    10           4

Iceland             38    14      10      10          2         8            2

Romania          37     11        5        8                      7            4

Finland            36      6        2        5                    20            7

Turkey              31      9        4        6          5          3            1

Ashkenazim    23      7        5       32          5          2            4

Iran                   17     14        5         7         7          3            1

Adding Ireland and Wales to our growing table of European nations is revealing. The Swiss who have bookended the western side of the mtDNA Haplogroups for some time are now replaced by the Welsh. Though it is an extreme westerly position as akin to Iran who bookend the eastern end of the table.

Previously: ‘A pattern has emerged showing the percentage levels of the main European mt-DNA Haplogroup H, increasing as one heads west across Europe…’ The addition of  three more of Jacob’s sons, Reuben, Simeon and Gad, places Ireland next to Scotland. Again, the combined Haplogroups for Ireland mean the connection between Northern Ireland and Scotland influences the figures. It would be Northern Ireland who would sit nearer to Scotland and Ireland somewhere between England and Wales. We will explore the Northern Irish and Scottish connection further in a later chapter. Therefore, Ireland joins Scotland and England in going against the pattern of increasing level of Haplogroup H as one heads westwards. 

Now regarding Y-DNA Haplogroups; a recap from the last chapter: “Haplogroup R-M269 is the sub-clade of human Y-chromosome Haplogroup R1b that is defined by the SNP marker M269. According to ISOGG 2020 it is phylogenetically classified as R1b1a1b.” R-M269 is the most common European Haplogroup, in the genetic composition of mainly Western Europe; increasing in frequency from an east to west gradient. For instance in Poland it is found in 22.7% of the male population, compared to Wales at 92.3% and is carried by over 110 million European men. Scientists propose that the age of the M269 mutation is somewhere between 4,000 to 10,000 years ago. The time frame is plausible and neatly fits with the birth of Peleg and hence the beginning of the R1b mutation, circa 7727 BCE – according to an unconventional chronology. The most recently significant R1b mutations originated with Abraham and his descendants beginning in 1977 BCE. 

The sub-Haplogroup R1b-U106 (S21) is more frequent in central to western Europe, reaching 66.8% in Germany; R-U198 is most prevalent in England, while the sub-lineage R-S116 is the most frequent in the Iberian Peninsula; R-U152 is more frequent in Switzerland, France and Italy, and R-M529 in the Celtic nations of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. As we progress through the descendants of Shem, we will find the levels of R1b vary, though gradually increase. 

 We will keep a record of the levels of the two main R1b sub-Haplogroups for some of the nations we will study. R-M269 stretches across Europe, with levels increasing as one heads westwards. R-U106 stretches from Central Europe westwards.

Italy was the first nation with their main Y-DNA Haplogroup being R1b and shows a marked difference with eastern Europe. The north to south axis is as important as the east to west and this explains why for instance Poland has slightly higher percentages of both clades of R1b than Russia as it is further west. Comparably, the Czech Republic displays a higher level of R-U106 than Italy which is further south; yet less R1b [M269] overall as it is the descendants of Peleg, Aram and the mixed line of Caphtor that have the highest levels of R1b [refer Chapters XV Casluh & Caphtor and XXIII Aram].’

Turkey            R-M269   14% — R-U106   0.4%

Russia             R-M269   21% — R-U106   5.4%

Slovenia          R-M269   17% — R-U106      4%

Poland             R-M269   23% — R-U106     8% 

Ukraine           R-M269   25% — R-U106     9%

Czech               R-M269   28% — R-U106   14% 

France             R-M269   52% — R-U106     7%

Italy                  R-M269   53% — R-U106    6%

Swiss                R-M269   58% — R-U106   13%

Netherlands    R-M269   54% — R-U106  35%

Denmark         R-M269   34% — R-U106   17%

Austria             R-M269   27% — R-U106  23%

Germany         R-M269   43% — R-U106   19%

England           R-M269   57%  — R-U106   20%

Ireland:           R-M269   80% — R-U106      6%

When we added England, it was clear that the English are closely related to all these nations. Clarity is intensified when one appreciates that they equate to Judah, Ishmael, Medan, Midian, Haran, Nahor, Moab and Ammon; all of Abraham’s direct or extended family tree. Now with the addition of Ireland and Gad, we can see the result of less mixing over the millennia with an incredible percentage of R-M269 for the Republic. 

Notice the more Germanic, Central European R-U106 percentage for Ireland is closer to those nations of Eastern and Southern Europe, rather than Ireland’s western neighbours. Again highlighting Ireland’s ancient and isolated position in Europe. R1b clades associated with Ireland include: M37, specific to the Irish; L226/S168 in Central and Western Ireland; and M222 in Northwestern Ireland and also associated with the Scots Irish. We will study M222 in more depth in a later chapter. R1b clades associated with the Welsh include: M167, shared with the Cornish and Basques and L371 specific to the Welsh. 

Y-DNA Haplogroups for Ireland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland:

Wales: R1b [74%] – I1 [12%] – E1b1b [4%] – I2a2 [3%] – G2a [2.5%] –

R1a [1%] – I2a1 [1%] – T1a [1%] – J2 [0.5%] 

Ireland: R1b [81%] – I1 [6%] – I2a2 [5%] – R1a [2.5%] – E1b1b [2%] –

I2a1 [1%] – J2 [ 1.5%]  – G2a [1%] 

Northern Ireland: R1b [76.5%] – I2a2 [10%] – I1 [9%] – R1a [ 1.5%] –

J2 [1.5%] – I2a1 [0.5%] – Q [0.5%]

Wales:         R1b – I1 – E1b1b – I2a2 – G2a – R1a – I2a1 – T1a – J2

Ireland:       R1b – I1 – I2a2 – R1a – E1b1b – I2a1 – J2 – G2a 

N Ireland:   R1b – I2a2 – I1 – R1a – J2 – I2a1 – Q

The difference between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is clear. They are two different peoples and ethnically divided, not just by nationality or religion. It is interesting to note that Wales and Ireland are similar in Haplogroups, I2a1, I2a2, E1b1b and G2a; whereas Ireland and Northern Ireland have a closer match only in J2. All these are admixture groups and it is in the two main Haplogroups that the full blood brothers of Simeon, Wales and Reuben, Northern Ireland have a closer match in R1b and arguably in I1.

Comparing Irish and Welsh Y-DNA Haplogroups with their related near neighbours.

England:  R1b [67%] – I1 [14%] – R1a [4.5%] – I2a2 [4.5%] – J2 [3.5%] –

I2a1 [2.5%]  – E1b1b [2%] – G2a [1.5%] – T1a [0.5%] – Q [0.5%]

Scotland: R1b [73%] – I1 [9%] – R1a [8.5%] – I2a2 [4%] – J2 [2%] –

E1b1b [1.5%] – I2a1 [1%] – G2a [0.5%] – T1a [0.5%] – Q [0.5%]

Flanders: R1b [61%] – I1 [12%] – E1b [5%] – I2a2 [4.5%] – R1a [4%] –

G2a [4%] – J2 [4%] – I2a1 [3%] – J1 [1%] – T [0.5%] – Q [0.5%] – L [0.5%]

Netherlands: R1b [49%] – I1 [17%] – I2a2 [7%] – G2a 4.5%] – R1a [4%] –

E1b1b [3.5%] – J2 [3.5%] – I2a1 [1%] – T1a [1%] – J1 [0.5%] 

Germany: R1b [45%] – R1a [16%] – I1 [16%] – [E1b1b [5.5%] – G2a [5%] –

I2a2 [4.5%] – J2 [4.5%] – I2a1 [1.5%] – T1a [1%] – N1c1 [ 1] –  Q [0.5]

France: R1b [59%] – I1 [9%] – E1b1b [8%] – J2 [6%] – G2a [5.5%] –

I2a2 [3.5%] – I2a1 [3%] – R1a [3%] – J1 [1.5%] – T1a [1%] – Q [0.5%] 

Italy: R1b [39%] – J2 [15.5%] – E1b1b – [13.5%] – G2a [9%] – I1 [4.5%] –

R1a [4%] – I2a1 [3%] – J1 [3%] – I2a2 [2.5%] – T1a [2.5%]

Sephardic Jew: R1b [29.5%] – J [28.2%] – E1b1b [19.2%] – I [11.5%] –

G [7.7%] – R1a [3.9%]

Recall, that R1b is indicative of Western Europe and includes all of Abraham’s descendants as well as that of his two brothers. Y-DNA Haplogroup R1a is distinctly related to the peoples of Eastern Europe and is in considerably lower levels heading from Central to Western Europe. Haplogroup I1 is strongly attached to north western Europe and hence the higher levels in all four countries of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Germany:        R1b – R1a – I1 – E1b1b – G2a – I2a2 – J2 – I2a1 – T1a – N1c1

– Q 

England:          R1b – I1 – R1a – I2a2 – J2 – I2a1 – E1b1b – G2a – T1a – Q

Scotland:          R1b – I1 – R1a – I2a2 – J2 – E1b1b – I2a1 – G2a – T1a – Q

Netherlands:   R1b – I1 – I2a2 – G2a – R1a – E1b1b – J2 – I2a1 – T1a – J1

Ireland:            R1b – I1 – I2a2 – R1a – E1b1b – I2a1 – J2 – G2a 

Wales:               R1b – I1 – E1b1b – I2a2 – G2a – R1a – I2a1 – T1a – J2

Flanders:          R1b – I1 – E1b1b – I2a2 – R1a – G2a – J2 – I2a1 – J1 – T1a

– Q – L

France:             R1b – I1 – E1b1b – J2 – G2a – I2a2 – I2a1 – R1a – J1 – T1a – Q

N Ireland:         R1b – I2a2 – I1 – R1a – J2 – I2a1 – Q

Italy:                  R1b – J2 – E1b1b – G2a – I1 – R1a – I2a1 – J1 – I2a2 – T1a 

Sephardim:      R1b – J1/J2 – E1b1b – I – G2a – R1a

                           R1b      J      E1b1b       G         R1a       I

Ireland               81       2            2           1            3        12

N Ireland           77       2                                       2        20     

Wales                 74    0.5           4           3            1         16

Scotland            73       2            2       0.5            9         14

England             67      4            2           2            5         21

Flanders            61       5            5           4            4        20

France               59       8            8          6             3        16

Netherlands     49       4            4          5             4        25

Germany           45       5            6          5           16        22

Italy                    39     19           14          9            4        10

Sephardim        30     28          19          8            4        12

The five nations of Britain and Ireland immediately standout as belonging together; as well as separately from their near family members in the western portions of the continent. We learn a number of things. The English show the greatest levels of admixture. This is not surprising as one, they are the largest nation and two have been geographically placed to be impacted the most by the invading migratory waves of Israelites. The higher levels of J are likely attributable to the influx of non-white peoples. Though England’s R1b is lower because of this, notice the higher percentage for Haplogroup I – similar to its full brothers Simeon, Wales and Reuben, Northern Ireland and yet higher than its half brothers Benjamin, Scotland and Gad, Ireland.

Scotland’s higher percentage of R1a stands out. Is this linked to Benjamin’s ancient past and the acquiring of different wives early in their history, or more recent admixture with Scandinavians? Wales has a higher percentage of E1b1b, as this has been added at some point; when and where? Northern Ireland, very much and then Ireland have a purer Haplogroup identification than the other three, if the principle R1b and I are taken together; bearing out their isolation. Then Wales, Scotland and England. Northern Ireland’s percentage of Haplogroup I is high, similar to England’s. The uniqueness of Northern Ireland will be investigated in a subsequent chapter.

Colour code: Green – Nahor and Haran; Blue – Keturah and Ishmael; Yellow – Esau; Red – Jacob.

                        R1b    E1b1b   J1 & J2   I1 & I2    G2a     R1a    T1a   N1C1

Ireland            81        2                2           12           1          3          

N Ireland        77                          2           20                      2         

Wales              74         4           0.5            16          3          1          1

Scotland         73         2              2            14       0.5          9      0.5

Spain              69          7            10             7            3         2        3

England         67          2             4             21          2          5      0.5      

Luxembourg 61          5            11             12          6          3        

Flanders         61           5             5          20            4         4        1            

Wallonia         60           6             2          18            6          7       4            

France             59           8            8          16            6          3        1      

Portugal          56         14           13            7            7          2        3

Brazil               54         11           10            9            5          4      

Switzerland    50           8           4           24           8           4        1        1

N Italy             50         11           12           12           8          5        2

Netherlands   49          4             5          25            5          4        1   

Germany         45         6             5           22            5        16        1        1

Iceland            42                                      33                      23                  1           

Italy                 39         14           19           10           9          4        3

Denmark        33           3             3           42          3         15                   1              

Austria            32          8           10          22            8        19         1        1

Norway           32           1             1            41           1        26                   7                

Sephardim     30          9           28           12         [8]         5                  

S Italy              28         19          26             7          11          3        3

Sweden           22           3            3           43            1        16                   7       

Turkey             16         11           33             6          11          8        3          

Greece             16         21           26           15           6         12        5  

Romania         16         14           15           34           3         18        1        2

Poland             13          4             3            16           2         58       1        4

Ashkenazim   12         20          36             4        [10]       10       3     0.2

Iran                   10          7         32              1          10          16       3        1 

Ukraine             8           7           5            26           3          44       1        6

Russia                6           3           3           20           1           46              23

Finland              4           1                         30                          4              62

Placing Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland into our progressing European Nations table of Main Y-DNA Haplogroups, confirms the striking difference from not just their family members descended from Abraham but also from all other Europeans. Scotland has temporarily bookended the western half, now to be replaced by Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland at the extremity with the highest percentage of R1b. 

It is worth noting that though R1b may fluctuate markedly amongst Abraham’s descendants and R1a as well, it is Haplogroup I and specifically I1, that remains consistently higher than with other European nations. A case in point, are the nations of Aram: Spain, Portugal and Brazil, who all in turn have high levels of R1b Haplogroup but not Haplogroup I1. For R1b is a western European marker and I1 is a northern European marker and the two combined together, decidedly form a British and Irish marker. One that distinguishes the sons of Jacob from their own near relatives, such as: Ishmael, Germany; Midian, Netherlands; Medan, Denmark; Haran, Switzerland and Moab and Ammonite, France.

These people were more willing to listen than the people in Thessalonica. The Bereans were eager to hear what Paul and Silas said and studied the Scriptures every day to find out if these things were true… Most of all, you must understand this: No prophecy in the Scriptures ever comes from the prophet’s own interpretation. No prophecy ever came from what a person wanted to say, but people led by the Holy Spirit spoke words from God.

Acts 17:11 & 2 Peter 1:20-21 New Century Version

“Most of the time, we see only what we want to see, or what others tell us to see, instead of really investigate to see what is really there. We embrace illusions only because we are presented with the illusion that they are embraced by the majority… And like obedient schoolchildren, we do not question their validity… Because since the earliest days of our youth, we have been conditioned to accept that the direction of the herd, and authority anywhere – is always right.” 

Suzy Kassem 

© Orion Gold 2020-2022 – All rights reserved. Permission to copy, use or distribute, if acknowledgement of the original authorship is attributed to Orion Gold

The Magnificent Man

Some researchers and commentators have made a link from Edomite king Job-ab with the Patriarch Job in the bible. If such is the case, then Job is the most famous Edomite in the Bible after Esau himself. 

Job has forty-two chapters dedicated to the story of his righteousness – one of the three most righteous men listed in the Bible [Ezekiel 14;14], with the antediluvian Patriarch Noah and the Prophet Daniel – and his subsequent testing by the Adversary, with the Eternal’s agreement. The written structure of the book of Job is unusual, in that it combines prose and poetry. No other book in the Bible uses this ‘prose-poetry-prose pattern.’ Job is considered the most ancient book in the Bible [Job 19:23]. In addition to its profound biblical message it is regarded as a literary masterpiece. The book contains dialogue between Job and his four friends as well as Job’s conversations with the Creator. There is much wisdom to glean as well as valuable information regarding the pre-Adamic or angelic world, particularly impressive creatures such as Leviathan and the Behemoth – ostensibly dinosaurs and allegorically, angelic beings. 

The Book of Job: Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence, Gerard Gertoux, 2015: 

‘Many people who think themselves wise assume that Job was a fictional character like the Good Samaritan, a parable to teach morals. This assumption is illogical and even absurd. Indeed, what is the importance of knowing many insignificant details… [about his life] (Job 42:9-14)… If the Book of Job was a parable Satan would have persecuted a fictional character. Those who suppose that Satan must be the principle of evil lead to an absurdity because in that case God would[n’t] have discussed with “it”… [the details regarding Job’s character] (Job 1:8-10).’

The name Jobab means ‘to call’ or ‘cry shrilly’ from the verb yabab, whereas Job means ‘returning enemy’ or ‘the persecuted.’ Job was blessed greatly after his trial, with much more than all he possessed before his series of vicissitudes. 

Job 42:10-17

Common English Bible

10 Then the Lord changed Job’s fortune when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord doubled* all Job’s earlier possessions. 11 All his brothers, sisters, and acquaintances came to him and ate food with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him concerning all the disaster the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a qesitah [an amount of money: value not known] and a gold ring. 12 Then the Lord blessed Job’s latter days more than his former ones. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys… 16 After this, Job lived 140 years*and saw four generations of his children [4 x 35 years]. 17 Then Job died, old [210 years old]and satisfied.

In the Jewish Encyclopedia, “Jose B. Ḥalafta [states] that Job was born when Jacob and his children entered Egypt and that he died when the Israelites left that country.” This equals two hundred and forty-one years. It would place Job’s testing around 1587 BCE at the age of one hundred and his birth in 1687 BCE. This scenario fits, though a marriage to second wife Dinah does not work – to be discussed later – and how did Job live a staggering one hundred years longer than any one else of his generation? 

The orthodox view maintains that the Book of Job belongs to the era before the Exodus and if Eliphaz is linked rather to Ishmael – as a Tema-nite – and not Esau’s son by the same name, then the patriarch Job lived sometime between the time of Ishmael, who died in 1754 BCE and the children of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt in 1446 BCE. Saying that, Esau’s grandson would have been born circa 1725 BCE and sits convincingly in the same time frame. 

Chuck Swindoll says regarding Job:“Though we cannot be certain, Job may have lived during the time of Jacob or shortly thereafter.” A chronology based on Job living seventy years, then receiving an additional one hundred and forty, would mean that he lived after Jacob. Jacob died in 1670 BCE and Job would have been born fourteen years later in 1656 BCE – the beginning of Jobab’s reign as king of Edom for ten years. This  suggests that Jobab and Job were two different people.

If Job lived one hundred and forty years after his testing, being blessed doubly, then his age at his testing in 1586 BCE, would have been seventy. Job living to two hundred and ten* would have been a very special blessing and reward, as he was afforded an extra seventy years or so on top of what people were usually living at that time; about one hundred to one hundred and forty years. Job’s death in 1446 BCE, would indicate he would have known the Israelites had been freed, for he ‘died satisfied.’ His birth would have been some forty years after Jacob’s family entered Egypt and when Joseph was seventy years old and had been Vizier for forty years.

Moslem tradition posits that after his father died, Job journeyed to Egypt to marry Rahme or Rahma, the daughter of Ephraim – or possibly Manasseh according to some sources – ‘who had inherited from her grandfather Joseph his beautiful robe [of many colours].’ The chronology supports this scenario, as a daughter being born circa 1660 BCE is likely and would mean she was the same age as Job when they married – circa 1615 BCE, a year after Joseph’s death – and would have time to have ten children by 1586 BCE.

Job 1:1-22

Amplified Bible

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job;and that man was blameless andupright,and one who feared God (with reverence) and abstained from and turned away from evil (because he honored God). 

Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 He also possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke (pairs) of oxen, 500 female donkeys*, and a very great number of servants, so that this man was the greatest [and wealthiest and most respected] of all the men ofthe east. 

To be located in the east, means Job may not have been an Edomite or living in the land of Uz associated with Seir [Genesis 36:28]. The alternatives for the location of Uz include a son of Aram called Uz and a son of Nahor [Genesis 10:23; 22:21]. Both equate to some admixture and as the peoples of northern and central Italy today [refer Chapter XXV Italy: Nahor & the Chaldeans]. This writer considers it a distinct possibility that Job is from, or could be an ancestor of, an Italian lineage as opposed to a Jewish one. We will compare the evidence as we progress.

4 His sons used to go (in turn) and feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send word and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When the days of their feasting were over, Job would send (for them) and consecrate [H6942 to set apart, to be holy] them, rising early in the morning and offering burnt [sin] offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this at all (such) times.

It has been inferred by some that ‘on his day’ refers to Job’s birthday or the son’s birthdays and that his day was a special occasion; but the Hebrew wording indicates, that his refers to each of the brothers in turn. As there were seven of them, it follows that they likely held a banquet every day of the week, rotating from house to house, as indicated in verse five. This is evidence of the brothers’ prosperity, as well as the close relationship they maintained with one another. Job’s concern for them and offering sacrifices on their behalf could mean the brothers were debauched in their carousing and leading their sisters astray. Or more likely from the context, that the sons were righteous, as Job could only consecrate or sanctify someone holy. The fact that Job is offering sacrifices on their behalf and not his own, would indicate that he was a priest. If so, Job would have been a priest of the Most High, of the Order of Melchizedek. Perhaps ‘a man in the land of Uz’ is an inspiration for the film The Wizard of Oz or the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

The support for Job being a priest of note is found in the Book of Jasher, where the Pharaoh of Egypt summoned his two counsellors, Reuel the Midianite and Job the Uzite – ‘from Mespotamia, in the land of Uz.’ When studying Abraham’s son Midian we looked at Moses’s father-in-law Jethro and his status as a High Priest and possibly one of three priests acquainted with the Pharaoh, including Job and Balaam. Recall that Reuel is Jethro’s last or family name from his father and Jethro his priestly name [refer Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia]. Notice that the reference to Uz is in Mesopotamia and not Edom, Canaan or Arabia. This lends support towards the Uz from either Aram or Nahor.

It is worth noting, that support for Job living east of Edom, is the fact that the prophet Balaam was from a city called Pethor [Numbers 22:5;  Deuteronomy 23:4]. 

Numbers 23:7

Amplified Bible

Balaam took up his (first) discourse (oracle) and said: “Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram (Syria), from the mountains of the east…

Balaam lived in the east and he was from Aram. Now the city of Pethor was situated in northern Mesopotamia, on the banks of the Euphrates River. In the region we have discussed when studying Nahor, the very area known as Aram-Naharaim discussed in Chapter XXV. Jethro from Midian, lived in the east, in the north of the Arabian Peninsula, east of Egypt and south of Canaan. Balaam from Aram-Nahar-[aim] lived in the east, in Mesopotamia, north of Canaan. 

The time frame means that Jethro, Job and Moses were contemporaries towards the end of Job’s life, just as Job was with Joseph when he was younger. The fact Job visited Egypt and may have married Joseph’s grand daughter, means he must have surely met Imhotep the Vizier of Egypt [refer Appendix VI: Joseph & Imhotep – One man, different name?]. The later Pharaoh prior to the Exodus, apparently was not enamoured with Job’s counsel regarding the Israelite slaves and who could well have been Moses’s adopted father, Amenemhet III – who reigned from 1529 to 1484 BCE – the sixth king of the 12th Dynasty [refer Appendix VII Moses & the Exodus – Fabrication or Fact?].

The land of Uz may well have been a separate land unique in its connection with Edom – indications are that it could have been northerly in the Hauron Valley of Bashan in the Transjordan, or southerly on the Kings’s Road between Bozrah and Elath adjoining the Red Sea – and named after Seir’s great grandson Uz, the brother of Aran, also similar to the name Aram and the son of Dishan, who was in turn the son of Lotan.

As Job is not Jobab, then his descent from Edom is questionable. It hinges in part, on his four friends and their origins. We have already linked the Uz of Aram and Uz of Nahor as the modern Italians. Gether, another son of Aram is the ancestor of the Spanish [Chapter XXIII Aram & Tyre: Spain, Portugal & Brazil]. The link with Spain is through the Sephardic Jew, who were located in the Iberian Peninsula. Jews had a strong presence in Italy, as highlighted by William Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice. Lotan of Seir may have a connection with Lot’s sons Moab and Ammon, the modern day French. Could these links with Spain and France find an answer within the peoples nestled there, known as the Basque and Catalonians? [Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran]

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them. 

7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.” 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil[because he honors God].” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not put a hedge [of protection]around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands [and conferred prosperity and happiness upon him], and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” 12Then the Lord said to Satan,“Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.”So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

The Creator barred the Adversary from actually killing Job, though all else was available to Satan in seeking to turn Job from his devotion to the Eternal. Satan did not understand Job’s heart; in thinking Job’s faithfulness was based on what the Creator had given or done for him. The Almighty though, seeks those who love and trust Him, regardless of what He does for them. Those individuals with that mindset will later be given all things, even though it is not that, that fires their passion for loyalty. one wonders, if Satan only ever loved the Almighty because of what they had been given. Thus their loyalty could be broken. Whereas Job’s faith, could be tested indefinitely and he would still remain steadfast. When the Creator says there is none like Job, this would have been in approximately 1586* BCE. Now Jacob died in 1670 BCE and all his sons with Levi being the last – died by 1611 BCE. Joseph had lived for the first forty years of Job’s life from 1656 to 1616 BCE and so the statement is immense; though stated thirty years after Joseph’s death and sixty years before Mose’s birth. We know that Joseph pleased the Eternal and was richly blessed.

Genesis 41:38

English Standard Version

And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”

Hebrews 11:22

English Standard Version

By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

13 Now there was a day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 and [1] a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans [terrorising robbers from SW Arabia] attacked and swooped down on them and took away the animals. They also killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, [2] another [messenger] also came and said, “The fire of God (lightning) has fallen from the heavens and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, [3] another (messenger) also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and have taken them away and have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, [4] another [messenger] also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly, a great wind came from across the desert,and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

The dramatic succession of the loss of Job’s possessions and family, quickly turned from the sublime to the ridiculous… with the such seemingly coincidental catalogue of strange disasters to afflict Job. It is not clear who the Sabeans were. They could at a stretch be the Seba and Sheba from Cush [Chapter XIII India & Pakistan: Cush & Phut]. Geographically closer and far more likely – due to the reference to the Chaldeans – they are either Sheba from Joktan or Sheba of Jokshan, the son of Abraham [refer Chapter XXIV Arphaxad & Joktan: Balts, Slavs & the Balkans and Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia]. Sheba, son of Joktan would be my preferred guess, who would equate to the Romanians today. Coincidently, Ophir another son of Joktan and brother of Sheba, is mentioned in Job 22:24. The reference to the Chaldeans is important, for if Job was descended from Uz of Nahor, then Job would be a Chaldean himself. Why would his own people be attacking him. Yet, this is not a valid reason as some of the worst atrocities are committed by family members against each other.

The fact Job’s sons and daughters are described as young, fits with what we know already about Job and his Ephraimite wife, Uzit. Recall, Isaac was described as young when he was thirty years old. Job and his wife would have married circa 1615 BCE and their ten children would have been born somewhere between 1615 to 1595 BCE. Thus, the eldest at the time of their deaths would have been about twenty-nine and the youngest between nineteen and perhaps twelve*. It would explain how all the children had inheritances and the sons, their own dwellings; particularly as Job was a wealthy ruler, the equivalent of a king.

Job 29:1-25

English Standard Version

2 “Oh, that I were as in the months of old… 7 When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square [similar with Lot, Genesis 19;1], 8 the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose and stood; 9 the princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth; 10 the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth… 12 because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. 14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. 16 I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. 21 “Men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel. 22 After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them. 23 They waited for me as for the rain… 25 I chose their way and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.

20 Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head (in mourning for the children), and he fell to the ground and worshiped (God). 21 He said “Naked (without possessions) I came (into this world) from my mother’s womb, And naked I will return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

Job 2:1-13

Amplified Bible

Again there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them to present himself [H3320 – yatsab: ‘set, stand’ or ‘station oneself, present oneself’] before the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.” 3 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]. And still he maintains and holds tightly to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.” 4 Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! Yes, a man will give all he has for his life. 5 But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh [and severely afflict him];and he will curse You to Your face.”6So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life.”

The Amplified Bible says regarding verse four, one possible meaning is that ‘according to Satan, Job would be willing to give up his wife (his remaining loved one) to save his own life, thus surrendering his integrity (verse 3). Another is that Satan is hypothetically offering to give up his own life if Job is actually willing to die for his integrity. In any case, this is a bluff on the Adversary’s part, probably to make what they really desire (verse 5) appear less drastic.’

7 So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome boils and agonizingly painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes (rubbish heaps). 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still cling to your integrity [and your faith and trust in God, without blaming Him]? Curse God and die!”10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept (only) good from God and not (also) accept adversity and disaster? In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.

The Septuagint states: “After taking an Arabian wife, he became father to a son whose name was Ennon. But he himself was the son… of his mother Bosorra (Bozra)…” Job’s wife does not appear to be led by the Holy Spirit in the same way as Job. She reminds one of Lot’s wife. Her lack of understanding is indicative of an unconverted mind. For she thinks that Job is placing precedence in his own righteousness and faith, rather than perceiving that Job is actually focusing foremost, on the the will of the Eternal. Islamic tradition calls Job’s wife Rahma and Jewish sources state her name as Uzit, [in the Greek Sitidos (Sitis)]. Sitis may have the same root as Satan in Hebrew or Sotah, meaning ‘unfaithful wife’ [Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. Uzit was Job’s first wife and is believed to have died during Job’s afflictions.

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place, [1] Eliphaz the Temanite [possibly ‘Eliphaz the one of Teman’ meaning ‘the man of Teman (city)’ rather than ‘Eliphaz the descendant of Teman’ or Eliphaz the Tema-nite of Ishamel], [2] Bildad the Shuhite, and [3] Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. 12 When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him [because of his disfigurement], they raised their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe [in grief] and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky [in sorrow]. 13 So they sat down on the ground with Job for seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

Eliphaz stated here, is assumed by most to be the son of Esau and Adah. Eliphaz had been taken captive by Joseph and according to the Book of Jasher, Eliphaz was a notable military leader and killed in Rameses, Egypt at the age of eighty-three. If he was born approximately when Esau married Adah, in circa 1777 BCE and died in 1694 BCE; he was not alive in 1586 BCE when Job was afflicted. Therefore, this Eliphaz is a different person, though could still be a descendant of Eliphaz via his son Teman and a potential cousin of Job. Edom and by extension Teman in the Bible are described as ‘wise men’ with ‘understanding’ which is an apt description, of the Jewish intelligentsia [Obadiah 1:8-9].

There remains the argument, that this Eliphaz is descended from Tema, a son of Ishmael. Thus the Temanite description could actually be a reference to Tema and not Teman. Later in the Book of Job, Tema is mentioned with a Sheba. From the context, most likely Sheba the nephew of Midian; though Sheba of Joktan cannot be ruled out.

Job 6:19

English Standard Version

The caravans of Tema look, the [travellers] of Sheba hope.

There is a scripture in Job which alludes to Eliphaz possibly being old when he speaks with Job. It is Job’s father who is referenced and Eliphaz measures his own age with other men who are older even than Job’s father.

Job 15:9-10

English Standard Version

9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us? 10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father.

Bildad is humorously regarded as the shortest man in the Bible, as he is only a ‘shoe height’ [Shu-hite]. The Shuhites are considered descendants of Shuah, the sixth and youngest son of Abraham and Keturah and the ancestor of the Swedes. 

Zophar in the Septuagint LXX: Sophar, meaning ‘to chirp’ or ‘to leap’, the Naamathite, meaning ‘sweet, pleasant’ is proposed by a number of sources as the king of the Minaeans in Arabia – possibly a link with Abraham’s children by Keturah. He is also linked with Eliphaz’s son Zepho or Zephi, grandson of Esau. 

Recall, Zepho – meaning ‘watch’ or ‘gaze’ – had also been taken prisoner by Joseph at the time of Esau’s death during the battle of the burial of Jacob in 1670 BCE. It is possible that if it is Zepho, he was still alive and approximately one hundred and forty. There was a town in the land of Judah called Naamah [Joshua 15:41]. Possibly the hometown of Zophar the Naamathite? 

We are left with the following two options for Job’s three locutionary friends being an Ishmaelite, a Shuite from Shuah and let’s say a Naamathite from Judah; or alternatively, three Edomites. Either way it does not prove that Job was or wasn’t an Edomite. Though the various references throughout, to Arabia and the east, favours the first option and therefore points towards Job having a closer tie with the Uz from Nahor or Aram rather than the Uz of Seir and Edom.

Later in the Book, there is a fourth friend of Job who becomes exasperated with the other three, mentioned in Job chapter thirty-two, Elihu the Buzite: descended from Buz, the brother of Uz, the son of Nahor [Genesis 22;21]. 

Job 32:1-10

The Message

1-5 Job’s three friends now fell silent. They were talked out, stymied because Job wouldn’t budge an inch – wouldn’t admit to an ounce of guilt [because he was righteous in his own eyes]. Then Elihu lost his temper. (Elihu was the son of Barakel the Buzite from the clan of [A]Ram.) He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness [justifying himself] against God’s [as if God was in the wrong].He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong [even though they had declared Job to be in the wrong]. 

Job 32:2-3

Living Bible

Then Elihu… became angry because Job refused to admit he had sinned and to acknowledge that God had just cause for punishing him. 3 But he was also angry with Job’s three friends because they had been unable to answer Job’s arguments and yet had condemned him.

Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.

6-10 This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said: “I’m a young man, and you are all old and experienced. That’s why I kept quiet and held back from joining the discussion.I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell. The longer you live, the wiser you become.’ But I see I was wrong – it’s God’s Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible. The experts have no corner on wisdom; getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense. So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well! I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.

Elihu’s lineage as a Chaldean, lends considerable support for Job being of the same extraction. Elihu clearly sees Job’s predicament better than his other friends and grasps the trial Job is going through. Is this a clue to Job being a Chaldean descended from Nahor too? It is worth remembering that Job though not in the heart of Edomite territory, could have been on the periphery to the northeast or southeast even. Job had easy access to the Pharaoh in Egypt and this supports a southeastern Canaan location at the least. Plus, he was in striking distance of the Sabeans in Arabia and the Chaldean raiding parties from the north. 

Job could well have migrated from southern Mespotamia, or even from Paddan-Aram or Haran, like Abraham. This might explain his status as a Priest and his acceptable sacrifices to the Eternal; in that he was not Aramean or Edomite, but rather descended from Abraham’s brother Nahor. A Chaldean who was related to his cousins Bethuel, Rebekah, Laban, Leah and Rachel. Bethuel being the eighth son and youngest brother of Uz the eldest and Buz the second born son of Nahor and Milcah – the sister of Sarah and eldest daughter of Haran. Once the friends begin speaking they start well enough, though soon descend into Uzit’s territory of mis-reading Job, his predicament and the Eternal’s involvement. Their words and his torment lead Job into a less than positive mindset. Even so, he refuses to blame the Almighty, but rather bemoans himself.

Job 3:1-4

Common English Bible

Afterward, Job spoke up and cursed the day he was born. 2 Job said: 3 Perish the day I was born, the night someone said, “A boy has been conceived.” 4 That day – let it be darkness; may God above ignore it, and light not shine on it.

Job 7:1-4

Common English Bible

Isn’t slavery everyone’s condition on earth, our days like those of a hired worker? 2 Like a slave we pant for a shadow, await our task like a hired worker. 

So I have inherited months [or years] of emptiness; nights of toil have been measured out for me. 4 If I lie down and think – When will I get up? – night drags on, and restless thoughts fill me until dawn.

Job 14:5

Amplified Bible

Since [mans] days are determined, The number of his months [years] is with You (in Your control), And You have made his limits [a death gene or accident] so he cannot pass (his allotted time) [Ecclesiastes 3:2, NIV: ‘… a time to be born and a time to die’].

Dark, poignant and timeless truths are expressed by Job. We are born into a flawed and decaying world. There is not much to celebrate. Being physical on this earth, means enduring bondage and slavery in a corrupt world, serving evil masters. We enter and exit this life, according to the Almighty’s will and the timing of His plan for us. When Job had endured the testing and trials sent to him for long enough and the Eternal recognised a humble change in an already righteous man, then he restored Job’s wealth and family. Sources record that Job’s second wife was in fact Jacob’s daughter and Zebulon’s twin, Dinah. 

Dinah though, was born in 1741 BCE and marrying a seventy year old Job when Dinah was one hundred and fifty-five seems unreasonable. As Job, may have already married an Israelite, it is plausible he did so again; just as Jacob had married into Nahor’s family… Job was doing the reverse. A romantic solution, is that there is some truth in the record and that it was a descendant of Dinah – a great… granddaughter – who Job married.

The Creator doubled all of Job’s assets and wealth and restored the number of ten children he had previously. Curiously, the three daughters are named, though the sons are not. 

Job 42:10-16

Common English Bible

10 Then the Lord changed Job’s fortune when he prayed for his friends… 12… the Lord blessed Job’s latter days more than his former ones… 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named one Jemimah [Dove], a second Keziah [Cinnamon, ‘ended’], andthe third Keren-happuch [Darkeyes (from mascara) or ‘radiate with beautiful eyes’]. 15 No women in all the land were as beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave an inheritance to them along with their brothers [The message: Their father treated them as equals with their brothers, providing the same inheritance].

The fascinating reason Job’s daughters are named, while his sons are not, is that the daughters are clearly new born girls; whereas, the sons were not new; with no need to introduce them, as the same sons had returned, or simply: they had been resurrected. We are presented new daughters but not new sons. The sons names being omitted is not a mistake, but a clue. In Job chapter one we learned that Job’s sons were righteous. This is why Job offered sacrifices for them and how they could have been resurrected. For Satan took their lives without good cause. The Adversary killed them before their time, to spite Job. Job knew full well, that his children could be resurrected. 

Job 33:28-30

The Message

28 But God stepped in and saved me from certain death. I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’ 29-30 “This is the way God works. Over and over again He pulls our souls back from certain destruction so we’ll see the light – and live in the light!

Immeasurable joy must have filled Job to have his seven sons miraculously raised from the dead. The three original daughters had houses and an inheritance, but they were not inviting their brothers or being hospitable. The fact they were not resurrected implies they were not converted like their brothers. 

The new daughters given to Job through his second wife Dinah, were given an inheritance like their half-brothers. Job’s replacement daughters were not like the first three.  Job’s new daughters were the most fair and stunning women in that region of the world. The KJV says: “And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job…” The Hebrew word for fair or beautiful, is the same word used for Sarah, Rachel and Esther. King David is also described the same way, as is Joseph. It does mean beauty or handsomeness, though includes the description of one being fair in complexion. They are not described as ruddy or red like Esau and David; for the implication is that Sarah, Rachel, Esther, Joseph and Job’s three daughters, Jemimah, Keziah and Keren-happuch were blond and blue eyed. Whereas, Rebecca and Moses though beautiful, are not described as fair. Nor are Hagar, Keturah, Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. 

Genesis 39:5-6

King James Version

5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. 6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly [H8389, an attractive ‘figure or appearance’], person,and well favoured [H3303, fair, beautiful].

AMP: “… Now Joseph was handsome and attractive in form and appearance.” YLT: “… And Joseph is of a fair form [or well built], andof a fair appearance [or good-looking].”

The Book of Job – Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence, Gerard Gertoux, 2015:

‘Why does the Bible specify that God gave 140 years of extra life to Job? Only the context allows us to answer this question. According to the Talmud, Moses wrote the Book of Job (Baba Bathra 15a) and this information is very likely true for the following reasons: the writer of the Book of Job knew him intimately because he was able to give the names of his three daughters (Job 42:12-14) as well as the exact assessment of his cattle and herds, it can be assumed that he must have met him after his trial around 1640 BCE [1586 BCE]. When Moses (1613-1493) [1526-1406 BCE] came in Midian (from 1573 to 1533) [1486-1446] he had to have met Job (1710-1500) [1656-1446] who was around 137 years old [170 and Moses was 40 years of age] at that time. Job probably heard through Moses that the Israelites were under the yoke of Egypt (since 1748 BCE) [1593 BCE] and that he had tried to stop their oppression, but without success. In the same manner that Job saw the end [to] his suffering, he also saw the end of suffering for the Israelites, 33 years before his death [in 1446 BCE]. 

If God had given him only 100 additional years, Job would not have been able to see this extraordinary deliverance. Similarly, Moses saw the Promised Land before he died (Deuteronomy 32:48-52) [in 1406 BCE, the year of his death].’ 

Excerpt from Chapter XXIX Esau: The Thirteenth Tribe

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