Chapter XXXI

In the previous chapter, we summarily mentioned the identity of Simeon as Wales. 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. Occupied since 1292, Wales was annexed into England by an Act of the English Parliament in 1535. While Wales ceased being a Principality by 1543, it was only in 2011 that its status as a country was made official by the ISO – International Organization for Standardization.

Scotland has its own law, distinct from English law, its own issued bank notes – though the same currency of pound sterling – and its parliament has law making powers beyond that of the Welsh Parliament, which became a Devolved National Assembly in 1999 and renamed Senedd (Parliament) in 2020. The Welsh have the same law as England and as we learned in the preceding chapter, since 1542 they constitute with England, the Kingdom of England – refer Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes.

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 were united with the House of Judah, but many from the family of Kohath a son of Levi, as well as the tribe of Simeon were integral to the United Kingdom of Judah. As these four are remarkably yet without coincidence the core of the United Kingdom of Great Britain today. Presently, 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, Zebulun, 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 in Norway (or Iceland); Simeon is subscribed to either Scotland or rightfully, Wales. One identity expert presents a case for the American Irish. In this investigation, Northern England was also considered for Simeon. 

Reuben and Gad maintained a close historical relationship, which we will see replicated by other brothers; in that half brothers invariably formed closer relationships and dwelt adjacent to each other instead of with a full blood brother. In this case, Gad from Leah’s handmaid Zilpah and Reuben the firstborn of Leah both crossed the River Jordan to settle in the eastern border lands of Israel in Canaan. They lived in close proximity with 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 the (far) west is the half tribe of East Manasseh as would be expected. 

Gad is the Republic of Ireland and Reuben is located within Northern Ireland, dominated by the historical Province of Ulster. As the brothers Reuben, Simeon and Levi with their half brother Gad are all intertwined in their histories and sharing the British Isles, 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 common past living in Northern Ireland, prior to settling in Alba – refer Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes.

Genesis 29:31-34; 30:9-11

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, born in 1752 BCE (according to an unconventional chronology) and the first with wife Leah.

Recall that the prefix Reu is a family name for Arphaxad’s descendants. Reu was a son of Peleg; there is Reuel, a son of Esau; a Reuel associated with the family name of Moses’s father-in-law (refer Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia); a Benjamite (1 Chronicles 9:8); and interestingly, a chief of Gad, Eliasaph, had a father who was called Reuel – Numbers 2:14. 

Simeon was the second son 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 – refer article: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. 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 people in Ireland are the descendants of Gad. Gad is invariably ascribed to Switzerland and one identity expert offers Sweden while another, Germany. Reuben is unanimously identified incorrectly as France. We have discussed the Swiss descended from Haran; and the French and their ancestors Moab and Ammon; as well as the Swedes who descend from Keturah – refer Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran; and Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia.

Reuben’s descendants equate primarily to the Protestant peoples of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland has a unique status, for he is ‘a son who’s seen, or behold a son’, as in a people… not a sovereign state; not a province, as it comprises six of the total nine counties of Ulster; not a nation; though it is both a region and constituent country of the United Kingdom. 

Genesis 34:1-31

English Standard Version

1 ‘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. Afterwards, Shechem became obsessed with Dinah. Dinah must have been alluring in personality as well as in looks.

Dinah

One wonders what seeing ‘the women of the land’ means. Did Shechem mis-read Dinah and then 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 gave birth to 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, would have been locally where they were living. In the article: Job, we study the possibility his second wife was a descendant of Dinah.

Genesis: 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 who went by that name: the original Hivites from Canaan’s son Hiv (refer Chapter XII Canaan & Africa**); Nephilim related Elioud giants (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 XXVI Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia.*

These Hivites fall into the third category and their link with the Midianites* and Kenites was explored earlier. 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 & Tyre: Spain, Portugal & Brazil**) – between the Afrikaners and the British. We will also find that Dinah’s connection with the Hivite, Shechem and the fact her twin brother is Zebulun, much more than a passing coincidence – Chapter XXXII Issachar, Zebulun, Asher & Naphtali – the Antipodean Tribes. 

Genesis: 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 boldfaced 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 [elder] 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.’ 

The incident reminds of David’s mission given to him by Saul for the hand of his daughter, Michal. Whereby David killed two hundred Philistines for their foreskins – 1 Samuel 18:27.

It was a cruel trick which 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. 

Levi and Simeon

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.

Genesis: 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, with Simeon and Levi unrepentant. 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 which we have witnessed previously and his 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 about Joseph in Egypt when his brothers visited in 1687 BCE during the seven years of famine which lasted between 1689 to 1682 BCE. We have discussed Jacob’s, Judah and Benjamin’s involvement. Reuben and Simeon are also expounded upon 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 and making money from selling him at the same time. 

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 article: Job) 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 inherit (share) in the birthright blessings promised to Joseph. The birthright if you will, skipped a generation, or, Manasseh and Ephraim were each elevated as 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 to be 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 who became the Welsh and the Northern Irish would have instead become a great nation and the other would have become an even greater nation comprising many peoples – Chapter XXXIII Manasseh & Ephraim – the Birthright Tribes. 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 Regal Tribes.

The descriptions of Jacob’s sons, including future prophecies are addressed by Jacob, Moses and the fourth Judge of ancient Israel, 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 very close siblings. Being inseparable, they like many brothers and sisters ‘brought out the worst in each other.’ The King James version says that the brothers were ‘instruments of cruelty.’

Historically, a sword is one of the symbols 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; approximately six hundred, with some being inhabited for over a thousand years.

Genesis: 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. 

Counsel should not be sought from people with quick tempers rising to uncontrolled anger, for they are unstable due to their lack of self-control. The Hebrew word aqar means to hobble a creature. Simeon and Levi took pleasure in maiming animals 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.’

Clearly, these were not men to trifle with and exhibited what could be politely called a fiery (Celtic) temperament. The Eternal was not impressed with their actions, though in the case of Levi at least a measure of forgiveness was granted in choosing his male descendants for the levitical priesthood. It would seem that Levi expressed a penitent attitude. Prominent descendants of Levi include the judges, Eli and Samuel; the scribe and priest, Ezra; the prophet, John the Baptist; and the brother-in-law of Peter, Barnabas.

The punishment for the brothers 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 – Simeon and Benjamin. Today they equate to the nations of England, Wales and Scotland.

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’ – Judges 1:3.

In dual parallelism, the Welsh people today form a separate nation that is yet also, still part of and within the geo-political entity, the Kingdom of England.

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 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’ – refer article: The Christ Chronology.

‘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.’ 

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

This appears to be speaking of Levi, yet it is ultimately Aaron who would have the responsibility for carrying the Urim and Thummim on his breast plate and of casting them in decisions. We have read about this ceremony in connection with the sacrificial goat named Azazel on the Day of Atonement – refer Chapter XXI The Incredible Identity, Origin & Destiny of Nimrod.

Deuteronomy: 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 odd year trek through the wilderness during the years 1446 to 1400 CE – and then beyond until the first Temple from 959 to 586 BCE and the second Temple from 516 BCE till its destruction in 70 CE – including the sacrificing of animals on a daily basis as well as the ceremonial seven times a year for the annual festivals. It was both burdensome and bloody.

This is a 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.

Deuteronomy: 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.”

In the Book of Jubilees, we previously read of Isaac’s blessing for Judah. Issac also blesses Levi, separately from Jacob.

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 Yahweh And 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 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, the tribe was an integral part of Judah alongside Benjamin.

Hoeh: ‘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 – refer Chapter XXIX Esau: The Thirteenth Tribe. 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 the Amalekites 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, just 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 [the same as Benjamin]…

and the name of Gad’s wife, Maka…

And Simeon repented, and took a second wife from Mesopotamia as his brothers.’

As the Book of Jasher tends to be a more reliable source than the Book of Jubilees, its details are favoured in this instance – except perhaps for Levi.

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’ – Article: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

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 Saul (Shaul).*

Whereas, Levi plausibly either took a wife from Joktan’s family, which equates to the predominantly Slavic speaking peoples of Eastern Europe today – and of whom Keturah was related – or from the same line that his half-brother Benjamin had married.

Gad is stated as marrying from the line of Nahor, similar to that of Isaac and Jacob.

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.

1 ‘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 [in 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 [4th highest].

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

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

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

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

47 ‘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 46:8-16

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 the names Eri-n and Ire for Ireland. Hanoch was also the name of one of Midian’s five sons, a son of Abraham and Keturah – Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia. Another census was taken as they were entering Canaan some forty years later, circa 1404 BCE.

Numbers 26:1-65

English Standard Version

1 ‘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 of the Reubenites, and those listed were 43,730 [-2,770]. 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 [a descendant of Kohath (Levi)], 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.

14 These are the clans of the Simeonites, 22,200 [-37,100].

18 These are the clans of the sons of Gad as they were listed, 40,500 [-5,150].

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

Did the reader spot the marginal decrease in Reuben’s numbers; slightly more in Gad’s population between the two censuses; and more importantly, the sizeable decrease in the Simeon’s numbers? They went from the second biggest tribe to the second^ smallest. We will look at this anomaly shortly.

Numbers: 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

1 ‘The sons of Reuben 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 though Judah 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 The True Identity and Origin of  Germans & Austrians – Ishmael & Hagar**], 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 the record of giants in Northern Ireland, in the preceding chapter. The name Gog therefore 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 – refer article: The Calendar Conspiracy.

Northern Ireland has a plethora of names which 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.

1 Chronicles: 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.

1 Chronicles: 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**], 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… [in Media].’

A significant number 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 one another, across an expanse of water (the Irish Sea), from Judah, Simeon and Benjamin, who had also shared a geographical proximity. Replicated today in England, Wales and Scotland.

In Luke 3:23-38 we read of Christ’s adoptive Father’s lineage, from Judah to David and included are men who are called related tribal family names:

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, the Prophet Ezekiel describes a visionary city and the portions the twelve tribes occupy; with Manasseh and Ephraim 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 prophetic outcomes of magnitude.

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 between censuses, leading identity researcher, Steven Collins provides a logical answer. He also concluded that the Simeonites were the historical Spartans, though we have ascertained an alternative identity in Chapter XXIX Esau: The Thirteenth Tribe.

Simeon

The Missing Simeonites, Steven M Collins – emphasis mine:

‘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.’

‘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.’

‘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.’

Close to the timing of the second census, the tribe of Manasseh split into two tribes. With half renaming with Ephraim on the West side of the River Jordan and the other half dwelling on the East side of the river with Reuben and Gad.

Collins: ‘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)’ – refer Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia.

‘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 Simeon and Levi and 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 [of] a Simeonite prince by a Levitical priest, there was… 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 [loggerheads], 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 Naphtali 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… likely… 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: Erin and 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 the Welsh. 

Whereas the Danites were likely the first tribe 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. Known at different times as Pictavia; Caledonia, Alba and Scotland – Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes. The Tribe of Dan’s story is somewhat more complicated – Chapter XXXIV Dan: The Invisible Tribe. 

Origin, Yair Davidiy – capitalisation his, emphasis 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 [speaks] 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 & Iran] (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… 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… 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.’ 

Britain’s Trojan History, Bernard Jones – emphasis 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’ – refer Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes; and Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran. 

Jones: ‘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.’

Welsh men

The Genesis 6 Conspiracy, Gary Wayne, 2014, pages 469 – 471 – emphasis 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.’

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

Wayne: ‘… 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, who] 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… Paul preached.’

Identity scholar and author Raymond McNair, offers an explanation for the original derivation for the term Celt.

Key to Northwest European Origins, Raymond F McNair, 1963 – capitalisation his, emphasis mine:

‘… the Gauls, Cimmerians, Cymry and the Celts are all simply different offshoots of the CIMMERIAN branch of the great SCYTHIAN people. The ancient writers spoke of all the GAULS as CIMBRI and identified them with the CIMMERIANS of earlier date. 

… the word “Galatae” was also spelled as “Geltae” or “Keltae.” This is seemingly according to Lysons, the derivation of the word Celt or Kelt. It is possible that this name “Kelt” is derived from the name of a rivulet or a brook just northeast of Jerusalem, very near Jericho. The Encyclopedia Britannica speaks of this brook and calls it “Wadi Kelt” (11th edition, Volume XIX, Article Palestine, page 602). This same Wadi is mentioned a number of times in the Rand McNally Bible Atlas, but it speaks of it as the “Wadi el Qelt” (Chapter XIX, page 395). 

It is highly possible that this name comes from “Wadi Kelt.” The Ten Tribes of Israel would have been familiar with this Wadi since many of them from Northern Israel would have passed near it on their way to observing the annual festivals in Jerusalem. Kelts have never in modern times lived in the area of Jericho, but it is now abundantly evident that the ancestors of the present-day Kelts did once live in the vicinity of the “Wadi Kelt.”

McNair highlights the origin and similarity of early religious practices in Britain with that of the Israelite homeland in Canaan, coupled with the striking similarity between the Hebrew and Welsh languages.

McNair: ‘… Lysons made this confession: 

“I confess that but for the universal tradition which assigns our (the British) descent to Japhet [Chapter II Japheth Orientalium; and Chapter IX Tarshish & Japan], I should have been rather inclined to attribute to the British Celts a Semitic origin, both on account of the relics of worship which we find in Britain, and also on account of the language…” (Our British Ancestors, page 18). 

‘Lysons then shows that there are literally thousands of words in the English language which come from the Hebrew language (ibid., page 21 ff.). He says: 

“Thus I propose to show in the course of these pages when we come to the relics of British worship remaining in the country, and retaining with little variation or corruption their aboriginal names, the remarkable similarity between those names and the HEBREW and CHALDEE languages” (ibid., page 21). 

‘He then points out that many of the “old British families” have Hebrew names. “Now, whatever may be the historical value of the Welsh poems, it is undoubted that Talies in his Angar Cyfyndawd, says that his lore had been ‘DECLARED IN HEBREW, Hebraig…'” (ibid., page 22). 

On page 93 of this same work, Lysons says: 

“Yet this we gather from the names attaching to the British monuments still remaining among us, when divested of modern corruptions, that there is a strong affinity between these British names and that language of which HEBREW is either the original or one of its earliest off-shoots; and that therefore HEBREW, CHALDEE or some other very near cognate, must have been the language of the first inhabitants in this island” (ibid., page 93). 

‘Lysons then proceeds to show the similarity between many ancient British and Hebrew words, and between the corrupted religion of the Palestinian Israelites and that of the ancient British people. Lysons finally makes this startling statement: 

“We cannot avoid the conclusion that our British ancestors were devoted to that kind of worship which they brought with them from the East, whence they came at a very early period, even close upon the Patriarchal times of Holy Writ” (ibid., pages 93, 94). 

‘… the early British ancestors said they came from Armenia in the area of the Caucasus Mountains; and we know that many of them arrived in the British Isles centuries before Christ’s birth. Robert Owen also substantiates this view by the following statement: 

“Most Welsh scholars have employed their time on the production of grammars and dictionaries. The Hebrew learning of Dr. John Davies of Mallwyd seems to have influenced his countrymen to accept the Puritan atavism of referring Welsh to the language of Moses as its fountain” (The Kymry, pref. v., vi.). 

‘For any who still might have any lingering doubts regarding the similarity between the Hebrew and the early British languages which were used by its ancient peoples, one need only study the present-day Welsh language. There are many strong similarities between modern Welsh and Hebrew. Even one who is unskilled in the science of languages cannot fail to detect a close similarity between the spoken Hebrew language when contrasted with modern Welsh. Many Welsh words are almost devoid of any vowels whatsoever, just as the ancient Hebrew language was written without any vowels.’

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

“… the people of Wales 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. 

… 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 [Cymru]. 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 [a] 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 [Cymru]. 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.’

Cardiff, capital city of Wales

Raymond McNair outlines a summary for the words Omri, Ghomri, Gimiri, Kymry and Cimmerian.

‘If we carefully piece together all of the various points which are clearly brought out by the different historians concerning the Cimmerians, the Gimiri and the Kymry, we are brought to the following conclusions: 

(1) The Cimmerians appear in history in the same general vicinity to which Israel had been taken captive. 

(2) They appear about one century after the first tribes of Israel were deported into the regions south of the Caucasus Mountains, near the Black and Caspian Seas – about 741 B.C. 

(3) All of these peoples are closely related i.e. the Cimmerians, Gimiri, and the Kymry. 

(4) They leave the area of Armenia, or the Caucasus regions, and arrive in North-west Europe. In fact… branches of these Cimmerians penetrated into Central Europe, North Italy, Spain, and into many countries of Europe, as well as into Britain and Scandinavia. 

(5) … these Cimmerian or Kymric peoples are also closely related to the Gauls and Kelts…

(6) All of these peoples were sprung from the Scythian hoard, and mixed freely with them. The fact that they fought with the Scythians does not mean they were not close relatives of the Scythians. We have previously observed that the tribes of Israel even while still living in the Promised Land were continually warring among themselves, as is also mentioned in James 1:1; 4:1. 

(7) The Cimmerians were the same as the Gimiri who were also the same as the Ghomri or the people of Omri. These peoples were different branches of Dispersed Israel.’

A tangible line is clearly and undeniably drawn along the dots which join Simeon, King Omri, the Cymry and in turn the Welsh. The relationship of these terms with the word Gaul is worth noting. First, the origin of the name Gaul is offered by Raymond McNair in his thesis Key to Northwest European Origins.

‘Spier mentions the name by which the exiles of Israel were known, at the time of the Second Temple. He says: 

“The second holidays were adopted by the entire GOLAH, the communities living beyond the confines of Israel (meaning the exiled Ten Tribes)” (The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar, page 11). This Jewish author uses the word “Golah” when referring to the dispersed Israelites who were living beyond the confines of the Promised Land. Note the similar pronunciation of the words “Golah” and “Gaul.” 

Speaking of the territory east of the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee, Hurlbut says, “Decapolis… embraced no less than five sections as may be seen upon the map [not shown]: (1) Gaulonities, the ancient Golan now Jaulan, east of the Jordan” (A Bible Atlas, page 94). 

‘This is speaking of New Testament Palestine. The city which was anciently called “Golan” had by New Testament times given its name to the district called “Gaulonities.” (Encyclopaedia Biblica, Article Golan, pages 1747, 1748). The word “Golan” had been slightly changed in spelling to Gaulon-itis, the land of the Gaulon, meaning the land of the dispersed. On pages 100, 101, 104, and 105 of Hurlbut’s A Bible Atlas are maps illustrating this area lying immediately to the east of the sea of Galilee. The… Jewish historian, Josephus, speaks of a territory in the inheritance of Israel known as Gaulonitis. “He also gave Gaulonitis… to Philip, who was his son…” (Antiquities Book XVIII, Chapter VIII paragraph I). 

We now know that the people of Israel who lived in the area of GAUL-on-itis or Golan went into their captivity in 741 B.C. Those “Gaulonites” from Gaulonitis were the first to be dispersed among the nations. Since they spoke Hebrew at the time of their exile, they must have called themselves “Golah” or Gauls meaning “Captives.” These East-Jordanic Gauls, the exiles, or captives, who had been taken out of their land by the Assyrians, had probably ceased to pronounce the “h” sound by this time.’

Welsh women

McNair continues with the link between the term Gaul, its Greek equivalent Galatia and the migrations of these peoples to the British Isles. 

McNair: ‘The Gauls conquered Rome in 390 B.C. They conquered Great Britain, France except the Rhone basin, the whole of Spain except its Mediterranean coast, and north of Italy, parts of Germany, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania, and Silesia. Their empire was greater than either that of Charlemagne or of Napoleon – reaching from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Black Sea at the time when Alexander the Great was engaged in his conquest of Asia in 334 B.C. (ibid., 46, 47). 

“They (the Gauls) loved bright and varigated colours in their clothes, coloured stripes and checks” (ibid., page 67). Here we can see the tartan or “Scotch Plaid” which is still used by some of the present-day descendants of the Kelts who now live in Scotland. 

There were two Roman Gauls: (1) Gallia Cisalpina (Hither), included North Italy between the Alps and Apennines, and (2) Gallia Transalpina (Further), encompassed modern France, Belgium, and parts of Holland, Germany, and Switzerland. 

“The Greek form of GALLIA was GALATIA, but Galatia in Latin denoted another Celtic region in Central Asia Minor, sometimes styled Gallograecia” (Encyclopaedia Britannica 11th edition Volume XI, Article Gaul page 532). 

It is interesting to note that Livy and the elder and younger Pliny were Celts. 

Julius Caesar in his Commentaries says that Gaul in his day was divided into three peoples – (1) Aquitani, (2) Gauls or Celts and (3) Belgae.

… these same people afterward bore the name “Gauls” in Europe and some of their kindred brethren also bore the name “Galatians,” and lived in Central Asia Minor – in the heart of modern-day Turkey. The true Galatians (or Gauls) only comprised about one-tenth of the population of the territory of “Galatia.” 

Speaking of the Gauls and Kelts, Funck-Brentano in his work, The Earliest Times, states that the Celts came from the north – from Jutland, Friesland and from the coasts of the Baltic. He says: “They were the Normans of the century before our era” (ibid, page 27). They called themselves “CELTS,” but they were also known by the name of “GALATES,” and the Romans called them “GALLI.” To the ancients, the designations, Galli, Galates, and Celts were synonymous. But he says that these three names may have designated three different branches of the same race originally (ibid, pages 27, 28). A fourth branch was the Volcae-Walah, Wallachians, Wallons, and Welsh, all being derived from this Celtic name Volcae. The Celtic branch were tall and fair with pink and white skin. The Greek artists in the third century B.C. used the Gauls or Kelts as their ideal in sculpture and paintings (ibid., pages 27,28).’

In support of the convincing research quoted already, the following etymological associations are worth either recapping, or adding as further weight. Ancient Gaul or Gallia in Latin, was a vast region of western Europe which 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 – formed from Goidel and Gaidheal – superficially similar with Gaul, are two distinct words and not derived from one another. 

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 always called their land (country) Cymru and in Gaelic, Gymru.

A little out of context – as it relates to subjects in the article: Asherah; and Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega – but because it is Welsh focused, interesting aspects relating to dragons have been included. Dragons being akin to Seraphim which are themselves, described in the scriptures as fiery flying serpents. The dragon is a powerful symbol of rebellion and is also representative of the tribe of Dan – Chapter XXXIV Dan: The Invisible Tribe. 

After the Flood, William Cooper, 1995 – emphasis 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 [Ezekiel 28:13]. 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” – refer articles; Thoth; and The Pyramid Perplexity. 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 [not shown] 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. – refer article: The Top Ten Unexplained Mysteries of all Time*. ‘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 – Leviticus 11:1-8.

Nota Bene

The original section which followed concerning clean and unclean meat has been removed. The material is reproduced in its entirety in the article ‘Red or Green?’ and is now available there for the interested reader.

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

Yair Davidy put together a number of quotes showing historical documentation adapted from his work The Israelite Origin of the Celtic Races, 1996 – emphasis mine. Beginning with Donald MacKenzie, whom in 1935 examined historical 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?’ – Matthew 8:30-32.

‘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 [perhaps reflective of two different tribes: Benjamin and Dan]. 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 [not the same people as the British 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’ – refer articles: The Sabbath Secrecy; and The Seven Churches – A Message for the Church of God in the Latter Days. ‘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. 

It is important to recognise that while the Celts in Ireland and Scotland may have held onto the Mosaic Law as specified under the Old Covenant – thereby in the process giving evidence of their Israelite roots – certain aspects of the Law had been either annulled, amended or amplified by Christ’s death – Article: The Sabbath Secrecy.

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

Levi

1 Chronicles 23:1-32

English Standard Version

1 ‘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. 

4 “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.” 6 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 [family name of Abraham], 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. 

Readers seeking a comprehensive survey on the spiritual giant that was Moses, may be interested in the following – Chapter XIII India & Pakistan: Cush & Phut; Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia; and Appendix VII: Moses, the Exodus & the Red Sea Crossing – Fabrication or Fact?

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’ – Article: The Ark of God.

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, 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 proclaims 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

1 ‘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. 4 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.

6 “I the Lord do not change. So you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. 7 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 without retribution. But, their own day of reckoning beckons and justice will be served. 

Malachi: 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 likely 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. As 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 after the birth of Judah in 1746 BCE until Issachar’s birth in 1742 BCE. It is ironic that she gives the mandrakes to Rachel and conceives herself that night, yet Rachel who likely takes the plant root does not bear Joseph until 1726 BCE. Some versions incorrectly call the plant a love apple, or in other words, 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 or potato order. 

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 Antecessor Nulla. 

The next time we read again of Reuben is 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 who Reuben would have known very well. Further details are given in the Book of Jubilees.

Book of Jubilees 33:1-9

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, 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 [mourned as if one had died] 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 [vengeful, resentful, fierce anger] 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 [well after the births of Dan (1746 BCE) and Naphtali (1744 BCE)]. And as for any man who uncovers his father’s skirt his deed is wicked exceedingly, for he is abominable before Yahweh.’

Bilhah

A tragic experience involving the rape of Bilhah; coupled with not being able to be close to Jacob ever again. The condemnation against Reuben is severe because of his evil act and one realises the prophecy’s regarding his offspring are a punishment, just as Canaan’s children were punished even though it was Canaan’s sin – refer Chapter XI Ham Aequator; and Chapter XII Canaan & Africa. 

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 The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran. 

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

‘We may compare the short original story [refer Chapter XI Ham Aequator] of the son (Canaan or Ham) molesting his father (Ham or Noah) [in reality it was Ham’s wife Na’eltama’uk* who slept with 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.’

Rachel gave Bilhah to Jacob as a substitute wife. After Rachel’s death, her status reverts to a concubine as she was not married to Jacob.

Frankel: ‘… 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 [H6349] as water [H4325], you shall not have preeminence [H3498], because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it – he went up to my couch!”

This is the only time when 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 – just as Esau had also lost his birthright. Today, Northern Ireland as a country (which is not a nation), is caught in a no-mans-land, between the lions of Judah and Gad… England and Ireland respectively. It’s checkered past, violent and unstable as predicted. Like water that is never truly calm or still, so has the volatile history of Northern Ireland been embroiled between Catholic, Republican Irish and Protestant, Northern Irish Loyalists who reside in the majority of Ulster’s nine Counties.

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

Northern Irish man and woman

It is interesting to note that the Northern Irish are staunchly loyal and royal in their mindset and policy. Only Canada apart from obviously the English, rivals them for their patriotism towards the Monarchy and its figurehead that was 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 regal rulership. In Northern Ireland the reminder of this is in the practice 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 – muwth: put to death]; and let not his men [H4962] be few [H4557 – caphar: small, numbered].’

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 researchers 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 times), few (2), number (1) and small (1). The connotation is having less sex and subsequently 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 exist and not cease to live. France – aside from its predominant Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b-U152 which does show they are related to the Celtic-Saxon-Viking peoples of Britain (R1b-U106) and Ireland (R1b-M529)… they are still not the same – possess a large population and a preeminence of power.

Thus France does not fulfil the prophecies for Reuben. Northern Ireland does… and its intricate relationship with Gad from Ireland, makes it the only plausible biblical answer.

Belfast, capital city of Northern Ireland

Judges 5:15-16

Common English Bible

15 ‘… Among the clans of Reuben there was deep soul-searching [1]. 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 [2].’

The Reubenites were reluctant to get involved in the combined tribes of Israel war against the Canaanites during Deborah’s judgeship. In fact, they didn’t participate at all. The other tribe that declined involvement, 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. 

Gad

Genesis 49:19

Amplified Bible

‘As for Gad [H1410 – gad: 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 [Ireland]. But he will go against them at their heels [in 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 a ‘horses heels so that his rider falls backward.’

Worth noting is that the tribe of Dan has a primary relationship with Ephraim; a secondary one with Reuben; a tertiary one with Benjamin and subsidiary connections with both Simeon and Gad – refer Chapter XXXIV Dan: The Invisible Tribe.

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 were on the periphery of the action and the 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 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 not impossible but rather more difficult to assign a. specific armies (or invaders) for either one which so indelibly affected the Irish conscience; and b. 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. English Lordship began in 1172, with Ireland subordinated to the English (later British) Crown in 1541. Ireland was merged with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom in 1801.

The Irish eventually won back their country and became independent from the United Kingdom in 1922 and finally a Republic in 1949. As a Lion themselves, they stood up to the powerful Lion of Judah – Genesis 49:9. With regard to enlarging their territory: first considered was the massive Irish immigration to the United States of America. Many millions fled the potato famine (1845-1852), 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; a Northern Ireland separating itself from England, Wales 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.

Dublin, capital city of Ireland

The religious divide of the Northern Ireland populace could be evidence of a genetic split; in that the Protestants are primarily from Reuben and the Catholics are not Reuben at all, but actually reflective of Gad. This could be another interpretation of Gad ‘enlarging his territory.’ 

Irish men

As the tribes of Israel are all in the process of distancing themselves from Judah and the hold its monarchy exerts; a Northern Ireland forsaking the United Kingdom could be inevitable. And before Scotland or Wales would still be a sensational political event. The big question of course is whether Scotland or Wales would actually leave the United Kingdom as historically they were the integral tribes constituting the Kingdom of Judah; comprising 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 and that Reuben was to be the smallest tribe – refer* Chapter VII Javan: Archipelago South East Asia & Polynesia; and Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran.

Hoeh: ‘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 [or in reality, Catholicism], 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 Will the Real Assyria Stand Up: Asshur & Russia; and Chapter XXVIII The True Identity & Origin of Germany & Austria – Ishmael & Hagar.

Irish women

Hoeh offers no example 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 relentlessly, 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, unlike his brothers and more attune with his cousin Esau or even his uncle Ishmael. So far, we have witnessed the close ties between Judah and Benjamin; between Simeon and Levi and between Reuben and Gad. 

The antiquity of Ireland’s history is shrouded in a mist 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 legendary and mythical history and glean what is relevant for Reuben and Gad. In so doing, we will bump into Benjamin and Zarah from Judah which we have investigated already (Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes) as well as the tribe of Dan, who will be studied separately in a later chapter – Chapter XXXIV Dan: The Invisible Tribe. 

Ireland’s early history is ‘based largely upon the pseudo-historical Lebor Gabala Erenn, 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 – following the Flood – are the Partholonians, named from their leader Partholon.

An intriguing word as it is remarkably similar to the Israelite empire of the Parthians*, discussed in Chapter XXX Judah and Benjamin – the Regal Tribes. They are alleged to have ruled in Ireland for some three hundred years and then became extinct due to a disease. A gap of thirty years may have transpired separating them and the next people to arrive, the Nemedians. 

In the Annals of Clonmacnois, written circa 1408 CE, Bartholome is mentioned arriving in Ireland during the time that Abraham was alive. Geoffrey Keating proposes the Partholonians arrived in Ireland circa 2061 BCE, which is amended in the unconventional chronology to 2044 BCE. Meanwhile, Abraham lived between 1977 BCE and 1802 BCE. An Old English version by Roberts of this same tradition said that the people who were led by Bartholome, sailed to Ireland from the Middle East via Spain. As Bartholomaeus is etymologically linked with Partholomus, this is likely a representation of the Partholonians.

Partholon was the son of Sera, who was the son of Sru a king of Greece. Partholon had fled from Greece, after murdering his own father and mother. In the process, Partholon had lost his left eye – Articles: Thoth; and The Pyramid Perplexity. Accompanied by his wife Dealgnaid (Delgnat); three sons, Slanga, Rudraige, Laiglinne, their wives; and a group of a thousand followers, they sailed via Sicily and Iberia before landing at Inber Scene – Kenmare in County Kerry. The Partholonians lived on a small island near the head of the estuary of the River Erne. In their third year, the settlers encountered the giant Fomorians; where they fought in the Battle of Mag Itha – Slemna of Mag Itha. In this reputed first battle on Irish soil, they defeated the Fomorians, led by a Cichol Gricenchos.

David Hughes in The British Chronicles, 2007, says: ‘the Partholonians were prominent in Ulster and in Scotland where they were referred to as “Parthi.”* An erroneous tradition says they descended from Noah’s son Japheth. Due to the timing of Jacob being born in 1817 BCE, the Partholonians could not be from the sons of Jacob. Though the later Nemedians do appear to have a connection with Jacob. 

It is possible Partholon was a Hebrew, descended from Eber like Abraham. Sru may be the same as Reu, the grandson of Eber and Sera could be his son Serug, the great grandfather of Abraham – Genesis 11:16-26.

The Nemedians arrived in Ireland in approximately 1714 BCE, ruling Ireland for two hundred and seventeen years, to circa 1497 BCE. Their journey to Ireland began seemingly from Spain with a fleet of thirty-four ships and a thousand and twenty people – much like the Partholonians who preceded them. 

Only one ship with about thirty people is said to 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 Manasseh – 1 Chronicles 7:16. The Nemedians are also coincidently claimed by one source ‘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.

An ancient indigenous people in Ireland, were the Fomorians. The Fomorian origins are supposed to be from North Africa. They worshipped a goddess, Domnu and their leader was Balar (or Balor), a form of the word Baal, meaning ‘lord’ or ‘possessor’ – Article: Belphegor. They were in essence, sea-going pirates and possibly female dominated. They are not considered as Celtic or permanent for 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 commonly called the Giant’s Causeway – Article: Monoliths of the Nephilim.

The Fomorians were cruel and violent and they would repeatedly raid the mainland. The Fomorians had once fought the Partholonians. 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 period and then later also over the Dananns, extracting heavy tributes and taxes from them. 

The Fomorian giants were undoubtedly Elioud descendants of the Nephilim – refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega; and articles: Nephilim & Elioud Giants I & II. 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; being the second generational offspring and beyond, of the Nephilim. The Irish name Uladh is pronounced as Ulla, which would then become Ula-ster and hence Ulster. 

A commentator adds – emphasis 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” (Genesis 4:15) – refer article: Na’amah.

The original Wisdom of God who walked in the midst of fire, was the companion of the Eternal – Ezekiel 28:11, 14, 16-17, Proverbs 8:22-36 – Article: Asherah.

As an aside, in the genealogy of Christ through his mother Mary, one of His ancestors is a certain Eliud (Matthew 1:14–15), the great-great-grandfather of Joseph, the father of Mary – Article: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. The name Eliud is (G1664), Elioud and means: ‘God his Praise’ or ‘God of Majesty.’ 

Three Nemedian chieftains led their people in revolt; attacking the Fomorian stronghold of Tory Island, with the Nemedians managing to kill one of the Fomorian kings and capturing 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 (Britain) Maol to Alba (Scotland), where the whole island was named after him. This is more convincing than Britain being named after Brutus some four hundred years later. These were related peoples to the British peoples who became known as Britons and the Cymry descended from Simeon. A second branch of the Nemedians were led by a 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 and only his descendants were there. 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 were known as the Fir Bolg, one and the same as the Belgae* on the continent. The Fir Bolge or sons of Bolge are also referred to as ‘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 [the 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 to become known as Cymry. 

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, prior to the tribe of Zarah-Judah’s arrival in approximately 1404 BCE – Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes. The sons of Dela divided Ireland into their original five provinces: Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Meath.

Their rule was short lived; lasting a mere thirty-seven years and succession of nine kings, until the Tuatha de Danann – the tribe of Dan – arrived circa 1230 BCE. The Fir Bolg were perceived ‘as inferior people, and strangely, quite primitive in comparison to the Tuatha De Danann…’ Some versions record that the tribe of Dana’s ancestor was Bethac who had left Ireland with the other Nemedians and later returned. The Hiberi Scotti or Gaels arrived in 1046 BCE to find the Tuatha de Danann had been ruling for one hundred and seventy-four years after the Second Battle of Moytura in 1220 BCE.

The ancient Book of the Genealogies by MacFirbis states – emphasis 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” – aka the tribe of Reuben in Northern Ireland.

The Fir Bolg 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 against them, where they were defeated, circa 1230 BCE. 

The Story of the Irish Race – emphasis mine:

“The Irish race of today is popularly known as the Milesian Race [the (Hiberi Scotti) Gaels and not the Royal Milesian (Scots) from Zarah-Judah nearly 400 years previously], 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 [in 1046 BCE]. 

The races that occupied the land when the so-called Milesians came, chiefly the Firbolg [Tribe of Reuben] and the Tuatha De Danann [Tribe of Dan], were certainly not exterminated by the conquering Milesians [Gad, not Zarah-Judah]. Those two peoples [Reuben and Dan] formed the basis of the future population [in Ulster], which was dominated and guided, and had its characteristics moulded, by the far less numerous but more powerful Milesian [Zarah-Judah] 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 [Irish] – 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 [Hiberi Scotti] 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 [red] 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 Fir Bolg lost the battle because the Danann had superior ‘technological’ weapons. Tailtiu was the daughter of the King of the Mag Mor, “Great Plain”, from the Land of the Dead, which was a poetic name for Spain. Tailtiu married the last Fir Bolg 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 – refer Chapter XXXIV Dan: The Invisible Tribe. 

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 more 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 oracle in Genesis 49:4) and the zodiacal sign of Aquarius – refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega. 

Yair Davidy comments – emphasis 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 [clans] 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 [Cruithni Picts] and Reuben [Fir Bolg] lived in Northern Ireland, the link to Bela could relate to either or both of them. Ultimately, it was the tribe of Reuben who finally settled there, appropriating the ancient name of the Ulaid, becoming the modern word Ulster. 

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

‘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 [Article: Belphegor], 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 Fir Bolg time frame are the Galioin, also associated with the Lagin and Domain and all part of the Gabair peoples who arrived 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 Cale-don-ia in Scotland. 

The migration of the Dal Riata, the Dalriada Scots to the West coast of Scotland is presented in the following article (also refer Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes). 

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

‘Linguistic and genealogical evidence associates ancestors of the Dál Riata with the prehistoric Iverni [rather Simeon] (Erainn) and Darini, suggesting kinship with the Ulaid [actually Reuben] of Ulster and a number of Belgic [probably Reuben] kingdoms in Munster. 

The bulk of the inhabitants in County Antrim would have been the Cruthinic Robogdii [from Benjamin**], relatives of the Epidian Cruthin [Picts**] across the Sea of Moyle. Ultimately the Dál Riata over-lords [from Zarah-Judah], according to the earliest genealogies, are descendants of Deda mac Sin, a prehistoric king or deity of the Belgic Érainn [probably 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 from 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 [possibly Reuben’s] portion.’

Adamson: ‘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 include: a. the similarity between Robo-gdii and possibly Reube-n. Even so, the link between the Cruthin and Picts is stronger b. the indigenous Cruithnic Epidians of Caledonia remained unchanged because they were the larger body of people, the Picts from Benjamin c. 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 perhaps more likely, it is applicable to Benjamin being the ‘son of the right hand’ and ‘sharing the spoil’.

The Dal Riada Scots, were an amalgamation of invaders primarily composed of the tribe of Benjamin. They assimilated with the Picts to form the new nation of Scotland. The Dal Riada included a number of people who 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 [Milesian Scots] – refer Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes.

The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel… Found! Steven M Collins, 1992 – emphasis 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”… 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 [1010-970 BCE] and Solomon [970-930 BCE], 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. 

… 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… 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 derived from Gaed-hals as Gaels, were similarly known as Hiberi or Scotti. One legend of their coming to Ireland is that the leader was called Gad-elus* and they arrived based on the tradition that it was some four hundred years after the Exodus, in 1046 BCE. Their story mirrors and entwines with the arrival of the earlier Milesians from Zarah, Judah in 1404 BCE – refer Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes. In this instance, Niul married an Egyptian princess named Scota and their son’s name was 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 no snakes at all; though Ireland is notably one, with Iceland and New Zealand. Notice the name Glas, is the same as the prefix glas, for the city of Glasgow. 

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-Gal (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, which stems from Eber, the grandson of Arphaxad. 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

‘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

‘The sons of Gad [7]:

Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli [7].’

Numbers 26:35-36

English Standard Version

‘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. And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the clan of the Eranites.’

Anciently, Ireland was 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 difficult to ignore with the name E-ire or Eir-e and the prefix ire. To this day, the Republic of Ire-land 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…” “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 the 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, with the Greeks calling the Scythians, Skuthes. 

Ireland enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity after the Danite, Lugh Lamfada defeated the Fomorians. Lugh ruled Ireland for forty years from 1220 to 1180 BCE. One of his four wives was called Eri-u. A different 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 of Ireland. Though Dagda had received a near mortal wound from Caitlin, the wife of the Fomorian King Balor, during the Second Battle of Moytura in 1220 BCE, he 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, also ruling 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 married the daughters of Fiachna. 

The brothers then divided the land between themselves. Some seven years later in 1046 BCE, a man named Ith arrived in Ireland with some of his companions. Ith was the son of Breogan and the brother of Cualnge and Fuat. Ith was most notably, the uncle of a certain Mil* Espaine, again reminiscent of the earlier Milesians, yet in the time frame occupied by the later Gaels. 

Irish Pedigrees, John O’Hart – emphasis mine:

‘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.’ 

These 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. From this point, legendary history and myth are noticeably blurred. 

The Genesis 6 Conspiracy, Gary Wayne, 2014, pages 455-456, 458:

‘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 – emphasis mine:

‘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, had decided to travel and explore this beautiful, new land Erin, which 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 magic to hide Erin in a fog. The Danites also cast a spell of straying on the Milesian fleet. Amairgin then used magic to dispel the Danite spells. Eber Donn, a son of Mil, planned to exterminate all the tribe of Dan. In retaliation, 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 eventually 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 Erinn. All three Danite kings and their three queens lost their lives in the Battle of Tailtiu. Resulting in the defeat of the Tuatha de Danaan and forcing their retreat. The Danites did not leave Erin, continuing to dwell in Northern Ireland. Mythic legend continues with Manannan placing a powerful spell of invisibility over many parts of Ireland, with magical palaces hidden under mounds. These places were called Sidh (or Sidhe). 

With their magical abilities, the Danites were believed to be able to appear or vanish from sight at will; as well as being considered immortal. We will return to this aspect of the Danites in Chapter XXXIV Dan: The Invisible Tribe. Two further sons of Mil, Eber Finn (Heber) and Eremon (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, [were] originally Scythians… 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 [recall meaning of Gad] 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…’

An additional myth with recognisable details yet conflicting chronology which explains the origins 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 in Scythia and a wise and learned man. Phoeniusa Farsaidh erected a school in the valley of Senaar, near the city of Æothena (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: 

‘Gaodhal [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.’

If Gaodhal the leader of the Gaels (Gad) who would enter Ireland in 1046 BCE knew Moses, this would mean he was living four hundred years early – a conflict in the timeline – and during the time of the Milesian (Zarah-Judah) arrival into Ireland circa 1404 BCE.

O’Hart: ‘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 state that they kept the Laws of Moses, including abstaining from eating 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…), 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 Joshua’s friend 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: Kenaz… These 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.’

Davidy: ‘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 & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia. 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 perhaps a slave at the time; his marrying Moses adoptive mother, Queen Sobeknefru is unlikely – Appendix VII: Moses, the Exodus & the Red Sea Crossing – Fabrication or Fact?

Davidy: ‘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 – capitalisation his, emphasis 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 [Frisians]. 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: ‘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.   

Davidy: ‘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) [Reuben (or Benjamin)], 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: 

“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.”

King 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’ 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 circa 1746 and 1744 BCE respectively and it does not take into account the period of the Nemedians for 217 years; the gap until the Fir Bolg returned of 230 years; their rule of 37 years; the approximate time the Fomorians ruled the Danites for 10 years; and finally, the Tuatha de Danann’s 174 (or possibly 197) years of kingship in Ireland. 

Heber is recorded as being killed a year later. In an 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 (from the Tribe of Benjamin) – 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 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘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 [family name of Judah] , Orba, Feron, and Fergna; allotting a part of Munster to Lughaidh (the son of Ithe, the first Milesian discoverer of Ireland), amongst his brother Heber’s sons…

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…’

‘From these three brothers, Heber, Ir, and Heremon (Amergin dying without issue) [Three crowns of Munster], are descended all the Milesian Irish of Ireland and Scotland, 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 youngest 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’ – Article: The Life & Death of Charles III.

‘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 [Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal tribes], 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.’ It is 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.’ 

Tigernmas 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 men) from the East – the empire of Parthia – who were led to Bethlehem by divine inspiration to witness 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 originally 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. 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:

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

2. The Nemedians [Tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Dan]. 

3. The Fomorians [Elioud giants], 

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

5. The Tuatha-de-Danans [Tribe of Dan]. 

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

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

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

9. The Anglo-Normans [Tribe of Judah]. 

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

11. The Scots [led by the Royal Milesians from Zarah of Judah; accompanied by the residue of the tribe of Benjamin] from North Britain. 

John O’Hart: ‘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’ – Article: Monoliths of the Nephilim. ‘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 Firbolgs [Reuben] or 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 [indicative of Northern Ireland, with food and live animals the country’s second biggest export] 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 [Tribe of Dan], 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… 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 Milesians invaded 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 term Milesian is complicated as in this instance and time frame it accurately refers to the tribe of Gad; the peoples who are deemed the last tribe to invade Erin, summarily known as Hiberi, Scotti, Goidel, Gael and Milesian. The word Milesian is also used to describe the inclusion of the clan of Zara from the tribe of Judah; as in the Royal Milesians or Milesian Scots.

O’Hart: ‘The Cruthneans or Picts [Tribe of Benjamin] were also Scythians, and, according to our ancient historians, came from Thrace [refer Chapter III Tiras the Amerindian] 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 Danes and Norwegians (or Scandinavians) [refer Chapter XXXII Issachar, Zebulun, Asher & Naphtali – the Antipodean Tribes], 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 [Tribe of Judah] 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 [1154-1189], 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 Britons or 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’ represented the ‘Irish’ who emigrated to America and Canada; being a separate and distinct set of people – different tribes, as we will discover.

O’Hart: ‘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 (Ulster Scots) and as Scotch-Irish in America, are a distinct people, whom we will address in a later chapter. Needless to say, they are not descended from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Levi, Reuben or Gad.

O’Hart: ‘Thus the [first seven] 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.’ 

Song of Inisfail, Irish Melodies, Thomas Moore”

‘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 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘… 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.”

Cooper: ‘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’ – Chapter XXIII Aram & Tyre: Spain, Portugal & Brazil; and Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran.

‘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… was led by Nemedius… 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… we know from the chronicles of the early Britons that the British mainland was… settled by Brutus and his people in ca 1104 BC… 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. 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 [the tribe of Dan].

A second group settled, intriguingly, in the northernmost parts of Britain, apparently the first Pictish settlement [of the tribe of Benjamin] of what is now Scotland. This settlement of Picts 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 to 1000 BCE]. 

The third group are named as the Firbolgs [the tribe of Reuben], who migrated to Greece and then returned to Ireland which they subsequently divided up into five provinces.

The last colonisation of Ireland is then recorded…

“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, 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… 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.

Moreover, with regard to the… often stated Phoenician element of Irish descent, we should… 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… the early Irish chroniclers were passing on an account… 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…

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 Flag of Ireland

The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce (peace); between the orange – which stands for William of Orange, the Orange Order and Ireland’s Protestant minority – and the green, which represents Irish nationalism, the Irish Catholic and the Irish people.

The beginning of Gad’s ordeal, involving enduring ‘troops’ treading on them as per biblical prophecy was with the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 CE. 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. Achieving 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 a. invasion by England and the Lordship of Ireland from 1171 to 1542; b. the Kingdom of Ireland from 1542 to 1800; c. being conquered by England during 1536 to 1691; d. the period known as the Protestant Ascendancy lasting from 1691 to 1801; until e. the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when Ireland merged with Britain from 1801 until 1922.

Though the Normans had invaded Britain in 1066, it was a century later when they landed in Ireland. As quoted earlier, 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. The 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 an eastern portion. 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 Scottish small 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. 

Grant: “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; for the protestant 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 1852 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 the larger province of Ulster, comprising nine counties. The only official flag is the Union Flag of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Banner (Red Hand Flag, Ulster Flag) used officially by the government, from 1953 until the parliament was abolished in 1973 – first receiving a royal warrant for use in 1924 – has no sanctioned status since then, though some loyalists, unionists and sports team have adopted it. It is not to be confused with the similar flag with a yellow background, which is the provincial flag of Ulster (below). 

The Saint Patrick’s Saltire (below) represents Northern Ireland indirectly in the Union Flag. It is flown during St Patrick’s Day parades in Northern Ireland and some northern Irish royal events.

The Republic of Ireland is the 26th largest economy in the world with a GDP of $598 billion in 2025.

‘The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Irish global shipments during 2024.

1. Pharmaceuticals: US$89.7 billion
2. Organic chemicals: $46.3 billion
3. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $21.1 billion
4. Electrical machinery, equipment: $14.4 billion
5. Perfumes, cosmetics: $12.2 billion
6. Machinery including computers: $11 billion
7. Aircraft, spacecraft: $6.6 billion
8. Other chemical goods: $4.7 billion
9. Dairy, eggs, honey: $4.6 billion
10. Meat: $4.2 billion

Ireland’s top 10 export product categories generated 89.3% of the overall value of total Irish shipments. Electrical machinery and equipment [represented] the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 37.1% from 2023 to 2024.’

The term Ulster Scots is used for those peoples residing in Northern Ireland with a Scottish connection, while those who emigrated to North America are known as the Scotch-Irish. We will learn that the peoples who departed from Ulster for America were not descended from the tribe of Reuben – nor are the Ulster Scots who remain 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 (which were once part of Scotland and incorporated into England), which bordered Scotland. A minority came from further north in the Lowlands or from the Highlands. 

The Scots Irish 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 Northern Ireland that sizeable numbers of Scots Irish emigrated to Great Britain’s North American colonies. Between 1717 and 1775, an estimated two hundred thousand migrated to the United States. Scots Irish 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 people;] 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 the same as the Ulster Scots remaining in Northern Ireland. They are not the same as Americans and Canadians of simply standard Scottish and Irish stock, or even from English, Welsh and German descent. 

Not only does Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales possess a very different genetic make-up from each other, they are also different – in the main – from the rest of England. Proving that the four constituent nations comprising the United Kingdom are four distinct and separate peoples – England from Judah; Scotland from Benjamin; Wales from Simeon; and Northern Ireland predominantly from Reuben.

The population of the Republic of Ireland is 5,312,460 people and comparable with Scotland. Yet it remained considerably smaller for decades at approximately 3.5 million, until experiencing accelerated growth from the year 2000. The population of Northern Ireland grows slowly and is approximately 1,910,500 people – where Reuben’s people are few. Its composition will be discussed in a later chapter. While Wales has 3,307,856 people; also exhibiting slow growth. Simeon shares a larger territory with Judah – within the Kingdom of England – in proportion to its population size.

Tests reveal that the Welsh carry the most DNA of the original settlers in the British Isles. Or in other words, the Welsh have the most undiluted DNA in the British Isles, reflecting their status as one of the first Israelite tribes to permanently settle in Britain. 

This is underscored by three reasons. First, as we learned from the two census records of the Israelites during their forty year sojourn; the vast majority of Simeon departed 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 primarily based in Britain. Only the tribe pf Dan shared the island with them, for Benjamin arrived later and Reuben and Gad remained in Ireland. Third, due to its westerly location and mountainous landscape, few invaders including even the Romans, Saxons and Vikings ventured into 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 really are all different tribes and definitely not from the same one. The term Celtic, is clearly a cultural and historical time frame reference and only broadly an ethnic one. 

The research confirmed that the people of Orkney are the most distinct, “a result of 600 years of Norwegian rule” and “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 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 of England, that is Leah because they are Simeon, then north Wales must have a different mother. This would lend itself to the northern Welsh possibly having one of the Handmaids as their mother. Or it could be explained by Simeon’s other wife (of Canaanite extraction) – Genesis 46:10. We will return to this conundrum.* 

Khazaria, Welsh, Kevin Alan Brook – 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 [E1b1b] (E-L117)… (E-V13)… (E-M34), G1a1a1, G2a1, I1 (I-M253), [I2a1]… (I-M223, I-P37, etc.), J1, J2, R1a1a (R-M512, R-M198, R-M173, R-Z280), R1b1a (R-M269, R-M173, R-L21), and… (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 [see map above]. 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.”

Whatever the reason, the presence of such a high percentage of Haplogroup E1b1b, indicates admixture with an African line of male descent in the past – whether it be Berber as in North African, or Black as in sub-Saharan African – with the resulting mutation of V13 found only in Europeans.

Recall in Genesis 46:10 that Simeon had six sons and his youngest son Shaul, was born to a Canaanite woman. While this doesn’t explain the Y-DNA Haplogroup directly, it may be linked if this branch of Simeon maintained a proclivity to marry Canaanites – Chapter XII Canaan & Africa.

Khazaria: ‘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 and 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 much – the classic Celtic Y chromosome marker R1b S145 [L21] 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.” 

In the previous chapter we discussed the defining marker paternal Y-DNA Haplogroup for the descendants of Abraham being R1b-U106 (S21). It is prevalent in England, as well as the downstream sub-clade U198. In Wales, it is R1b-L21 (M529) which is predominant. M529 is a defining marker R1b Haplogroup in Ireland and the British Celtic nations. R1b-S116 (P312) derives from L11 (which is downstream from M269) as does U106, with L21 deriving from R1b-S116.

As intimated previously, this writer remains unconvinced in the exact thread of the R1b genetic tree at its tail end – that is, its most recent mutations (see above). This is not the chapter to elaborate on this contention, though at some point it is hoped it can be addressed more fully, with input from geneticists welcome. 

Briefly, the Atlantic Celtic M529 would seem logically to be either adjacent to the Proto-Germanic U106 (beneath L11) or even deriving from U106. Similarly, the Italo-Gaulish U152 would seem better placed deriving from L11 directly and located between the Proto-Germanic U106 and (the Ibero-Atlantic DF27 stemming from) P312.

While it is not a surprise that Simeon and Judah are different; as blood brothers their different R1b Y-DNA Haplogroup mutations is puzzling. This extends to the Scots and Irish, not just for the Welsh, as all share the same father. The Scots and Irish have different mothers – Rachel and Zilpah respectively – yet Reuben-Northern Ireland, Simeon-Wales and Judah-England all have the same mother in Leah. Why these five sons don’t share the same R1b mutation; or why the three sons from Leah at least do not; and why the four Celtic sons with different mothers do and the Saxon son doesn’t, will have to remain an enigma for the time being.

(A further thought to this question after time of writing, is the idea that Y-DNA Haplogroups can be affected by geography and chronology. Though this seems an unrealistic proposition, surely.)

Khazaria: ‘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…’

This interesting revelation hints at a link between Edom and Simeon in the past. The Bible reveals when this may have occurred in one instance. 1 Chronicles 4:42-43, ESV: ‘And some of them, five hundred men of the Simeonites, went to Mount Seir…  And they defeated the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped, and they have lived there to this day.’

Khazaria, Irish, Kevin Alan Brook – 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 [I2a2] at 5% [I1 and I2 older mutations related to though predating R1b (and R1a)],

R1a at 2.5% [Eastern European origin through admixture, Shem], and E1b1b at 2% [North African origin… Canaan].

G2a is found in only about 1% [Caucasus… Shem]. Also rare are [I2a1] (1%) [Southeastern European… Shem] and J2 (1%) [Southwest Asian… Ham].

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 is answered by the simple fact that the Viking element are contributions from two separate sons of Jacob – not from the descendants of Abraham and Keturah – two different and distinct tribes of whom then departed from Ireland (and Britain)** to migrate to lands in the New World – Chapter XXXII Issachar, Zebulun, Asher & Naphtali – the Antipodean Tribes. 

Khazaria: ‘… 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 respectively, with principally Reuben in Northern Ireland.

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.

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

‘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 mongrelised, hybrid people.

Corless: ‘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 The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran.

Recall from the previous chapter, how Ireland, Scotland, Wales and north western England are dominated by R1b-L21, which is also located in north western France (Brittany), the North coast of Spain (Basque) and western Norway, a residue from the slave trade. This lineage is often associated with the historic Celts, as the Iberian and Gaulish regions where it was once predominant have had a significant Celtic language presence into the modern period, as well as relating to a Celtic cultural identity. R1b-L21 was also present among Celtic Britons in eastern England prior to the Saxon and Viking invasions, as well as allegedly from Roman soldiers stationed in ancient York.

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 [that is early English, known as Britons and hence related to the Welsh] 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 [Cymry and the Picts, but does not include the Jutes and Normans] 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 (Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes), we looked at the top mtDNA Haplogroups for England and Scotland and compared them with near family: the Flemish of Belgium, the Dutch of the Netherlands, the Germans and the French. That is: the descendants from Sheba, Midian, Ishmael and Lot. The comparison of the top five to ten mtDNA Haplogroups showed that England and Scotland are more closely aligned as expected with regard to frequency similarity. 

It was Germany, which mirrored their sequence most closely, followed by France and the Flemish, with the Netherlands the least similar of the six close family members composed from Judah, Benjamin, Ishmael, Moab and Ammon, Sheba and Midian. 

From an autosomal DNA perspective a slightly different picture was portrayed, where the English and Scottish were most closely related to the Dutch and Germans and then Belgium and France, not withstanding Scandinavia.

England: H [44.7%] – J [11.5%] – U5 [9.1%] – K [7.8%] – 

T2 [6.2%] – I [4%] – HV0+V [3.2%] – U [2.7]

Scotland: H [44%] – J [12.7%] – U5 [8.1%] – K [6.9%] – 

T2 [5.9%] – HV0+V [3%] U4 [2.8%] – X [2.5%] 

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%]

England:  H – J – U5 – K – T2 

Scotland:  H – J – U5 – K – T2 

Wales:       H – J – K – U5 – HV0+V 

Ireland:     H – K – J – U5 – HV0+V 

Adding Ireland, which includes Northern Ireland, with Wales reveals a similarity of sequence which pairs them together rather than with either England or Scotland. The predominant maternal Haplogroups overall for England, Scotland, France, the Flemish, Dutch and Germans are H, J, U5, K and T2. For both Ireland and Wales, Haplogroup T2 is edged into sixth by Haplogroup HV0+V.

Noticeable is the fact that both Ireland and Wales who have been isolated compared with England and Scotland, have very low levels of T2 (and T1). Haplogroup mtDNA T is a relatively recent mutation compared with say H or even J and U. Ireland also stands out in having a high level of Haplogroup K, like the Dutch and Flemish. Haplogroup K is also found in very high levels amongst the Ashkenazi Jews.

Specific sub-clades for the most common and widespread Haplogroup H found in Ireland, include: H1i, H2a5, H3i, H14a, H17b, H24, H26a, H27a, H39, H44, H45b, H46, H47, H48, H53, H59 and H76.

                           H       HV0+V      J          K         T2      U4       U5        T1

France             44            5             8          9           6         3          8          2

Ireland            44            6            11        12           5          1          8          1

Scotland          44            3           13          7           6         3          8          2

England           45            3           12          8          6          2          9          2

Netherlands   45            8            11        10         12         7          8          3     

Germany         45            4             9          7           8         3          9          3

Norway            46            4           11          5           8          3        11          2

Sweden            46            5             8         6           4          3        12          3

Denmark         47            4           13          9           6          2         6          2

Flanders          47            3             6        12           9         3          3          2

Sephardim      56            9             5          8

Wales               60           4            15          8           1                     4          2

The addition of Ireland and Wales with their near and extended family members is highly revealing. When we study the percentages of the most frequent mtDNA Haplogroups more closely, we observe the Irish have as close an affinity with their French cousins, as 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 may have once looked like with a very high majority percentage of H and then perhaps possessing J, U, K and T building from 5% or less of their total mtDNA inheritance as the centuries passed. Other older Haplogroups possibly additions in the gene pool from admixture and inter-marriage. It is the Welsh similarity with the Sephardim from Esau which also stands out.

Ireland shares percentage similarity with England and Scotland in the maternal 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 perhaps provide a different picture.

The table below is a continuation of the table of nations descended from Shem studied to date, with the addition of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Gad (Reuben).

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

Sephardim       56      5                  8         8                         9

Switzerland      48     12      9        5       0.4          7            5

Bel-Lux             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

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

England            45    13       6         8                      9            3

Scotland           44    13       6         7     0.2            8            3

Ireland              44    11       5        12        1            8            6

France               44     8       6         9         3           8            5

Brazil                 44     11                            2                         11

Portugal            44      7       6        6      0.1           7             5

Spain                 44      7       6        6      0.7           8            8

Poland               44     8       7         4         1          10            5

Russia               41      8        7        4          2         10            4

Greece               41     10       7        5          3           5         1.8

Italy                  40      8        8       8           3           5            3

Ukraine            39      8        8        5          4         10            4

Iceland             38    14      10      10          4           8            2

Romania          37     11        5        8          2           7            4

Finland            36      6        2        5                      21            7

Turkey              31      9        4        6          5           3         0.7

Ashkenazim    23      7        5      32          5           2            4

Iran                   17     14       5         7          7           3         0.6

Adding Ireland and Wales to our growing table of European nations is revealing. The Sephardim who have recently bookended the western side of the mtDNA Haplogroups are now replaced by the Welsh. It is an extreme westerly position as akin to Iran who bookend the eastern end of the table with fascinatingly, the Ashkenazim. 

Discussed previously, a pattern has consistently emerged showing the percentage levels of the main European mt-DNA Haplogroup H, generally increasing as one heads west across Europe. The addition of three more of Jacob’s sons, Gad (Reuben) and Simeon, places Ireland next to Scotland. Again, the combined Haplogroups for Ireland mean the connection between Northern Ireland and Scotland influences the figures, for it would be Northern Ireland which would sit nearer to Scotland. We will explore the Northern Irish and Scottish connection further in a later chapter.

Thus, Ireland unlike Wales joins Scotland and England in going against the pattern of increasing levels of Haplogroup H as one heads westwards. Wales replaces the Sephardim as the highest carriers of Haplogroup H with 60%. The Welsh also replace England, Scotland, Denmark, Iceland and Iran with the highest frequency of Haplogroup J at 15%. Finland still possesses the highest level of U5 at 21%, while the Ashkenazim exhibit the highest level of K at 32%. The highest carriers of T2 are the Netherlands with 12%.

Regarding Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b: Haplogroup R-M269 is the sub-clade of human Y-chromosome Haplogroup R1b which is defined by the SNP marker M269. According to ISOGG 2020 it is phylogenetically classified as R1b1a1b (now R1b1a1a2). 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%. It 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. This 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 with his birth in 1977 BCE.

Notice that Ireland (1), Wales (2), Scotland (3) and England (5) are in the top five nations for men exhibiting the highest percentage of Haplogroup R1b.

The sub-Haplogroup of R1b, U106 (S21), is frequent in central to western Europe, reaching 66.8% in Germany; while the sub-lineage R-S116 (P312) is the most frequent in the Iberian Peninsula. R-U152 (S28) is more frequent in France and Italy; R-U198 in England; and R-M529 (L21) in the Celtic nations of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

As we progress through the descendants of Shem, the levels of R1b vary and gradually increase. We will keep a record of the levels for the two main R1b sub-Haplogroups – M269 and U106 – for some of the nations we will study. 

Italy – the Iberian Peninsula not withstanding – was the first nation with their main Y-DNA Haplogroup being R1b and it showed a marked difference with eastern Europe. It is worth mentioning that the North to south axis is as important as the East to west and so 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 (due to admixture with Germany) which is further south; yet less R-M269 overall as it is the descendants of Peleg and Aram which have the highest levels of R1b – refer Chapter XV The Philistines: Latino-Hispano America; and Chapter XXIII Aram & Tyre: Spain, Portugal & Brazil.

Turkey            M269   14%  –  U106   0.4%

Russia             M269   21%  –  U106   5.4%

Slovenia          M269   17%  –  U106      4%

Poland             M269   23%  –  U106     8% 

Ukraine           M269   25%  –  U106     9%

Czech               M269   28%  –  U106   14% 

Austria             M269   27%  –  U106  23%

France              M269   52%  –  U106     7%

Italy                  M269   53%  –  U106    6%

Swiss                 M269   58%  –  U106   13%

Denmark         M269   34%  –  U106   17%

Germany          M269   43%  –  U106   19%

Netherlands    M269   54%  –  U106  35%

England           M269   57%  –  U106   20%

Ireland             M269   80%  – U106      6%

When we added England (a) we saw that the English possess similar levels of R-M269 as the Swiss (b), Dutch (c), Italians (d) and French (e). Regarding the Germanic R-U106, they are at the higher end, though the Netherlands and Austria have even higher percentages and Germany (f) and Denmark (g) share comparable levels. It is clear that England is closely related to all these nations. Clarity is intensified when one appreciates that they equate to Judah (a), Haran (b), Midian (c), Nahor (d), Moab (e), Ammon (e), Ishmael (f) and Medan (g) respectively, 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 apart from M529 include: M37, specific to the Irish; L226/S168 in Central and Western Ireland; and M222 in Northwestern Ireland and 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 Basque and L371 specific to the Welsh. 

Paternal Y-DNA Haplogroups for Ireland, Wales 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

There is a subtle yet clear difference between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. 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 percentage for 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 principal Haplogroup, that the full blood brothers of Wales from Simeon and Northern Ireland predominantly from Reuben have a closer match in R1b levels.

Comparing the defining marker northwestern European Y-DNA Haplogroups for the Irish and Welsh with their related near neighbours.

Ireland:         R1b [81%] – I1 [6%] – I2a2 [5%]

N Ireland:     R1b [76.5%] – I2a2 [10%] – I1 [9%] 

Wales:            R1b [74%] – I1 [12%] – I2a2 [3%]

Scotland:       R1b [72.5%] – I1 [9%] – I2a2 [4%] 

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

Flanders:       R1b [61%] – I1 [12%] – I2a2 [4.5%] 

France:           R1b [59%] – I1 [9%] – I2a2 [3.5%] 

Netherlands: R1b [49%] – I1 [17%] – I2a2 [7%] 

Germany:       R1b [45%] – I1 [16%] – I2a2 [4.5%] 

Italy:               R1b [39%] – I1 [4.5%] – I2a2 [2.5%]

Sephardim:    R1b [29.5%] – I [11.5%] 

Recall, that Haplogroup R1b is indicative of Western Europe and embraces all of Abraham’s male descendants as well as that of his two brothers – Nahor and Haran. Y-DNA Haplogroup R1a is distinctly related to the peoples of Eastern Europe and beyond and is found 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 Wales and Northern Ireland, though not in Ireland. Similarly, I2a2 is primarily a north western European sub-clade of I2 and is relatively high in the Republic, while it is highest in Northern Irish men. 

Comparing the Welsh and Irish Y-DNA Haplogroups, with their Nordic, Benelux, German, Jewish cousins and brothers Judah and Benjamin.

Colour code: Blue = Keturah and Ishmael; Yellow = Esau; Red = Jacob.

                           R1b      R1a       I1       I2a1    I2a2      E1b1b     J2      J1     

Sweden              22        16         37         2           4            3          3                     

Sephardim        30          4       [12]                                    9        23       20

Norway              32        26        32                       5            1       0.5                    

Denmark           33        15         34         2           6            3          3                   

Iceland               42        23        29                      4          

Germany            45        16        16          2           5            6           5                    

Netherlands      49         4          17         1            7            4          4       0.5        

Frisians              55         7        [34]                                    2        [1]  

Wallonia            60         7          11         2            5            6          2                   

Luxembourg     61          3           3         3            6            5          8          3       

Flanders             61         4         12          3            5            5          4          1         

England             67          5         14          3           5             2         4          

Scotland            73           9          9           1           4            2          2            

Wales                 74           1         12          1           3             4      0.5       

N Ireland           77           2          9       0.5         10                        2              

Ireland               81           3          6          1           5             2          2          

The five countries comprising 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. Though England’s R1b frequency is lower because of this, notice the higher percentage for Haplogroup I, similar to its full brothers Simeon in Wales and particularly Reuben in Northern Ireland, while higher than its half brothers Benjamin in Scotland and Gad in Ireland.

Men with Haplogroups I1 and I2a2 have had a male ancestor who was not from the line of Abraham, though still related to the older Haplogroup I lineage descending from Arphaxad and Peleg.

Scotland’s higher percentage of R1a stands out due to its Nordic admixture – and before that Nordic intermixing with northern Slavs. Wales has a higher percentage of the Canaanite E1b1b, already touched upon. Ireland considerably, then followed by Northern Ireland, reveals a purer paternal Haplogroup identification, if the principle R1b is observed bearing out their isolation. Followed by Wales, Scotland and lastly England. Northern Ireland’s percentage of Haplogroup I1 and I2a2 is high, similar with England. The unique genetic status of Northern Ireland will be investigated in a subsequent chapter.      

Continuing with our Y-DNA comparison table from previous chapters with the addition of Jacob’s sons Reuben, Simeon and Gad.

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

                          J        J1      J2     E1b1b    G      R1a     R1b      R1    

Georgia          43      16       27         2        30        9        10       19 

Sephardim    43      20      23         9        [8]       4        30       34  

Ashkenazim  38      19       19       21       [10]    10         12       22 

Armenia         33      11       22        6         12         5        30      35  

Turkey            33       9       24       11         11         8        16       24 

Iran                 32       9       23         7        10       16        10       26

Greece            26       3       23        21         6        12        16       28

Italy                19        3       16       14          9         4        39       43

Romania        15        1       14        14          3       18        16       34

Portugal         13        3       10       14          7         2        56       58

Luxembourg  11        3         8         5          6         3        61       64

Brazil              10                 10        11          5         4        54      58

Spain              10        2         8         7          3         2        69       71     

Austria           10        1         9         8          8        19       32       51

France             8         2        6         8          6         3        59       62

Ukraine           5         1         5         7          3       44         8        52

Germany         5                   5         6           5       16        45       61

Flanders          5         1        4          5          4         4       61       65

Netherlands   4         1        3          4          5         4       49       53

Switzerland    4     0.5        3          8          8        4        50       54

Poland             3                   3          4          2       58       13        71

Russia              3                   3         3           1       46         6        52

England           4                   4         2           2        5        67       72

Denmark         3                   3         3           3       15        33       48

Sweden            3                   3         3           1       16        22       38

Wallonia          2                   2         6           6        7        60       67

N Ireland         2                   2                                2         77       79

Scotland          2                    2         2        0.5      9         73       82

Ireland             2                   2         2            1       3         81       84

Frisians         1.4                              2                     7         55       62

Norway         0.5               0.5         1           1        26       32       58

Iceland                                                                    23       42       65

Wales            0.5               0.5         4          3           1        74       75

Finland                                         0.5                       5         4         9

Georgia continues as one bookend with the highest Haplogroup J2 and G2a percentages. While the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jew, both eclipse Georgia’s J1 levels, with the Sephardim equaling the total Haplogroup J percentage of Georgia and the Ashkenazi Jew possessing the highest percentage of E1b1b with Greece. These Haplogroups aside from G (Shem) are indicative of Arab and related peoples who descend from Ham or Canaan and not Shem.

Finland is the opposite bookend, with no Haplogroup J or G2a and the lowest R1 levels. Poland exhibits the highest percentage of R1a and Spain’s total R1 is equalled by Poland, though in opposite percentages for R1a and R1b. The Welsh and Irish join England and Scotland in carrying the highest percentage of combined R1 and Ireland replaces Scotland with the highest frequency of R1b in Europe. 

It tends to be the countries on the periphery of Europe and its extreme outer edges such as Finland, Spain, Greece or even Georgia which possess the most or least amounts of specific paternal Haplogroups. Ireland is an additional example supporting this fact. We have now investigated thirty-three peoples, ranging from Russia and Iran in the East to Ireland and Iceland in the West; Italy and Greece in the South to Norway and Finland in the North. 

Focussing on the key Y-DNA Haplogroups associated with the majority of the European nations, Haplogroups R1a, R1b, I1 and I2 segment Europe roughly into quarters. Haplogroup R1b is dominant in the West; R1a in the East; I1 and I2a2 in the North and west; with I2a1 in the South and east. Added to this, is N1c1 from admixture with Japheth, prevalent in northern Europe and in counter balance to Haplogroups J2 and J1 derived from Ham, which are more common in southern Europe.

                         R1a       R1b        I1      I2a1       I2a2     N1c

Wales                  1         74         12           1          3

N Ireland         1.5        77           9       0.5         10

Portugal          1.5         56           2       1.5           5          

Spain                  2         69        1.5          5           1

Ireland               3         81           6          1           5

Luxembourg     3         61           3          3           6              

France                3         59          9           3          4            

Switzerland       4         50        14           2          8          1

Netherlands      4         49        17            1          7               

Flanders            4          61        12            3          5

Brazil                  4         54                      [9]            

Italy                    4         39          5            3          3         

Sephardim         4        30         [1]                             

Finland               5          4         28                    0.5       62

England              5        67         14           3           5        

Frisians               7        55       [34]           

Wallonia             7        60         11           2           5

Scotland             9         73          9           1           4         

Turkey                8         16           1            4     0.5         4  

Ashkenazim     10         12        [4]                              0.2

Greece               12         16          4          10      1.5      

Denmark          15         33        34            2        6         1

Sweden             16         22        37            2        4         7

Germany          16         45        16             2        5         1

Iran                   16         10                      0.5                    1           

Romania          18         16          4           28        3         2

Austria             19         32        12              7        3      0.5

Iceland             23        42        29                        4         1

Norway             26       32        32                         5        3

Ukraine            44          8         5             21     0.5        6

Russia               46         6          5             11                 23

Poland              58        13          9              6         2        4

The comparison table shifts in emphasis when northern (with the exception of N1c) European Y-DNA Haplogroups from Shem – comprising the intermediate, yet relatively old Haplogroups of I1 and I2a2 – are included.

Finnish men possess the highest levels of N1c1, while the highest percentage of I1 is found in Sweden. Northern Ireland replaces Switzerland with the highest levels of I2a2 and Ireland replaces Scotland as the bookend for the western most nations in Europe with the highest percentage of R1b. Finland remains at the other end of the nations in Europe with the lowest R1b level.

Though Haplogroup R1b may fluctuate markedly amongst Abraham’s descendants, it is Haplogroup I1, which remains consistently higher compared with other European nations. A case in point, is a nation descended from Aram such as Spain, whose men in turn have high levels of Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b but not in Haplogroup I1 – for R1b is a defining western European marker. Conversely, Swedish males exhibit high Haplogroup I1 levels but far less R1b.

Paternal Haplogroup I1 is a much older male lineage – one of Abraham’s ancestors – from which the downstream R1b Haplogroup mutation ultimately descends and is palpably a north western European Haplogroup marker. Yet today the two combined, decidedly form a British and Irish identity. One that distinguishes the sons of Jacob from their own near relatives: Ishmael-Germany; Midian-Netherlands; Medan-Denmark; Haran-Switzerland and Moab and Ammonite, France.

This chapter almost completes the sons of Jacob who dwell in the United Kingdom and Ireland. One more tribe to go. Prior to tackling the enigmatic tribe of Dan, we will turn our attention to the six tribes who bravely departed the shores of the British Isles and headed across the world’s oceans seeking adventure and better fortune as they explored forgotten lands and formed new nations.

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…

Acts 17:11 New Century Version

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.

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 

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