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Bible Encyclopedias
Togarmah
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Heb. Togarmah', תּוֹגִרְמָה [briefly תֹּגִרְמָה, Genesis 10:13], of uncertain derivation; Sept. θοργαμά v.r. θέργαμα, etc.; Vulg. Thogarma), third named of the three sons of Gomer (the son of Japheth), his brothers being Asbkenaz and Riphath (Genesis 10:13; 1 Chronicles 1, 6) B.C. post 2513. The descendants of Togarmah are mentioned among the merchants who trafficked with Tyre, the house of Togarmah being said to trade "in its fairs with horses, and horsemen, and mules" (Ezekiel 27:14). They are named with Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya as followers of Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, or, as it may be rendered (making the Hebrew Rosh. for chief, a proper name, as it is in the Sept. ῾Ρώς, and as the Jews say it ought to be rendered), the prince of Rosh or Russ, Meshech or Moshk, and Tubal or Tobolsk (Ezekiel 38:5-6). supposed by some to mean the prince or power of Russia, the title of the emperor of Russia being prince or emperor of Russia, Moscow, and Tobolsk. Togarmah is said to be of the north quarters, and Gog is represented as a guard to it, possibly professing to guard. it, or offering to it a protectorate (Ezekiel 38:7). The Jews say that by Togarmah, or the house of Togarmah, we are to understand the Turks. Torgama, therefore, as it is given in the Sept. (and in some Heb. MSS. תורגמה ), has been thought by many to mean Turkoman, or the Turkoman hordes from whom the Turks have sprung. Togarmah, however, as a geographical term, is connected with Armenia, and the subsequent notices of the name (Ezekiel 27:14; Ezekiel 38:6) accord with this view. Armenia was, according to Strabo (11, 13, 9, 529), distinguished by the production of good horses (comp, Xenoph. Anab. 4:5, 24; Herod. 7:40). The countries of אררט, and מני (Μινυάς ), and also הול, were contiguous to Togarmah (Josephus, Ant. 1, 1, 6).
The name itself may possibly -have reference to Armenia, for, according to Grimm (Gesch. d. deutsch. Spi-. 2, 825), Togarmah comes from the Sanskrit toka, "tribe," and Arma =Armenia, which he further connects with Hermino the son of Mannus. The most decisive statement respecting the ethnographic relation of the Armenians in ancient literature is furnished by Herodotus, who says that they were Phrygian colonists, that they were armed in the Phrygian fashion, and were associated with the Phrygians under the same commander (Herod. 7:73). The remark of Eudoxus (Steph. Byz. s.v. Ἀρμενία ) that the Armenians resemble the Phrygians in many respects in language (τῆ φωνῇ πολλὰ φρυγίζουσι ) tends in the same direction. It is hardly necessary to understand the statement of Herodotus as implying more than a common origin of the two peoples; for, looking at the general westward progress of the: Japhetic races, and on the central position which Armenia held in regard to their movements, we should rather infer that Phrygia was colonized from Armeniat than vice versa-. The Phrygians were indeed reputed to have had their first settlements in Europe, and thence to have crossed into Asia (Herod. 7:73); but this musts be regarded as simply a retrograde movement of a section of the great Phrygian race in the direction of their original home. The period of this movement is fixed subsequently to the Trojan war (Strabo, 14:680),. whereas the Phrygians appear as an important race in; Asia Minor at a far earlier period (id. 7:321; Herod 7, 8, 11). There can be little doubt that they were once the dominant race in the peninsula, and that they: spread westward from the confines of Armenia to the-shores of the Aegean. The Phrygian language is undoubtedly to be classed with the Indo-European family. The resemblance between words in the Phrygian and Greek tongues was noticed by the Greeks themselves (Plato, Cratyl. p. 410), and the inscriptions still existing in the former are decidedly Indo-European. (Rawlinson, Herod. 1, 666). The Armenian language presents many peculiarities which distinguish it from other branches of the Indo-European family; but these may be accounted for partly by the physical character of the country, and partly by the large amount of foreign admixture that it has experienced. In spite of this, however, no hesitation is felt by philologists in placing Armenian among the Indo-European languages (Pott, Etym. Forsch. introd. p. 32; Diefenbach, Orig Europ. p. 43). With regard to the ancient inscriptions at Wan, some doubt exists; some of them, but apparently not the most ancient, are thought to bear a Tuiranian character (Layard, Nin and Bab. p. 402; Rawlinson, Herod. 1, 652); but, even. were this filly established, it fails to prove the Turanian character of the population, inasmuch as they may have been set up bforeign conquerors. The Armen'ians themselves haves associated the name of Togarmah with their early history in that they represent the founder of their race-. Haik, as a son of Thorgom (Moses Choren. 1, 4, 9-11. See Moses Chorenensis, Historiae Armen. lib. 3, Armenedidit, Lat. vert. notisque illustr W, et G. Whistonii [Lond. 1736]); Heeren, Ideen, 1, 1, 305; Michaelis, Spicilegium Geographie, 1, 67-78; Klaproth, Travels, 2, 64. (See ARMAENIA).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Togarmah'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/t/togarmah.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
