A son of Japeth, supposed to have been the forefather of the ancient Thracians, Ge 10:2.

the youngest of the sons of Japheth (Ge 10:2; 1Ch 1:5).

Ge 10:2. Josephus (Ant. 1:6, section 1) identifies his descendants with the Thracians, including the Getae (from whence came the Goths) and Dacians. Tuch derives the Tyrsenians from Tiras. (See ROSH.) Thracian tribes occupied most of northern and central Asia Minor originally. The Bithynians were Thracians. So also the Mariandynians, Paphlagonians, Phrygians (another form of the Thracian Briges), and Mysians (answering to the Moesi). Tiras follows Meshech in the genealogy, just as the Thracian tribes of Asia Minor adjoined the Moschi toward the W. Thus Genesis 10 includes among Japhet's descendants the vast nation of the Thracians, extending from the Halys in Asia Minor to the Drave and Save in Europe. Bria (perhaps "town"), in Mesembria, Selymbria, is a solitary relic of the Thracian tongue. The name has been identified as appearing in Aga-thyrsi. Taur-us, and Tyras (the river Dniester).

A son of Japheth (Ge 10:2), formerly identified with Thrace, but of late much more plausibly with the Turusha, a piratical people who invaded Syria and Egypt in the 13th cent. b.c. But Tiras has also been identified with Tarsus (= E. Cilicia) and even Tarshish (wh. see).

J. F. McCurdy.

Ti'ras

Son of Japheth: his descendants have not been traced, but are supposed to correspond with the Thracians. Ge 10:2; 1Ch 1:5.