Mede
Mede
(Hebrews Maday’, , a word of Indian origin, meaning, according to Gesenius, Thes. Hebrews p. 768, the middle country, from its position, as in Polybius, v. 44; Auth. Vers. Medes, Media, Madai, Gen 10:2; 2Ki 17:6; 2Ki 18:11; 1Ch 1:5; Est 1:3; Est 1:14; Est 1:18-19; Est 10:2; Isa 13:17; Isa 21:2; Jer 25:25; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:28; Dan 8:20; Dan 9:1; also Madi’, , Mede, Dan 11:1; Chald. Maday’, Mede, Medes, Ezr 6:2; Dan 5:28; Dan 6:8; Dan 6:12; Dan 6:15; and Madaah’, Me, Median, or Madaa’, , Dan 5:31; Gr. ), the ethnographic title of a Median, or inhabitant of Media; the same of that of MADAI SEE MADAI [q.v.]. The Hebrew form, which occurs in Gen 10:2, among the list of the sons of Japhet, has been commonly regarded as a personal appellation; and most commentators call Madai the third son of Japhet, and the progenitor of the Medes. But it is extremely doubtful whether, in the mind of the writer of Genesis 10, the term Madai was regarded as representing a person. That the genealogies in the chapter are to some extent ethnic is universally allowed, and may be seen even in our Authorized Version (Gen 10:16-18). As Gomer, Magog, Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, which are conjoined in Gen 10:2 with Madai, are elsewhere in Scripture always ethnic and not personal appellatives (Eze 27:13; Eze 38:6; Eze 39:6; Dan 8:21; Joe 3:6; Psa 120:5; Isa 66:19, etc.), so it is probable that they stand for nations rather than persons here. In. that case no one would regard Madai as a person; and we must remember that it is the exact word used elsewhere throughout Scripture for the well-known nation of the Medes. Probably, therefore, all that the writer intends to assert in Gen 10:2 is that the Medes, as well as the Gomerites, Greeks, Tibareni, Moschi, etc., descended from Japhet. Modern science has found that, both in physical type and in language, the Medes belong to that family of the human race which embraces the Cymry and the GrecoRomnans (see Prichard’s Phys. Hist. of Mankind, 4:650; chap. x, 2-4; and comp. the article on MEDIA). For Darius the Mede, SEE DARIUS.’
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Mede
(Heb. Madai), a Median or inhabitant of Media (Dan. 11:1). In Gen. 10:2 the Hebrew word occurs in the list of the sons of Japheth. But probably this is an ethnic and not a personal name, and denotes simply the Medes as descended from Japheth.