Forefather
Forefather Japheth, Forefather
допотопная — послепотопная эпоха
Forefather Japheth — the youngest of Noah's three sons who were saved in the ark during the Flood; together with his brother Shem, he piously covered his father's nakedness when Noah lay drunk, for which he received his blessing; traditionally regarded as the ancestor of the peoples who settled Europe and part of North Asia.
Forefather Japheth was the youngest son of Righteous Noah, one of his three sons (together with Shem and Ham) who were saved in the ark during the universal Flood (Gen. 5-10). When their father, having drunk wine, lay naked in his tent, Ham saw his nakedness and mockingly told his brothers, while Shem and Japheth, walking in backward, covered their father with a garment without looking at him. For this, Noah, upon waking, pronounced a blessing on Shem and Japheth ("may God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem") and a curse on Ham's descendants (Gen. 9:20-27).
According to biblical tradition (the "Table of Nations," Genesis 10), the descendants of Japheth became the peoples who settled the northern and western lands — hence his traditional veneration as the ancestor of the European and part of the North Asian peoples.
He is commemorated together with the other Old Testament forefathers on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (a movable feast, the second Sunday before Nativity). IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION: as with the other sons of Jacob and patriarchs already processed in this database, the original stub's claim of commemoration "on Cheesefare Wednesday" is not confirmed by any source — Cheesefare Sunday's own dedicated theme is Adam's expulsion from Paradise, not the Old Testament forefathers. The category has been corrected from righteous to forefather.