ZERAH AND THE LINE OF DARDANUS

 *ZERAH AND THE LINE OF DARDANUS*

Sir Williams Smith's Dictionary of the Bible notes that the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus used Dardanus as the Greek form of a biblical name: "Darda... Joseph (us) Dardanos, Darda..." (1863, Vol.1, p.397). Darda, or Dara, is listed in Scripture as a son of Judah's son Zerah - the same Zerah who had received the scarlet thread upon his wrist in Genesis 38. "The sons of Zerah were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Dara - five of them in all" (1 Chronicles 2:6). In 1 Kings 4:31, he is called Darda: "For (Solomon) was wiser than all men - than Ethan the Ezrahite (i.e Zerahite or Zarhite), and Heman, Chalcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations".

Yet how could some of these men be sons of Mahol if they were sons of Zerah? A clue occurs in the title of Psalm 89, which gives the author as Ethan the Ezrahite - who obviously lived after David since the psalm speaks of God's covenant with David and even of later transgression by David's successors. Therefore, it would appear that the "sons" of Zerah in 1 Chronicles 2:6 must actually mean the descendants of Zerah - which is common usage of the word "sons" in the Bible. And "five of them in all" must mean that among the extended "family of the Zarhites" (Numbers 26:20), there were five who were spoken of together as having a great reputation for wisdom and accomplishment. That Solomon is noted to have outclassed them speaks volumes about them as well. They were undoubtedly internationally famous people who had carried out great exploits.

That the five, including Darda, are not immediate sons of Zerah takes care of a potential discrepancy in this whole identification, since Greek tradition mentions a brother of Dardanus named.

Jasius or Iasion, who was either killed by Dardanus or struck by lightning (Encyclopedia Britannica, p.884). If the five sons of Zerah are descendants of Zerah, this matter is easily resolved.

It is also interesting to note that while the genealogy of the Perez branch of Judah's family is given in great detail for many generations in Scripture, the genealogical record of Zerah's family is what you see above - that's it except for a named son of Ethan (1 Chronicles 2:8) and the infamous Achan of Joshua's day being listed along with his father and grandfather (verse 7; Joshua 7:17-18,24).

This lack of information perhaps suggests that most of Zerah's descendants were no longer present with the main body of the nation. Perhaps they became upset with their secondary status behind Perez, believing it unfair because of the incident with the scarlet thread and Perez's breach.

Whatever the reason, they appear to have migrated elsewhere. Yet could the biblical Darda truly be the founder of Troy? What of Dardanus' descent from the Greek god Zeus? A number of royal geneologies based on Homer describe the descent of Trojan royalty as follows:

Cronus (or Kronos) - Zeus - Dardanus - Erichthonius - Tros - Ilus - Laomedon - Priam (the King of Troy at the time of the Trojan War in Homer's Iliad). While this lineage might appear entirely mythical, it should be realized that some ancient myths about the "gods" were actually rooted in stories about real people. In fact, many pagan religions began, in part, as ancestor and hero worship (see Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Mythology, "Stories of God's and Heroes," chap.25: "Origin of Mythology", 1855, 1979).

With that in mind, it is rather surprising to discover what the ancient Phoenician historian Sanchuniathon (or Sanchoniatho) - who is believed to have lived around the 1200s B.C (though some put him a few centuries later) - had to say about the identity of Cronus. But first it should be recognized that all material from Sanchuniathon "is derived from the works of Philo of Byblos (flourished AD 100), who claimed to have translated his Phoenicica from the original text. The authenticity of that claim has been questioned, but excavations at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) in Syria in 1929 revealed Phoenician documents supporting much of Sanchuniathon's information on Phoenician mythology and religious beliefs" ("Sanchuniathon, "Encyclopedia Britannica, 1985, Vol.10, p.404).

The writings of Sanchuniathon, as we have them, mention the Greek "Kronos", whom the Phoenicians call Israel ... He circumcised himself, and forced his allies to do the same" (I P. Cory, Ancient Fragments, 1828).

Israel, as earlier stated, was the new name given to the biblical patriarch Jacob. And the Phoenician historian further explained that this Kronos or Israel had a special son named Jehud or Yehud. This is simply a shortened form of the Hebrew Yehudah that is, Judah, "evidence of the extent of Judah (later in the fifth century B.C) are the seal impressions on storage jars... on which appear the name 'Yehud' in various forms" (Yohanan Aharoni and Michael Avi-Yonah, The MacMillan Bible Atlas, 1977, p.109).

Since the primary son of the Greek Cronus (Roman Saturn) was Zeus (Roman Jupiter) then Jehud would be the same as Zeus.

Indeed, the word Zeus (Zhe-ut) may actually derive from Yehud - as the Roman Jupiter or Iupiter appears to derive from the Greek Zeus-pater or Zheut-pater (pater meaning "father"). Of course, a great deal of Babylonian paganism was overlaid onto these historical characters, creating the false gods of Greek and Roman mythology (see Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylon, 1916, 1959).

Thus, stripped of mythological embellishment, Dardanus son of Zeus son of Kronos is Darda son of Judah son of Israel.

Actually, Darda was the grandson, great grandson or later descendant of Judah - as the word "son" can be interpreted. In any case, Darda was, in infact, a descendant of Judah through the line of Zerah.

*Incredibly, an examination of the geneologies of the royal families of Europe's shows that nearly all of them trace their lineage back to the house of Troy* ( see James Anderson, Royal Geneologies or the Genealogical Tables of Emperors, Kings and Princes, from Adam to These Times, 1736, W.M.H Milner, The Royal House of Britain: An Enduring Dynasty, 1902). Thus, the scepter did indeed remain with Judah as prophesied. For from the line of Perez came the royal house of David while from the Zerah line came the royal house of Troy. Yet Troy's wasn't the only royal line from Zerah.

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