Gomer
Gomer is a region mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Asia Minor in modern-day Turkey. Known today as Asia Minor. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Gomer as a geographic region appears in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10:2-3, where Gomer is listed as a son of Japheth and grandson of Noah, representing a people or territory in the post-flood world. In Ezekiel 38:6, Gomer and its hordes appear as part of the apocalyptic coalition led by Gog of Magog that will invade Israel from the north. Gomer's forces are allied with those of Togarmah from the far north, suggesting a location in Anatolia or the broader northern regions beyond the Fertile Crescent. Ancient Near Eastern sources, particularly Assyrian records, identify the Gimirrai, cognate with Gomer, as the Cimmerians, a nomadic people who invaded Anatolia from the northern steppes in the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. These invasions caused significant disruption to the Hittite successor states and Phrygia. The biblical association of Gomer with Asia Minor and the modern Turkish heartland reflects this historical background. In Ezekiel's eschatological vision, Gomer symbolizes the northern nations that stand in opposition to God's people before the final divine intervention.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The identification of biblical Gomer with the Cimmerians is supported by Assyrian cuneiform texts from the reign of Sargon II and Esarhaddon, which mention the Gimirrai as invaders from the north who defeated the Urartians and threatened Assyrian borders. Archaeological evidence for Cimmerian presence in Anatolia includes distinctive horse gear, weapons, and burial practices documented at sites across modern Turkey. The region of Asia Minor, identified as modern Gomer's territory, contains extensive Bronze and Iron Age occupation evidence. Excavations at Gordion, capital of ancient Phrygia, have revealed the impact of northern invaders on Anatolian urban culture in the eighth to seventh centuries BCE, providing archaeological context for the historical Gomer known to Ezekiel.
Verse Appearances (1)
Ezek
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]