And the children of Aram
The four following persons are called the sons of Shem, ( 1 Chronicles 1:17 ) being his grandsons, which is not unusual in Scripture,
Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash:
the first of these sons of Aram, Uz, is generally thought to be the founder of Damascus; so Josephus F20 says. Usus founded Trachonitis and Damascus, which lies between Palestine and Coelesyria: there was a place called Uz in Idumea, ( Lamentations 4:21 ) and another in Arabia, where Job dwelt, ( Job 1:1 ) but neither of them seems to be the seat of this man and his posterity, who, in all probability, settled in Syria: his second son Hul, whom Josephus F21 calls Ulus, according to him, founded Armenia; which notion may be strengthened by observing that Cholobotene is reckoned a part of Armenia by Stephanus F23; which is no other than Cholbeth, that is, the house or seat of Chol, the same with Hul; and there are several places in Armenia, as appears from Ptolemy F24, which begin with Chol or Col, as Cholus, Cholua, Choluata, Cholima, Colsa, Colana, Colchis: but perhaps it may be better to place him in Syria, in the deserts of Palmyrene, as Junius and Grotius; since among the cities of Palmyrene, there is one called Cholle, according to Ptolemy F25. Gether, the third son, is made by Josephus F26 to be the father of the Bactrians; but these were too far off to come from this man, and were not in the lot of Shem: Bochart F1 finds the river Getri, which the Greeks call Centrites, between Armenia and the Carduchi, whereabout, he conjectures, might be the seat of this man; but perhaps it may be more probable, with Grotius and Junius, to place him in Coelesyria, where are the city Gindarus of Ptolemy F2, and a people called Gindareni, by Pliny F3; though Bishop Patrick thinks it probable that Gadara, the chief city of Peraea, placed by Ptolemy F4 in the Decapolis of Coelesyria, had its name from this man: Mr. Broughton derives Atergate and Derceto, names of a Syrian goddess, from him, which was worshipped at Hierapolis in Coelesyria, as Pliny says F5. The last of the sons of Aram, Mash, is called Meshech, in ( 1 Chronicles 1:17 ) and here the Septuagint version calls him Masoch; his posterity are supposed to settle in Armenia, about the mountain Masius, thought to be the same with Ararat, and which the Armenians call Masis; perhaps the people named Moscheni, mentioned by Pliny F6, as dwelling near Armenia and Adiabene, might spring from this man.