PUT

[perhaps, bow].

A “son” of Ham. (Gen. 10:6; 1 Chron. 1:8) Although Put is mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, none of his individual offspring are named. Often his descendants lent military support to Egypt. (Jer. 46:9; Ezek. 30:4-6; Nah. 3:9) They served as mercenaries in the armies of Tyre and contributed to that city’s greatness. (Ezek. 27:3, 10) Put was also foretold to be among the forces of Gog of Magog.—Ezek. 38:5.

Available evidence points to a connection between Put and the Libyans of N Africa. In four of its occurrences, “Put” is rendered “Libyans” or “Libya” by the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. (Jer. 46:9; Ezek. 27:10; 30:5; 38:5) The Hebrew Put also corresponds closely to the Putaya (usually considered to be Libya) of old Persian inscriptions. However, Nahum 3:9 seems to indicate that Put and the Lu·vimʹ (Libyans) are separate peoples. But this in itself would not rule out identifying Put with the Libyans. The term “Libyans” was perhaps more comprehensive than the Hebrew designation Lu·vimʹ, as may be inferred from Herodotus’ reference to “Libyans and various nations of Libyans.”—Book II, sec. 32.

The identification of Put with the Punt of Egyptian inscriptions is not generally accepted today for phonetic reasons.