Lud, son of Shem Lud, son of Shem Lud (Hebrew: ) was a son of Shem and grandson of Noah, according to "Genesis" 10 (the "Table of Nations"). Lud should not be confused with the Ludim, said there to be descended from Mizraim, a son of Ham. The descendants of Lud are usually, following Josephus, connected with various Anatolian peoples, particularly Lydia (Assyrian "Luddu") and their predecessors, the Luwians; cf. Herodotus' assertion ("Histories" i. 7) that the Lydians were first so named after their king, Lydus (Λυδός). However, the chronicle of Hippolytus of Rome (c. 234 AD) identifies Lud's descendants with the "Lazones" or
Japheth on his death (the descendants of Shem and Ham respectively correspond to the other two, those of the Ptolemies and Seleucids). As the point of the "blessing of Japheth" seems to be that Japheth (a Greek-descended people) and Shem (the Israelites) would rule jointly over Canaan (Palestine). From the 19th century until the late 20th century it was usual to see Japheth as a reference to the Philistines, who shared dominion over Canaan during the pre-monarchic and early monarchic period of Israel's history. This view accorded with earlier understanding of the origin of the Book of Genesis, which was seen