Sephar

Sephar marks the eastern boundary of the Joktanite settlement in the Table of Nations. The line runs from a starting point at Mesha out toward Sephar: "And their dwelling was from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east" (Gen 10:30).

The Mountain of the East

Sephar is fixed in the text as a directional landmark rather than a city. The notice appears at the close of the Joktan genealogy, sealing the spread of his thirteen sons by tracing the territory they occupied — bounded on one side by Mesha and reaching toward Sephar. The mountain of the east is the far edge of that range, the geographical marker by which the Joktanite spread is measured.