Gomer was the son of Japheth. The Bible doesn’t say much about Gomer, son of Japheth, as a person— but history has learned many things about his descendants, who appear to have been the ancient Cimmerians.
The Cimmerians originally lived north or west of the Black Sea, but at some point early in written history they were expelled by the Scythians and migrated down into present-day Turkey and parts of Iran. Skilled at horsemanship, they helped the Assyrians conquer the kingdom of Ararat and harassed the kings of Lydia and their capital at Sardis in western Turkey—even killing King Gyges himself.
Soon after this, the Cimmerians ceased to be a recognizable force in world history. But some of Gomer’s descendants formed recognizable subgroups of their own: Ashkenaz’s descendants probably became the Germanic, Scandinavian, and Slavic peoples; Riphath’s descendants probably became the Paphlagonians in northern Turkey; and Togarmah’s descendants probably became the Armenians and/or Phrygians. The ancient Thracians may have also descended from the Cimmerians. Homer wrote about a people group called the Cimmerians who lived at the edge of the world in a land of fog and darkness, but it’s uncertain whether he was referring to the same people.
The book of Ezekiel mentions the people of Gomer along with the people of “Beth Togarmah from the far north” (Ezekiel 38:6), giving support to the connection between Gomer and the Cimmerians.
Ashkenazi Jews are descended from Jewish communities in western Germany. The name came about because medieval Jews considered Germans to be descended from Ashkenaz.