Madai

Madai (meaning middle land) was the third son of Japheth and grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5), identified as the ancestor of the Medes — the people of Media, occupying the mountainous plateau southeast of the Caspian Sea in what is today northwestern Iran. The Medes appear in Scripture as a significant imperial power: they are listed in 2 Kings 17:6 and 18:11 as the people to whose cities the Israelites of the northern kingdom were deported after the Assyrian conquest. Isaiah 13:17 prophesies that God will stir up the Medes against Babylon, a prophecy fulfilled when Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon in 539 BC in alliance with Median forces.

The Medo-Persian empire that succeeded Babylon features prominently in Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Daniel 5:28 announces the division of Babylon and its giving to the Medes and Persians. Acts 2:9 mentions Medes among those present at Pentecost, reflecting the Jewish diaspora that had reached the Median homeland since the Assyrian deportations.