Kittim

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Kittim (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] Chittim , which is retained by RV [Note: Revised Version.] in   Malachi 1:1  Malachi 1:1; 1Ma 8:5 ) designates properly the island of Cyprus, and is to he so understood in the geographical list of the descendants of Javan (wh. see), that is, the Ionians, in   Genesis 10:4 . The name is based on that of the settlement on the south-east of the island, called Kition by the Greeks, the modern Larnaka. This was the first trading post of the PhÅ“nicians on the Mediterranean, hence it is vaguely used in   Ezekiel 27:8 as the mother-city of all the maritime settlements westward. The connexion with the Ionians or Greeks is not quite clear, since these were not the first settlers on the island. There were, however, undoubtedly Greek colonists there in the 8th cent. b.c., as we learn from the inscription of the Assyrian Sargon of 720, pointing to a settlement of Ionian Cyprians in Ashdod. A use of the word, still more vague, is found in   Daniel 11:30 , where it refers to the Romans, while in   Numbers 24:24 (as in   Malachi 1:1  Malachi 1:1; 1Ma 8:5 ) it is applied apparently to the Macedonians.

J. F. M‘Curdy.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 10:4  Jeremiah 2:10 Ezekiel 27:6 Isaiah 23:1 23:12

Kittim is used in intertestamental writings as denoting all of the land west of Cyprus. 1Maccabees credits it as being the land of Alexander the Great ( 1 Maccabees 1:1;  1 Maccabees 8:5 ). The writer of Daniel understood it to be a part of the Roman Empire ( Daniel 11:30 ) used to threaten Antiochus Epipanes. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain several references to Kittim, the most notable being the defeat of her people (Romans) at the hands of God's people. See Cyprus .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Kit'tim. Twice written in the Authorized Version for Chittim .  Genesis 10:4;  1 Chronicles 1:7. See Chittim .

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Son of Javan, a son of Japheth.  Genesis 10:4;  1 Chronicles 1:7 . He is supposed to have settled on the island of Cyprus, which was hence called CHITTIM, q.v.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Son of Javan, and grandson of Noah,  Genesis 10:4 . See Chittim .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 10:4Chittim

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kit´im ( כּתּים , kittı̄m ,   Isaiah 23:12;  Jeremiah 2:10; כּתּ׃יּים , kittı̄yı̄m , apparently plural of kittı̄ (not found, but compare (4) below); Κήτιοι , Kḗtioi , Κίτιοι , Kı́tioi , Κητιείμ , Kētieı́m ,  Jeremiah 2:10; Χεττιείμ , Chettieı́m , Χεττιείν , Chetteı́n ):

1. Two Usages of the Name:

In  Genesis 10:4 the word is applied to the descendants of Javan, and indicates, therefore, the Greek-Latin races, whose territory extended along the coasts of the Mediterranean, and included its islands. By the side of Kittim are mentioned Elisha, Tarshish, and Dodanim ( = Rodanim of   1 Chronicles 1:7 ), generally explained respectively as Sicily with Southern Italy, Spain and Rhodes. In its narrower sense Kittim appears simply to have stood for the island of Cyprus - it is mentioned between Bashan ( = Pal) and the isles of Elisha in  Ezekiel 27:6 ,  Ezekiel 27:7 , and with this  Isaiah 23:1 ,  Isaiah 23:12 agree, Kittim occurring in these passages between Tarshish, Tyre and Sidon.

2. In Its Limited Sense:

The oldest etymology is apparently that of Josephus, who connects Kittim with the well-known old Cypriote city Kition ( Citium ) ( Ant. , I, vi, 1), testifying to the settling of the Kittim on the island. This word he further connects with Chethima, from Chethimus, and states that it was on account of Cyprus being the home of those people that all islands were called Chethim by the Hebrews. The derivation of an ancient Chethim from Chethimus, however, would make the m to be a radical, and this, with the substitution of Ch (= Kh) for Kittim , renders his proposed etymology somewhat doubtful.

3. In Its Extended Sense:

The statement of Josephus, that "all islands, and the greatest part of the sea-coast, are called Chethim (= Kittim) by the Hebrews," on the other hand, must be taken as the testimony of one well acquainted with the opinions of the learned world in his time. In  Jeremiah 2:10 and   Ezekiel 27:6 the isles of Kittim are expressly spoken of, and this confirms the statement of Josephus concerning the extended meaning of the name. This would explain its application to the Roman fleet in   Daniel 11:30 (so the Vulgate), and the Macedonians in 1 Macc 1:1 ( Χεττιείμ , Chettieı́m ) and 8:5 ( Kitians ). In the latter passage the Greek writer seems to have been thinking more of the Cyprian Kition than of the Hebrew Kittim .

4. Colonization of Cyprus:

According to Herodotus (vii. 90), Cyprus was colonized from Greece, Phoenicia, and Ethiopia. Referring to the plundering of the temple of Aphrodite at Askalon by the Scythians (i. 105), he states that her temple in Cyprus was an offshoot from that ancient foundation, as reported by the Cyprians themselves, Phoenicians having founded it at Cythera, on arriving from Syria. The date of the earliest Phoenician settlements in Cyprus is unknown, but it has been suggested that they were anterior to the time of Moses. Naturally they brought with them their religion, the worship of the moon-goddess Atargatis (Derceto) being introduced at Paphos, and the Phoenician Baal at Kition. If Kition be, then, a Semitic word (from the same root as the Hebrew Kittı̄m ), it has been transferred from the small band of Phoenician settlers which it at first designated, to the non-Sem Japhethites of the West. Kition occurs in the Phoenician inscriptions of Cyprus under the forms K ( i ) t ( t ) and K ( i ) t ( t ) i , the latter being by far the more common ( Cis , I, i, 10,11, 14,19, etc.).

5. Its Successive Masters:

The early history of Cyprus is uncertain. According to the Assyrian copy of Sargon of Agade's omens, that king (about 3800 Bc in the opinion of Nabonidus; 2800 Bc in the opinion of many Assyriologists) is said to have crossed "the sea of the setting sun" (the Mediterranean), though the Babylonian copy makes it that of "the rising sun" - i.e. the Persian Gulf. Be this as it may, General Cesnola discovered at Curium, in Cyprus, a seal-cylinder apparently inscribed " Mâr - Is̆tar , son of Ilu - bani , servant (worshipper) of Narâm - Sin ," the last named being the deified son of Sargon. In the 16th century BC, Cyprus was tributary to Thothmes III. About the year 708 BC, Sargon of Assyria received the submission of the kings of the district of Ya', in Cyprus, and set up at Citium the stele bearing his name, which is now in the Royal Museum at Berlin. Esarhaddon and his son Assur-bani-apli each received tribute from the 10 Cyprian princes who acknowledged Assyrian supremacy. The island was conquered by the Egyptian king Amasis, and later formed part of the Persian empire, until the revolt of Evagoras in 410 BC. The Assyrians knew the island under the name of Yad ( a ) nanu , the "Wedan" (Vedan) of   Ezekiel 27:19 Revised Version (British and American) (Sayce, PSBA , 1912, 26).

6. The Races Therein and Their Languages:

If the orthodox date for the composition of Gen be accepted, not only the Phoenicians, but also the Greeks, or a people of Greek-Latin stock, must have been present in Cyprus, before the time of Moses, in sufficient number to make them the predominant portion of the population. As far as can be judged, the Phoenicians occupied only the eastern and southern portion of the island. Paphos, where they had built a temple to Ashtoreth and set up an 'ashērāh (a pillar symbolizing the goddess), was one of their principal settlements. The rest of the island was apparently occupied by the Aryans, whose presence there caused the name of Kittim to be applied to all the Greek-Latin countries of the Mediterranean. Greek and Phoenician were the languages spoken on the island, as was proved by George Smith's demonstration of the nature of the non-Phoenician text of the inscription of King Melek-yathon of Citium (370 BC). The signs used in the Greek-Cyprian inscriptions are practically all syllabic.

7. The Testimony of Cyprian Art:

The many influences which have modified the Cyprian race are reflected in the ancient art, which shows the effect of Babylonian, Egyptian Phoenician and Greek contacts. Specimens are to be found in many museums, but the finest collection of examples of Cyprian art is undoubtedly that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Some of the full-length figures are life-size, and the better class of work is exceedingly noteworthy. See Cyprus .