Kittim

Biblical Text

• Genealogy of the nations: Genesis 10:4 and 1 Chronicles 1:7 list Kittim among the descendants of Javan, the son of Japheth, alongside Elishah, Tarshish, and Dodanim (Rodanim in 1 Chronicles). In this genealogy the descendants of Japheth are portrayed chiefly as peoples who dwelt on the coasts and islands (see Shem, Ham, and Japheth).
• Balaam's prophecy: In Numbers 24:24, Balaam prophesies that ships will come "from the coast of Chittim" and afflict Asshur and Eber, but that they too will ultimately perish.
• Oracle against Tyre: In Isaiah 23:1 and 23:12, Kittim appears as a place linked by sea routes to the Phoenician port city of Tyre. Ezekiel 27:6 records that the timber used to furnish Tyre's ships came from "the isles of Chittim."
• Emblem of distant foreign lands: Jeremiah 2:10 sets the "isles of Chittim" in the west alongside Kedar in the east to declare that nowhere in the world has a nation changed its gods.
• Apocalyptic vision in Daniel: In Daniel 11:30, "the ships of Chittim" oppose the king of the north, and he is grieved and turns back.

Background

The Hebrew word is Kittim; the ending -im is a plural suffix. On the southeastern coast of Cyprus stood Kition (near present-day Larnaca), a Phoenician port city, and it is widely held that the name Kittim derives from this city. The Jewish historian Josephus is also known to have associated Kittim with Cyprus. Over time the name extended beyond Cyprus to refer broadly to the islands and coastlands of the Aegean and the western Mediterranean—that is, to the western world across the sea. The apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees (chapter 1) records that Alexander the Great came from "the land of Kittim," where the term refers to Macedonia.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In the Old Testament, Kittim chiefly symbolizes the distant western world beyond the sea, as seen from Israel's vantage point. The name does not appear in the New Testament. Cyprus, however, is mentioned several times in Acts. It was the homeland of Barnabas (Acts 4:36) and became the first mission field of Paul's first missionary journey (Acts 13:4).

Interpretation and Debate

• Kittim in Daniel 11:30: Many interpreters read this verse as referring to the Seleucid king Antiochus IV, who in the second century BC withdrew from his campaign in Egypt under Roman pressure. Some ancient translations, such as the Septuagint and the Vulgate, are known to render the term in this verse as "Romans." Those who take a futurist approach, such as proponents of dispensationalism, on the other hand, sometimes connect the latter part of Daniel 11 with the events of the end times.
• Kittim in the Dead Sea Scrolls: The War Scroll and the Habakkuk Commentary (Pesher Habakkuk) among the Dead Sea Scrolls depict the Kittim as a Gentile power of the last days. Most scholars identify them with Rome, though some identify them with the Seleucid dynasty.
• The precise region designated by Kittim varies according to the text and the period. Accordingly, not every passage should be assumed to refer to one and the same nation.