Chittim

The country, or countries, implied by this name in Scripture, are variously interpreted by historians and commentators. Chittim has been taken, by Hales and Lowth, for all the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean; which appears most consonant with the general use of the word by the different inspired writers.

Chit′tim, or Kittim, a branch of the descendants of Javan, the son of Japheth (Gen 10:4). On the authority of Josephus, who is followed by Epiphanius and Jerome, it has been generally admitted that the Chittim migrated from Phoenicia to Cyprus, and founded there the town of Citium, the modern Chitti. ’Chethimus possessed the island of Chethima, which is now called Cyprus, and from this, all islands and maritime places are called Chethim by the Hebrews.’ Cicero, it may be remarked, speaks of the Citians as a Phoenician colony. Some passages in the prophets (Eze 27:6; Isa 23:1; Isa 23:12) imply an intimate connection between Chittim and Tyre. At a later period the name was applied to the Macedonians. Hengstenberg has lately endeavored to prove that in every passage in the Old Testament where the word occurs, it means Cyprus, or the Cyprians.

After a careful examination of the works in which this point is discussed, the writer is disposed to acquiesce in the opinion expressed by the editor of the Pictorial Bible: ’Chittim seems to be a name of large signification (such as our Levant), applied to the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean, in a loose sense, without fixing the particular part, though particular and different parts of the whole are probably in most cases to be understood’ (verse notes on Eze 27:6).

Or KITTIM, descendants of Javan, son of Japheth; and the land settled by them, Gen 10:4 . Chittim seems to denote primarily the island Cyprus, and also to be employed, in a wider sense, to designate other islands and countries adjacent to the Mediterranean, as for instance, Macedonia, Dan 11:30, and Rome, Num 24:24 .\par

Chit’tim. (bruisers). A family or race descended from Javan. Gen 10:4; 1Ch 1:7. Authorized Version, Kittim. Chittim is frequently noticed in Scripture. Num 24:24; Isa 23:1; Isa 23:12; Jer 2:10; Eze 27:6; Dan 11:30.

In the above passages, the "isles of Chittim," the "ships of Chittim", the "coasts of Chittim," are supposed to refer to the island of Cyprus. Josephus considered Cyprus, the original seat of the Chittim. The name Chittim, which in the first instance, had implied to Phoenicians only, passed over to the islands which they had occupied, and thence, to the people who succeeded the Phoenicians in the occupation of them.

A race sprung from Javan, i.e. of Ionian or Greek origin (Gen 10:4; 1Ch 1:7). Balaam foretold that a fleet from Chittim should "afflict Asshur" (Num 24:24). There Tyre’s fleets resorted (Isa 23:2; Isa 23:12). The name Chittim is applied by the Hebrew to Cyprus, of which the cities, including Citium, its capital, were mostly Phoenician. Thence the Tyrians procured the boxwood which they inlaid with ivory (Eze 27:6). (Hebrew, instead of "the company of the Ashurites," "they have made thy (rowing) benches of ivory inlaid in the daughter of cedars," i.e. the best boxwood, which came from Cypress and Macedonia. "Chittim" was applied subsequently to the other islands of the AEgean, and to the maritime mainlands of Greece and Italy.

The Assyrians in an inscription 710 B.C. designate Cyprus as "the land of Yavnan," as the Scripture traces it to Javan. The Ionian stream of migration proceeding from Asia to Greece would leave some of the race in Cyprus or Chittim on its way, as it did in Magnesia under Sipylus. When Cyprus first comes before us in history it is predominantly a Greek island (G. Rawlinson). The Phoenicians also colonized it. Chittim = Hittim, the Hittites, a Canaanite race. The "ships of Chittim" in Dan 11:30 are the Macedonian-Greek or even Italian vessels, in which the Roman ambassador Popilius Laenas arrived to check Antiochus Epiphanes. As Kedar expresses generally the East, so Chittim the West (Jer 2:10).

(Heb. Kittim´, כַּתַּים, a Gentile plur. form of foreign origin, Gen 10:4; Sept. Κήτιοι, A. V. "Kittim;" Num 24:24, Κιτιαῖοι; 1Ch 1:7 ["Kittim"], and Dan 11:10, Κίτιοι v. r. ῾Ρωμαῖοι; Isa 23:1, Κητιαῖοι v. r. Κιτιαῖοι; or in the longer and more properly national form Kittiyim´, כַּתַּיַּים, Jer 2:10, Κεττιείμ;

כַּתַּייֹם, Isa 23:12, Κητιείμ v. r. Κιτιεῖς; כַּתַּיֹּם, Eze 27:6, Χεττιείμ v. r. Χετιεἱμ), a branch of the descendants of Javan, the son of Japheth (Gen 10:4; 1Ch 1:7), closely related to the Dodanim, and remotely (as we may conclude from the absence of the conjunction before it) to the other descendants of Javan (see Hiller, Syntagm. hermeneut. p. 135). Balaam foretold "that ships should come from the coast of Chittim, and should afflict Asshur [the Assyrians], and afflict Eber" [the Hebrews] (Num 24:24), thus foretelling the Grecian and Roman invasions. Daniel prophesied (Dan 11:13) that the ships of Chittim should come against the king of the North, and that he should therefore be grieved and return, which was fulfilled when Antiochus Epiphanes, the king of Syria, having invaded Egypt, was by the Roman ambassadors commanded to desist, and withdrew to his own country (Livy, 44:29; 45:10). In Isa 23:1; Isa 23:12, it appears as a resort of the fleets of Tyre; in Jer 2:10, the "isles (אַיַּים, i.e. maritime districts) of Chittim" are to the far west, as Kedar to the east of Palestine; the Tyrians procured thence the cedar or box-wood, which they inlaid with ivory for the decks of their vessels (Eze 27:6, בִּתאּאֲשֻׁרַים, A. V. "the company of the Ashurites," but rather [ivory] the daughter of box- wood, i.e. inclosed in it). At a later period the name was applied to the Macedonians under Alexander the Great (1Ma 1:1, Χεττειείμ, A. V. "Chettiim") and Perseus (8:1, Κιτιέων "Citims"). On the authority of Josephus, who is followed by Epiphanius (Haer. 30:25, p. 150) and Jerome (Quaest. in Genesis 10), it has generally been admitted that the Chittim migrated from Phoenicia to Cyprus, and founded there the town of Citium, the modern Chitti: " Chethimus possessed the island of Chethima, which is now called Cyprus, and from this all islands and maritime places are called Chethim (Χεθίμ) by the Hebrews" (Joseph. Ant. 1:6, 1). Other ancient writers, it may be remarked, speak of the Citians as a Phoenician colony (Pliny: 5:35; 31:39; Strabo, 15:682; Cicero, De Finibus, 4:20). Pococke copied at Citium thirty-three inscriptions in Phoenician characters, of which an engraving is given in his Description of the East (2:213), and which have more recently been explained by Gesenius in his Monum. Phaonic. (p. 124-133).

From the town the name extended to the whole island of Cyprus, which was occupied by Phoenician colonies, and remained under Tyre certainly until about B.C. 720 (Josephus, Ant. 9:14, 2). With the decay of the Phoenician power (circ. B.C. 600) the Greeks began to found flourishing settlements on its coasts, as they had also done in Crete, Rhodes, and the islands of the AEgaean Sea. The name Chittim, which in the first instance had applied to Phoenicians only (for כַּתַּים= תַתַּים, Hittites, a branch of the Canaanitish race — Gesenius, Comment. zu Jesa. 1:721 sq.), passed over to the islands which they had occupied, and thence to the people who succeeded the Phoenicians in the occupation of them. The use of the term was extended vet farther so as to embrace Italy (Bochart, Phaleg. 3:5, compares the Cetia, Κετία, in Latium, mentioned by Dionys. Hal. 8, 100:36), according to the Sept. (Dan.), and the Vulgate (Numbers and Dan.), to which we may add the rendering of the Chaldee Targum, which gives Italian (אטליון) in 1Ch 1:7, and Apulia (אפוליא) in Eze 27:6.

In an ethnological point of view, Chittim, associated as the name is with Javan and Elishah, must be regarded as applying, not to the original Phoenician settlers of Cyprus, but to the race which succeeded them, viz. the Carians, who were widely dispersed over the Mediterranean coasts, and were settled in the Cyclades (Thucyd. 1:8), Crete (Herod. 1:171), and in the islands called Macariae Insulae, perhaps as being the residence of the Carians. From these islands they were displaced by the Dorians and lonians (Herod. l. c.), and emigrated to the main land, where they occupied the district named after them. The Carians were connected with the Leleges, and must be considered as related to the Pelasgic family, though quite distinct from the Hellenic branch (Knobel, Völkertafel, p. 95 sq.). Hengstenberg has lately endeavored (Hist. of Balaam, p. 500) to prove that in every passage in the Old Testament where the word occurs it means Cyprus, or the Cyprians.

The most probable view, however, is that expressed by Kitto: "Chittim seems to be a name of large signification (such as our Levant), applied to the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean in a loose sense, without fixing the particular part, though particular and different parts of the whole are probably in most cases to be understood" (Pict. Bible, note on Eze 27:6). (For further discussion, see Michaelis, Spicilegium, 1:1-7, 103-114; also Supplem. p. 1138, 1377-1380; Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 726; Newton, On the Prophecies, 5; Rosenmüller, Bibl. Geogr. 3:378.) SEE ETHNOLOGY.

Chittim or Kittim (kit’tîm). Num 24:24; Isa 23:1; Isa 23:12; Jer 2:10; Eze 27:6; Dan 11:30. R. V. always reads Kittim. In these passages the "Isles," "ships," "products," and "people"of Kittim are mentioned or alluded to; hence the name has generally been supposed to mean the island of Cyprus, though Kitto thinks it a general term applied to islands and coasts west of Palestine.

[Chit’tim]

Several times referred to in the O.T. in connection with its ’ships.’ It points originally to Cyprus (see KITTIM); but in Jer 2:10; Eze 27:6 the ’isles of Chittim’ are spoken of, so it is evident that in the Prophets other islands are associated with Cyprus. Num 24:24; Isa 23:1; Isa 23:12; Dan 11:30. See CYPRUS.

CHITTIM (1Ma 1:1; 1Ma 8:5) for Kittim (wh. see).

kit´im. See KITTIM.