Chittim: Or Kittim, a plural form
(Genesis 10:4) the name of a branch of the
descendants of Javan, the "son" of Japheth. Balaam foretold
(Numbers 24:24)
"that ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and afflict Eber."
Daniel prophesied
(Daniel 11:30) that the ships of Chittim would come
against the king of the north. It probably denotes Cyprus, whose
ancient capital was called Kition by the Greeks. The references
elsewhere made to Chittim
(Isaiah 23:1,12; Jeremiah 2:10; Ezekiel 27:6) are to be
explained on the ground that while the name originally designated the
Phoenicians only, it came latterly to be used of all the islands and
various settlements on the sea-coasts which they had occupied, and
then of the people who succeeded them when the Phoenician power
decayed. Hence it designates generally the islands and coasts of the
Mediterranean and the races that inhabit them.
