chittim

1 definition found

chittim - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Chittim
  or Kittim, a plural form (Gen. 10:4), the name of a branch of
  the descendants of Javan, the "son" of Japheth. Balaam foretold
  (Num. 24:24) "that ships shall come from the coast of Chittim,
  and afflict Eber." Daniel prophesied (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 (Isa. 23:1, 12; Jer.
  2:10; Ezek. 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.