Hebrew word · H3794

כִּתִּי

kitim

Cyprus

Originally the people of Kition (modern Larnaca) on Cyprus, then Cyprus generally, then coastlands to the west. Later Jewish writing stretched it to Greeks (1 Maccabees 1:1; 8:5) and to Rome (Daniel 11:30; the Dead Sea Scrolls).

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Chittim or Kittim = "bruisers"

a general term for all islanders of the Mediterranean Sea

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 23:12

Range of meaning

Originally the people of Kition (modern Larnaca) on Cyprus, then Cyprus generally, then coastlands to the west. Later Jewish writing stretched it to Greeks (1 Maccabees 1:1; 8:5) and to Rome (Daniel 11:30; the Dead Sea Scrolls).

Against the English

BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB interpret with 'Cyprus'. KJV 'Chittim' and WEB 'Kittim' transliterate the name, which keeps the original word but tells most readers nothing.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 10:4 lists Kittim among the sons of Javan. Phoenician inscriptions call the town kty, and Phoenicians were established there by around the 9th century BC. Josephus (Antiquities 9.283–287, citing Menander) reports a Tyrian king sailing against the Kittians when they revolted. The later Greek and Roman sense should not be read back into this verse.

From the study of Isaiah 23:1

Range of meaning

Originally the people of Kition on Cyprus, a Phoenician colony. Later it was extended to Cyprus generally, then to the Mediterranean islands and coastlands (Gen 10:4; Jer 2:10). Later still it named western powers: the Macedonians (1 Macc 1:1) and the Romans (Dan 11:30; the Dead Sea Scrolls' Habakkuk commentary and War Scroll).

Against the English

KJV 'Chittim', WEB 'Kittim', modern versions 'Cyprus'. 'Cyprus' is right for Isaiah's time.

Used elsewhere in the period

Kition is well attested as Tyre's colony in Phoenician inscriptions. In Sennacherib's annals for 701 BC, Luli, king of Sidon (and Tyre), flees 'into the midst of the sea', usually identified with Cyprus.

From the study of Jeremiah 2:10

Range of meaning

A people-name built on Kition (Kitti), the Phoenician settlement at modern Larnaca on Cyprus. In the biblical period it covers the people of Cyprus and, more loosely, the sea peoples and coastlands to the west. Later writers stretched it further, to Greeks and to Romans.

Against the English

KJV has "Chittim," and WEB and NASB have "Kittim," which keep the Hebrew name but tell a modern reader nothing about where it is. BSB, NIV and ESV have "Cyprus," which gives a clear place on a map but is narrower than the name can be. NLT's "go west" captures the function of the name in this verse, though it still names Cyprus.

How it drifted

No false doctrine is involved. The shift is simply one of map labels: a modern reader hears a single island nation where an ancient hearer heard a vague but vast "over the sea to the west."

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 10:4 lists Kittim among the sons of Javan, the Greek-related peoples. Numbers 24:24 and Isaiah 23:1, 12 connect it with ships and the sea. Ezekiel 27:6 calls it a source of fine wood. Josephus (Antiquities 1.128) links the name to Cyprus and says Hebrews applied it to islands and most coastal places generally. Ostraca (inscribed pottery letters) from Arad in southern Judah, from about 600 BC, mention "Kittiyim" receiving rations, probably Aegean or Cypriot mercenaries, so the word was in everyday use in Jeremiah's own lifetime. Later, 1 Maccabees 1:1 uses it of Macedonia, Daniel 11:30 of ships usually identified as Roman, and the Dead Sea Scrolls of a great foreign power, generally taken as Rome.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 10:4 כִּתִּ֖ים Kittim

    And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 24:24 כִּתִּ֔ים Kittim

    Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will perish forever.”

    Here: The name comes from Kition, a Phoenician port on Cyprus. It came to mean Cyprus, then more broadly the sea peoples and islanders of the west. Here it names a power that arrives by sea from the Mediterranean.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 1:7 כִּתִּ֖ים Kittim

    And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 23:1 כִּתִּ֖ים Cyprus

    This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.

    Here: Named after Kition (modern Larnaca), a Phoenician colony on Cyprus. Cyprus was the last port on the voyage home to Tyre, so it is where the returning fleet first hears the news.

  2. Isaiah 23:12 כִּתִּים֙ Cyprus

    He said, “You shall rejoice no more, O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus—even there you will find no rest.”

    Here: Named from Kition, the Phoenician settlement on Cyprus's south coast. It is placed before the commands for emphasis, as though pointing across the water: 'Kittim, up, across!' This was the natural bolt-hole for a Phoenician in trouble.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 2:10 כִתִּיִּים֙ Cyprus

    Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and take a look; send to Kedar and consider carefully; see if there has ever been anything like this:

    Here: A people-name, "the Kittites," from Kition, the Phoenician port town on Cyprus. Here it stands for the distant maritime west as a whole.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 27:6 כִּתִּיִּֽים׃ Kittim

    Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, inlaid with ivory.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 11:30 כִּתִּים֙ Kittim

    Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.