Genesis 10:4

Gen 10:4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

Ver. 4. Elishah.] Whence the Eolians.

Tarshish.] Whence the Cilicians, where Tarsus (Paul’s country) was.

Kittim.] Whence the Macedonians. {Num 24:24 Dan 11:30}

Dodanim.] Whence the Epirotes (Scanderberg’s country), where stands the city Dodaena.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:4 Elishah is probably Cyprus. • Tarshish is possibly southwest Spain (see study note on Jon 1:3). • The Kittim were inhabitants of southern Cyprus. • The Rodanim were inhabitants of the island of Rhodes, later a territory of Greece.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. Elishah] As Javan peopled a considerable part of Greece, it is in that region that we must seek for the settlements of his descendants; Elishah probably was the first who settled at Elis, in Peloponnesus.

Tarshish] He first inhabited Cilicia, whose capital anciently was the city of Tarsus, where the Apostle Paul was born.

Kittim] We have already seen that this name was rather the name of a people than of an individual: some think by Kittim Cyprus is meant: others, the isle of Chios; and others, the Romans; and others, the Macedonians.

Dodanim.] Or Rodanim, for the ד and ר may be easily mistaken for each other, because of their great similarity. Some suppose that this family settled at Dodona in Epirus; others at the isle of Rhodes; others, at the Rhone, in France, the ancient name of which was Rhodanus, from the Scripture Rodanim.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) Javan has four main divisions:—

1. Elishah, a maritime people of Greece. Traces of the name occur in Aeolis and in Elis, a district of the Peloponessus. Some boldly identify with Hellas. The isles of Elishah are mentioned in Eze_27:7.

2. Tarshish. At so early a period this could scarcely be Tartessus, but is more probably the Tyrseni, or Tyrrheni, a race once powerful in Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, and finally in Spain. Probably Tartessus, at the mouth of the Guadalquiver, in Spain, was founded by them, and took from them its name. At this time they; were apparently a small tribe of the Javanites; but while Elishah followed the sea-coast and colonised Greece, Tarshish took a course so far inland to the north of the Danube that it did not reach the sea until it had come to the northern districts of Italy.

3. Kittim. A plural, like Madai. The Kittim were a maritime race, who colonised Cyprus, the chief city of which was Kitium, and probably other islands and coast-districts of the Mediterranean. There was a Kitium also in Macedonia; and Alexander is called King of the Kittim in 1Ma_1:1.

4. Dodanim. Another plural. The right reading is probably Rodanim, as in many MSS. in 1Ch_1:7 and in the LXX., and the Samaritan here. R and D are so constantly interchanged in proper names. owing to the similarity of their shape, that no dependence can be placed upon the reading. The Rodanim would be the Rhodians.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. the sons of Javan] The names here mentioned are evidently geographical. Javan’s sons are well-known Greek colonies and settlements or communities. This example will serve to illustrate the composition of the genealogical list.

Elishah] Mentioned in Eze_27:7 as a place from which there was a trade in purple. Josephus identified it with the Æolians. Other conjectures have been Hellas, Elis, Sicily, and Carthage. Possibly, it is Alasa, the modern Cyprus.

Tarshish] Probably the ancient commercial town of Tartessus, at the mouth of the river Guadalquivir. It is classed with the isles in Psa_72:10, Isa_60:9. Its trade is mentioned in Eze_27:12. On “the ships of Tarshish” in King Solomon’s time, see 1Ki_10:22; 1Ki_22:48. There were Greek settlements at Tartessus. Cf. Herodotus, i. 163.

Kittim] Usually identified with Cyprus and its inhabitants. The chief town was Κιτίον, the modern Larnaca, and was probably occupied at an early time by Greek-speaking people. The name “Kittim” became transferred from Cyprus to other islands. Cf. Jer_2:10; Eze_27:6.

Dodanim] In 1Ch_1:7, Rodanim. The LXX and Sam. agree with 1Ch_1:7; and this reading is generally preferred, Rodanim being identified with the island of Rhodes. In Eze_27:15, “the men of Dedan” similarly appear in LXX as ῥόδιοι, i.e. the Rhodians trafficking with the city of Tyre.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the sons of Javan,.... Another son of Japheth; four sons of Javan are mentioned, which gave names to countries, and are as follow:

Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim; the first of these, Elishah, gave name to the Elysaeans, now called Aeoles, as Josephus (l) says; hence the country Aeolia, and the Aeolic dialect, all from this name; and there are many traces of it in the several parts of Greece. Hellas, a large country in it, has its name from him; so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem interpret Elishah by Allas. Elis in Peloponnesus, Eleusis in Attica, the river Elissus, or Ilissus, and the Elysian fields, are so called from him. Tarshish, second son of Javan, gave name to Tarsus, by which Cilicia was formerly called, as Josephus says (m), of which the city named Tarsus was the metropolis, the birth place of the Apostle Paul, Act 22:3. Hence the Mediterranean sea is called Tarshish, because the Cicilians were masters of it; and Tartessus in Spain might be a colony from them, as Broughton observes; and so Eusebius says, from the Tarsinns are the Iberians, or Spaniards; and which Bochart (n) approves of, and confirms by various evidences; and Hillerus, (o) makes Tarshish to be the author of the Celtae, that is, of the Spanish, French, and German nations. The third son of Javan is Kittim, whom Josephus (p) places in the island of Cyprus, a city there being called Citium, from whence was Zeno the Citian: but rather the people that sprung from him are those whom Homer (q) calls Cetii; and are placed by Strabo (r) to the west of Cilicia, in the western parts of which are two provinces, mentioned by Ptolemy (s), the one called Cetis, the other Citis: likewise this Kittim seems to be the father both of the Macedonians and the Latines; for Alexander the great is said to come from Cittim, and Perseus king of Macedon is called king of Cittim,"And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece,'' (1 Maccabees 1:1)"Beside this, how they had discomfited in battle Philip, and Perseus, king of the Citims, with others that lifted up themselves against them, and had overcome them:'' (1 Maccabees 8:5)and Macedonia is sometimes called Macetia, as it is in Gellius (t), which has something of the name of Cittim or Cetim in it; and also the Latines or Romans seem to spring from hence, who may be thought to be meant by Cittim in Num 24:24 Dan 11:30 and Eusebius says the Citians are a people from whom came the Sabines, who also are Romans; and in Latium was a city called Cetia, as says Halicarnassensis (u); and Bochart (w) has shown, that Latium and Cethem signify the same, and both have their names from words that signify to hide; "latium a latendo", and "celhem", from "to hide", see Jer 2:22 in which sense the word is frequently used in the Arabic language; and Cittim in the Jerusalem Targum is here called Italy. The last son of Javan mentioned is Dodanim; he is omitted by Josephus: his country is by the Targum of Jonathan called Dordania; and by the Jerusalem Targum Dodonia; and he and his posterity are placed by Mr. Mede in part of Peloponnessus and Epirus, in which was the city of Dodona, where were the famous temple and oracle of Jupiter Dodonaeus, under which name this man was worshipped. In Ch1 1:7 he is called Rodanim, and in the Samaritan version here; and the word is by the Septuagint translated Rodians; which have led some to think of the island of Rhodes as the seat, and the inhabitants of it as the posterity of this man; but Bochart (x) is of opinion, that they settled in the country now called France, gave the name to the river Rhodanus, and called the adjacent country Rhodanusia, and where formerly was a city of that name, much about the same tract where now stands Marseilles; but this seems too remote for a son of Javan.

(l) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.) (m) Ib. (n) Phaleg. l. 3. c. 7. (o) Onomastic. Saer. p. 944. (p) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.) (q) Odyss. 11. ver. 520. (r) Geograph. l. 13. p. 423. (s) Ibid. l. 5. c. 8. (t) Attic. Noct. l. 9. c. 3. (u) Hist. l. 8. p. 376. (w) Phaleg. l. 3. c. 5. col. 159, 160. (x) Phaleg. l. 3. c. 6. col. 163, 164.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Elishah, the father of the Grecians properly so called, who have preserved his name and remembrance in the cities Elis and Elissus, in a tract of ground called Elias, and in the Elysian fields. And from these came the Æolians, a people of the Lesser Asia, where many of the Grecian colonies were seated.

Tarshish was father of the Cilicians, from whom their chief city Tarsus, in Hebrew Tarshish, took its name; see Eze 27:12; Jon 1:3; Act 22:3; and from whom the whole Mediterranean Sea is called Tarshish, because the Cilicians were in a great degree masters of that sea.

Kittim, or, Chittim, the father of the Macedonians, and Italians too, as may be gathered from hence, because both their countries are called by the name of Chittim; Macedonia, 1Ma 1:1; 1Ma 8:5, and Italy, Num 24:24; Dan 11:30. See also Isa 23:1; Jer 2:10. Besides that there are other evidences in profane writers that the Italians came from the Grecians.

Dodanim is called also Rodanim, 1Ch 1:7. See Riphath in. (Gen 10:3) His posterity is uncertain. Most probably he was seated near his brethren in some part of Greece. And the Greeks seem to have worshipped him under the name of Jupiter Dodonaeus, whose famous oracle was in the city Dodona.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Sons of Javan — Rather, Yavan, the Ionian families.

Elishah — The AEolians, (Elis,) who occupied three fourths of Greece, and spread to the coasts and isles of Asia Minor. (Josephus, Knobel.)

Tarshish — A famous commercial people well known to the sacred and classic writers, (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Strabo, Herodotus,) whence the Greek Tartessus and Tartessis, a town and region in southern Spain at the mouth of the Guadalquivir. According to Herodotus, Tartessus was settled by a colony of Phocaean Greeks, (i, 163,) the word signifying in Phenician, younger brother, (Rawl.,) a very suitable name for a colony. Their ships were so celebrated for size and fleetness as to give the name “ships of Tarshish” to all large merchant vessels wherever sailing. The ships of Tarshish (Eze_27:12, etc.) brought gold and silver, iron, tin, and lead to Tyre, and these are precisely the articles which the classic writers, Strabo, etc., make the staple products of Spain. Knobel and Furst understand the word to refer to that Pelasgic-Hellenic race called Etruscans, Tuscans, Tyrsenians, who before the Roman dominion peopled Italy and the Sicilies, and thus carried the name to Spain. (Knobel, p. 86.) Hence, perhaps, Tarsus in Cilicia. (Josephus.)

Kittim — Cyprians, who still preserve the name in the term Kitti. Josephus says (Ant. 1:6) that the Helvens transferred the name Kittim to all the Mediterranean isles and coasts. The Cyprian Kittim is shown by its monuments to have been a Phenician colony, or at least to have had Phenician or Hamitic settlers. But there were also Hamitic Chittim, (Hittites, sons of Heth or Cheth,) see Gen_10:15, a widespread people in the age of Solomon; and the Japhetic Kittim seem to have mingled at Cyprus with the Hamitic Chittim. (Knobel.)

Dodanim — Dardanians, Trojans, or perhaps it should be Rodanim, (interchange of דand ר, in the first syllable,) as it is given in 1Ch_1:7, and in some copies by the Septuagint and Samaritan. The Rodani, or Rhodians.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the sons of Javan; Elizhah. The isles of Elishah are praised by Ezekiel (Eze_27:7) for their blue and purple; supposed to have been Elis in the Peloponnesus, famous for its purple dyes (Bochart); Aeolis (Josephus, Knobel); Hellas (Michaelis, Rosenm Kalisch); without doubt a maritime people of Grecian stock ("Speaker"s Commentary"). And Tarshish. Tarsus in Cilicia (Josephus); but rather Tartessus in Spain (Eusehius, Michaelis, Bochart, Kalisch). Biblical notices represent Tarshish as a wealthy and flourishing seaport town towards the west (vide 1Ki_10:22; Psa_48:7 Psa_72:10; Isa_60:9; Jer_10:9; Eze_27:12) Kittim. Chittim; (Num_24:24) Citium in Cyprus (Josephus), though latterly the name appears to have been extended to Citium in Macedonia (Alexander the Great is called the king of Chittim, RAPC 1Ma 1:1 8:5), and the colonies which settled on the shores of Italy and Greece (Bochart, Keil, Kalisch). Isa_23:1, Isa_23:12; Dan_11:30 describe it as a maritime people. And Dodanim. Dordona in Epirus (Michaelis, Rosenm the Dardaniaus, or Trojan"s (Gesenius); the Daunians of South Italy (Kalisch); the Rhodani in Gaul, reading as in 1Ch_1:7. (Bochart) Josephus omits the name, and Scripture does not again mention it.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ובני יון, the Torah mentioned only a few of the families descended from the sons of Yaphet; we do not know why not all of them have been listed.

ודדנים, spelled with a double letter ד, whereas the same people are spelled as רודנים in Chronicles I 1,7. Seeing that the letters ד and ר look so similar to one another, it is quite possible that both spellings are used interchangeably. Someone may have mistaken the letter ד for the letter ר so that this error has been perpetuated. There can be no question that in a situation such as this, the spelling in the Torah must be considered authoritative, as Moses wrote at the dictation of G’d and with a high degree of prophetic insight. According to Josephus, the people concerned lived (in his time) along the river “Rodeno.”

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.