See on v. 28. Some see in the indignation here described a reference to Rome’s efforts to destroy the holy covenant by the suppression of the Holy Scriptures and the oppression of those who believed in them.

 The name Chittim, or Kittim, appears several times in the OT and later ancient Jewish writings, and is used in an interesting variety of ways. In Gen. 10:4 (see comments there; cf. 1 Chron. 1:7), Kittim is listed as a son of Javan and grandson of Japheth. The area occupied by Kittim’s descendants was probably Cyprus. The principal Phoenician city of Cyprus, on the southeast coast, was known in Phoenician as Kt, in Greek as Kition, and in Latin as Citium. Balaam makes the statement in his prophecy (Num. 24:24) that “ships shall come from the coast [direction] of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur.” Some have applied this prediction to the overthrow of Persia in Mesopotamia by Alexander the Great, who came from the coastlands of the Mediterranean (see on Num. 24:24). The “isles of Chittim” of Jer. 2:10 and Eze. 27:6 apparently refer also to the Mediterranean coastlands.

 In Jewish literature outside the Bible the term appears in 1 Macc. 1:1 as descriptive of Macedonia. In addition, two of the Dead Sea scrolls contain the name. The forms ktyy ’shwr, “Kittim of Ashur” (Assyria), and hktyym bmṣrym, “the Kittim in Egypt,” appear in The War Between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. The designations may, perhaps, refer to the Seleucids and the Ptolemies—the kings of the north and south. The geographical association of the term Kittim with the Mediterranean coastlands appears to be entirely lost, and Kittim becomes a generalized term for the enemies of the Jews. The Habakkuk Commentary among the Dead Sea scrolls also mentions the Kittim. The author of this work believed that the prophecies of Habakkuk referred to the troubles of the Jews in his own day (probably about the middle of the 1st century B.C.). He interpreted Hab. 1:6-11, where the prophet describes the Chaldeans, as referring to the Kittim, who were despoiling the Jews in his time. In the historical context of that work the term probably means the Romans. See Vol. I, pp. 31-34.

 It is interesting in this connection to note that the LXX of Dan. 11:30, translated perhaps in the 2d century B.C., reads “Romans” rather than “Chittim.” It seems clear, therefore, that although the word Kittim originally referred to Cyprus and its inhabitants, it later was extended to include the Mediterranean coastlands to the west of Palestine, and still later it came to apply in general to foreign oppressors, whether they came from the south (Egypt), the north (Syria), or the west (Macedonia and Rome).

 In point of time of authorship the book of Daniel lies much nearer to the references in Jeremiah and Ezekiel than to those of post-Biblical origin, which, indeed, probably arose as an extension of Biblical usage. The phraseology of the present verse, however, is clearly reminiscent of Num. 24:24, where the reference is to conquerors from the west (see comments there). Although students of the Bible do not all agree as to the exact historical reference of the “Chittim” in this verse, it seems clear that in interpreting this passage, two thoughts should be kept in mind: first, that in Daniel’s day the word referred, geographically, to the lands and peoples to the west; and second, that the emphasis may already have been in process of shifting from the geographical meaning of the word to the thought of the Chittim as invaders and destroyers from any quarter.

Some see in the “ships of Chittim” a reference to the barbarian hordes who invaded and broke up the Western Roman Empire.