Taking head in hand, it seems to me Dr. Altman's thesis that Kittim was a
universally pejorative term involves some circularity in argument, since a
fair reading of Ant. 1.128 shows no insulting content, unless one approaches
this passage with a prior thesis that all references to Kittim _must_ be
negative. "Chetimos held the island of Chetima - the modern Cyprus - whence
the name Chetim given by the Hebrews to all islands and to most maritime
countries." Where is the insult here? Josephus was not that subtle. The
idea that this contains a negative reference to the Sea Peoples (i.e. the
late Bronze Age invasions? - the Greeks did not consider all thassalocracies
bad) is a forced reading in my opinion. Dierk is clearly correct that the
Kittim have military-mercenary associations in Jubilees as elsewhere.
Indeed, the Kittim appear to almost everywhere have a military connotation,
except Josephus, where no such association is apparent.
Best regards,
Russell Gmirkin
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