The sons of Javan: As in the previous verse, the word sons is better rendered “descendants.” Javan was the fourth son of Japheth listed in verse 5.

Elishah is mentioned as a seagoing nation in Ezek 27.7. Since the name is mentioned here in association with Javan (that is, “Greece” [Nouvelle Bible Segond]), it is probably located in the Aegean Sea. Non-biblical texts from the ancient world suggest that Elishah refers to part of the island of Cyprus, perhaps an area on its east coast. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch states in a footnote here that “Elishah and Kittim both refer to the (inhabitants of the) island of Cyprus.”

Tarshish is literally “Tarshishah,” but Revised Standard Version and nearly all other translations follow the spelling of the name as found here in the Septuagint and in the Masoretic Text of Genesis. The exact location of Tarshish is uncertain. What is said regarding Tarshish in several Old Testament texts suggests that it should be located west of Israel in the Mediterranean Sea area. Perhaps the most widely accepted view is that Tarshish refers to the ancient Phoenician colony of Tartessus in southwest Spain. Therefore a number of modern versions use the better-known name “Spain” (Good News Translation, Beaumont). Others may prefer to give this information in a footnote. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has the name Tarshish in the text and then explains it in a word list as follows: “Probably the Phoenician colony of Tartessus on the Spanish coast of the Mediterranean Sea with important silver mines.”

Some scholars, however, identify Tarshish as the northern African city of Carthage because of the Septuagint translation of the name in Ezek 27.12. It is also possible that the name Tarshish refers to more than one geographical location in the different places where it occurs in the Old Testament.

The Kittim (a plural noun in Hebrew) are mentioned in several Old Testament books. The Hebrew name, which is transliterated in Revised Standard Version, seems to come from the town of Kition on the south-central coast of the island of Cyprus. Some verses in the Old Testament may refer to this city itself, but often the name seems to refer to the entire island, as here and also in Isa 23.1 and Ezek 27.6. A number of translations use the better-known modern name “Cyprus” (Good News Translation, Moffatt, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Nueva Versión Internacional, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Beaumont). In order to indicate that Kittim does not refer to just one individual, some translations say “the Kittim” (so Bible de Jérusalem).

Rodanim almost certainly refers to the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes, off the southwest coast of Asia Minor. A number of modern versions say “Rhodes” in the text (Good News Translation, Moffatt, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Beaumont). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has a footnote that states “ Rodanim = inhabitants of the island of Rhodes.” As with the name Kittim, some translations say “the Rodanim” in order to show that the reference is not to an individual (so Bible de Jérusalem). Other translations, however, follow a different text here, reading “Dodanim” on the basis of several Hebrew manuscripts, the ancient Syriac translation, and the parallel text in Gen 10.4 (so La Bible du Semeur, Reina-Valera revisada, Osty-Trinquet). This is another example of the problems caused by the similarity of the Hebrew letters for “r” and “d.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .