The Targum is confused about this passage and these people: “But the sons of Macedon (דמקדון), Alsu (אלסו) and Tarsus (וטרסוס), Itlivan (איטליון) and Dardania (ודרדניא), or, according to others, Elisha (אלישה), Alas (אלס), Tisas (טוסס), Aczia (אכזיה), also Dardania (ודרדניה), Ridom, Chamen and Antioch.”
The land of Elishah is mentioned in Ezekiel Ezekiel 27:7 as the source of dye for “awnings… of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah.” In the New Testament, Lydia of Philippi was a dealer in such purple dye.
Tarshish (Hebrew תרשיש, note the difference with the spelling in the Targum above) is often associated with Tartessus on the Atlantic coast of Spain—virtually the most distant place known to most writers of the Bible. This may be the place to which Jonah was running (Jonah 1:3) when the Lord commanded him to visit the capital city of Israel's enemies, the Assyrians.
The Kittim (כִּתִּים) were a maritime people, probably from Cyprus, who intermarried with the Casluhites and produced the mixed nation of the Philistines (see 1 Chron. 1:12).
The Rodanim were probably also a maritime people; the island of Rhodes is often thought to be related to this name. Ezekiel 27:15 may be a reference to the same people.
These descendants of Javan were, for the most part, the people of southern Europe: the Greeks, the natives of the Iberian Peninsula; and the peoples of the Mediterranean Islands. Isaiah directs our attention again and again to these people, reminding us that the gospel is not just for a few people or familiar-looking people or even just the people close by, but for everyone:
Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD; exalt the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea. (Isaiah 24:15)Isaiah also reminds us that faith in Christ will be expressed by these people:
Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them. (Isaiah 42:10)
The glory of the gospel of forgiveness will roll out across the waves to everyone. What could you do to help carry along the story of the cross—the victory of Jesus—to someone in the world today?
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