My daughter and wife are going to book study and the subject of the ships of Kittim came up, I don't believe anything the WTBTS says about who or what they were does anyone else have any info? Your help will be much appreciated.
ships of kittim
by buffalosrfree 19 Replies latest jw friends
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Leolaia
These are the Roman allies of Egypt (who also were allied with Judas Maccabaeus and his guerilla army) who prevented King Antiochus IV Epiphanes from carrying out his second Egyptian campaign in 168 BC. Specifically, it refers to Popilius Laenas, the Roman envoy, who handed Antiochus a senatus consultum as the Syrian king attempted to besiege Alexandria, and Laenas also humiliated Antiochus by marking a circle in the sand around the king and demanded to have an answer before Antiochus left the circle (cf. Polybius 29.27, Diodorus Siculus 31.2; Livy 45.12.3-6). After this defeat, the king sent his mysarch Apollonius to Jerusalem and devestated the city as related in 1 Maccabees 1:29-40, and this is what is discussed in the second half of Daniel 11:30.
What fantastic interpretation did the Society conjure up for this text?
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DocBob
What fantastic interpretation did the Society conjure up for this text?
I remember reading this when the "Daniel's Prophecy" book first came out. All I could do is shake my head. This is on page 264.
13 In Daniel’s time Kittim was Cyprus. Early in the first world war, Cyprus was annexed by Britain. Moreover, according to The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, the name Kittim "is extended to include the W[est] in general, but esp[ecially] the seafaring W[est]." The New International Version renders the expression "ships of Kittim" as "ships of the western coastlands." During the first world war, the ships of Kittim proved to be mainly the ships of Britain, lying off the western coast of Europe.
"Proved to be" ??? You gotta be kidding!
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badboy
YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS ABOUT THIS KITTIM THING!
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James Free
kition and kittim are the old names for Larnaca, Cyprus. In Daniels time this port was the capital of Cyprus and the name often meant the whole island much as Washington can mean the US government. You can still see these names in use around the town, for the ruins and the names of some hotels there.
Quite what was meant by 'the ships of kittim' is not known exactly. The Roman interpretation related above occured after Daniel's death so was either prophetic fulfillment or is inaccurate.
The Org. interpretation about it being England is so ridiculous its laughable that it was all they could come up with. This is a bi-product of their insistance that all prophecies point to current events.
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ballistic
Personally, I think google images has it...
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ozziepost
I had a thread on this same topic maybe a couple of years back. It really is the most bizarre of all WT teachings!
I suspect that even the elders who are still loyal dubs are embarrassed by this one.
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rebel8
Ok, I don't get it! The WTS says there is a prophecy about ships circling something, which they allege was fulfilled by British ships in WWI, right? Why is that one of the most bizarre teachings or am I missing the point?
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onesong
All I know is that it was hilarious one night when the book study reader said "kips of shittum"
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ozziepost
rebel:
Why is that one of the most bizarre teachings or am I missing the point?
Maybe they're all bizarre, eh?
The Ships of Kittim seems to me to be in the same league as Chuck Russell's pyramids and the distance from some place to bethel via a particular railway station.