For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see,.... Or, "to the isles of Chittim" z; so called from Kittim the son of Javan, Genesis 10:4 who, as Josephus says a, possessed the island of Chethima, now called Cyprus; and, from that, all islands, and most maritime places, are, by the Hebrews, called Chittim, he observes: it may regard all the islands in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas:
and send unto Kedar; which was in Arabia, and lay to the east, as Chittim to the west; and so the Targum paraphrases it,
"send to the provinces of the Arabians:''
and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing; as what is inquired about in the following verse, a change of deities. All this is to be understood of the contemplation of the mind, and not of any corporeal journey to be taken, to inquire into this matter.
z עברו איי כתיים εις νησους Sept. "transite ad insulas Cethim", V. L. "ad insulas Cypriorum"; so some in Vatablus; "in insulas", Schmidt. a Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.