Dodanim (דֹּדָנִיםDōḏānīm) orRodanim, (רֹדָנִיםRōḏānīm,Greek:Ρόδιοι,Ródioi) was, in theBook of Genesis, a son ofJavan (thus, a great-grandson ofNoah). Dodanim's brothers, according to Genesis 10:4, wereElishah,Tarshish andChittim.[1] He is usually associated with the people of the island ofRhodes as their progenitor. "-im" is a plural suffix in Hebrew, and the name may refer to the inhabitants of Rhodes.[2] Traditional Hebrew manuscripts are split between the spellingsDodanim andRodanim[3] — one of which is probably a copyist's error, as the Hebrew letters for R and D (ר andד respectively) are quite similar graphically. TheSamaritan Pentateuch, as well as 1 Chronicles 1:7, haveRodanim,[4] while theSeptuagint hasRodioi. The Dodanim were considered either kin to theGreeks[5] or simply Greeks.[6][7]
TheTargum Pseudo-Jonathan calls his countryDordania, while theTargum Neofiti names itDodonia.[8]
Connections have been suggested withDodona inEpirus[9][10] andDardania in Illyria[9] (as inGenesis Rabbah),[11] as well as with the island ofRhodes.[8][10]Samuel Bochart associated the formRodanim with the riverRhone's Latin name,Rhodanus.[8]Franz Delitzsch identified the figure of Dodanim with theDardanus of Greek mythology,[12] whileJoseph Mede equated him with the JupiterDodonaeus who had an oracle at Dodona.[8]
Kenneth Kitchen discusses two additional possible etymologies.[13] One possibility he suggests is that "both Dodanim and Rodanim have been reduced from Dordanim -- by loss of medial r in Gen. 10:4 (Dordanim > Dodanim) and of an initial d in 1 Chron. 1:7 (<Do>rdanim > Rodanim). The Dardanayu occur in an Egyptian list of Aegean names underAmenophis III ... and among theHittite allies againstRamesses II at theBattle of Qadesh in 1275; some would link these with the classicalDardanoi."[13] He also suggests that the name Dodanim may be an altered form of Danunim, an ancient Near Eastern people mentioned in theAmarna letters whose origin and identity is still surrounded by"considerable doubt".[14]
InPseudo-Philo (c. 70), Dodanim's sons are Itheb,Beath, and Phenech; the last of these is made prince of the Japhethites at the time of theTower of Babel.[15]