ISLAND, ISLE . The Heb. word ʼ á¿‘ means primarily ‘coastlands,’ but sometimes lands in general, and in one passage ( Isaiah 42:15 ) ‘dry land’ as opposed to water. In Isaiah 20:6 Palestine is called ‘this isle’ (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] , but RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘coast-land’). The islands of the Gentiles or heathen ( Genesis 10:6 , Zephaniah 2:11 ) are apparently the coasts of the W. Mediterranean; the ‘isles of the sea’ ( Esther 10:1 , Ezekiel 26:18 etc.) are also the Mediterranean coasts; ‘the isles’ ( Psalms 72:10 etc., Isaiah 42:10 etc.) means the West generally as contrasted with the East. Tyre is mentioned as an isle in Isaiah 23:2 , and here perhaps the term may be taken literally, as Tyre was actually at that time an island. The isle of Kittim ( Jeremiah 2:10 , Ezekiel 27:6 ) is probably Cyprus, and the isle of Caphtor ( Jeremiah 47:4 mg.), Crete. In the NT five islands are mentioned: Cyprus ( Acts 4:36; Acts 11:19 f., Acts 13:4 , Acts 15:39 , Acts 21:3; Acts 21:16 , Acts 27:4 ), Crete ( Acts 27:7; Acts 27:12-13; Acts 27:21 ), Clauda ( Acts 27:16 ), Melita ( Acts 28:1 ), and Patmos ( Revelation 1:9 ).
E. W. G. Masterman.