De´dan. Two persons of this name are mentioned in Scripture; one the son of Cush (), and the other the second son of Jokshan, Abraham's son by Keturah (). Both were founders of tribes, afterwards repeatedly named in Scripture.
Of the descendants of the Cushite Dedan, very little is known. It is supposed that they settled in southern Arabia, near the Persian Gulf; but the existence in this quarter of a place called Dadan or Dadena, is the chief ground for this conclusion.
The descendants of the Abrahamite Jokshan seem to have lived in the neighborhood of Idumaea; for the prophet Jeremiah () calls on them to consult their safety, because the calamity of the sons of Esau, i.e. the Idumaeans, was at hand. The same prophet () connects them with Thema and Buz, two other tribes of Arabia Petraea, or Arabia Deserta, as does Ezekiel () with Theman, a district of Edom. It is not always clear when the name occurs which of the two Dedans is intended; but it is probably the Cushite tribe, which is described as addicted to commerce, or rather, perhaps, engaged in the carrying-trade. Its 'traveling companies,' or caravans, are mentioned by Isaiah (); in Ezekiel (), the Dedanites are described as supplying the markets of Tyre with flowing riding-cloths: and elsewhere () the same prophet names them along with the merchants of Tarshish.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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