Get Affordable VMs - excellent virtual server hosting


browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

philistinesmore about philistines

philistines

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Philistines 
  (Gen.  10:14,  R.V.;  but  in  A.V.,  "Philistim"),  a  tribe  allied  to 
  the  Phoenicians.  They  were  a  branch  of  the  primitive  race  which 
  spread  over  the  whole  district  of  the  Lebanon  and  the  valley  of 
  the  Jordan,  and  Crete  and  other  Mediterranean  islands.  Some 
  suppose  them  to  have  been  a  branch  of  the  Rephaim  (2  Sam. 
  21:16-22).  In  the  time  of  Abraham  they  inhabited  the  south-west 
  of  Judea,  Abimelech  of  Gerar  being  their  king  (Gen.  21:32,  34; 
  26:1).  They  are  however,  not  noticed  among  the  Canaanitish 
  tribes  mentioned  in  the  Pentateuch.  They  are  spoken  of  by  Amos 
  (9:7)  and  Jeremiah  (47:4)  as  from  Caphtor,  i.e.,  probably  Crete, 
  or  as  some  think,  the  Delta  of  Egypt.  In  the  whole  record  from 
  Exodus  to  Samuel  they  are  represented  as  inhabiting  the  tract  of 
  country  which  lay  between  Judea  and  Egypt  (Ex.  13:17;  15:14,  15; 
  Josh.  13:3;  1  Sam.  4). 
 
  This  powerful  tribe  made  frequent  incursions  against  the 
  Hebrews.  There  was  almost  perpetual  war  between  them  They 
  sometimes  held  the  tribes,  especially  the  southern  tribes,  in 
  degrading  servitude  (Judg.  15:11;  1  Sam.  13:19-22);  at  other 
  times  they  were  defeated  with  great  slaughter  (1  Sam.  14:1-47; 
  17).  These  hostilities  did  not  cease  till  the  time  of  Hezekiah 
  (2  Kings  18:8),  when  they  were  entirely  subdued.  They  still 
  however,  occupied  their  territory,  and  always  showed  their  old 
  hatred  to  Israel  (Ezek.  25:15-17).  They  were  finally  conquered 
  by  the  Romans. 
 
  The  Philistines  are  called  Pulsata  or  Pulista  on  the  Egyptian 
  monuments;  the  land  of  the  Philistines  (Philistia)  being  termed 
  Palastu  and  Pilista  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions.  They  occupied 
  the  five  cities  of  Gaza,  Ashkelon,  Ashdod,  Ekron,  and  Gath,  in 
  the  south-western  corner  of  Canaan,  which  belonged  to  Egypt  up 
  to  the  closing  days  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty.  The  occupation 
  took  place  during  the  reign  of  Rameses  III.  of  the  Twentieth 
  Dynasty.  The  Philistines  had  formed  part  of  the  great  naval 
  confederacy  which  attacked  Egypt,  but  were  eventually  repulsed 
  by  that  Pharaoh,  who  however,  could  not  dislodge  them  from 
  their  settlements  in  Palestine.  As  they  did  not  enter  Palestine 
  till  the  time  of  the  Exodus,  the  use  of  the  name  Philistines  in 
  Gen.  26:1  must  be  proleptic.  Indeed  the  country  was  properly 
  Gerar,  as  in  ch  20. 
 
  They  are  called  Allophyli,  "foreigners,"  in  the  Septuagint, 
  and  in  the  Books  of  Samuel  they  are  spoken  of  as  uncircumcised. 
  It  would  therefore  appear  that  they  were  not  of  the  Semitic 
  race,  though  after  their  establishment  in  Canaan  they  adopted 
  the  Semitic  language  of  the  country.  We  learn  from  the  Old 
  Testament  that  they  came  from  Caphtor,  usually  supposed  to  be 
  Crete.  From  Philistia  the  name  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines 
  came  to  be  extended  to  the  whole  of  "Palestine."  Many  scholars 
  identify  the  Philistines  with  the  Pelethites  of  2  Sam.  8:18. 
 
 
  From  Hitchcock's  Bible  Names  Dictionary  (late  1800's)  [hitchcock]: 
 
  Philistines,  those  who  dwell  in  villages




more about philistines