Sunday, July 21, 2024

Palestine and the Philistines

The Philistines are briefly mentioned in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10:13 and again in Exodus 13:17. Abraham stays in Philistine country for a time in Genesis 21:22-34, making a treaty with a Philistine ruler, Abimelek at Beersheba. His son, Issac, makes a similar agreement with a Philistine king named Abimelek in Genesis 26:1-33. That passage identifies Beersheba as being named after a well discovered at that time.

We first meet the five cities (Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron) of the Philistines in Joshua 13:3. Three cities (not Gath or Ashdod) appear in Judges 1:18. Five rulers (presumably of the five cities) are mentioned without name in Judges 3:1-4. The Philistines are the enemies of Samson and he kills men of Ashkelon in Judges 14:19. Conflicts with the Philistines continue throughout the reigns of Samuel, Saul and David. Goliath was from Gath (1 Samuel 17.) Battle with Philistines in David's reign are described in  2 Samuel 21:15-22. The five cities are mentioned in 1 Samuel 6:17, returning the ark. David, in his funeral lament for Saul and Jonathan, mentions Ashkelon and Gath in 2 Samuel 1:20. A number of Old Testament prophets prophesy against the Philistines (eg. Jeremiah 47) and at times they, like Babylon, may stand in for the nations against Israel. Of the five cities, Gath eventually disappears from the accounts, see Jeremiah 25:20, Amos 1:6-8., Zephaniah 2:4-7, and Zechariah 9:5-6

There is a Wikipedia article on the Philistines here.

No comments:

Post a Comment