Philistines Meet Israelites

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

        Asia Minor in Biblical Days Where Philistines Came From                                       

                       Philistine portrait 

                           

                             

Abraham and his son, Isaac, came into contact with the Philistines.  They were a Mediterranean people, apparently originating from Asia Minor and Greek localities.  They reached Eretz Yisrael in various waves.  Abraham was born in the 2nd millennium, in about 1948 BCE and came in conflict with them as an adult. He would have died in the year 1773 BCE.  "And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many years.(Gen. 21:34)".  Famine moved Isaac from the Negev to the Philistine country.  

The pagan Philistines (Judges 14:3, 1Samuel 14:6), who did not worship or obey the one true God, were a violent race willing to perform sometimes gruesome acts to strike fear into the hearts of their enemy.  After Joshua's death, the tribe of Judah battles the Philistines and takes their major cities of Gaza, Askhelon, and Ekron. The enemy regroups, however, and in a short time retakes its territory (Judges 1:18 - 19, 3:1 - 3).

The political structure of Philistine society was unique. There was no unified Philistine nation-state or even a Philistine kingdom to speak of; the Philistine people were somewhat unified by a confederacy of the five leading cities: Ashdod, Gath, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gaza. Those cities, referred to as the “Pentapolis,” were first referenced in Joshua 13:3. Each of the five cities was ruled by a chieftain known as a seranim, which was probably an Indo-European word closely related to the Hittite word tarwanis and the classical Greek word tyrannous. The individual chieftains set the agenda in their cities, but when it came time for war, then they all met to make a group decision. It is unknown for sure which of the five cities was the most important if any were, but the Old Testament book of I Samuel 6:16 mentions that after the Philistines had taken the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites and then suffered great calamities. As a result, they decided to return the relic to the Israelites. After the Philistines returned the Ark, “the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.” This passage implies that Ekron was the leading Philistine city, at least in the eyes of the Israelites.

Ekron is mentioned in Assyrian and Egyptian sources as well as in the Bible where the local god is called Baal Zebub.  When Alexander Balas gave Ekron to Jonathan the Hasmonean in 147 BCE, and according to Eusebius, it was a large village inhabited by Jews in the 3rd century CE.  The modern Israel town of Mazkeret Batyah, in the vicinity of what is believed to have been the ancient site, was originally called Ekron. 

                                                    

One group of  Philistines had settled south of Beersheba in Gerar where they came into conflict with Abraham and Isaac. Abraham and Abimelech, Philistine king of Gerar,  had reached an agreement in Beer-sheba, indicating that Abimelech was near his land of the Philistines as he and his General Phicol, the chief captain of the army of Abimelech, returned to the land of the Philistines from there. The Philistines took advantage of the latest technology and used it in battles (Judges 1:19, 1Samuel 13:19 - 20). They were also willing to take military risks and carry out repeated offensives against their foes.   

Abimelech (in Hebrew, melekh means king) and Aba means father, so Abi must mean my father; Abraham had just finished a pact of friendship (Gen 21).  The account of Abraham's relations with Abimelech (Gen. 20) resembles, in some respects, the story of the latter's relations with Abraham's son, Isaac.  (Gen 26). Because of his friendly association with both Abraham and Isaac, the rabbis accorded Abimelech a place in paradise among the Pious Heathens.  Abraham is said to have pitched his tent among the Canaanite and Philistine people of Eretz Yisrael.  He visited Egypt, and returned to live in Hebron.  He fought to deliver Lot, his nephew, from Chedorlaomer, King of Elam, Amraphel, King of Shinar, and their allies.  It is said that he lived until age 175.  

Another group of Philistines came from Crete after being repulsed from Egypt by Rameses III in 1194 BCE who seized the southern coastal area of Eretz Yisrael where they founded 5 principalities:  Gaza, Ascalon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath.  By nature a fighting people, they dominated parts of Judah in the period of the Judges. 

The Philistine cities of Gaza, Gath and Ashdod housed giant enemy warriors known as the children of Anak (Anakim, Numbers 13:28, 33, Joshua 11:22).                                                     

                                            

Gath was one of the 5 Philistine cities in the southern coastal plain.  It was the home of Goliath.  Gath  was captured by David, fortified by King Rehoboam, but lost to the Assyrian king, Sargon in the 8th century BCE.                                          

Goliath, either said to be 6'9" or 9'9",  the Philistine giant from Gath was slain by David in single combat.  (I Sam. 17:21:10). Goliath, who lived in Gath, was conservatively 9 feet 6 inches tall (2.9 meters), wore a battle coat weighing 80 pounds (36.2 kilograms) and threw a spear with a 17-pound (7.7 kilogram) head! David and his men fought these giants on several occasions (1Samuel 17, 2Samuel 21:15 - 20).

 According to another tradition, Goliath was killed by Elhanan, the Bethlehemite. (II Sam. 21-19). David hurls a stone from his sling and hits Goliath in the center of his forehead, Goliath falls on his face to the ground, David cuts off his head. The Philistines flee and are pursued by the Israelites "as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron". David puts the armor of Goliath in his own tent and takes the head to Jerusalem, and Saul sends Abner to bring the boy to him. The king asks whose son he is, and David answers, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

David impressed Saul with his military prowess in war with the Philistines by being able to marry Saul's daughter, Michal.  However, Saul became jealous of this great warrior's ability, causing David to run for his life and seek refuge with Achish, king of Gath, a Philistine king. Saul and 3 of his sons were later killed at the battle of Mt. Gilboa.   David then succeeded in breaking the Philistine military power and annexed the entire coastal belt. David was fighting against other groups as well at this time, like the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites as well as Aram (Syria); and signed treaties with Sidon and Tyre and extended the Israelite frontiers to an extent never again attained.  

Achish, this Philistine king, David had sought asylum with him because of the proximity of his realm to the frontier of Judah.  Other refugees would do this, too.  Achish led the Philistine army at the battle of Mt. Gilboa in which Saul was killed.  He continued to reign after David's conquest of Philistia. 

 David and his men battle the Philistines an astonishing thirteen times (1Samuel 17, 18:17 - 27, 19:8, 23:1 - 5, 2Samuel 5:17 - 25, 21:15 - 20, 23:9 - 16). His victories destroy their ability to make war (1Chronicles 18:1) for at least 130 years. In 843 B.C., however, they and their Arab allies fight their way to Jerusalem, capture royal prisoners and then ransack the palace (2Chronicles 21:16 - 17).                                 

 The Philistines' pagan fish god, Dagon.  Shrines are mentioned at Gaza (Judg. 16:12).  Ashdod (I Sam. 5:1-7) and Beth Shean (I chron. 10:10).  Dagon occupied an important place in the Ugaritic pantheon.  He was a god of the soil and plant growth and widely worshiped in the Middle Eastern countries.  This cult was adopted by the Philistines when they entered Canaan.  

Philistines  sought to exploit any weakness or distraction on the part of their enemy. For example, they launched an invasion of Israel when King Saul was foolishly pursuing David in the wilderness (1Samuel 23:24 - 28).  The Philistines, after years of battling Israel's King Saul, were finally able to overcome and kill both him and three of his sons on Mount Gilboa. They celebrated their greatest success by chopping off Saul's head and sending this gruesome war trophy on a victory tour throughout their land. When the head completed its tour, they hung it in up in their temple dedicated to Dagon.  In order to further advertise the victory they felt Dagon gave them, they fastened Saul's headless corpse, along with the bodies of his sons (one of which was David's close friend Jonathan), to the wall surrounding Beth-shan (1Chronciles 10:8 - 10, 1Samuel 31:8 - 13).

Saul at first repelled the danger but was ultimately defeated.  David, however, ended the era of Philistine domination and overran Philistia. 

                                                                

Samson, an Israelite judge,  fell in love with a Philistine woman. He had been a fighter of the Philistines and won many feats.  He fought for the desire to be free of the Philistine suzerainty.  He fell into the Philistine hands as a result of the deceit of Delilah who betrayed the secret of is superior strength as lying in his hair; She cut off his hair.    How brutal was this enemy of God's people? When the Philistines finally discovered Samson's weakness, they overpowered and arrested him. They then proceeded to gouge his eyes out from their sockets and made him (no doubt in excruciating pain) grind grain in a prison (Judges 16:21).  The efforts of Samson significantly weaken Philistine aggression (Judges 14 - 16). In just a few years after his death, however, they humiliatingly defeat Israel's army on two separate occasions. They kill 34,000 Israelites, including the High Priest's two sons, and capture the Ark of the Covenant (1Samuel 4).

When the Israelite kingdom dissolved in 920 BCE when King Solomon died, the Philistines re-established their independence but were never thereafter a serious factor. Between the days of Abraham and David were 763 years.  The Philistines had become hostile after having a peaceful beginning with the Israelites.  

In  (Joel 3:4 - 8). it tells how the Philistines kidnapped Judeans and sold them to the Greeks.  

The Philistines came to the Levant from the Aegean and brought with them a religion that was very different than that practiced by the Israelites, or even than what was practiced by their Canaanite neighbors for that matter. The Philistines were by nature an aggressive and expansionist people, which was ultimately the primary reason why the two peoples clashed. The Philistines expanded their influence in the region until they collided with the Israelites in the middle of the eleventh century BC. The two peoples then fought a series of wars that lasted for nearly a century, which ultimately decided who would be the dominant group in the region.

Thus says the Lord God, "Because the Philistines have taken vengeance; yes, have taken vengeance with spite in their heart, to destroy it (His people) with never ending hatred . . . Behold, I will stretch out My hand on the Philistines . . . and will destroy the rest of the sea coast. And I will execute great vengeance on them . . ." (Ezekiel 25:15 - 17, HBFV).

Israelites were descendants of Shem, the sons being Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram(Syria). Their dwelling place extended from Mesha going toward Sephar, the mountain to the east. 

What happened to the Philistines?  In the Persian and Greek Periods, foreign settlers, chiefly from the Mediterranean islands, overran the Philistine districts.  The Philistines had become ancient Israel's longest and greatest enemy. They had become the feared foe of the Israelites for close to 700 years.  

                                                    

Constant rocket fire coming from Gaza into Israel has caused retaliation.Gaza has been warned time and time again that Israel will respond.  One conflageration on the Temple Mount started by Palestinians caused them to rain more than 4,369 rockets were launched toward Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Jerusalem and neighboring communities. Ten Israelis were killed. More than 90 percent of projectiles heading toward populated areas were intercepted by Iron Dome. Roughly a third of the rockets landed inside the Gaza Strip. Most of the others landed in open fields.  This attack brought Israel to a standstill in their bomb shelters closing down work and school. It happened from May 10-20, 2021.  

 From the time of Herodotus, Greeks called Palestine after the Philistines with the name, Syria Palaestina, and under Emperor Hadrian, the Romans gave the name officially to the former land of Judah.  Living in the same place, Gaza, of many Philistines, are the Palestinians; a branch   of Hamas, who have become most war-like.  I don't believe that Israel of today has the patience to wait for another 700 years to end this problem.    

Egypt, by comparison, has a history of going back for almost 30 centuries—from its unification around 3100 B.C.E. Ancient Egypt was the preeminent civilization in the Mediterranean world. 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath

https://www.biblestudy.org/maps/why-are-philistines-greatest-israel-enemy.html

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinian-rocket-and-mortar-attacks-against-israel