Difference between revisions of "Philistines"

<p> Philis'tines. (immigrants). The origin of the [[Philistines]] is nowhere expressly stated in the Bible; but as the prophets describe them as "the Philistines, from Caphtor," Amos 9:7,, and "the remnant of the maritime district of Caphtor" Jeremiah 47:4, it is prima facie probable that they were "the [[Caphtorim]] which came out of Caphtor" who expelled the Avim, from their territory and occupied it; in their place, Deuteronomy 2:23, and that these, again, were the Caphtorim mentioned in the [[Mosaic]] genealogical table, among the descendants of Mizraim. [[Genesis]] 10:14. </p> <p> It has been generally assumed that [[Caphtor]] represents Crete, and that the Philistines migrated from that island, either directly or through Egypt, into Palestine. But the name Caphtor is more probably identified with the [[Egyptian]] Coptos. See [[Caphtor]]. </p> <p> History. - The Philistines must have settled in the land of Canaan, before the time of Abraham; for they are noticed in his day as a pastoral tribe in the neighborhood of Gerur. Genesis 21:32; Genesis 21:34; Genesis 26:1; Genesis 26:8. Between the times of [[Abraham]] and Joshua, the Philistines had changed their quarters, and had advanced northward into the plain of Philistia. The Philistines had, at an early period, attained proficiency in the arts of peace. Their wealth was abundant, Judges 16:5; Judges 16:19, and they appear, in all respects, to have been a prosperous people. [[Possessed]] of such elements of power, they had attained, in the time of the judges, an important position among eastern nations. </p> <p> About B.C. 1200, we find them engaged in successful war with the Sidonians. Justin xviii. 3. The territory of the Philistines having been once occupied by the Canaanites, formed a portion of the [[Promised]] Land, and was assigned the tribe of Judah. Joshua 15:2; Joshua 15:12; Joshua 15:45-47. No portion of it, however, was conquered in the lifetime of Joshua, Joshua 13:2, and even after his death, no permanent conquest was effected, Judges 3:3, though we are informed that the three cities of Gaza, [[Ashkelon]] and [[Ekron]] were taken. Judges 1:18. </p> <p> The Philistines soon recovered these, and commenced an aggressive policy against the Israelites, by which they gained a complete ascendancy over them. [[Individual]] heroes were raised up from time to time, such as Shamgar, the son of Anath, Judges 3:31, and still more, Samson, Judges 13-16, but neither of these men succeeded in permanently throwing off the yoke. The [[Israelites]] attributed their past weakness to their want, of unity, and they desired a king, with the special object of leading them against the foe. 1 Samuel 8:20. </p> <p> [[Saul]] threw off the yoke; and the Philistines were defeated with great slaughter at Geba. 1 Samuel 13:3. They made no attempt to regain their supremacy for about twenty-five years, and the scene of the next contest shows the altered strength of the two parties. It was no longer in the central country, but in a ravine leading down to the [[Philistine]] plain, the valley of Elah, the position of which is about 14 miles southwest of Jerusalem. On this occasion, the prowess of young David secured success to Israel, and the foe was pursued to the gates of [[Gath]] and Ekron. 1 Samuel 17:1. </p> <p> The power of the Philistines was, however, still intact on their own territory. The border warfare was continued. The scene of the next conflict was far to the north, in the valley of Esdraelon. The battle, on this occasion, proved disastrous to the Israelites; Saul himself perished, and the Philistines penetrated across the [[Jordan]] and occupied the, forsaken cities. 1 Samuel 31:1-7. On the appointment of David to be king, he twice attacked them, and on each occasion, with singular success, in the first case, capturing their images, in the second, pursuing them, "from [[Geba]] until thou come to Gazer." 2 Samuel 5:17-25; 1 Chronicles 14:8-16. Henceforth, the Israelites appear as the aggressors. </p> <p> About seven years after the defeat at Rephaim, David, who had now consolidated his power, attacked them on their own soil, and took Gath with its dependencies. The whole of Philistine was included in Solomon's empire. Later, when the Philistines, joined by the [[Syrians]] and Assyrians, made war on the kingdom of Israel, [[Hezekiah]] formed an alliance with the Egyptians, as a counterpoise to the Assyrians, and the possession of [[Philistia]] became, henceforth, the turning-point of the struggle between the two great empires of the East. </p> <p> The [[Assyrians]] under Tartan, the general of Sargon, made an expedition against Egypt, and took Ashdod, as the key of that country. Isaiah 20:1; Isaiah 20:4-5. Under Senacherib, Philistia was again the scene of important operations. The [[Assyrian]] supremacy was restored by Esarhaddon, and it seems probable that the Assyrians retained their hold on [[Ashdod]] until its capture, after a long siege, by Psammetichus. It was about this time that Philistia was traversed by vast [[Scythian]] horde on their way to Egypt. </p> <p> The Egyptian ascendancy was not as yet re-established, for we find the next king, Necho, compelled to besiege [[Gaza]] on his return from the battle of Megiddo. After the death of Necho, the contest was renewed between the [[Egyptians]] and the [[Chaldeans]] under Nebuchadnezzar, and the result was specially disastrous to the Philistines. The "old hatred" that the Philistines bore to the [[Jews]] was exhibited in acts of hostility, at the time of the [[Babylonish]] captivity, Ezekiel 25:15-17, but on the return, this was somewhat abated, for some of the Jews married Philistine women, to the great scandal of their rulers. Nehemiah 13:23-24. From this time, the history of Philistia is absorbed in the struggles of the neighboring kingdoms. The latest notices of the Philistines as a nation occur in 1 [[Maccabees]] 3-5. </p> <p> Institutions, religion, etc. - With regard to the institutions of the Philistines our information is very scanty, The five chief cities had, as early as the days of Joshua, constituted themselves into a confederacy, restricted however, in all probability, to matters of offence and defence. Each was under the government of a prince, Joshua 13:3; Judges 3:3; etc.; 1 Samuel 18:30; 1 Samuel 29:6, and each possessed its own territory. </p> <p> The Philistines appear to have been deeply imbued with superstition: they carried their idols with them on their campaigns, 2 Samuel 5:21, and proclaimed their victories in their presence. 1 Samuel 31:9. The gods whom they chiefly worshipped were Dagon, Judges 16:23; 1 Samuel 5:3-5; 1 Chronicles 10:10; 1 Maccabees 10:83, Ashtaroth, 1 Samuel 31:10, Herod. I. 105, and Baalzebub. 2 Kings 1:2-6. </p>

<p> <strong> PHILISTINES </strong> . The inhabitants of the Maritime Plain of [[Palestine]] (cf. art. Palestine, 1) from the period of the Judges onward to the 6th cent. or later. They are said to have come from Caphtor ( Amos 9:7 , Jeremiah 47:4 , Deuteronomy 2:23 ), which is with much probability identified with Crete. At all events they came from over the sea. </p> <p> [[Rameses]] III. of the XXth Egyptian dynasty encountered a piratical sea-faring people on the borders of Syria, whom he called <em> Purusati </em> (= <em> Pulista </em> or ‘Philistines’). They afterwards made incursions on the northern coast of [[Egypt]] as well as on the coast of Palestine. In the latter country they gained a permanent foothold, owing to its disorganized condition. When Wenamon made his expedition to [[Lebanon]] for a king of the XXIst dynasty (c [Note: circa, about.] . 1100), a Philistine kingdom existed at Dor. (For these facts cf. Breasted, <em> [[Ancient]] [[Records]] </em> , iv. 274 ff., and <em> History of Egypt </em> , p. 513.) </p> <p> The Philistines first make their appearance in Biblical history late in the period of the Judges, when Samson, of the tribe of Dan, is said to have waged his curious single-handed combats with them (Judges 13:1-25; Judges 14:1-20; Judges 15:1-20; Judges 16:1-31 ). These conflicts were the natural result of the impact of the Philistines upon Israel’s western border. The reference to the Philistines in Judges 3:31 is a later insertion (cf. Israel, §I. 11). During the time of [[Eli]] these invaders were trying to make their way into the central ridge of Palestine, and in one of the battles captured the ark of Jahweh, which a pestilence (probably bubonic plague) induced them to return ( 1 Samuel 4:1-22; 1 Samuel 5:1-12; 1 Samuel 6:1-21 ). </p> <p> When Saul became king the Philistines tried to break his power, but were defeated through the bravery of [[Jonathan]] (1 Samuel 13:1-23; 1 Samuel 14:1-52 ). Saul did not permanently check their progress, however, as by the end of his reign the whole of the rich plain of [[Jezreel]] was in their possession, including the city of [[Bethshean]] at its eastern end ( 1 Samuel 31:10 ). David early in his reign inflicted upon them a severe defeat ( 2 Samuel 5:22 ff.), afterwards reducing them to vassalage ( 2 Samuel 8:1 ). Down to this time Philistine power was concentrated in the hands of the rulers of the five cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath. The rulers of these cities are called by a peculiar title, which is translated ‘lords of the Philistines’ (wh. see). </p> <p> After the reign of David, probably at the division of the kingdom, the Philistines regained their independence, for we find the kings of [[Israel]] in the 9th cent. trying to wrest from them Gibbethon, a town on the border of the Maritime Plain (1 Kings 15:27; 1 Kings 16:15 ). Late in the same century the Assyrian king Adad-nlrari III. took tribute of Philistine kings ( <em> KIB </em> <em> [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] </em> i. 190), and began the long series of Assyrian interferences in Philistine affairs. Amos (1:6 8) denounces Philistine monarchies as among the independent kingdoms of his time. </p> <p> The position of the Philistines exposed them to every approach of the Assyrians and Egyptians, and during the last third of the 8th cent. and the whole of the 7th their history is a series of conquests, conspiracies, and rebellions. It is possible to follow these with much fulness in the Assyrian inscriptions, but full details cannot be given here. Tiglath-pileser iii. received tribute from Philistines ( <em> KIB </em> <em> [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] </em> ii. 20). They became Sargon’s vassals the year that [[Samaria]] fell, b.c. 722 ( <em> KIB </em> <em> [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] </em> li. 54), but ten years later a rebellion was led by Ashdod ( Isaiah 20:1; <em> KIB </em> <em> [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] </em> ii. 64 ff.). At the beginning of the reign of [[Sennacherib]] another effort was made to shake off the Assyrian yoke. In this Hezekiah of [[Judah]] took part by imprisoning Padi, the Philistine king of Ekron, who remained faithful to Sennacherib. The allies thus brought together were defeated at [[Eltekeh]] ( <em> KIB </em> <em> [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] </em> ii. 92 ff.), and the siege of [[Jerusalem]] by Sennacherib was the result ( 2 Kings 18:1-37; 2 Kings 19:1-37 ). [[Esarhaddon]] ( <em> KIB </em> <em> [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] </em> ii. 148), and [[Ashurbanipal]] ( <em> KIB </em> <em> [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] </em> ii. 240) marched across the Philistine territory and held it in subjection. With the decline of [[Assyria]] the Philistines began to suffer from the rise of Egypt under the XXVIth dynasty. Psammetichus i. took Ashdod after a siege of 29 years (Herod. ii. 157). [[Necho]] ii., a contemporary of [[Josiah]] of Judah, captured Gaza (Herod. ii. 159). It is probable that the Philistines suffered at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, but no record of his doings among them has been preserved. The Assyrians call the Philistine rulers ‘kings.’ The older title, ‘lords of the Philistines,’ has disappeared. </p> <p> When [[Cambyses]] made his expedition into Egypt (b.c. 525), Gaza opposed him (Polyb. xvi. 40). The [[Sidonian]] king Eshmunazar claims that [[Dor]] and [[Joppa]] were added to the dominions of Sidon. Gaza in 332 held out against [[Alexander]] the Great, and his siege of it is famous (Diod. Sic. xvii. xlviii. 7). The Ptolemys and Seleucids often fought over Philistine territory. It finally passed under [[Roman]] rule, and its cities had then an important history. </p> <p> The Philistines cease to be mentioned by this name after the time of the Assyrians. Some infer from the fact that [[Herodotus]] (iii. 5) speaks of the [[Arabians]] as being in possession of the coast in the time of Cambyses, that the Philistines had even then been supplanted. It is probable that in the ebb and flow of the nations over this land they were gradually absorbed and lost their identity. </p> <p> Probably the Philistines adopted in the main the religion and civilization of the Canaanites. Their chief god, [[Dagon]] (1 Samuel 5:2 ff.), was a Semitic deity. He appears in the el-Amarna letters and also in [[Babylonia]] (cf. Barton, <em> Semit. Or </em> . 229 ff.). There was also at Ashkelon a temple of Ashtart (Herod. l. 105). If their religion was Semitic, so also were probably the other features of their civilization. If they brought other customs from beyond the sea, they are not described in our scanty records. </p> <p> [[George]] A. Barton. </p>

<p> A celebrated people, who inhabited the southern seacoast of Canaan, which from them took the name of Philistia, Psalm 60:8 108:9 , or Palestine. They seem originally to have migrated form Egypt to Caphtor, by which some understand Crete, and others with the ancients Cappadocia, Genesis 10:14 , and thence to have passed over to Palestine under the name of Caphtorim, where they drove out the Avim, who dwelt from [[Hazerim]] to Azzah, that is, Gaza, and swelt in their stead, Deuteronomy 2:23 . The country they inhabited lay between the higher land of [[Judea]] and the Mediterranean, and was in the main a level and fertile territory. It resembles our own western prairies; and bears splendid crops year after year, though miserably cultivated and never manured. </p> <p> The Philistines were a powerful people in Palestine, even in Abraham's time, B. C. 1900, for they had then kings and considerable cities, Genesis 20.2; 21.32; Exodus 13.17 . They are not enumerated among the nations devoted to extermination with the seed of Canaan. Joshua, however, did not hesitate to attack them by command from the Lord, because they possessed various districts promised to Israel. But these conquests must have been ill maintained, since under the judges, at the time of Saul, and at the beginning of the reign of David, the Philistines had their own kings and lords. Their state was divided into five little principalities, at the head of each of which was a "lord," namely, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron-and they oppressed Israel during the government of the high-priest Eli, that of Samuel, and during the reign of Saul, for about one hundred and twenty years. Shaamgar, Samson, Samuel, and Saul opposed them, and were victorious over them with great slaughter, at various times, but did not destroy their power, Judges 3:14 1 Samuel 4:1-22 7:1-17 14:1-52 31:1-13 . They maintained their independence till David subdued them, 2 Samuel 5:17 8:1-18 , from which time they continued in subjection to the kings of Judah, down to the reign of Jehoram, son of Johoshaphat, when they revolted, 2 Chronicles 21:16 . [[Jehoram]] made war against them, and probably reduced them to obedience; for it is observed that they revolted again from Uzziah, who kept them under his sway using his whole reign, 2 Chronicles 26:6-7 . During the unfortunate reign of Ahaz, the Philistines made great havoc in the territory of Judah; but his son and successor Hezekiah again subdued them, 2 Chronicles 28:18 2 Kings 18:8 . They regained their full liberty, however, under the later kings of Judah; and we see by the menaces uttered against them by the prophets Isaiah, Amos, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, that they brought many calamities on Israel, for which God threatened to punish them with great misfortunes, Jeremiah 47:1-7 Ezekiel 25:15 Amos 1:6-8 Obadiah 1:19 Zechariah 9:5 . See also Nehemiah 13:23 . </p> <p> They were partially subdued by Esar-haddon king of Assyria and afterwards by Psammetichus king of Egypt; and there is great probability that they were reduced by Nebuchadnezzar, as well as the other people of Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, during the siege of Tyre. They afterwards fell under the dominion of the Persians; then under that of Alexander the Great, who destroyed Gaza, the only city of the Philistines that dared to oppose him. They appear to have become entirely incorporated with the other inhabitants of the land under the Maccabees, and are no more mentioned as a distinct people. The ancient Philistines appear in sacred history as a warlike people, not strangers to the arts of life, Judges 15:5 1 Samuel 13:20; worshippers of [[Baal]] and Ashtoreth, under the names of Baal-zebub and Dagon; having many priests and diviners, 1 Samuel 6:2 2 Kings 1:2 Isaiah 2:6 . They appear to have been of the race of Shem, their language being akin to the Hebrew, yet distinct from it, Nehemiah 13:24 . Their land, once rich and covered with cities and towns, is now desolate, Zephaniah 2:4-7 . </p>

<p> Descendants, with the Caphtorim, of the Pathrusim, and the Casluhim, two clans descended from Ham. Genesis 10:14; Deuteronomy 2:23; Jeremiah 47:4; Amos 9:7 . They were found in the S.W. of Palestine when Abraham went to sojourn at Gerar, Genesis 20; and both Abraham and [[Isaac]] had certain contentions with them respecting the wells which they had digged. Genesis 21:25-34; Genesis 26:1-18 . They were a warlike people, which was the reason that God did not lead the Israelites near to them when He led them out of Egypt. Exodus 13:17 . It is probable that at first they were a sort of colony of Egypt. Their five cities commanded the coast road from Egypt to Syria, and there is proof that Egypt had a strong hold on Palestine before the arrival of Joshua; but it was then declining. </p> <p> As they occupied a part of the promised land, the Israelites should have dispossessed them; but when Joshua was old 'all the borders of the Philistines' were still unoccupied by the Israelites. They represent the pretension and intrusion of man in the flesh into that which belongs to God. Nazariteship in [[Samson]] is God's way of deliverance, but the [[Nazarite]] utterly failed, and in the days of Eli the Israelites were conquered by them and the ark taken. When Saul was king he was in fear of them, and they were enabled to enter his dominions, and in a battle Saul and his sons lost their lives. It was by David, God's king, that the Philistines were really conquered, and under [[Solomon]] we find they were tributary. </p> <p> When the kingdom of Israel was divided, the Philistines regained their independence more or less. God used them at times to punish His guilty people, and at other times gave those that served Him power over them. In the prophets destruction is pronounced upon their land and the remnant of the people. The five fortified cities of the Philistines, with their 'daughters' or dependent villages, were Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron. The Philistines were idolaters and worshipped Dagon, [[Ashtaroth]] and Baal-zebub. 1 Samuel 5:2; 1 Samuel 31:10; 2 Kings 1:2; Jeremiah 57; Ezekiel 25:15-17; Amos 1:7,8; Zephaniah 2:5 . PHILISTIM in Genesis 10:14 is the same [[Hebrew]] word that is elsewhere translated Philistines. </p>

Genesis 10:142 Samuel 21:16-22Genesis 21:32,3426:1Amos 9:7Jeremiah 47:4Exodus 13:1715:14,15Joshua 13:31 Samuel 4 <p> 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 (Judges 15:11; 1 Samuel 13:19-22 ); at other times they were defeated with great slaughter (1 Samuel 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 (Ezekiel 25:15-17 ). They were finally conquered by the Romans. </p> <p> 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 Genesis 26:1 must be proleptic. Indeed the country was properly Gerar, as in ch. 20. </p> <p> 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 Samuel 8:18 . </p>

<p> A race well known to the church; the sworn foes to God and his people. The name is not derived from the Hebrew, but is a common name for dwellers in villages. </p>

<p> Philis´tines, a tribe which gave its name to the country known as Palestine, though it occupied only a portion of the southern coast, namely, that which was bounded on the west by the hill country of [[Ephraim]] and Judah, and on the south extended from Joppa to the borders of Egypt, thus touching on the [[Israelite]] tribes Dan, Simeon, and Judah. Indeed the portions of [[Simeon]] and Dan covered a large part of Philistia, but its possession by the Israelites was disputed, and was never entirely achieved. This country was originally held by the Avims, who were destroyed and their land seized by the Caphtorims, coming forth out of Caphtor . In the Philistines are denominated 'the remnant of the country (or isle) of Caphtor.' In , the [[Divine]] Being asks, 'Have I not brought the Philistines from Caphtor?' The Caphtorim and the [[Philistim]] are also associated together as kindred tribes in the genealogical list of nations given in , both being descendants of Mizraim. Some imagine that Caphtor is Cappadocia: others with more reason affirm that it is Crete, and that the Philistines, being a part of the great Shemitic family, went westward under pressure from the wave of population which came down from the higher country to the sea-coast, but afterwards returned eastward from Crete to Palestine. Another opinion, which is supported by very plausible arguments, is, that the Philistines are to be identified with the Hycksos or [[Shepherd]] kings, who were expelled from Egypt, and taking possession of Canaan gave to it the name of Palisthan, i.e., Shepherd-land. This view appears to be countenanced by , where the Philistines are derived from Mizraim, that is from Egypt. </p> <p> If now we follow the Biblical accounts, we find the history of the Philistines to be in brief as follows. They had established themselves in their land as early as the time of Abraham, when they had founded a kingdom at Gerar . When the Israelites left Egypt, they were deterred by fear of the power of the Philistines from returning by the shortest road—that which the caravans still take—because it lay through the country of the Philistines . In the time of Joshua the Philistines appear in a league of five princes, governors of so many tribes or petty states—'all the borders of the Philistines from [[Sihor]] which is before Egypt even unto the borders of Ekron northward counted to the Canaanites.' Joshua appears to have thought it prudent to attempt nothing for the dispossession of the Philistines, and he therefore had no hostile relations with them; for the division of Philistia among the tribes was nothing more than a prospective but unfulfilled arrangement . The days of the Judges, however, brought conflicts between the Israelites and the Philistines, who dwelt wide over the land, and even exercised dominion over their Hebrew neighbors (;;;;; ). </p> <p> In the time of Eli the Philistines succeeded in getting the ark into their possession (1 Samuel 4); but a defeat which they suffered under Samuel put an end to their dominion, after it had lasted forty years (1 Samuel 7). This subjection of the Israelites began after the death of Jair, and continued to the termination of the period embraced in the book of Judges. Within this space of time fall the life and the heroic actions of Samson. [[Notwithstanding]] the total defeat which the Philistines had undergone, and the actual termination of their political supremacy, they continued to be troublesome neighbors. 'There was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul' a conflict which was carried on with various success, and in which the king found great support in the prudent bravery of his son Jonathan and the high courage of David (; 1 Samuel 14;;; ). Even after his separation from Saul, David inflicted many blows on the Philistines (1 Samuel 23); but soon saw himself obliged to seek refuge in Gath (1 Samuel 27), and was in consequence near making common cause with them against Saul (1 Samuel 29), who met with his death at their hands while engaged in battle (1 Samuel 31). They also raised their arms against David, when he had become king of all Israel, but were several times beaten by that brave monarch (, sq.; 8:1). 'Mighty men,' performing valorous deeds in imitation of David's rencounter with Goliath, gave the king their support against this brave and persevering enemy (, sq.). Solomon appears to have been undisturbed by the Philistines, but they had settlements in the land of Israel under the early Ephraimitic kings . To Jehoshaphat they became tributary . Under Jehoram, however, they, in union with the Arabians, fell on Jerusalem, and carried off the king's substance, as well as his wives and children . On the other hand, in the reign of King Jehoash, their city Gath was taken by Hazael, King of Syria, who also threatened Jerusalem . But in the time of Ahaz they revolted, and carried with them a part of western Judah, having 'invaded the cities of the low country and of the south of Judah, and taken [[Bethshemesh]] and Ajalon,' etc. (; comp. ). Hezekiah in the first years of his reign obtained some advantages over them . Soon, however, Assyrian armies went against Philistia, and, with a view to an invasion of Egypt, got into their power the strong frontier-fortress of Ashdod , which at a later time Psammetichus took from them, after a siege of twenty-nine years (Herod, ii. 157). In consequence of the hostile relations between Assyria and Egypt, Philistia suffered for a long period, as the troops of the former power took their way through that land, and Pharaoh-Necho captured the stronghold Gaza . The same was done by Alexander the Great in his expedition to Egypt. On the destruction of the [[Jewish]] state, the Philistines, like other neighboring peoples, acted ill towards the Jews, having 'taken vengeance with a despiteful heart' . Many of those who returned from the captivity 'had married wives of Ashdod, and their speech spoke half in the speech of Ashdod' (, sq.). In the Maccabean period the Philistines were [[Syrian]] subjects, and had at times to suffer at the hands of the Jews (; , sq.). King Alexander (Balus) gave Jonathan a part of their territory Accaron, with the borders thereof in possession . The Jewish monarch Alexander Jannaeus overcame and destroyed Gaza. By Pompey Azotus, Jamnia, and Gaza were united to the Roman province of Syria; but Gaza was given by [[Augustus]] to King Herod. </p> <p> The Philistine cities were greatly distinguished. Along the whole coast from north to south there ran a line of towns—in the north the Phoenician, in the south the Philistine—which were powerful, rich, and well-peopled. The chief cities of the Philistines were five—Gaza, Ashdod, Askalon, Gath, and Ekron . Several of these Palestinian cities flourished at the same time; and though these cities gained at different periods pre-eminence in power, wealth, and population, and though some did not rise till others had declined or perished, yet is it true that from the earliest times till the century after Christ a number of important towns existed on the narrow strip of land which borders the [[Mediterranean]] Sea, such as was never seen in any other part of the world, the Ionian coast of Asia Minor not excepted. </p> <p> The greatness of these cities was mainly owing to commerce, for the coast of Palestine was in the earliest ages exclusively in possession of the trade which was carried on between Europe and Asia. Besides a great transit trade, they had internal sources of wealth, being given to agriculture . In the time of Saul they were evidently superior in the arts of life to the Israelites; for we read that the latter were indebted to the former for the utensils of ordinary life. Their religion was not essentially different from that of the Phoenicians. The idol which they most reverenced was Astarte, the Assyrian Semiramis, or Derketo, who was also honored as Dagon, in a very ancient temple at [[Askelon]] and at Gaza, also at Ashdod (; , sq.; ). This was a species of fish-worship, a remnant of which may still be found in the special care taken of certain holy fish in some parts of Syria. In Ekron Baal-zebub had his chief seat. [[Priests]] and soothsayers were numerous . Their magicians were in repute , and the oracle of Baal-zebub was consulted by foreigners . They had the custom of carrying with them in war the images of their gods . Tradition makes the Philistines the inventors of the bow and arrow. </p>

<p> A people, for long of uncertain origin, but now generally believed to have been originally emigrants from Crete, who settled in the plain, some 40 m. long by 15 broad, extending along the coast of Palestine from Joppa on the N. to the desert on the S., and whose chief cities were Ashdod, Askelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath; they were a trading and agricultural people, were again and again a thorn in the side of the Israelites, but gradually tamed into submission, so as to be virtually extinct in the days of Christ; their chief god was [[Dagon]] ( <i> q. v </i> .). </p>