Who were the Philistines in the Bible?
The Philistines meet us early in the Bible and stay to the end of Israel's story — settled on the coast, never driven out, and repeatedly the nation Israel feared most. Where did they come from, why were they in the land at all, and why do the writers treat them as a different kind of enemy from the Canaanites?
Descent from Ham, not from Canaan
The dictionaries trace their family line and their first appearance in Scripture in one paragraph. They belong to Ham's line through Egypt, not to the Canaanite nations Israel was told to destroy.
Morrish Bible DictionaryDescendants, 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 south-west of Palestine when Abraham went to stay at Gerar, Genesis 20; and both Abraham and Isaac had disputes with them about the wells they had dug. Genesis 21:25-34; Genesis 26:1-18. They were a warlike people, which is why God did not lead the Israelites near them when He brought them out of Egypt. Exodus 13:17. It is likely that at first they were a kind of colony of Egypt.
That Egyptian connection shaped everything about them — where they lived and which way they faced.
Numerical Bible NotesThey are not Canaanites, though sons of Ham. They sprang, according to Genesis 10:14, from Mizraim — that is, they were of Egypt; yet we always find them in the land of Canaan, on the lowland of the south-west coast, looking toward Egypt, with which they had the freest and most unobstructed communication. They hold only a border of the land of Canaan, and its lowest part; beyond that they may ravage, but not possess — although they loomed so large in men's eyes that they gave their name ("Palestine," from "Philistine") to the whole of it.
The meaning of the name
Commentators differ on what "Philistine" means. One traces it to a word for migration, and reads their whole character out of it:
J. N. DarbyAs to Philistines, I suppose it comes from phalas, to migrate. They came up from Caphtor in the direction of Egypt, and were called Philistines because they were strangers.
Another gives the sense as "wallowers." Either way, they came into the land by a route that avoided the way God brought Israel:
Leslie M. GrantThe Philistines had originally come from Egypt by way of the north, without having to cross the Red Sea, so they are a picture of those who have come into Christian profession without facing the truth of the death of Christ for them — not redeemed, but religious. Their name means "wallowers," for they wallow in the mire of empty forms and ceremonies, and they have always been a thorn in Israel's side.
Five cities and their gods
They were not a single kingdom but a group of fortified cities, each with its dependent villages, and they had their own religion.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe 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.
Their god was displayed as the winner when they captured the ark of God — briefly.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe ark was brought to Ashdod, the leading city of the Philistines, and set up in the temple dedicated to Dagon, the chief god of the people. It was half fish and half man, the symbol of fertility... In their blindness they imagined that Dagon had conquered the God of Israel. The next morning they found Dagon fallen with his face to the earth before the ark. It was the Lord who did it, and not an accident.
An enemy Israel failed to remove
Their whole history with Israel turns on one failure — the land was given to Israel, and the Philistines were never driven off it.
Morrish Bible DictionaryAs 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... the Nazarite utterly failed, and in the days of Eli the Israelites were conquered by them and the ark was taken. When Saul was king he was in fear of them... 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 paid tribute.
Why Israel called them "the uncircumcised"
The standard Israelite name for them was not "the strong" but "the uncircumcised" — people outside the covenant sign God gave Abraham.
Samuel RidoutNotice how they are described — uncircumcised, people without the mark of covenant relationship with God... Spiritually, we know that circumcision answers to that sentence of death upon ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in the living God... What are they in the eyes of faith but those who have confidence in the flesh? They trust in human power, human wisdom, human forms, everything of man, and God is left out.
A different kind of enemy
One writer draws the sharp line between them and the Canaanites, and it explains why they never went away.
J. N. DarbyThe Canaanites represent Satan's power over which the people of God are victorious, as God's army fighting for God — taken as enemies, treated as such... The Philistines are the thorns of Satan's power where he has not been overcome — left and not treated as an enemy. They become an abiding source of distress and perplexity, having more power than Israel, though when God steps in they may be beaten as by Samuel, or put down when Christ comes as by David.
Summary
- Descent. Sons of Ham through Egypt, not Canaanites — a people who reached the land by their own route and settled the south-west coast.
- Position. They held only a border strip, yet loomed so large that their name became "Palestine" for the whole country.
- Character. Called "the uncircumcised" — outside the covenant sign, and standing for confidence in what man is and can do.
- Failure. Israel was meant to dispossess them and never did; that one omission cost them the ark, and cost Saul his life.
- Victory. Samuel's day brought a check, but only David, God's king, really conquered them — and what they picture is not finally put down until Christ comes.