Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>]

> On Tue  1 Feb 2000 (23:28:01 +0100), jonathan.bailey AT gmx.de wrote:
> > I am wondering about how strong the identification of the pelest with
> > the Philistines is.
>
>  Dear Jonathan
>
>  I was always given to understand that  P:Li$:TiYM  meant immigrants or
>  migrants generally, not any specific national or ethnic group. Like the
>  "Sea Peoples", they were not a single identifiable ethnic unit. They
>  were just tribes who "rolled" or "wallowed" around (root P-L-$).
>
>  Amos 9:7 identifies the "Philistines" as wanderers from the land of Caphtor
>  (Crete?), along with the "Syrians" from Kir, and the "Cushites" from 
> Ethiopia.

Then from this context, it would seem "Philistines" is an ethnic label. If 
the word
"Philistines" is related to the Egyptian _plst_, and I believe it is, then it 
is very
different from the label "Sea Peoples". Are you suggesting that the other Sea 
Peoples,
such as the Tjeker and Sheklesh, are also denominatives rather than ethnic 
labels, or is
_plst_ the only denominative meaning "foreigner". Some of the labels for the 
people of
Canaan before the Israelites could be seen as denominatives - eg, "Perizzite" 
= "petty
villager", but "Philistines" is an ethnic label for the people of the 
Southern Coastal
plain in which numerous city states were located. It's an overarching ethnic 
label, a bit
like "Slav" which denotes most people from Eastern Europe. But it's 
definitely an ethnic
label.

>  According to Deuteronomy 26:5, even Jacob was an Aramean ready to perish
>  who became a sojourner in Egypt. Another "Philistine"?

No - he was Areamean because he was a nomad or sojourner in Palestine and his 
ancestors
had come from the Aramean heartland. He was, ethnically, an Aramean.

Best regards,
George Athas
 Dept of Semitic Studies,
 University of Sydney
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