To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: Philistines
Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 11:48:47 +0200
Thank you Ben Crick for your letter 0n 00:51 08/01/99.
> Maybe I'm just too naive, but doesn't the word P:Li$TiYM mean "immigrants"
> of any provenance?
Two similar sounding words:
"PALIT" [pay lamed yud tet]- survivor or refugee [Gen 14:13]
"PALASH" [pay lamed shin]- invader
It would seem that the source for "PLISHTIM" is much closer to the second,
appropriate to their warlike nature and attempt to conquer all of Canaan.
[I might add that it is typical of Western outlook to confuse between the
agressor and the victim!]