by
Damien F. Mackey
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The name
‘Peleset’ appears to be especially recognisable in that of the ancient
‘Pelethites’ (I Chronicles 18:17): “Benaiah
son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David's sons were
chief officials at the king’s side”.
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Introduction
Dr.
John Osgood pointed out the likely connection between the Peleset and the
Pelethites of King David’s guard in “The Times of Abraham” (http://creation.com/the-times-of-abraham):
1. Further details of the
Philistines
Although
in this discussion we are concerning ourselves with the days of Abraham, it is
pertinent that we also elaborate on the question of the Phiistines at a later
period, in order that the overall perspective of these people be understood.
Modern archaeological interpretation first allows the Philistines in the days
of Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty, dated 1182 to 1151 B.C.18
An
inscription of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu reports an attack made by the
peoples of the sea, among whom are a group called the Peleset. Ramesses
claims to have defeated these in a sea battle. The Peleset are said to have
settled in the area of the Philistines at approximately this time, and
naturally it is assumed that the Philistines therefore first settled in
Palestine at this period, and that they originated from the Aegean area as the
peoples of the sea.
The
Scripture, however, gives no credibility to such an interpretation. Thus, there
is a conflict?
It is
clear, from what has been said before of the narratives of Abraham and Isaac,
that the Philistines were already in Palestine at approximately 1850 B.C., some
700 years before present archaeological interpretation accepts them as there.
The Scripture also seems to indicate that they originated from Egypt, and not
from the Aegean area. Is there any way to satisfy both the biblical claims, and
the artifactual archaeological evidence? I believe there is. But first we must
accept the biblical statements at face value and scan the Scriptures for
anything that might fit at approximately 1100 to 1000 B.C., and for a people
who could in fact be identified with the Peleset 'of the relief of Ramesses
III' Indeed, we do meet a people, first in 2 Samuel 8:18, and then subsequently in 2 Samuel 15:18 and 27:23, 1 Kings 1:38 and 44, 1 Chronicles 18:17, Ezekiel 25:16, and Zephaniah 2:5. They are called the Pelethites, and
they are associated with the Cherethites and also, in at least one
passage, the Gittites who were indeed a group of Philistines from the
city of Gath.
Now it
does not take much to realise that the word 'Pelethite' is an even better match
with the word 'Peleset' in the Egyptian reliefs than is the word 'Philistine'.
So if the Bible allows a group of people by the name of Pelethites who clearly
were associated in some way with the Philistine region, and who also were
associated with the Cherethites (whom many believe to be the Cretians, who in
one text, namely Ezekiel 25:16, are called the remnant of the sea coast),
then we have all the conditions necessary to solve an apparent conflict. We
have no need to reject the Philistines of Egyptian descent in Palestine at 1850
B.C., and we can accept a second wave of people known as the Pelethites and
Cherethites, who settled on the sea coast before the days of Saul and David,
who are evidenced by the archaeological record, and who apparently had an
Aegean origin. There would still be some difficulty in this revised chronology
in associating the initial settlement of the Pelethites and the Cherethites
with the same event as recorded by Ramesses III. Rather, they would need to be
seen as allies to the other peoples of the sea when they themselves were
already settled in a land base in Philistia prior to the days of Ramesses III,
but I will leave this to be detailed at another time. Sufficient to conclude
here that the Pelethites and Cherethites of Scripture were first able to be
identified at approximately 1012 B.C. in the later years of Saul, king of
Israel. Contingents from these groups formed part of the guard of David ….
[End of quote]
I
also discuss the matter of the early Philistines - long before the time of
pharaoh Ramses III - and the evidences of their culture, in my university
thesis:
A
Revised History of the Era of King Hezekiah of Judah
and
its Background
(in
Volume One, Chapter Two: “The Philistines and their Allies”).
For
a contemporary view of Aegean Greeks at the time of King David, one ought to
peruse the appropriate reliefs at the time of Senenmut, who was, according to
my view, King David’s famous son, Solomon, in Egypt. See my:
Solomon and Sheba
Senenmut
also being the same as the supposed great Athenian statesman, sage and
lawgiver, Solon (= Solomon), who is said to have travelled to Egypt.
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