What does philistines mean?
Definitions for philistines
philistines
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word philistines.
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Wikipedia
Philistines
The Philistines (Hebrew: פְּלִשְׁתִּים, romanized: Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: Phulistieím) were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when their polity, after having already been subjugated for centuries by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, was finally destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. After becoming part of his empire and its successor, the Persian Empire, they lost their distinct ethnic identity and disappeared from the historical and archaeological record by the late 5th century BC. The Philistines are known for their biblical conflict with the Israelites. Though the primary source of information about the Philistines is the Hebrew Bible, they are first attested to in reliefs at the Temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, in which they are called Peleset (accepted as cognate with Hebrew Peleshet); the parallel Assyrian term is Palastu, Pilišti, or Pilistu.
Wikidata
Philistines
The Philistines, Pleshet or Peleset, were a people who as part of the Sea Peoples appeared in the southern coastal area of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age, most probably from the Aegean region. According to the Bible, they ruled the five city-states of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with no fixed border to the east. The Bible paints them as the Kingdom of Israel's most dangerous enemy. Originating somewhere in the Aegean, their population was around 25,000 in the 12th century BC, rising to a peak of 30,000 in the 11th century BC, of which the Aegean element was not more than half the total, and perhaps much less. Nothing is known for certain about the original language or languages of the Philistines, however they were not part of the Semitic Canaanite population. There is some limited evidence in favour of the assumption that the Philistines were Indo-European-speakers either from Greece and/or Luwian speakers from the coast of Asia Minor. Philistine-related words found in the Bible are not Semitic, and can in some cases, with reservations, be traced back to Proto-Indo-European roots. By the beginning of the 1st Millennium BC they had adopted the general Canaanite language of the region.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
Philistines
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 (q. v.).
Etymology and Origins
Philistines
The inhabitants of ancient Philistia, or “Palestine.” Because these were continually at war with the Jews, the term has been applied by university students to the citizens generally, and to the preservers of law and order more particularly. “A battle with the Philistines” is but another name for “a town row.” By the people of Norfolk too, policemen and bailiffs, likewise earwigs and such tiny tormentors, are called Philistines.
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of philistines in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of philistines in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Examples of philistines in a Sentence
The Philistines have had some bad press, and this will dispel a lot of myths.
We are not out to destroy and to rule out genuine antiques and pieces of real cultural value that date back hundreds of years, we're not philistines.
This ancestral component is derived from Europe, or to be more specific, from southern Europe, so the ancestors of the Philistines must have traveled across the Mediterranean and arrived in Ashkelon sometime between the end of the Bronze age and the beginning of the Iron age, there would be a lot more that we can say if we had more data, for example we could maybe more precisely pinpoint the source of this migration.
Our study has shown for the first time that the Philistines immigrated to this region in the 12th century (BC), we didn't show it by showing similar styles of pottery, we didn't show it by looking at texts, we showed it by looking at the DNA of the people themselves.
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Translations for philistines
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- פלשתיםHebrew
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"philistines." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 17 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/philistines>.
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