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101 articles found for “Philistines”

• Philistia

  Philistia is the name of both a people and the land they inhabited on the Mediterranean coastal plain of southwestern Canaan. In the Bible, the Philistines appear as a power that frequently opposed Israel from the period of the judges through the time of David.

• Gath

  Gath was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines in the Old Testament. It was the hometown of Goliath and the place where David sought refuge while fleeing from Saul.

• Gibbethon

  Gibbethon was an Old Testament town in the territory of the tribe of Dan and a Levitical city, but by the period recounted in the books of Kings it belonged to the Philistines. King Nadab of Israel was assassinated there while besieging it, and Omri was proclaimed king in the Israelite camp there.

• Jeremiah 47

  Jeremiah 47 is a prophecy of judgment against the Philistines. Using the images of waters overflowing from the north and the unresting "sword of the LORD," it announces the destruction of Gaza and Ashkelon.

• Philistine Pentapolis

  The Philistine Pentapolis is the collective name for the five cities that the Philistines established on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Canaan: Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. During the period of the judges and the early monarchy, these cities were the centers of the Philistine power that opposed Israel.

• Gaza

  Gaza was a major Philistine city on the Mediterranean coast in southwestern Canaan. It appears in the Samson narrative in Judges and in Acts 8, where Philip met the Ethiopian eunuch on "the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza."

• Great Sea

  The Great Sea, meaning "the great sea," is a biblical place name for the present-day Mediterranean Sea, which lies west of the land of Canaan. The name appears mainly in passages that describe the western boundary of the Promised Land.

• Abinadab

  Abinadab was a man of Kiriath-jearim in the Old Testament. Scripture records that he received the ark of the covenant into his house after the Philistines returned it, and that it remained there for a long time. Several other people of the same name also appear in the Bible.

• 1 Samuel 6

  This chapter recounts how the Philistines, after holding the ark of the LORD for seven months, send it back on a cart to Beth-shemesh in Israel together with a trespass offering, and how the men of Beth-shemesh who looked into the ark are struck down.

• Dagon

  Dagon is the name of a god worshiped by the Philistines in the Old Testament. He appears in the story of Samson and in the account of the Ark of the Covenant being placed in the temple of Dagon at Ashdod.

• Ekron

  Ekron was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines in the Old Testament. The ark of God was sent there, and 2 Kings refers to it as the city of "Baalzebub the god of Ekron."

• Ashkelon

  Ashkelon was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines, located on the Mediterranean coast. It appears in the account of Samson and in David's lament, and several prophetic books name it as an object of judgment.

• 1 Samuel 13

  1 Samuel 13 is the chapter in which war with the Philistines begins early in Saul's reign. Failing to wait for Samuel at Gilgal, Saul offers the burnt offering himself, and Samuel declares that his kingdom will not continue.

• 1 Chronicles 18

  1 Chronicles 18 records David's successive conquests of the Philistines, Moab, Zobah, Aram, and Edom, his dedication of the spoils to the LORD, and a list of the chief officials of David's kingdom.

• Caphtor

  Caphtor is an Old Testament place name identified as the land from which the Philistines came. It is generally thought to be an island or coastal region of the Mediterranean, and the best-known view identifies it with Crete.

• Psalm 56

  Psalm 56 is a lament whose superscription attributes it to David when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Amid the threats of his enemies, the confession "In God I have put my trust; I will not fear" recurs as a refrain.

• Delilah

  Delilah is a woman in Judges 16 who agreed to take silver from the lords of the Philistines, discovered the secret of Samson's strength, and brought about his capture.

• Gob

  Gob is a place name found in 2 Samuel 21, where Israel and the Philistines fought two battles during the time of David. Its exact location is unknown.

• 1 Samuel 4

  1 Samuel 4 is the chapter in which Israel suffers a heavy defeat at the hands of the Philistines at the battle of Aphek and loses the ark of the covenant. Eli and his two sons die, and the wife of Phinehas gives birth to a son and declares, "The glory is departed from Israel."

• 1 Samuel 5

  1 Samuel 5 recounts how the ark of God (the Ark of the Covenant), captured by the Philistines, was moved to Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron. During this time the image of Dagon fell before it, and each city was struck with a plague of tumors.