Philistine Pentapolis

Biblical Text

The first passage to list all five cities together is Joshua 13:3. Among the lands that Israel had not yet possessed, this verse names the territory of the "five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites." Judges 3:3 likewise lists the "five lords of the Philistines" among the nations left to test Israel.

In 1 Samuel 5–6, the Ark of the Covenant, which the Philistines had captured, is moved from Ashdod to Gath and then to Ekron. When the Philistines sent the Ark back, they offered golden emerods (gold objects shaped like malignant tumors), and 1 Samuel 6:17 records one for each of the five cities. The principal narratives associated with each city are as follows:

• Gaza: The place where Samson pulled up the doors of the city gate and carried them away, and where he met his death (Judges 16).
• Ashdod: The site of the temple of Dagon, where the Ark was placed (1 Samuel 5:1-7).
• Ashkelon: Appears in David's lament in the line "publish it not in the streets of Askelon" (2 Samuel 1:20).
• Gath: The hometown of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4). David took refuge with Achish, king of Gath, while fleeing from Saul (1 Samuel 21; 27).
• Ekron: King Ahaziah sent messengers to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of this city (2 Kings 1:2).

Background

The Philistines are generally described as an immigrant people who settled along the Mediterranean coast around the twelfth century BC. The Bible states that they came from Caphtor (Amos 9:7; Jeremiah 47:4), which many identify with the island of Crete. The leaders of the five Philistine cities were called seren in Hebrew, a term applied only to Philistine rulers. The New Korean Revised Version renders the word with terms such as "princes" and "rulers" (the KJV uses "lords"). Some scholars connect the origin of this title with the Greek tyrannos ("ruler").

Of the five cities, Gaza, Ashdod, and Ashkelon lay on or near the coast, while Gath and Ekron lay on the plain farther inland. The cities stood along the coastal route linking Egypt and Mesopotamia. Scholars differ somewhat in identifying them with present-day excavation sites, but the identification of Ekron with Tel Miqne and of Gath with Tell es-Safi is widely accepted.

Significance Across Scripture

The five cities symbolized the foreign powers that threatened Israel from the period of the judges through the time of David. The prophets proclaimed judgment against these cities (Amos 1:6-8; Zephaniah 2:4; Jeremiah 25:20).

Zechariah 9:7 says that Ekron will be "as a Jebusite." Some interpreters read this verse as a prophecy that a remnant of the Philistines would be incorporated into God's people. In the New Testament, Philip the evangelist baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch on "the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza," and then appears at Azotus (Ashdod), where he preaches the gospel (Acts 8:26-40). This scene belongs to the broader movement of the gospel spreading into Gentile regions.

Interpretive Issues

• The omission of Gath from Amos's oracles: Gath is absent from the oracles of judgment in Amos 1. A common explanation is that Gath had already lost its power after being struck by Hazael, king of Aram (2 Kings 12:17), or by Uzziah, king of Judah (2 Chronicles 26:6).
• Discrepancies in the conquest accounts: Judges 1:18 records that Judah took Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron. In later texts, however, these cities continue to appear as Philistine territory. Some interpret this discrepancy as reflecting a temporary occupation, while others explain it in terms of the text's transmission history.
• The name "Palestine": That this place name derives from "Philistine" is a widely accepted explanation, though the biblical text itself does not say so.

In the Korean Church

The five cities are seldom treated as a subject in their own right; instead, they are mentioned in sermons and Sunday school lessons chiefly as the setting for the stories of Samson, David and Goliath, and the Ark of the Covenant.