In the Washington Post, novelist Diana Abu-Jaber, who is part Palestinian, takes offense at the word philistine.

She claims, "The word 'philistine' means 'boorish and backward'; it comes from the word for 'Palestinian.' It is a derogatory word that demeans an entire culture, and it is used with relative impunity in this country."

Is she accurate?

As far as I know, the word philistine and palestinian are related to one another, but the former is related to a Jewish sect of the 1st century CE and the latter is a term referring to Arabs who live in Palestine (Jews, Christians, and Muslims). Such is life.

quote:

---

Originally posted by jheem:
As far as I know, the word philistine and palestinian are related to one another, but the former is related to a Jewish sect of the 1st century CE and the latter is a term referring to Arabs who live in Palestine (Jews, Christians, and Muslims). Such is life.

---

Philistine is used in translations of Genesis to refer to a people group that existed a long while before the 1st century CE. From the King James Version:

quote:

---

Genesis 21
32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

---

Did the Bible translators use the wrong word? I thought Philistine referred to the people of Philistia, an ancient region of south west Palestine.

quote:

---

Did the Bible translators use the wrong word? I thought _Philistine_ referred to the people of Philistia, an ancient region of south west Palestine.

---

The KJV translators were translating from the Septuagint, which was written in Greek. So we're talking about the English word for the Greek word for the Hebrew word. I would guess the Greek word here is something very much like philistine. Does anyone know the Hebrew word(s) used here?

Sorry about that, I was thinking of the negative connotation version of Philistine which comes from the New Testament. Here's the forms of the words in the Septuagint and the Torah:

LXX: eis ten gen ton Phulistiim
Torah: 'al-'eretz pəlishtim
KJV: into the land of the Philistines

Hebrew name of Philistia: pəlesheth

The really loaded question is what was the ethnicity of the Philistines?

Note: the oldest MS of the Bible is not a Hebrew one, but the Greek translation known as the Septuagint.

Addendum: After taking a quick look around the Web, I see I didn't know nearly as much about the Philistines as I thought I did. The negative connotations about Philistines probably start with the Egyptians who grouped them with the Sea People (Hyskos) invaders. The Hebrews thought of them as they did most pagans: i.e., bad.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jheem,