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Thursday, October 22, 2015

Velikovsky and those ‘Peleset’. Part Four: The Cherethites





by

 Damien F. Mackey

 

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It seems likely from Ezekiel 25:16: ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast’, that the Cherethites [or Kerethites, Cerethim] may also have been of Philistine stock.

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JewishEncyclopedia is of this opinion (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4303-cherethites

 

CHERETHITES or CHERETHIM.


 

….

 

Probably the name of a part of the Philistines; usually, however, designating the whole nation, as in Zeph. ii. 5, where "the nation of the Cherethites" evidently means the Philistines in general. Similarly, Ezek. xxv. 16 and xxx. 5 belong here. A. V. translates "the children of the land [that is in] league." But the true reading after the Ethiopic and partly after the LXX. (which omits the word "land") is: "the children of the Kerethi" (compare Cornill's "Ezekiel"). In Ezek. xxx. 5, where "the children of the land that is in league" are mentioned among the allies of Egypt, the whole of the Philistines must be meant. ….

[End of quote]

 

A very close connection between the nations of Egypt and Philistia was archaeologically pointed out by Dr. John Osgood, as I noted in:

 

Pharaoh of Abraham and Isaac


 


 

…. Upon close examination the Book of Genesis affords us with several vital clues about the pharaoh encountered by Abram and Sarai that ought to assist us in determining just who was this enigmatic ruler in the Egyptian records. From a study of the structure of the relevant Genesis passages, from toledôt and chiasmus,


we learned that the biblical pharaoh: 

Was the same as the Abimelech of Gerar, ruler of the Philistines, contemporaneous with both Abram (Abraham) and Isaac.

Which means that: 

This particular pharaoh must have reigned for at least 60+ years

(the span from Abram’s

famine to the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah).

 

We have also learned from archaeological analysis (see http://creation.com/the-times-of-abraham) that: 

Abram was extremely close in time to pharaoh Narmer of Dynasty 0 or 1.

 

Dr. John Osgood has already done much of the “spade work” for us here, firstly by

nailing the archaeology of En-geddi at the time of Abram (in the context of Genesis 14) to the Late Chalcolithic period, corresponding to Ghassul IV in Palestine’s southern Jordan Valley; Stratum V at Arad; and the Gerzean period in Egypt (“The Times of Abraham”, Ex Nihilo TJ, Vol. 2, 1986, pp. 77-87); and secondly by showing that, immediately following this period, there was a migration out of Egypt into Philistia, bringing an entirely new culture (= Early Bronze I, Stratum IV at Arad). P. 86: “In all likelihood Egypt used northern Sinai as a springboard for forcing her way into Canaan with the result that all of southern Canaan became an Egyptian domain”.

[End of quote]

 

King David’s Philistine Contingent

 

Now, it should not really surprise us that King David may have had a loyal band of Philistines serving as his guardsmen (perhaps), as we already found in Part Two: (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”.

John R. Salverda, again, who has also noted that the Greek drama of Cadmus draws heavily upon the biblical narratives about David, has made the following perceptive observation relevant to this article:

 

David as Cadmus (Part One)


 

Another source of David's army, a group of volunteers from Gath, called "Gittites" (also called "mighty men" or "Gibborim." These Gittites are called Gibborim by the Septuagint and by Josephus.) may have served as an "inspirational" model for the Greek myth. David seems to have earned no small measure of respect amongst the Philistines, especially those of Goliath's hometown Gath, this may be due to the giant's, little noted, taunting pledge;

"And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, . . . And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, . . . choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us." (1st Samuel 17:4-9).

These, the words of Goliath's own mouth, may indeed have had something to do with the fact that David was able to find refuge among the Philistines at the city of Gath when King Saul had made him his enemy. David stayed with the Philistines for more than a year and was eventually made a commander of a Gittite contingent of the Philistine army. David retained the city of Ziklag and 600 soldiers from Gath who swore allegiance to him and were his faithful men. It is almost as if many of the Philistines from the city of Gath, the home town of Goliath, were honoring the pledge of their champion to serve under David in the event that he should kill Goliath.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Hendrick_Goltzius_Cadmus_Statens_Museum_for_Kunst_1183.jpg/794px-Hendrick_Goltzius_Cadmus_Statens_Museum_for_Kunst_1183.jpg

This is perhaps another way to understand how Cadmus could obtain soldiers from the teeth (his word) of the slain monster (Goliath). ....