“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. It is better to be of humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud” (Proverbs 16:18-19).
Goliath was identified with the Philistines – all nine-and-one-half feet of him! His equally giant brother, Lahmi, and other family giants Eshbi-Benob, Sippai, Saph, and an un-named giant with polydactylism (twelve fingers and twelve toes) from the city of Gath, are all identified in 2 Samuel 21:16-22. They were feared Philistine warriors from whom the Israel army fled and “were greatly afraid” (1 Samuel 17:24). [For the question of the reality of biblical giants, see my article on “Giants” in Happ-O-getics 1:6.]
“David with the Head of Goliath” by Abraham Bosse, ca. 1651. (Public domain.)
When you think of the formidable Philistines, you must also associate them with the Israeli names of Samson and David. They were also quite “formidable.” In this article, I will review the history of the Philistines and their encounters with Israel. It is interesting that the enemies of Israel seem to gather along the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean (see the map). That is where the Philistine empire was located, including present day Gaza. They were a people of war.
Which Philistines?
There are no living people who are ethnically Philistine: the Philistines became an extinct ancient people already in the fifth century BC. Their history, while complicated, has recently gained new clarity. The following will provide an insightful summary.
A silver foil with a written inscription in Latin was found while excavating a cemetery in the town of Nida, a suburb of Frankfurt, Germany. It was contained in a small silver amulet, just over an inch tall, that had been buried around its owner’s neck.
The foil was too poorly preserved to unroll but with the use of CT scans and computer tomography the inscription was revealed. Consisting of eighteen lines, the inscription reads (in part):
Holy, holy, holy! In the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God! …This rescue device(?) protects the person who surrenders to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, since before Jesus Christ bend all knees: the heavenly ones, the earthly and the subterranean, and every tongue confess (to Jesus Christ).
Aquifers in the Cascade Range mountains provide most of Oregon’s drinking water. No one imagined the abundance God provided in His creation of the earth. One of the aquifers was known but its volume had never been measured until earth scientists at the University of Oregon mapped it.
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