{"id":57969,"date":"2019-06-20T21:58:49","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T18:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=57969"},"modified":"2023-01-15T08:54:52","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T06:54:52","slug":"israel-v-philistines-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/israel-v-philistines-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel v. Philistines, Again \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Historians and archaeologists agree that the Israelites and the Philistines arrived in the land of Canaan at approximately the same time, the 12th century B.C.E. The Israelites came from the desert regions to the south, stretching across the Sinai, southern Israel, and southern Jordan, with the Exodus and Wilderness narratives of the Torah constituting <\/span>la m\u00e9moire collective<\/em> <\/span>thereof. The Philistines, meanwhile, were part of the Sea Peoples movement, which brought various Aegean and Mediterranean populations to the coast of Canaan. For biblical echoes, see Deut 2:23, Jer 47:4, Amos 9:7.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Israelites settled in the central hill country, where most of the biblical narrative of Judges-Samuel transpires. Note the mention of such cities as Shechem, Shiloh, Bethel, Ramah, Gibeah, Bethlehem, Mizpah, Beth-Shemesh, Kiryat-Jearim, Timnah, Adullam, etc. \u00a0The Philistines settled in the southern coastal plain, especially in the five cities which formed the Pentapolis: Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.<\/span><\/p>\n

As long as these two peoples remained in their respective territories, all was fine. \u00a0But within a century or so, both populations began to expand, the Israelites slightly westward and the Philistines slightly eastward, so that the two groups met in the foothills region. Thus we begin to see a series of battles between the Israelites and the Philistines, beginning in chapters 4-6 and here again in chapter 14 (with more engagements still to come).<\/span><\/p>\n

In this case, the Israelites are victorious, with Jonathan, the son of Saul, playing a key role. \u00a0Within the account of the Israelite victory, the narrator mentions the <\/span>mehuma gedola me\u02beod<\/span><\/em> \u2018very great confusion\u2019 in the Philistine camp (v. 20), as often happens in the course of battle (and as directors and cinematographers often attempt to capture in film). <\/span><\/p>\n

The text continues: \u201cAnd the Hebrews were to the Philistines as before, that had gone up with them into the camp all around; and even they to be with Israel that were with Saul and Jonathan\u201d (v. 21). I have translated the passage as it reads, without any attempt at smoothing over the difficulties. The latter is what typically occurs in English translations, for example, in the J.P.S. <\/span>Tanakh <\/span><\/i>version, \u201cAnd the Hebrews who had previously sided with the Philistines, who had come up with them in the army from round about \u2013 they too joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.\u201d Now something like this is presumably what happened in the battle, but the biblical writer did not describe the events in such smooth terms. Instead, to evoke the confusion in the Philistine camp, he produced language which by its very confusion describes the battlefield.<\/span><\/p>\n

Readers expect the text that they are reading to read smoothly, with coherent grammar. \u00a0And such occurs the vast majority of the time. But the ancient Israelite literati were master wordsmiths, and so when the occasion arose, they adjusted their language accordingly to reflect confusion, excitement, or bewilderment. \u00a0For additional examples, see my article, \u201c<\/span>Confused Language as a Deliberate Literary Device in Biblical Hebrew Narrative<\/span><\/a><\/em>\u201d (1998).<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":57970,"id":57970,"title":"isam14-confusion","filename":"isam14-confusion.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-confusion.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/israel-v-philistines-again\/isam14-confusion\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam14-confusion","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":57969,"date":"2019-06-20 18:58:32","modified":"2019-06-20 18:58:46","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-confusion-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-confusion-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-confusion-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-confusion-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-confusion.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-confusion.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-confusion-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-confusion-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Israel v. 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