Cherethites and Pelethites

In theBible,theCherethites(Hebrew:כְּרֵתִיKərēṯī) andPelethites(Hebrew:פְּלֵתִיPəlēṯī), the former also spelledKerethites,are twoethnic groupsin theLevant.Their identity has not been determined with certainty.^[1]^[2]The Cherethites are mentioned independently three times, and as the "Cherethites and Pelethites" seven times. They are interpreted to have been a group of elitemercenariesemployed by KingDavid,some of whom acted as his bodyguards, and others as part of his army.^[3]

Historical translations

In theMasoretic versionof theBook of Ezekiel,a group referred to as "children of the land league" are stated as being allies of Egypt,^[4]but in theSeptuagintversion of the same passage, the group are described instead as "children of the Cherethites";^[3]scholars believe that this is a reference to an alliance of thePhilistinesas a whole, rather than a subgroup.^[3]TheTargum,andSyriac Peshitta,regarding the phrase as anappellative,render it "bowmen and slingers",Origen'sHexaplarendered it "corrupted people", whileGeseniusproposed in the 19th century that it should be rendered "executioners and runners". Most modern scholars, however, do not believe the phrase to be appellative.^[3]

The Septuagint translates "Cherethite" as "Cretans" where it occurs in the writings of theliterary prophets,paralleling an ancient tradition that the origin of the people living inRoman Palestine(which was named after the Philistines) had also come fromCrete;^[3]the latter tradition is connected to that which concerns whether the Philistines originated fromCaphtor,an ambiguous location that most modern scholars believe was probably identical to Crete.^[3]

Interpretation

It has been suggested that in some passagesCherethitesmay be used as a synonym for the Philistines.1 Samuel 30:14describes the Cherethites as living in theNegev(also called "South" ) nearZiklag,but the same area is described asthe land of the Philistinesonly two verses later.^[3]The Bible also refers to the Cherethites in the frequent phraseCherethites and Pelethites.ThePelethites(PelethiinHebrew) are thought to be identical to thePhilistines(Pelishtiin Hebrew), the former term being alinguistic corruptionof the latter;^[3]seemingly this differentiates between the Cherethites and the Philistines.^[3]Some scholars have proposed that the Cherethites were a second wave of migrants, the Philistines being the first, and that their initial staging post from which they spread was Ziklag, having taken this over as their capital from the Philistines.^[5] Some Sages interpret it as the Breastplate of the High Priest There is a reasonable possibility that theCarites(mentioned for example at2 Kings 11:4and11:19) were identical to the Cherethites, the former term being a linguistic corruption of the latter. If this is the case, then it would appear that these mercenaries were still used by the Israelites in the time ofAthaliah.^[3]

In theaggadah,theCherethitesare portrayed as being identical to theSanhedrin,rather than being non-Israelite mercenaries employed by the Israelites; the aggadah argues thatKereti(Hebrew forCherethites) should be interpreted as being derived fromto cut off,in the sense ofto make a decree,and thus a reference to making legal decisions.^[3]Pseudo-Jeromeargues similarly, stating that the phraseCherethites and Pelethitesrefers to thecongregation of God.^[3]

Cherethites independently