פְּלִשְׁתִּי288 H6430
Philistine(s) — the people of the coastal plain of Canaan, or an individual member of that nation
A gentilic adjective designating the Philistines, the Sea Peoples who settled along the southern coastal plain of Canaan. In its plural form (pelištîm), it appears over 250 times as a collective national designation — Israel's persistent rival from Judges through David's reign. The singular with the article (happelištî) almost always refers to Goliath, the champion of Gath whom David slew (1 Sam 17). Multilingual renderings reflect both transliteration (Spanish 'Pelishtim,' German 'Philister') and interpretive translation (Greek allophyloi, 'foreigners'), hinting at how ancient translators already perceived these people as outsiders.
1. Philistines (the people/nation) — The Philistines as a collective people or nation, appearing 256 times across the historical and prophetic books. Used in plural (pelištîm) with or without the article, in construct chains like 'land of the Philistines' (Gen 21:32) and 'lords of the Philistines' (Judg 16:5). Cross-lingual evidence is uniform: Spanish 'filisteos,' French 'Philistins,' German 'Philister' all treat this as a stable ethnic designation. Gen 10:14 traces their origin to Egypt via the Caphtorim. 256×
AR["الفِلَسطينِيِّينَ","الفِلِسطينيّونَ","الفِلِسطينيّينَ","الفِلِسْطينيِّينَ","الْ-فِلِسْطِينِيُّونَ","الْفِلِسْطِينِيُّونَ","الْفِلِسْطِينِيِّينَ","فِلِسطينَ"]·ben["পলেশ্তীয়দের","পলেশ্তীয়রা","পলেষ্টীয়দের","পলেষ্টীয়রা"]·DE["Philister","der-Philister","die-Philister"]·EN["Philistines","the-Philistines"]·FR["Philistins","le-Philistins"]·heb["פלשתים"]·HI["पलिशतीम","पलिश्तियों","पलिश्तियों-का","पलिश्तियों-की","पलिश्तियों-के","पलिश्तियों-ने","पलिश्तियोंने","पलिश्ती"]·ID["Filistin","orang-Filistin"]·IT["Filistei","il-Filistei"]·jav["Filistin","tiyang-Filistin","tiyang-Filistin,","tiyang-Pèlistin"]·KO["블레셋","블레셋의","블레셋이"]·PT["Filisteus","Gerara","Pelishtim","filisteus","pelishtim"]·RU["Плиштим","Филистимлян","Филистимляне","Филистимских","Филистимского","филистимлян"]·ES["Pelishtim","Pelishtím","filisteos","los-filisteos","los-pelishtim","pelishtim"]·SW["Wafilisti","wa-Wafilisti","ya-Wafilisti","za-Wafilisti"]·TR["Filistliler","Filistliler'in","Filistliler-den","Filistliler-in","Filistlilerin"]·urd["فلستی","فلستیوں-نے","فلستیوں-کی","فلستیوں-کے","فلستیوں-کے۔","فلسطی","فلسطینیوں-کی","فلسطینیوں-کے","فلسطیوں-نے","فلسطیوں-کے"]
Gen 10:14, Gen 21:32, Gen 21:34, Gen 26:1, Gen 26:8, Gen 26:14, Gen 26:15, Gen 26:18, Exod 23:31, Josh 13:3, Judg 10:6, Judg 10:7 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. Philistine (individual person) — A single Philistine individual, appearing 33 times exclusively in the singular (happelištî, 'the Philistine'). Nearly all occurrences cluster in 1 Samuel 17–19, referring to Goliath as David's famous antagonist (1 Sam 17:8, 23, 26), with one later reference to a Philistine slain by Abishai (2 Sam 21:17). The Spanish 'el filisteo' and French 'le Philistin' mirror this individuating singular article construction precisely. 33×
AR["الفِلِسْطِينِيَّ","الفِلِسْطِينِيُّ","الفِلِسْطِينِيِّ"]·ben["পলেষ্টীয়","পলেষ্টীয়টিকে","পলেষ্টীয়টির","পলেষ্টীয়ের"]·DE["der-Pelishti"]·EN["the-Pelishti"]·FR["le-Philistin"]·heb["ה-פלשתי"]·HI["प्लिशतेए","प्लिशतेए-कि","प्लिशतेए-के","प्लिशतेए-को","प्लिशतेए-ने","प्लिशतेए-से"]·ID["orang-Filistin","orang-Filistin-itu"]·IT["il-Filistei"]·jav["-tiyang-Filisti"]·KO["그-블레셋사람","그-블레셋사람을","그-블레셋사람의","그-블레셋사람이"]·PT["o-Pelishti"]·RU["Пелиштимец","Пелиштимца","Пелиштимцем","Пелиштимцу"]·ES["el-filisteo"]·SW["Mfilisti"]·TR["Filistli","Filistli-nin","Filistli-ye","Filistli-yi"]·urd["فلسطی","فلسطی-سے۔","فلسطی-نے","فلسطی-کی","فلسطی-کے","فلسطی۔"]
1 Sam 17:8, 1 Sam 17:10, 1 Sam 17:11, 1 Sam 17:16, 1 Sam 17:23, 1 Sam 17:26, 1 Sam 17:26, 1 Sam 17:32, 1 Sam 17:33, 1 Sam 17:36, 1 Sam 17:37, 1 Sam 17:40 (+21 more)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
פְּלִשְׁתִּי288 adj.gent. Philistine, (οἱ) Φυλιστιειμ, and (not in Hex) (ὁ) ἀλλόφυλος, (οἱ) ἀλλόφυλοι;—only as subst.: הַפּ׳ the Philistine (Goliath) slain by David 1 S 17:8 + 27 times 17, 18:6; 19:5; 21:10; 22:10; one slain by Abishai 2 S 21:17; elsewhere pl. the Philistines255, usually פְּלִשְׁתִּים without art., rarely הַפּ׳ 1 S 4:7; 7:13 + (especially c. prep. בַּפּ׳ v 13 +, and then perhaps…