Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. – 1 Chronicles 10:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 7, 2019): 1 Chronicles 10

The Vikings were not the warriors that we often believed them to be. Most of the Vikings were peaceful farmers and tradesman, rather than the fierce military fighters that live in our imaginations. And even the warriors would return home and go back to the peaceful lives that they usually led. Our conception of the Vikings as warriors is probably because that was the way we experienced the Vikings; our ancestors and historians never met the Viking farmers, but instead were plagued by the Viking warriors.

The Bible contains two very different descriptions of the Philistines. We are first introduced to the Philistines that inhabited Canaan around the time of Abraham. At this point in history, these Philistines seemed peaceful, and Genesis says that Abraham lived in the land of the Philistines for a long time (Genesis 21:34). The second description that we have is of this warlike, conquering people who had an ongoing conflict with Israel after they returned to Canaan following their hiatus in Egypt. Some rabbinic literature seems to indicate that these two groups of Philistines were unrelated to each other. But there is another solution to the difference between the two Philistine descriptions.

Primarily, the Philistines were a military, immigrant people who originated on the Island of Crete. It seems likely that a small number of these Philistines came to Canaan sometime just before Abraham’s arrival in the land. In small numbers, and as newly arrived inhabitants in a foreign land, these Philistines were the peaceful inhabitants that allowed Abraham, who was also not a threat to them, to live in the land that they had occupied.

But the Philistines were also a sea-going people who traded with various cultures around the Mediterranean. They were accomplished drinkers, and through their interaction learned how to use iron and acquired advanced military strategies from the other nations, maybe even the Greeks, and incorporated those strategies into their culture. As a result, they became a formidable force among the nations like Moab, Ammon, and Israel who had not been exposed to those strategies. The Five Kings, who ruled over the five Philistine city-states, had free reign to do whatever they wanted to do in the area of Canaan. No one could withstand them in battle.

Of course, the one who should have been able to stand against them was Saul. But Saul was not in a good place at this point in his life as he came upon the Philistines. Saul felt that he had been abandoned by his God and he was waging an internal war against his greatest general, David. As a result, when Saul saw the Philistines with their advanced weaponry and strategies, his heart went cold, and Saul ran. All of Israel followed him, only to be pursued and killed by the Philistines. Mount Gilboa became a graveyard of the dead of Israel; a graveyard which would include the bodies of Saul and three of his sons.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 5