20151013 Tuesday, October 13 2015
Jeremiah 47: Where Did The Palestinians Come From?

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

The Egyptian and Philistine people are cousins from their common ancestor, Mizraim, the son Noah's son of Ham

Righteous Noah (see Why Did The Flood Happen? and The LORD's Seed Covenants With The Two Men Of Iraq) had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, from whom the primary families of present-day humanity originated (see The First Nations Of The New World).

Noah's son Ham then had four sons: Cush, Mizraim, Put, Canaan.

"1:8 The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

1:9 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raamah, and Sabtecha. And the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.

1:10 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be mighty upon the earth.

1:11 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, 1:12 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (of whom came the Philistines,) and Caphthorim." (1 Chronicles 1:8-12 KJV)

Canaanites obviously originated from Ham's son Canaan. But who originated from Ham's son Mizraim?

Mizraim is the Hebrew name that was given to Egypt and northeast Africa by the Hebrew-speaking Israelites in reference to Mizraim's descendants who settled there. Mizraim is rendered into English as "Egypt" (from the name that the ancient Greek empire gave to it, pronounced Aigyptos; see The Cleopatra Connection) over 600 times in the Holy Scriptures. Various translations use "Mizraim" or "Egypt" interchangeably, as shown in the examples below from the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version.

"10:6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan." (Genesis 10:6 KJV)

"10:6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan." (Genesis 10:6 RSV)

As plainly documented in the verses above, the descendants of Mizrain were not Canaanites. Among the descendants of Mizraim / Egypt were, obviously, the Egyptians, but also the Philistines. The Egyptian and Philistine people are cousins from their common ancestor.

"1:11 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, 1:12 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (of whom came the Philistines,) and Caphthorim." (1 Chronicles 1:11-12 KJV)

The name "Palestine" originated from the Greek word pronounced Palaistina, which is derived from the Hebrew word pronounced pel-eh-sheth, meaning land of the Philistines - a small coastal territory corresponding to what is today Gaza. It never truly meant anywhere else, or anywhere beyond their homeland borders.

The definition of Palestine was first inflated when the invading Romans (see A History Of Jerusalem: Pompey And The Caesars) used the name Syria Palaestina during the second century before Jesus Christ. They used it to designate the southern portion of their political province of Syria, which then took in Judea, including Jerusalem.

In modern times, the accepted meaning of Palestine was again greatly politically amplified after the First World War (1914-1918). Britain, which then held control of the land of Israel under a mandate of the League of Nations (British control eventually made possible the birth of the modern state of Israel, thereby fulfilling a vital Biblical element of Prophecy - see Israel In History and Prophecy: Balfour Declaration), revived the name as an official title for practically all of the land - from Dan to Beersheba, and from The Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. And so it has been ever since. Nevertheless, from the actual Biblical perspective, "Palestine," which is merely a different pronunciation of "Philistine," consisted only of the coastal area centered on what is today Gaza - a people whose origin and family is to the southwest, in Egypt - not to the east, in the land of Israel.

With its location along the "Fertile Crescent" (see Children Of Ham - The Origin Of Egypt And Iraq), Gaza was often involved in the conflicts, not merely with neighboring Israel, but with the great powers that marched back and forth through Gaza. So too, in the time of the prophet Jeremiah.

"47:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.

47:2 Thus saith the LORD;

Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl. 47:3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands; 47:4 Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor. 47:5 Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?

47:6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. 47:7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it." (Jeremiah 47:1-7 KJV)

Fact Finder: How were the Philistines / "Palestinians" of Gaza involved in Bible history?
See Gaza In History And Prophecy