PHILISTIA. The same Hebrew word, rli-!AZ is variously rendered in our A. V. In Exocf.;;. 14 it is Palestina Raw-7%dg, PhthIrtiini); in Ps.
lx. 8, lxxxvii. 4, and cviii. 9, it is Philistia (c1XX6• OuXot, Alienigena); in Ps. lxxxiii. 7 it is Philistines (d \X6cbtaot) ; in Is. xiv. 29, 31, and Joel iii. 4, it is Palestine (6XX6OuAoi, Philisthaa, Palcasthini). This variety of rendering tends to create confusion in Biblical geography. The word occurs in the above passages only ; and it has the same meaning in them all. It is the special name given to the land of the Philistines.' The way in which its English and Greek equivalents, Palestine or Philistia and Ha came to be applied to a wider region has been explained in the article PALESTINE, to which the reader is referred. The Gentile noun is 'Flt3D, • : and is usually rendered Philistines' (Gen. xxi. 32, etc.) Philistia, or, as it is sometimes called, The land of the Philistines' (o+ry;.,ip cl7aLa Twig, terra Palostizzorrznz), embraced the coast plain on the south-west of Palestine, extending from Joppa on the north to the valley of Gerar on the south, a distance of about forty miles ; and from the shore of the Mediterranean on the west to the foot of the Judzean hills. Its breadth at the northern end was ten miles, and at the southern about twenty. It appears to have run as far inland as Beersheba (Gen. xxi. 33, 34; xxvi. I, 14-18; Exod.
xxiii. 31 ; Josh. xiii. 2, 3). A name very com monly given to it in the Bible is Shephelah, which signifies a low flat region,' and is descriptive (Dent. i. 7 ; Josh. ix. i ; x. 40 in the Hebrew ; see Stanley, S. and P., p. 480 ; SHEPHELAH). Its general features and physical geography have al ready been described. [PALESTINE].
Reland supposes that the name Philistia was ori ginally given to the region between Egypt and Canaan, because the direct road between these countries is called by Moses the way of the land of the Philistines' (Exod. xiii. 17) ; that name, however, might have been rightly given to the coast road, though the Philistines had never possessed any part of the country south of Gaza. Their ter ritory lay on the south-western border of Canaan next Egypt, and it is probable that they pastured their flocks along the whole coast plain as far south as el-Arish. The whole of Philistia was allotted to the tribes of Judah and Dan (see articles JUDAH and DAN) ; but was never completely conquered. After the captivity the Idumans took possession of the southern section of it and held it for a time. [IDum/EA]. For farther information, see the articles