Girgashites

Girgashites (Hebrew: גִּרְגָּשִׁי) are one of the tribes who had invaded the land of Canaan as mentioned in Gen. 15:21; Deut. 7:1; Josh. 3:10; Neh. 9:8.[1] The Girgashites are also known as the fifth ethnic group that descended from Canaan (Gen. 10:16; i Chron. 1:14).[2] Although the Girgashites are not referred to in the narrative of the wars of conquests,[3] and their locality is not stated, they are named by Joshua among the peoples the Israelites dispossessed (24:11).[4] The Jerusalem Talmud claims that they migrated to North Africa prior to the Israelites entering the land.[5]

They have been tentatively identified with the Karkisha, allies of the Hittites in their wars with Rameses II.[6][7] If that identification is correct, the Girgashites would have lived in the western coast of Asia Minor and maintained closed relations with their neighbours to the south during that period.[7] A name grgš appears in Ugaritic both as part of the personal name bn grgš and as a place name.[8]

Herodotus wrote of a city called Gergis in the western coast of Asia Minor, whose inhabitants he calls "those left by the Teucrians". The Teucrians have been identified with the Sea Peoples known as Tjeker mentioned in Egyptian sources. Meanwhile, Athenaeus called the local inhabitants of Miletus Gergites and Xenophon described the Gergites as neighbours of Troy.[7]

The Girgashites have also been discussed in relation to the place Gergesa.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Hastings, James; Selbie, John Alexander; Davidson, Andrew Bruce; Driver, Samuel Rolles; Swete, Henry Barclay (1899). A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature, and Contents, Including the Biblical Theology. T. & T. Clark.
  2. ^ Kitto, John (1864). A Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature. A. & C. Black.
  3. ^ For a survey of various traditions about the Girgashites that are used to explain their omission in the conquest narratives and in several other Biblical lists of Canaanite tribes, see Klein, Reuven Chaim (Rudolph) (April 2018). "Nations and Super-Nations of Canaan" (PDF). Jewish Bible Quarterly. 46 (2): 73–85. ISSN 0792-3910. and Klein, Reuven Chaim (Rudolph) (July 2018). "More on the Seven Nations: Girgashite Flight and the Canaanite Nation" (PDF). Jewish Bible Quarterly. 46 (3): 158–168. ISSN 0792-3910.
  4. ^ Groot, N. G. De (1879). The History of the Israelites and Judæans: Philosophical and Critical. Trübner & Company.
  5. ^ "Jerusalem Talmud Sheviit 6:1:13". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  6. ^ Görg, Manfred (1985). "Dor, die Teukrer und die Girgasiter". Biblische Notizen (in German). 28: 7–14. doi:10.71715/bn.v28i.96876. ISSN 2628-5762.
  7. ^ a b c Margalith, Othniel (1994). The Sea Peoples in the Bible. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 58. ISBN 978-3-447-03516-3.
  8. ^ Neef, Heinz-Dieter (May 2022). "Girgaschiter". Das wissenschaftliche Bibellexikon im Internet (WiBiLex) (in German). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.