Philistines

fi-lis'tins, a people of probable Canaanitish origin. They dwelt on the southern border of Palestine, on the coast road from Egypt to Syria. They occupied five cities. It is thought, in fact, that they were a colony planted by the Egyptian pharaohs to secure the roadway. At all events they refused to mingle with the other people of Palestine and were faithful to Egyptian interests for many a century. The Philistines and the Israelites were hereditary foes. Their truces and friendships were about as lasting and sincere as those between the Sioux and the Chippewa Indians. Goliath, the giant, whom the stripling David smote fairly in the forehead, with a pebble from a shepherd's sling, was a Philistine. In point of walled cities, armor, and implements of warfare they excelled the Israelites.