Philistines

The term that is transliterated as “Philistines” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that signifies the helmet the Philistine warriors wore was decorated with feather-like objects. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Philistines” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Philistines (source: Bible Lands 2012)

complete verse (2 Samuel 21:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 21:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “After that, the Israelites fought again with the Philistines at Gob. Then, Sibbecai who came from Hushah killed the Philistine who was called Saph who descended from those people who were big/giants and fierce.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After that [another] battle took place with the Philistines at Gob. In that battle Sibbecai the Hushahite killed a descendant of Rapha named Saph.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Sometime later, the Filistinhon and the Israelinhon fought once-again, and it happened there at Gob. In this battle Sibbecai who comes-from-Husha killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of the Rafa.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Some time after that, there was a battle with the army of Philistia near Gob village. During the battle, Sibbecai, from the Hushah clan, killed Saph, one of the descendants of the Rapha giants.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 21:18

There was again war: marking a new episode in the series of stories of giant-killing.

Gob: a few manuscripts of the ancient Greek version have “Gezeth” here, and this closely corresponds to Gezer, which is found in the parallel passage in 1 Chr 20.4. Gob is mentioned as the site of the killing of another giant in the following verse. Anchor Bible has “Gezer” here, but it is virtually alone in adopting this reading. Translators should probably stay with the Masoretic Text at this point. Probably Gob refers to a village, but its location is not known today.

Sibbecai the Hushathite was from the village of Hushah, located in the hills of the territory of Judah, a few kilometers southwest of Bethlehem. He is mentioned also in 1 Chr 11.29 and possibly also in 2 Sam 23.27.

Saph: the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles has “Sippai,” which is actually a variant of the name Saph. Translators may legitimately use the same spelling of the name in both cases.

One of the descendants of the giants: see the comments at verse 16 above, where the same words occur. In the context where another giant has already been mentioned, it may be more natural to speak of “another descendant of the giants.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .