Genesis And The Philistine

It is curious that there is a plethora of news today that details the strife between the Israelis and their many neighbors and yet in the book of Genesis, the Jews and the Philistines make a covenant not to fight. “That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace…” (Genesis 26:29). The Jews have had numerous conflicts over the ages but since their return to Israel, their fighting with Palestinians seem to have grown exponentially. To understand the roots of this nuanced altercation, evidence can be drawn from the First Testament of the bible. In the book of Genesis, in chapter 26, Isaac is traveling through the land of Gerar which is in modern day Israel.

The Philistines specifically lived in parts of what is Palestine, and the two words even sound similar because the people are descendents. Isaac, the son of Abraham that carries the covenant, is leading his people through this land of famine. These followers are the modern day Jews. In the book of Genesis, God repeatedly tells Isaac that the land of Gerar is promised to him and his children. However, God does not speak of the Philistines currently living there. Consequently, the Philistines are quite aggravated when Isaac comes to their land and occupies it, because they had lived in this space for a long period of time. As mentioned before, a desert in famine is an extremely challenging place in which to live, so this annexation would not be looked upon kidly. Evidently, there is a massive conflict brewing here, one that has bled into the modern day and still affects politics in the Middle east. In the following paragraphs, the credence to each side's viewpoint will be detailed and analyzed. The ancient discord between the Philistines and the followers of Isaac has directly influenced the root causes of today's controversy between the Palestinians and the

This is shown explicitly when God states to Isaac, “... Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries... ...And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries...” (Genesis 26:2-4). The first facet to the assertion that the Jewish people should inhabit the land of Gerar is that a holy and divine being has simply given it to them. For those who believe in faith, this is the most impenetrable reasoning. God had told Abraham that the land is his by right and he told the same thing to Isaac, so why shouldn’t they enjoy their new home? After all it’s been in the family for several hundred years by this time. This is emphasized by the fact that God even says, “And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries…”. This even seems to be somewhat reminiscent of a prophecy. The children of