Israel: People Or A Land?

By Arun Dias-Bandaranaike -August 26, 2014 

Arun Dias-Bandaranaike

Once, there was the land of the Philistines.  This portion of the east coast of the Mediterranean sea stretched from the area known (even today) as Gaza, northward to about Tel-Aviv (or Jaffa in Arabic)- close enough to modern day Lebanon- and the territory also stretched inward toward the Jordan river a little less than 20 miles or so.  The name given to that realm was “Philistia”. By about the 15th century BC [Before Christ –for the purpose of this article, the usage for dates will be, BCE –Before Common Era, and CE- Common Era, which corresponds with AD-Anno Domini (Year of Our Lord)] the Philistines were a well-established community of people, eager to defend their land with walled cities and a well-equipped army.  They had a system of government with a monarch as head of state, and they were worshippers of various deities.  

The Greek writers of a later day referred to this land of Philistia as “Palestine” [actually “Phae-lestine]. “The name was revived by the Romans in the 2nd century CE in “Syria Palaestina,” designating the southern portion of the province of Syria. After Roman times the name had no official status until after World War I and the end of Ottoman rule, when it was adopted for one of the regions mandated to Great Britain; in addition to an area roughly comprising present-day Israel and the West Bank, the mandate included the territory east of the Jordan River now constituting the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan”[i]

Abraham, the patriarch of the “Jewish” people who many years after his day were known as Israel or Hebrews (as speakers of that particular Semitic Language), was originally a native of the Mesopotamian region, and came from the materially prosperous city, Ur of Chaldea.  In accepting an invitation extended to him by the God who he worshipped, in the 20th century BCE Abram [later re-named Abraham] left the land he had occupied, and with his family moved to a new territory.

This ‘new’ land to which he was directed was way over in the west.  Different people and cultures already inhabited it. They bore names such as Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites. [See Genesis 15:18,19]  Many of these people have passed out of existence as separate entities or cultures, but archeology does confirm their geographical limits and their influence on contemporaries. The popular belief now held is that “Jericho”, a Canaanite stronghold, was one of the earliest examples of a city-state.  Of interest too, is the location of “Jerusalem”- this was at one time the home of the Jebusites, and was also called “Jebus”, although in Abraham’s time, the name was likely “Salem” which means ‘peace’!                                       Read More