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Philistine Conquest Mandate in Promised Land

The conquest of the Promised Land by the Israelites included a mandate to dispossess its existing inhabitants, a process that involved the Philistines. The land itself was known by various names, including the "land of Canaan," "land of Israel," and "Palestine" [3]. God promised Abraham that his seed would possess the land of Canaan [8].

However, the complete conquest of Philistine territory was not immediately realized and was subject to certain conditions. The Israelites were to receive specific portions of land by lot, with boundaries defined for each tribe [10, 12]. For instance, the tribe of Benjamin's territory lay between Ephraim, the Jordan, Judah, and Dan [4]. The book of Obadiah prophesies a future time when the Jews inhabiting the southern plain of Judea would possess the land of the Philistines, including cities like Azotus, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron [1, 7, 13].

Despite the divine promise, the Israelites did not fully expel all the inhabitants of the land. The fulfillment of the promise was conditional on their obedience [6, 9]. For example, the Sidonians were never fully expelled by the Israelites, though they were subjected to David and Solomon [6, 9]. Josephus notes that Moses led the Hebrews away from the Philistines due to existing animosity, suggesting a strategic avoidance of immediate conflict with them [5].

Rabbinic tradition offers a specific reason for the delay in conquering Philistine lands. According to the Babylonian Talmud, an oath made by Abraham to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Genesis 21:32, prohibited the Jewish people from conquering Philistine territory for four generations [2, 11]. To circumvent this prohibition, God allowed the Caphtorim to displace the Avvim (identified with the Philistines), and then Israel would conquer the land from the Caphtorim [11]. This interpretation highlights a nuanced understanding of the conquest mandate, balancing divine command with prior covenants.

Sources

  1. Obadiah “Obadiah 1:19 (Geneva1599) — And they shall possesse the South side of the mount of Esau, and the plaine of the Philistims: and they shall possesse the fieldes of Ephraim, and the fieldes of Samaria, and Beniamin shall haue Gilead.”
  2. Genesis “So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. -- Genesis 21:32”
  3. Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Holy Land — Extremely fruitful -- Ex 3:8; Nu 13:27; De 8:7-9; 11:10-12. Abounded in minerals -- De 8:9; 33:25. Called The land. -- Le 26:42; Lu 4:25. The Lord's land. -- Ho 9:3. Land of Canaan. -- Ge 11:31; Le 14:34. Land of Israel. -- 1Sa 13:19; Mt 2:20,21. Land of Judah. -- Isa 26:1. Land of the Hebrews. -- Ge 40:15. Land of promise. -- Heb 11:9. Land of Immanuel. -- Isa 8:8. Pleasant land. -- Ps 106:24; Da 8:9. Good land. -- Nu 14:7; De 3:25. Glorious land. -- Da 11:16. Palestine. -- Ex 15:14; Isa 14:29,31. Original inhabitants of, expelled for wickedness -- Ge 15”
  4. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Benjamin, The Land Of — The proximity of Benjamin to Ephraim during the march to the promised land was maintained in the territory allotted to each. That given to Benjamin formed almost a parallelogram, of about 26 miles in length by 12 in breadth, lying between Ephraim, the Jordan, Judah and Dan. The general level of this part of Palestine is not less than 2000 feet above the Mediterranean or than 3000 feet above the valley of the Jordan, the surrounding country including a large number of eminences--almost every one of which has borne some part in the history of the”
  5. Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 15, section 2: pursuit, and asked of every one they met which way they were gone. And indeed that land was difficult to be traveled over, not only by armies, but by single persons. Now Moses led the Hebrews this way, that in case the Egyptians should repent and be desirous to pursue after them, they might undergo the punishment of their wickedness, and of the breach of those promises they had made to them. As also he led them this way on account of the Philistines, who had quarreled with them, and hated them of old, that by all means they migh”
  6. Joshua (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Joshua 13:6: Misrephoth-maim - See on Jos 11:7 (note). These will I drive out - That is, if the Israelites continued to be obedient; but they did not, and therefore they never fully possessed the whole of that land which, on this condition alone, God had promised them: the Sidonians were never expelled by the Israelites, and were only brought into a state of comparative subjection in the days of David and Solomon. Some have taken upon them to deny the authenticity of Divine revelation relative to this business, "because," say they, "God is stated to have absolutely promised that”
  7. Obadiah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Obadiah 1:19: And they of the south shall possess the land of Esau,.... That is, those Jews that shall dwell in the southern part of the land of Judea shall seize upon the country of Idumea, lying contiguous to them; they shall enlarge their border, and take that into their possession: and they of the plain the Philistines; or of Sephela, they that shall inhabit the plain, or champaign country of Judea, as the parts of Lydda, Emmaus, and Sharon, were; these shall possess the country of the Philistines, lying near unto them, as Azotus, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron: and they ”
  8. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 2 .--AT WHAT TIME THE PROMISE OF GOD WAS FULFILLED CONCERNING THE LAND OF CANAAN, WHICH EVEN CARNAL ISRAEL GOT IN POSSESSION. (part 1): In the preceding book we said, that in the promise of God to Abraham two things were promised from the beginning, the one, name- 338 ly, that his seed should possess the land of Canaan, which was intimated when it was said, "Go into a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation;" (1) but the other far more excellent, concerning not the carnal but the spiritual seed, by whic”
  9. Joshua (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Joshua 13:6: All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim--(See on Jos 11:8) --that is, "all the Sidonians and PhÅ“nicians." them will I drive out--The fulfilment of this promise was conditional. In the event of the Israelites proving unfaithful or disobedient, they would not subdue the districts now specified; and, in point of fact, the Israelites never possessed them though the inhabitants were subjected to the power of David and Solomon. only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance--The parenthetic section be”
  10. Joshua (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Joshua 15 (introduction): BORDERS OF THE LOT OF JUDAH. (Jos 15:1-12) This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah--In what manner the lot was drawn on this occasion the sacred historian does not say; but it is probable that the method adopted was similar to that described in Jos 18:10. Though the general survey of the country had not been completed, some rough draft or delineation of the first conquered part must have been made, and satisfactory evidence obtained that it was large enough to furnish three cantons, before all the tribes cast lots for ”
  11. Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Chullin 60b.12: The verse teaches the following: Since Abimelech, king of the Philistines, administered an oath to Abraham: “That you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my grandson” (Genesis 21:23), the Jewish people were prohibited from conquering the land of the Philistines until four generations had passed. Therefore, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Let the Caphtorim come and remove the land from the Avvim, who are the same as the Philistines, and let Israel come and remove it from the Caphtorim, circumventing the prohibition.”
  12. Numbers (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Numbers 34:16: names of the men . . . which shall divide the land--This appointment by the Lord before the Jordan tended not only to animate the Israelites faith in the certainty of the conquest, but to prevent all subsequent dispute and discontent, which might have been dangerous in presence of the natives. The nominees were ten princes for the nine and a half tribes, one of them being selected from the western section of Manasseh, and all subordinate to the great military and ecclesiastical chiefs, Joshua and Eleazar. The names are mentioned in the exact order in”
  13. Obadiah (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Obadiah 1:19: they of the south--The Jews who in the coming time are to occupy the south of Judea shall possess, in addition to their own territory, the adjoining mountainous region of Edom. they of the plain--The Jews who shall occupy the low country along the Mediterranean, south and southwest of Palestine, shall possess, in addition to their own territory, the land of "the Philistines," which runs as a long strip between the hills and the sea. and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim--that is, the rightful owners shall be restored, the Ephraimites to the”
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