2 Samuel 8:18

(18) The Cherethites and the Pelethites. —These bodies of men, here mentioned for the first time, afterwards appear frequently, constituting the most trusted part of the king’s army, and forming his especial body-guard ( 2Samuel 15:18 ; 2Samuel 20:7 ; 2Samuel 20:23 ; 1Kings 1:38 ; 1Kings 1:44 ; 1Chronicles 18:17 ). Benaiah, who commanded them, a hero from Kabzeel ( 2Samuel 23:20 ), was afterwards promoted by Solomon to be general-in-chief ( 1Kings 2:35 ). But the meaning of the words, “the Che-rethites and the Pelethites,” has been much disputed. On the one hand it is urged that the form of the name indicates a tribal designation, and that there was a tribe of Cherethites living south of Philistia ( 1Samuel 30:14 ), who are also mentioned in connection with the Philistines in Ezekiel 25:16 ; Zephaniah 2:5 . Besides, these names appear as those of bodies of troops only during the reign of David, and the objection that he would have been unlikely to employ foreign mercenaries may be met by the supposition that they had embraced the religion of Israel.

On the other hand, the Chaldee (“archers and slingers ” ) and Syriac (“nobles and Tustics”) understood them as appellatives, and it is said that they should properly be translated “executioners and runners,” such offices falling to the chief troops in all Oriental armies; no tribe of “Pelethites” is known, and in 2Samuel 20:23 the expression translated “Cherethites and Pelethites” has another form for “Cherethites,” which again occurs with “Pelethites” in 2Kings 11:4 ; 2Kings 11:19 , and is translated “the captains and the guard.” The question does not seem to admit of positive determination. Chief rulers.—So these words are rendered in all the ancient versions except the Vulg., and the same term is applied in 1Kings 4:5 to Zabud, with the explanation “the king’s friend,” and also in 2Samuel 20:26 to Ira, “a chief ruler about (literally, at the side of) David.” The word, however (cohen), is the one generally used for “priest,” and there seems here to be a reminiscence in the word of that early time when the chief civil and ecclesiastical offices were united in the head of the family or tribe. Such use of the word had become now almost obsolete, and quite so in the time when the Chronicles were written, since they substitute here (1Chronicles 18:17) “chief about (literally, at the hand of) the king.” For this change in the use of the word, “exact analogies may be found in ecclesiastical words, as bishop, priest, deacon, minister, and many others.”—Speaker’s Commentary.

2 Samuel 8:18 . Benaiah, &c. — Benaiah was one of David’s three worthies of the second order; eminent for many great exploits, of which three only are recounted by the sacred historian. Was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites — These were undoubtedly soldiers of some kind, and even such as were eminent for their valour and fidelity to the king, as is evident from 2 Samuel 15:18 ; 2 Samuel 20:7 ; and 1 Kings 1:38 ; 1 Kings 1:44 ; yet they were not common soldiers, but probably the constant guards of David’s person; like the Prætorian bands among the Romans. Josephus calls them keepers of the body, or body-guards, who never departed from the place where the king was. That Cherethites is sometimes another word for Philistines, appears plainly from Zephaniah 2:5 , and Ezekiel 25:16 ; But, “that David’s guards were native Philistines, of his mortal enemies, is not to be imagined, even although we should suppose them proselytes. For how could their being proselyted more effectually recommend the fidelity of any men to him than being natives of his own country, and known and tried subjects? The only question, then, is, why any of his own subjects should be called Cherethites; and the answer is obvious. They were called so from their having gone with him into Philistia, and continued there with him all the time that he was under the protection of Achish.

These were they who resorted to him from the beginning, in his utmost distress; and clave to him in all his calamities; and it is no wonder if men of such approved fidelity were in a more intimate degree of favour and confidence with the king, and enjoyed, among other privileges, an exemption from the authority of the captain-general, and were placed under peculiar commanders. And it will be no uncommon thing in the history of any country, to find legions and bands of soldiers, denominated, not from the place of their nativity, but that of their residence; as General Monk’s troops, who sojourned with him in Scotland, were called Coldstreamers.” — Delaney. The same author apprehends the Pelethites to have been another body of troops, made up of those valiant men who resorted to David when he resided at Ziklag, among whom we find one Pelet, the son of Azmaveth, ( 1 Chronicles 12:3 ,) who, it is supposed, became their captain, and from whom they were called Pelethites, as the soldiers disciplined by Fabius and Iphicrates were called Fabians and Iphicratians. “Now, as the Cherethites adhered to David and followed his fortune from the beginning, they justly held the first degree of favour with him, and therefore they are always placed before the Pelethites, who only resorted to him when he was in Ziklag; and for that reason were only entitled to the second degree of favour.” See 1 Samuel 30:14 .

18 . Benaiah ] See note on ch. 2 Samuel 23:20 . was over ] Over is not in the Heb. text, and must be supplied from Chr. But possibly there is some further defect, for the Sept. reads “Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was counsellor.” Cp. note on ch. 2 Samuel 23:23 . the Cherethites and the Pelethites ] The first reference to these troops, which are mentioned by this name during the reign of David only. They seem to have formed the king’s body-guard. See ch. 2 Samuel 15:18 , 2 Samuel 20:7 ; 2 Samuel 20:23 ; 1 Kings 1:38 ; 1 Kings 1:44 ; 1 Chronicles 18:17 . Two explanations of the names have been proposed: (1) that they mean executioners and runners , it being the duty of the royal guards to execute sentence (see Genesis 37:36 marg. ; 1 Kings 2:25 ), and to convey the king’s orders from place to place (see 2 Chronicles 30:6 ): (2) that they are the names of two Philistine tribes, the body-guard being composed of foreign mercenaries, like the Pope’s Swiss guard. In favour of the latter explanation it may be urged ( a ) that the names are gentilic in form; ( b ) that Cherethites certainly denotes a Philistine tribe in the other passages where it occurs ( 1 Samuel 30:14 ; Ezekiel 25:16 ; Zephaniah 2:5 ); ( c ) that they are mentioned in conjunction with the Gittites in ch. 2 Samuel 15:18 , so that David evidently had some foreign troops in his service, whom he had gathered round him during his residence at Ziklag. chief rulers ] Ministers. The word is that usually translated priest .

It is derived from a root meaning to serve or minister , and in a few instances denotes a civil not an ecclesiastical minister, the king’s confidential adviser. Cp. the paraphrase in 1 Chronicles 18:17 “chief by the side of the king;” and 1 Kings 4:5 , where the E. V. renders “principal officer.”

Verse 18. - The Cherethites and the Pelethites. As we have already seen ( 1 Samuel 30:14 ), the Cherethim were an insignificant tribe inhabiting the southern part of the country of the Philistines. Nor is that place the only proof of this fact; for they are connected with the Philistines also in Ezekiel 25:16 and Zephaniah 2:5 . David made their acquaintance when at Ziklag; and probably the Pelethim dwelt in the same neighbourhood, and were a still more unimportant clan or family. Much ingenuity has been expended in finding for their names a Hebrew derivation, and Gesenius explains them as meaning "cutters and runners," though for the latter signification he has to go to the Arabic, where he finds a verb falata , "to run away," "flee." But this craze of explaining the names of aboriginal tribes and their towns by Hebrew words is not only absurd in itself, but bars the way to sounder knowledge. For it is possible that, by the study of names not belonging to the Hebrew language, we might arrive at some correct ideas about the races who had previously occupied Palestine. Instead of this, the whole system of derivation is corrupted, and philology made ridiculous. What can be more ludicrous than to explain these Pelethim as "runners away," unless it be the notion that the Rephaim took their name from the Hebrew word for "a ghost"?

In his "mighties" David had a powerful bodyguard of native Israelites, and Saul previously had formed a similar force of three thousand men, not merely for the protection of his own person, but to guard the land from marauding incursions of Amalekites and other freebooting tribes. Such a body of men was of primary importance for police purposes and the safety of the frontiers. How useful such a force would be we can well understand from the history of the marches between England and Scotland (see also note on 2 Samuel 3:22); but I imagine that the Cherethites and Pelethites were used for humbler purposes. While "the mighties" guarded the frontiers, and kept the peace of the kingdom, these men would be used about the court and in Jerusalem, to execute the commands of the king and his great officers. Native Israelites would refuse such servile work, and the conquered Canaanites might become dangerous if trained and armed; while these foreigners, like the Swiss Guard in France, would be trustworthy and efficient. As for the true-born Israelites, they probably did not form the mass of the population, but, like the Franks in France, were the privileged and dominant race. We read that even from Egypt, besides their own dependents, there went up with Israel "a great mixture" ( Exodus 12:38 , margin).