Philistine

Word History: The ultimate origin of the Philistines, the inhabitants of the ancient city-states of Philistia (located in what is now the Gaza Strip and the southern Mediterranean coast of Israel), is not known, although some archaeological evidence links them with ancient peoples of the Aegean region and Anatolia. The English name of this people, the Philistines, ultimately comes from Hebrew Pəlištîm, which is in turn derived from Pəlešet, the Hebrew name for Philistia. In fact, the word Palestine, the more recent historical designation for the entire region between Lebanon and Egypt, also derives from the ancient name of Philistia. Strategically located on a trade route from Egypt to Syria, the cities of Philistia formed a loose confederacy important in biblical times, and the Bible depicts the Philistines as engaged in a struggle with the tribes of Israel for ascendancy in the region. The mighty Israelite warrior Samson, for example, fought with the Philistines on several occasions and was betrayed by his Philistine lover, Delilah. During the 1600s, as a result of the negative depiction of the Philistines in the Bible, the word philistine came to be applied figuratively to anyone considered an enemy. However, the modern sense of the word, "uncultured person," stems from the slang of German university students in the 1600s. Students used Philister, the German equivalent of the English word Philistine, to refer to nonstudents and hence uncultured or materialistic people. At a memorial service in 1693 for a student killed during a town-gown quarrel in Jena, for example, a minister preached a sermon from the text "Philister über dir Simson!" ("The Philistines be upon thee, Samson!")—the words of Delilah to Samson after she attempted to render him powerless before the Philistines. The German usage was eventually picked up in English in the early 1800s.