Pe'let (Heb. id. 1355, deliverance; Sept. $«\£r, iiaXX'tT. V. r. iPaXtic and ' luxpaXXir), the name of two Jews. See also Betii-palkt.
1. The fourth named of the six sons of Jahdai, of the family of Caleb the Hezronite (1 Chron. ii, 47). B.C. post 1612.
2. " Son" of Azmaveth (q. v.), and brother of Jeziel, one of David's Benjamite captains at Ziklag (1 Chron. xii, 3), B.C. cir. 1055.
Pe'leth (Heb. id. ribQ, swiftness; Sept. (baXi^ v. r. OrtXf.S'), the name of two Jews.
1. The father of On, of the tribe of Reuben, who joined Dathan and Abiram in their rebellion (Numb, xvi, 1). B.C. ante 1G57. "Josephus {Ant. iv, 2, 2), omitting all mention of On, calls Peleth (PaXaovc, ap- parenth' identifying him with Phallu, the son of Reu- ben. In the Sept. Peleth is made the son of Reuben, as in the Sam. text and version, and one Heb. MS. sup- ports this rendering" (Smith).
2. Son of Jonathan, and a descendant of Jerahmeel through Onam, his son by Atarah, being apparently the fifth in descent from Hezron, grandson of Judah (1 Chron. ii, 33). B.C. cir. 1618.
Pd'ethite [most Pe'lethile'] (Heb. Pelethi', ''nba ; Sept. <l>£Xf r(', 4>f Xt&i ; but 1 Chron. xviii. 17, 4>aXXf3'3-i), a class of persons mentioned only in the phrase "^ril^St^ "^rbQill, rendered in the A. V. "the Cherethites and the Pelethites." These two collectives designate a force that was evidently David's body-guard. Their names have been supposed either to indicate their duties or to be Gentile nouns. Gesenius renders them "execu- tioners and runners," comparing the C^Jl'^ill '^"'Sil, " executioners and runners" of a later time ( 2 Kings xi, 4, 19) ; and the unused roots tT^S and rbs, of both of which we shall speak later, admit this sense. In favor of this view, the supposed parallel phrase, and the duties in which these guards were employed, may be cited. On the other hand, the Sept. and Vidg. re- tain their names untranslated ; and the Syriac and Targ. Jon. translate them diff'erently from the render- ing above and from each other. In one place, more- over, the Gittites are mentioned with the Cherethites and Pelethites among David's troops (2 Sam. xv, 18); and elsewhere we read of the Chcrethim, who bear the same name in the plural, either as a Philistine tribe or as Philistines themselves (1 Sam. xxx, 14; Ezek. xxv, IG; Zeph. ii, 5). Gesenius objects that David's body- guard would scarcely have been chosen from a nation £0 hateful to the Israelites as the Philistines. But it
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must be remembered that David in his later years may have distrusted his Israclitish soldiers, and relied on the Philistine troops, some of whom, with Ittai the Gittite, who was evidently a Philistine, and not an Israelite from Gath [see Ittai], were faithful to him at the time of Absalom's rebellion. He also argues that it is improbable that two synonymous appellations should be thus used together; but this is on the as- sumption that both names signify Philistines, whereas thev mav designate Philistine tribes. (See Thesaiir. p. 719, 1107.)
The Egyptian monuments throw a fresh light upon this subject. From them we find that kings of the 19th and '20th dynasties had in their service mercena- ries of a nation called Shayretana, which IJameses III conquered, under the name " Shayrdana of the Sea." This king fought a naval battle with the Slwyrelana of the Sea, in alliance with the Tokkari, who were evi- dently', from their physical characteristics, a kindred people to them, and to the Pelesatu, or Philistines, also conquered by him. The Tokkari and the Pelesatu both wear a peculiar dress. We thus learn that there were two peoples of the Mediterranean kindred to the Philistines, one of which supplied mercenaries to the Egyptian kings of the 19th and 20th dynasties. The name Shayretana, of which the first letter was also pronounced Kh, is almost letter for letter the same as the Hebrew Cherethim ; and since the Shayretana were evidently cognate to the Philistines, their identity Avith the Ciierethim cannot be doubted. But if the Cherethim supplied mercenaries to the Egyptian kings in the 12th century B.C., according to our reckoning, it cannot be doubted that the same name in the designa- tion of David's body-guard denotes the same people or tribe. The Egyptian Shayretana of the Sea are prob- ably the Cretans. The Pelethites, who, as already re- marked, are not mentioned except with the Cherethites, have not yet been similarly traced in Egyptian geog- raphy, and it is rash to suppose their name to be the same as that of the Philistines, "'r^Q, for "'P w5S ; for, as Gesenius remarks, this contraction is not possible in the Shemitic languages. The similarity, however, of the two names would favor the idea whicli is suggested by tlie mention together of the Cherethites and Peleth- ites, that the latter were of the Philistine stock as well as the former. As to the etymology of the names, both maj' be connected with the migration of the Philistines. As already noticed, the former has been derived from the root r.T3, "he cut, cut off. destroyed;" in Niphal, " he was cut off from his country, driven into exile, or expelled," so that we might as well read "exiles" as "executioners." The latter, from ri^Q, an unused root, the Arab, palata, " he escaped, fied," both being cog- nate to 13? S, "he was smooth," thence "he slipped away, escaped, and caused to escape," where the render- ing " the fugitives" is at least as admissible as " the runners." If we compare these two names so rendered with the Gentile name of the Philistine nation itself, "tn^35, "a wanderer, stranger," from the unused root ^53, " he wandered or emigrated," these previous in- ferences seem to become irresistible. The appropriate- ness of the names of these tribes to the duties of David's body-guard would then be accidental, though it does not seem unlikely that tliey should have given rise to the adoption in later times of other appellations for the royal bodj'-guard, definitely signifying "executioners and runners." If, however, "rbsini TISJl meant nothing but executioners and runners, it is difiicult to explain the change to D^li'^ril "'"iSH. — Smith. See Cheretiiite.