In 1 Samuel 13 ‘ And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash .’ According to the Bible, King Saul's son Jonathan was able to beat the Philistines by finding a secret path around the town and flanking them, which caused panic throughout and a Philistine rout.

** A place at which the Bible states that the Philistines had encamped, while the Israelites pitched in Eben-Ezer, before the Battle of Aphek in which the sons of Eli were killed.

These are during 853 – 841 BC when Jerusalem was invaded by Philistines and Arabs during the reign of Jehoram ( recorded in 2 Kings 8: 20-22 and 2 Chronicles 21: 8-20 in the Christian Old Testament ) and 605 – 586 BC when Jerusalem was attacked by King Nebuchadnezzer of Babylon, which led to the Babylonian exile of Israel ( recorded in Psalm 137 ).

For instance, in 1 Samuel 4, the Philistines fret before the second battle of Aphek when they learn that the Israelites are bearing the Ark of the Covenant, and therefore Yahweh, into battle.

Saul follows David, but while Saul travels along one side of the gorge, David travels along the other, and Saul is forced to break off pursuit when the Philistines invade.

Biblical scholars argue that the town was probably on the eastern fringe of the Philistines ' territory, and that it was natural for it to be annexed to Judah when David became king.

He was the son of Abinadab, in whose house the men of Kirjath-jearim placed the Ark when it was brought back from the land of the Philistines.

* Phinehas, son of the High Priest Eli ; he was a priest at Shiloh, and died when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant

Samson's activity takes place during a time when God was punishing the Israelites, by giving them " into the hand of the Philistines ".

" The third time, he told her, " If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web ...." On the fourth occasion, he gave her the true reason: that he did not cut his hair in fulfillment of a vow to God ; and Delilah, when Samson was asleep on her knees, called up her man to shave off the seven locks from his head, then betrayed him to his enemies: " The Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass ; and he did grind in the prison house.

The word Agonistes (), found as an epithet following a person's name, means “ the struggler ” or “ the combatant .” It is most often an allusion to John Milton ’ s, " himself a Christian agonist ", 1671 verse tragedy Samson Agonistes, which recounts the end of Samson's life, when he is a blind captive of the Philistines, described as being “ Eyeless in Gaza at the mill with slaves ”.

Some years later, when Samuel had become an adult, the Philistines attacked Eben-Ezer, eventually capturing the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites and killed Eli's sons, who accompanied the Ark to battle as priests.

Some nationalists argue that “ the nation was always there, indeed it is part of the natural order, even when it was submerged in the hearts of its members .” In keeping with this philosophy, Al-Quds University states that although “ Palestine was conquered in times past by ancient Egyptians, Hittites, Philistines, Israel, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Muslim Arabs, Mamlukes, Ottomans, the British, the Zionists … the population remained constant-and is now still Palestinian .”

Deir al-Balah remained in Egyptian hands until around 1150 BCE when the Philistines conquered the southern coastal area of Canaan.

After the Ark had been among them for seven months, the Philistines, on the advice of their diviners, returned it to the Israelites, accompanying its return with an offering consisting of golden images of the tumors and rats wherewith they had been afflicted.

It is quite possible that for the initial period of time, the Philistines were housed in Egypt, only subsequently late in the troubled end of the reign of Ramses III would they have been allowed to settle Philistia.

In Genesis 15: 18-21 the Philistines are absent from the ten nations Abraham's descendents will displace as well as being absent from the list of nations Moses tells the people they will conquer ( Deut.

After a daring attack by Jonathan on the Philistine garrison at Michmash, they pursued the Philistines to Aijalon, a distance of fifteen miles ().

David went one better: " and David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men ; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law.

During the wars in the time of Saul, Geba was held as a garrison by the Philistines ( 1Sa 13: 3 ), but they were ejected by Jonathan.

It tells how Jonathan and his armor-bearer crossed over during the night ‘ to the Philistines ’ garrison ’ on the other side, and how they passed two sharp rocks: ‘ there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez and the name of the other Seneh .’ They clambered up the cliff and overpowered the garrison ‘ within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plough .’ The main body of the enemy awakened by the mêlée thought they were surrounded by Saul ’ s troops and ‘ melted away and they went on beating down one another .’

He hated the English bitterly, for they were stronger than he or his country, but his interest compelled him to serve, like Samson, the Philistines he hated.

According to and, they were descendants of Mizraim ( Egypt ) son of Ham, out of whom originated the Philistines.

The third gig they will play will be the 1st Annual Punk Gig at London's 229 along with Ruts DC, Glen Matlock and the Philistines, Discharge ( band ), The Business ( band ), Vice Squad, and Infa-Riot among others.

The word " tumors " is used in most English translations to describe the sores that came upon the Philistines.

" Literally, it says that those whom Mizraim begat included " the Pathrusim, Casluhim ( out of whom came the Philistines ), and the Caphtorim ".

The southern highlands of the region were later named Judea after the kingdom of Judah, while the coastal region came to be known as Παλαιστίνη in Greek ( Latin Palaestina ), from the name of the Philistines.

By the time Saul and his men came on the scene, many of the Philistines had slaughtered one another in confusion and the rest had taken to flight.

It then describes Saul as leading a war against the Ammonites, being chosen by the people to be king, and leading them against the Philistines.

* 1 Samuel 29: 4 The Philistines say: " lest he be an adversary against us "

He fell on his sword to avoid capture in the battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, during which three of his sons were also killed.

During Samuel's youth at Shiloh the Philistines inflicted a decisive defeat against the Israelites at Eben-Ezer (), placed the land under Philistine oppression, and took the sanctuary's Ark for themselves.

After 20 years of such oppression, Samuel, who had gained national prominence as a prophet, summoned the people to Mizpah ( one of the highest hills in the land ), where he organized them into an army, and led them against the Philistines.

Goliath appears in chapter 2 of the Qur ' an ( II: 247-252 ), in the narrative of David and Saul's battle against the Philistines.

He was with Saul in the campaign against the Philistines in which Goliath was slain ().

Having obtained divine direction, David led his army against the Philistines, and gained a complete victory over them.

Nevertheless, other classical rabbinical texts mock the tribe for the character it has in the deuteronomic history, claiming that Ephraim, being headstrong, left Egypt 30 years prior to the Exodus, and on arrival in Canaan was subjected to a disastrous battle with the Philistines ; in the Midrashic Jasher this is portrayed as a rebellion of Ephraim against God, resulting in the slaying of all but 10, and the bleached bones of the slaughtered being strewn across the roads, so much so that the circuitous route of the Exodus was simply an attempt by God to prevent the Israelites from having to suffer the sight of the remains.

So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites ..." ( Judges 10: 6-7 ).

“ Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer ; for he said, ‘ Thus far the Lord has helped us .’ So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel ; the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

After Samuel's death Saul received no answer from God from dreams, prophets, or the Urim and Thummim as to his best course of action against the assembled forces of the Philistines.

Later on Jesse sent his son with gifts to be given to his older brothers who were to fight war against the Philistines and, to the captain too.

During a subsequent battle against the Jewish King Saul at nearby Mount Gilboa in 1004 BC, the Philistines prevailed.

In the Bible, King Saul, Israel ’ s first monarch, led a charge against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa.

The site is disputed ; the common opinion in the early 20th century was that the town lay east of the Jordan and that the name is preserved in the modern Fek, three miles east of the Sea of Galilee, on the edge of the plain of Jordan by the Golan Heights ; later opinion, however, has focused on regarding this Aphek as the same as the scene of two battles against the Philistines mentioned by the Bible-the supposition being that the Syrians were invading Israel from the western side as being the most vulnerable.

According to the Bible, the valley was the scene of a victory by the Israelites, led by Gideon, against the Midianites, the Amalekiltes, and the Children of the East, but was later the location at which the Israelites, led by King Saul, were defeated by the Philistines.

Jabesh Gilead is primarily mentioned in connection with King Saul's and King David's battles against the Philistines and Ammonites.

He embarked on successful military campaigns against Israel's enemies, and defeated nearby regional entities such as the Philistines, thus creating secure borders for Israel.