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CHERETHITES AND PELETHITES.—These were mercenary soldiers, who probably began to attach themselves to David whilst he was an outlaw (2Sa_22:2 etc.), and subsequently became the king’s bodyguard and the nucleus of his army (2Sa_8:18; 2Sa_15:18; 2Sa_20:7; 2Sa_20:23, 1Ki_1:38; 1Ki_1:44, 1Ch_18:17). Benaiah, whom Josephus calls ‘captain of the guard’ (Ant. VII. xi. 8), was their commander. They accompanied David in his retreat from Jerusalem (2Sa_15:18), fought against Absalom (2Sa_20:7; 2Sa_20:23), acted as Solomon’s bodyguard at his coronation (1Ki_1:38; 1Ki_1:44). The Cherethites were a Philistine clan (1Sa_30:14), dwelling on the coast (Eze_25:16, Zep_2:5); and the name Pelethites may have been a corrupt form of Philistines. Unwillingness to believe that foreigners stood so near the national hero led certain Jewish scholars to assert that the two clans were Israelites. The appellation ‘Cherethite’ seems to be connected with Crete, and there is good ground (but see Caphtor) for the belief that Caphtor, from which Amo_9:7 says the Philistines came, is to be identified with Crete. The LXX [Note: Septuagint.] of Eze_25:16, Zep_2:5 uses Cretans as the equivalent of Cherethites.
J. Taylor.