the Caphtorim, who came out of
Crete. Caphtor is the biblical name for Crete. This notice is historically
accurate. The coastal plain, including Gaza, was invaded from the Mediterranean
and successfully occupied by the Philistines, one of the so-called Sea Peoples,
in the later thirteenth century and twelfth century B.C.E. They are first
referred to explicitly in an Egyptian inscription that has been dated to the
1180s or the 1170s. Although the Hebrew writer does not directly ascribe this
invasion of a Hellenic people to the LORD’s granting the territory to them as
an inheritance, it does participate in the general pattern he is observing in
which one well-established people is conquered and displaced by another. (Robert
Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company,
2019], 1:624)
As for the Caphtorim and Caphtor,
it is generally agreed that these are the Philistines, who came originally from
Crete (see Amos 9:7). This migration took place about 1200 b.c. Translators are
urged to say “Philistines” or “people from Philistia,” rather than using the
form Caphtorim. (Robert
G. Bratcher and Howard A. Hatton, A
Handbook on Deuteronomy [UBS Handbook Series; New York: United Bible
Societies, 200]), 58)
the Caphtorim, who came from Crete. Caphtor (Egyptian Kftyw) was the home of the Philistines
(Amos 9:7; Jer 47:4; Gen 10:11, where it should be read, “and the Caphtorim
from whom the Philistines descended”); it is another designation for Crete,
which is similarly mentioned as the home of the Philistines in Zeph 2:5 and
Ezek 25:17. In 1 Sam 30:14, the Negev of the Cherethites (Hebrew hakkĕrēti) is the same as “the land of
the Philistines.” The ancient versions (LXX, Targum) have Cappadocia for
Caphtor, which has been caused by misspelling kptwk for kptwr. Kappatuk/Katpatuk is Akkadian for
Cappadocia, and cf. also Kptwk in the
Genesis Apocryphon 21:23 (see
Fitzmyer 1966, pp. 159–60). See “Caphtor,” EM
Mazar 1962 4.236–38, and Strange 1980. The conclusion of the latter that Caphtor/Keftiu is to be identified with
Cyprus cannot be accepted. (Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1–11: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
[AYB 5; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008], 165)
Caphtorim, who came from Crete
Literally, “Caphtorim who came from Caphtor.” These are presumably the
Philistines, who are said to come from Caphtor in Amos 9:7, Jeremiah 47:4, and
apparently in Genesis 10:14. Caphtor is an island or coastland in the area of
the Aegean Sea. Most scholars think that the evidence (such as Zeph. 2:5, where
the Philistines are called “Cherethites,” or “Cretans”) points to Crete and the
surrounding islands, though some think that it is an area on the coast of Asia
Minor; a few think that it refers to both.
The Philistines were one of the
“Sea Peoples” from the Aegean region who invaded the eastern Mediterranean in
the thirteenth and twelfth centuries b.c.e. They are first mentioned by name in
an Egyptian inscription of the 1180s or 1170s. They settled along the southern
Canaanite coast soon afterwards, perhaps shortly after the Israelites arrived
in inland Canaan. In later times they frequently clashed with the Israelites,
and ruled them for a period, until they were subdued by David. It was military
pressure from the Philistines and Ammonites that eventually led the Israelites
to establish a monarchy. (Jeffrey H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [The
JPS Torah Commentary; Philadelphia: Jewisb Publications Society, 1996], 30)
