Girgashites Explained

Girgashites are one of the tribes who had invaded the land of Canaan as mentioned in Gen. 15:21; Deut. 7:1; Josh. 3:10; Neh.^[1] 9:8. The Girgashites are also known as the fifth ethnic group that descended from Canaan (Gen. 10:16; i Chron. 1:14).^[2] Although the Girgashites are not referred to in the narrative of the wars of conquests,^[3] and their locality is not stated, they are named by Joshua among the peoples the Israelites dispossessed (24:11).^[4]

This apparent inconsistency may be due to their emigrating to North Africa prior to the Israelites entering the land.^[5] That contention is further supported by Procopius (Wars 4.10.13-22), stating that the Phoenician diaspora settled in the western end of the Mediterranean, in the vicinity of later day Carthage. ^[6]

They have been uncertainly identified with the Qaraqisha, allies of the Hittites in their wars with Rameses II.^[7] If that identification is correct the Girgashites would have been part of the southward migrations from Anatolia of peoples displaced by the fall of the Hittite empire ca. 1200 b.c.e. A personal name grgš appears in Ugaritic, but its connection with this people is unknown.^[8]

The sibilant termination of the biblical name suggests a Hurrian origin.^[9]

References

1. Book: Hastings. James. A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature, and Contents, Including the Biblical Theology. Selbie. John Alexander. Davidson. Andrew Bruce. Driver. Samuel Rolles. Swete. Henry Barclay. 1899. T. & T. Clark. en.
2. Book: Kitto, John. A Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature. 1864. A. & C. Black. en.
3. For a survey of various traditions about the Girgashites that are used to explain their ommission in the conquest narratives and in several other Biblical lists of Canaanite tribes, seesee Klein . Reuven Chaim (Rudolph) . April 2018 . Nations and Super-Nations of Canaan . Jewish Bible Quarterly . 0792-3910 . 46 . 2 . 73-85. and Klein . Reuven Chaim (Rudolph) . July 2018 . More on the Seven Nations: Girgashite Flight and the Canaanite Nation . Jewish Bible Quarterly . 0792-3910 . 46 . 3 . 158-168.
4. Book: Groot, N. G. De. The History of the Israelites and Judæans: Philosophical and Critical. 1879. Trübner & Company. en.
5. Web site: Jerusalem Talmud Sheviit 6:1:13 . 2022-09-05 . www.sefaria.org.
6. Web site: The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of the Wars, Books III and IV (of 8), by Procopius . 2022-09-05 . www.gutenberg.org.
7. Book: Allen, Clifton J.. The Broadman Bible Commentary: Acts. Romans. 1 Corinthians. 1970. Broadman Press. 978-0-8054-1125-6. en.
8. Book: Allen, Clifton J.. The Broadman Bible Commentary: Acts. Romans. 1 Corinthians. 1970. Broadman Press. 978-0-8054-1125-6. en.
9. Book: Hastings. James. A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature, and Contents, Including the Biblical Theology. Selbie. John Alexander. Davidson. Andrew Bruce. Driver. Samuel Rolles. Swete. Henry Barclay. 1899. T. & T. Clark. en.