Who were the mysterious Crethi and Plethi?

The origin of the Crethi and Plethi is uncertain and needs further archeol0gical research, but there are accounts of the Crethi and Plethi in ancient texts and archeological prove of their ancient existence. So let us focus on what we know about the Crethi and Plethi and try to fit this puzzle together.

This website is named after the Crethi and Plethi, and in that context they were at a certain time (from 1005 b.c. t0 965 b.c.) the foreign mercenaries who formed the elite bodyguard of King David, who was at that time King of Israel. But what were the events that led to the historical fact that this strange group of men became so close to a jewish King of Israel?

When Saul was King over Israel (he was the first king of all the twelve jewish tribes), Samuel (the Prophet) anointed David as the real King of Israel chosen by God, because Saul was unfaithful to God. We all know the story how David as a young man defeated Goliath, the filistine warrior who mocked the God of the Israelites. And after that, David became Saul’s general and won batlle after batlle against Israels enemies.

But Saul started to become jealous, because the people of Israel adored David more than Saul himself. So Saul tried to kill David, and David had to flee for Saul’s murderous plot into the dessert and he wandered in hostile regions for many years. During those years, he formed a band of warriors around him, mostly outcasts and outlawed men themselves. They formed a close group, always on the run for the army of Saul and always fighting during skirmishes with their enemies for eachother side by side.

During that time they undoubtedly became loyal to David and trusted him with their lives. The Crethi and Plethi recognized the leadership and the heroism of David and at the same time David recognized the loyalty and devoutness of his men towards him. After several years, Saul’s army was defeated by the filistines in a large battle and although David grieved about the dead of King Saul, this also was his opportunity to become King himself. And so he did and the Crethi and Plethi went with him, eventually establishing Israel as a nation and Jerusalem as capitol of Israel. The Crethi and Plethi were than formed as the Royal Bodyguard of King David in a time Israel became a prosperous and great Kingdom.

The Crethi and Plethi are mentioned in the Bible, (e.g. 2 sam. 8:18; 2 sam. 15:14,18; 2 sam. 20:7; 1 kgs 1:38,44) as the elite units of King David. Established as a military unit under the command of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. The elite unit remained loyal to the King when his son Absalom revolted and it participated in the war against Sheba, and was present at Solomon’s (David’s son) enthronement. They had many heroes in their ranks, who stood out in battle.

What was the origin of these fierce warriors?

In some sources the Crethi and Plethi are refered to as descendants of a semitic nation, but that is debatable, because the hebrew meaning of the word “phlistim” (= philisti = filistines) is for a non-semitic nation. The Crethi (= Cretans) and Plethi (= Philisti) are supposingly decendants of “Pelasgen” (or early greeks) and people from Crete, and came to Israel because of emigration. The term “phlistim” could be a linguistic corruption of “Pelasgen”.

The Crethi can be seen as descendants from Caftor (which is Crete in ancient text) and the Plethi can be seen as descendants of early greeks from the south east region of Greece. They were accordingly from non-semitic descent and were influenced by the Hellenistic (Greek) and Mycian culture. The first wave of Crethi or Plethi came probably around 1250 b.c. to Egypt from overseas Crete and were eventually driven back to Canaan by Ramses the 3rd. There is archeological evidence of Mycian culture (pottery, language and eating of pigmeat, which was of course forbidden in semitic cultures) in this period in Egypt and Canaan. But the Plethi also came from the north (through turkey and lebanon) to Canaan.

They eventually merged together and became one nation, better known as the filistines (with 5 major cities and their 5 rulers) and in those days were sworn enemies of the 12 jewish tribes in the rest of Canaan. Together, the Crethi and Plethi, also were called “the sea people”, which also indicates an ancestry of overseas people and their craftsmanship of trade (as they lived along the coast of what is now called Gaza). They were fierce warriors and fond of war, they had the genius of military organisation and established a military nation in Gaza. At first they supressed the Israelites by military power, but that changed when David came to rule. He managed to defeat the filistines and they gradually were erased from history by successive occupations by Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians and Syrians. From this historical point of view it is clear that the Crethi and Plethi as loyal bodyguards of the King of Israel was indeed a strange alliance of non-semitic soldiers and a jewish nation.

Why we used the names Crethi and Plethi for our website?

We used these names, the Crethi and the Plethi, because they were defenders and loyal guards of the first jewish nation in Israel with Jerusalem as capital. It’s clear that the jews have  a history in Israel. And now, after thousends of years they again have their own place among the nations in this world. But some dispute the right of the Jews to live in their own country. So, today we need a new loyal bodyguard to defend and protect Israel. The Israeli army is the military force who is trying to defend her own people. We, the modern Crethi and Plethi, can fight as well, with words, spoken in truth. Those are the modern Crethi and Plethi.

The Crethi and The Plethi (in other modern languages):

Dutch: Crethi Plethi

German: Krethi Plethi

English: Cherethites Pelethites

French: Kerethiens Pelethiens

Spanish: Ceretheos Peletheos

Hebrew: Kerethi Pelethi

Mazzeltov,

Crethi Plethi

Sources to read: Wikipedia; Jewish encyclopedia; Answers.com; Bga.nl (dutch)

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