Palestine and the Land of Wrestlers

Palestine: Etymology Dictionary. from Latin Palestina (name of a Roman province), from Greek Palaistine (Herodotus).

Herodotus is a Greek historian and in his History , he labels the region now named Israel as Palaistine (Παλαιστίνῃ). Why?

Interestingly παλαιστής = palaistís = wrestler

Why would Herodotus basically name this place “Land of Wrestlers”

Genesis 32:24 & 28
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled [אָבַק – wrestle. Related to the word that means fine powdery dust – אָבָק] with him till daybreak………Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob [עִקְּבֵי heel, figuratively supplanter. see Gen 3:15], but Israel, because you have struggled [שָׂרָה – contend, persist] with God and with humans and have prevailed.”

Genesis 10:6 & 13-14
The descendants of Ham were Cush, Mizraim [also translated as Egypt], Put, and Canaan…… Mizraim [Egypt] became the father of Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim and Pathrusim and Casluhim and which came from it Philistim [פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים] and Caphtorim.

The Philistim (or Philistines) come from the Land of the Philistia [Pelesheth – פְּלָ֫שֶׁת]

Interestingly, if we track the word Philistim we find that it is related to the word “to roll, to wallow” [palash – פָּלַשׁ], so some see it as meaning invaders rolling in across the landscape. However, in the Bible, it is used in the context of to roll oneself in ashes (אֵ֫פֶר) or the dust [עָפָר] of the earth in mourning or grief (see Jeremiah 6:26 & 25:34, Ezekiel 27:30, Micah 1:10)

What conclusions can we glean from this I will leave up to you to ponder.

[Update (2017/02/20): I have just finished watching “Patterns of Evidence” by Tim Mahoney on Netflix. If the proposed timeline is correct, then the Hyksos invaded Egypt just as the Israelis left. Now the Bible records that “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle. (Exodus 13:17) .

Now if the Israelis are being led to Canaan, then the short route is to pass through the Gaza/Ashkelon area. The long route is to pass though the Sinai Peninsula, cross the Gulf of Aqaba branch of the Red Sea into Arabia then head north.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/features/world/asia/israel/ashkelon-text/3
This article says that the Philistines conquered the Hyksos, but given that the Hyksos would have had to pass though Southwestern Israel (Ashkelon-Gaza), this begs the question: Are the Hyksos=Philistines. If so, it would mean that the military might of the Philistines was busy in Egypt while Israel circumvented them to enter Canaan. In fact if they had not left when they did, the Israeli position in Goshen would have placed them directly in the pathway of the Hyksos and they might have found themselves massacred. Especially if there were still residual male-female population imbalances.

Eventually, Egypt expelled the Hyksos/Philistines who then show up as a major force to be reckoned with about the time of the Judges 10:6-8.]