כְּרֵתִי

From the study of Zephaniah 2:5

Range of meaning

A people of the southern coast, closely linked or identical with the Philistines. Ezekiel 25:16 sets them side by side ('I will cut off [hikratti] the Cherethites'). There was a 'Negev of the Cherethites' (1 Sam 30:14), and Cherethites served in David's bodyguard as 'the Cherethites and Pelethites' (2 Sam 8:18).

Against the English

English versions transliterate it as a name ('Cherethites', 'Kerethites'). That is fine, but it hides two things: the link to Crete and the possible pun on 'cut off'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has Κρῆτες, 'Cretans', here and in Ezek 25:16. The Bible traces the Philistines to Caphtor (Amos 9:7; Jer 47:4; Deut 2:23), usually identified with Crete or the wider Aegean. Archaeology fits this: early Philistine pottery and material culture have Aegean roots. Jerome's Latin renders the word gens perditorum, 'nation of the destroyed', as if from kārat, 'cut off'.

From the study of 1 Kings 1:44

Range of meaning

Both are words for people groups, written in the singular but meaning the whole group. The pair always appears together. It names David's professional bodyguard: foreign soldiers loyal to the king himself, not to any tribe. Kereti almost certainly comes from Crete (Kaphtor), the island linked with the origins of the Philistines (Amos 9:7). Peleti is less certain. Most scholars think it is a form of Pelishti, "Philistine," reshaped to rhyme with Kereti.

Against the English

"Cherethites and Pelethites" (KJV, BSB, WEB) and "Kerethites and Pelethites" (NIV) simply carry the Hebrew sounds over into English. They don't tell the reader that these are the king's foreign guard. YLT keeps the Hebrew singular, "the Cherethite." Some modern paraphrases explain the group as "the king's bodyguard."

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Samuel 30:14 mentions a "Negev of the Kerethites" in the Philistine south. Ezekiel 25:16 and Zephaniah 2:5 put Kerethites side by side with Philistines. Benaiah is "over the Kerethites and Pelethites" (2 Samuel 8:18; 20:23). These troops stood by David during Absalom's revolt (2 Samuel 15:18) and Sheba's revolt (20:7). The Septuagint just carries the names over (chelethi / phelethi).

From the study of 2 Samuel 8:18

Range of meaning

A people name for a whole group, "Kerethite(s)". It is usually connected with Crete, and with Kaphtor, the Aegean homeland from which the Philistines came (Amos 9:7). There was a "Negeb of the Kerethites" in the Philistine-controlled south (1 Samuel 30:14). Prophets mention them in the same breath as the Philistines (Ezekiel 25:16; Zephaniah 2:5).

Against the English

English keeps the name ("Cherethites"), but readers rarely realise it names foreign soldiers. Bracketed or added words like "[was over]" in KJV and YLT mark the gap in the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

Every time they appear with David, they are named with the Pelethites (2 Samuel 15:18; 20:7, 23; 1 Kings 1:38, 44). In 2 Kings 11:4, 19 a similar royal guard is called the "Karites" (kari), perhaps Carians from Asia Minor. In 2 Samuel 20:23 the written text (Ketiv) has hakkari and the scribes' marginal reading (Qere) has hakkereti.