Cheran (Hastings' Dictionary)

One of the children of Dishon, the son of Seir, the Horite (Gn 30, 1 Ch !«'). The Sept. transliteration, ace. to Dillm., is possibly based on a supposed connexion of the word with ■13 = a lamb. H. E. Ryle. CHERETHITES AND PELETHITES {-rhtx -n-i?). —A designation repeatedly applied to a body of troops in the service of David, which seem to have formed the king's bodjguard. As to the deriva- tion of the words, opinions have differed. Gesenius explained them as = executiotiers and runners (from the verbs m; and n^j), their duty being to inflict capital punishment, and also to convey the kinjr's mandates as quickly as possible to those who held places of government. Linguistic and other objec- tions seem to be fatal to this theory, as well as to another whicli makes 'n-ij to be so called from nnj = to be expelled frnm one's countrii (Zee 14'), — an explanation which would identify it with the Sept. rendering of 'Rf^? (Philistine) by ' A\\b(pu\o^. It seems to be unquestionable that Cherethite and Pelethite are not common but proper names. The Cheretliites, as a tribe inhabiting the southern border of Canaan, are thrice mentioned in the OT (1 S 30', Zeph 2°, Ezk 25"), and in all these passages they are associated so closely with the Pliili.stines as to be practically identified with them. Now we know from Am 9', Dt 2^", and Jer 47' that the Philistines were believed to have come to Canaan from Caphtor, which is generally identified with Crete. May Cherethites not be another form of Cretans 1 Instead of Cherethites, the Kethibh of 2 S 20^ offers the reading Carites. So in 2 K 1 1 ■ '» the true reading as restored in RV is Carites, where AV reads Captains. The terms Cretans and Carites may both be represented readily enough by 'mj. That 'fbp is simply a variation ol 'ri:^'^5 (Philistine) was Ewald's opinion, and ha« since been generally accepted. The Cherethites and Pelethites were thus a Philig. tine bodyguard, originally introduced by David, whose action is explained by his relations with the M CHERITH CHERUBIM 377 Philistines prior to his accession to the throne. This conclusion finds further support in the fact that in 2 S 15' the Gittites, who were certainly Philistines, are coupled with the Cherethites and Pelethiles. These men were chosen on the same principle as the Swiss Guards at European courts and the Oriental Janissaries, whose fidelity is in proportion to their freedom from local ties and interests. His Philistine mercenaries proved them- selves worthy of David's confidence by standing by him amidst the troubles occa.sioned by Absalom, Sheba, and Adonijah (2 S 15'» 20', 1 K i*). While some have confined the existence of this body^'uard to the reign of David, others have found traces of it down to the close of the Jud;ean kin;;dom. The mention of the Carites in 2 K 11 is in favour of the latter view. It was the officers of the Carians and the foot-guards that enabled Jehoiada to accom- plish the overthrow of Atlialiah, and the installa- tion of Jehoash as king. So in 1 K 14'" we read of guards who accompanied the king when he visited the sanctuarj-, and from 2 K ll"- it is evident that the royal bodyguard formed also the guard of the temple. Is there any reason to con- clude tiliat these guards vieie /breign mercenaries'! W. K. Sndth adduces two passages from UT to prove their identity with the Cherethites and reletliites. Zeph 1' speaks of men connected with the court who were clatl in foreign garb, and who leaped over the threshold, and filled their masters' house with violence and deceit. Smith finds here an allusion to the Philistine custom of leajnng over the threshold of the .sanctuary (1 S 5°) j but others deny the validity of his argument, and make ' leaping over the threshold ' simply a name for house- breaking, while those who are clothed in foreign garb are Israelites who ape foreign customs. Be this as it may. Smith's other OT reference seems to be conclusive. In Ezk 44"'- there is a bitter com- plaint that uncircumcised foreigners were permitted to keep guard in the sanctuary, and to discharge functions which the prophet would henceforth confine to the Levites. Who can the.se be e.xccpt the guards referred to in 2 K 11? This conclusion is strengthened if Smith is right in his conjec- ture that prior to the time of Ezekiel the king's guards slaughtered the animals proWded by the king for the temple, or intended for the royal table. As he points out, the Heb. designation for captain of the guard is D'nj^n dt = chief of tlie slaughterers (of rattle). ' The bodyguard were also the royal butcliers, an occupation not deemed unworthy of w.arriors in early times' (W. R. Smith, OTJC p. 262, n. ; cf. Kittel, HiM. of Heb. ii. 153 n., 164 ; Driver, Text of Sam. 172, 2G7). J. A. Sklrie.