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Philistine

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A member of the ancient people who appear as enemies in the Samson story.

Detailed Definition
Philistines are an ancient people mentioned often in the Hebrew Bible, especially in stories about Samson. The poem uses the name for Samson’s enemies, so it functions as a biblical-historical term rather than a modern ethnic label. Readers may need background to place it correctly.
Example
Example in poetry:
The Philistines are the biblical enemies of the Israelites, especially in the stories of Samson and David; Milton’s “Samson Agonistes” presents Samson among the Philistines after his capture; “He tore through Philistine ranks, a whirlwind in the fight” recalls Samson’s legendary strength; In modern usage, philistine can mean a person hostile to art or culture, so readers should distinguish that figurative sense from the biblical people
Additional Notes
The word in "Philistine ranks" is a biblical historical name that many readers may not know in this specific sense.; Found in the poem, Samson and Delilah by Richard
Also Known As
Cultural Philistine Uncultured Anti-Intellectual
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