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Girgashites

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Girgashites () are one of the tribes who had invaded the land of Canaan as mentioned in Gen. 15:21; Deut. 7:1; Josh. 3:10; Neh. 9:8. The Girgashites are also known as the fifth ethnic group that descended from Canaan (Gen. 10:16; i Chron. 1:14). Although the Girgashites are not referred to in the narrative of the wars of conquests, and their locality is not stated, they are named by Joshua among the peoples the Israelites dispossessed (24:11). The Jerusalem Talmud claims that they migrated to North Africa prior to the Israelites entering the land.

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Girgashites () are one of the tribes who had invaded the land of Canaan as mentioned in Gen. 15:21; Deut. 7:1; Josh. 3:10; Neh. 9:8. The Girgashites are also known as the fifth ethnic group that descended from Canaan (Gen. 10:16; i Chron. 1:14). Although the Girgashites are not referred to in the narrative of the wars of conquests, and their locality is not stated, they are named by Joshua among the peoples the Israelites dispossessed (24:11). The Jerusalem Talmud claims that they migrated to North Africa prior to the Israelites entering the land.

They have been tentatively identified with the Karkisha, allies of the Hittites in their wars with Rameses II. If that identification is correct, the Girgashites would have lived in the western coast of Asia Minor and maintained closed relations with their neighbours to the south during that period. A name grgš appears in Ugaritic both as part of the personal name bn grgš and as a place name.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Girgashites” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.