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CAPHTOR*, CAPHTORIM*, CAPHTORITES
Place-name and the name of the people associated with the place. The Caphtorim among the Hamitic peoples in the “table of nations” are listed as the “sons” of Egypt (Gn 10:13-14; 1 Chr 1:12, KJB “Caphthorim”). The text makes the Casluhim the parent people of the Philistines. However, prophets referred to the Philistines as colonists from Caphtor (Jer 47:4; see Am 9:7). This has been the basis for some translators to transpose the clause of Genesis 10:14 and to translate “Caphtorites, from whom the Philistines were descended” (neb). Others understand that although the Philistines may originally have been a Casluhian colony, they settled in regions that became known primarily as those of the Caphtorites.
Caphtor is referred to as Kaptara in Accadian, kptr in Ugaritic, and Keftiu in Egyptian. These references are to be dated from as early as 2200 BC down to about 1200 BC. The Egyptian sources are especially helpful in identifying Caphtor as Crete. On the other hand, there is a Jewish tradition that the Caphtorim were from Cappadocia; the Septuagint reads “Cappadocia” instead of “Caphtor.” This has led some to suggest that Caphtor is to be identified with a coastal region of Asia Minor or with the island of Carpathos. Perhaps by the 13th century BC, “Caphtor” was used in a broad sense for the Aegean area from which the Philistines came.
The Caphtorim are mentioned also as a people who invaded the region around Gaza, dispossessed the Avvim, and settled there (Dt 2:23). It appears that the Caphtorim were firmly settled around Gaza before Israel crossed the Jordan at the time of the Conquest. See Casluhim, Casluhites.