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גִּתִּי

𐤂𐤕𐤉

Giti

H1663 noun

SILEX Entry

Root גת to press, crush (grapes), winepress

Definition

An inhabitant or native of Gath, most often used as a personal identifier denoting geographic or civic origin. May refer to individuals from one of the Philistine city-states, particularly Gath, or in rare contexts to Israelites associated with that location. The standard sense is "person from Gath," though in later periods it may function as an ethnic or group marker tied to Philistine identity.

Semantic Range

inhabitant of Gath, native or resident of Gath, Philistine from Gath, person associated with the city of Gath

Root / Etymology

From the root גת (gat), meaning 'winepress.' The city name גַת (Gath) originally denoted a place of a winepress. גִּתִּי is formed with a gentilic suffix ( י ) indicating origin, i.e., 'of Gath.'

Historical & Contextual Notes

In biblical usage, the term גִּתִּי most frequently refers to Philistines from Gath (e.g., Goliath the Gittite in 1 Samuel 17). The word also appears as an appellative for individuals who have migrated, settled, or been conscripted into Israelite society (e.g., Ittai the Gittite in 2 Samuel 15), indicating geographic origin rather than ethnic identity. While English translations often render this as "Gittite," this sometimes obscures whether the reference is to ethnic Philistines, residents of Gath more broadly, or Israelites who dwelled in Gath-controlled regions. The use of patrial adjectives in biblical Hebrew often transcends strict ethnicity and may refer simply to town or regional affiliation. Over time, as Gath's political fortunes shifted (e.g., after the 9th century BCE), the connotations of גִּתִּי may have become less distinctly Philistine. Although some translations or later traditions use "Jew" or "Jewish" to describe later figures with similar gentilic constructions, this is not appropriate for the biblical period and the term refers only to place of origin.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

patrial from גַּת; a Gittite or inhabitant of Gath; Gittite.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

גת (g-t) — winepress, pressing place, crushing

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1660 גַּת in the grape-press
H1661 גַּת in Gath
H1664 גִּתַּיִם toward Two-Winepresses
H1665 גִּתִּית the Gath-melody
H1897 הָגָה the man from Gath

Word Forms

2 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H1663-01 הַ/גִּתִּ֔י hagiti HTd/Ngmsa the Gittite the man of Gath 9
H1663-02 הַ/גִּתִּ֞ים hagitim HTd/Ngmsa the Gittites the men of Gath 1

Occurrences in Scripture

10 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H1663-01 Joshua 13:3 הַ/גִּתִּ֔י hagiti HTd/Ngmsa the Gittite the man of Gath
H1663-01 2 Samuel 6:10 הַ/גִּתִּֽי hagiti HTd/Ngmsa the Gittite the man of Gath
H1663-01 2 Samuel 6:11 הַ/גִּתִּ֖י hagiti HTd/Ngmsa the Gittite the man of Gath
H1663-02 2 Samuel 15:18 הַ/גִּתִּ֞ים hagitim HTd/Ngmsa the Gittites the men of Gath
H1663-01 2 Samuel 15:19 הַ/גִּתִּ֔י hagiti HTd/Ngmsa the Gittite the man of Gath
H1663-01 2 Samuel 15:22 הַ/גִּתִּי֙ hagiti HTd/Ngmsa the Gittite the man of Gath
H1663-01 2 Samuel 18:2 הַ/גִּתִּ֑י hagiti HTd/Ngmsa the Gittite the man of Gath
H1663-01 2 Samuel 21:19 הַ/גִּתִּ֔י hagiti HTd/Ngmsa the Gittite the man of Gath
H1663-01 1 Chronicles 13:13 הַ/גִּתִּֽי hagiti HTd/Ngmsa the-Gittite the man of Gath
H1663-01 1 Chronicles 20:5 הַ/גִּתִּ֔י hagiti HTd/Ngmsa the Gittite the man of Gath
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