The Perizzites () are a group of people mentioned many times in the Hebrew Bible as having lived in the land of Canaan before the arrival of the Israelites. The name may be related to a Hebrew term meaning "rural person"For the etymology, see or people who lived in unwalled towns.
Biblical account Biblical references to the Perizzites extend from the time of Abraham (Genesis 13:7) to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra 9:1–2). Following the rape of Dinah and the response of two of her brothers, Simeon and Levi, reported in Genesis 34, Jacob reports his concern that their actions have threatened his relationship with the inhabitants of the land where he has settled, "the Canaanites and the Perizzites".: English Standard Version
The time during which Perizzites were most in conflict with the Israelites seems to have been during the time of Joshua and the early period of the Judges. According to the Book of Joshua, the Perizzites were in the hill country of Judah and Ephraim.Joshua 11:3, 17:14–15 According to 1 Kings 9:20–21, they were servants of Solomon.
Interpretation According to Michael LeFebvre, Ezra's reference to the Perizzites does not imply that a group still known as Perizzites existed in the land in Ezra's time. It is instead to be understood as a literary reference by Ezra to passages such as Exodus 33:2, Exodus 34:11–16, and Deuteronomy 7:1–5, which prohibited intermarriage with a variety of non-Israelite peoples, including Perizzites.
According to Hittitologist Trevor R. Bryce, "The Perizzites cannot be linked to any peoples or lands known from extra-biblical sources", but there are speculative links to the Hivites and the Jebusites, who may have originated from a region called Que in Assyrian sources or Kue/Quoah in biblical sources. H. E. Ryle and others have noted that the distinction between the Canaanites and the Perizzites may amount to a distinction between walled city and unwalled city residents.Ryle, H. E. (1921), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Genesis 13, accessed on 26 September 2026
Jewish Encyclopedia entry The Jewish Encyclopedia's entry on the Perizzites reads
Bibliography Riehm, E., Handwörterbuchs des biblischen Altertums für gebildete Bibelleser, 2nd ed., p. 1211. Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia Biblica, s.v. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, s.v. The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; Merrill Tenney, ed., Zondervan Publishing House, 1976; Vol. 4, p. 704
Notes
References
External links Jewish Encyclopedia, "Perizzites"