Gittites
Every entry below is printed as its editors wrote it, with the edition named.
Smith's 1863
(belonging to Gath), the 600 men who followed David from Gath, under Ittai the Gittite, (2 Samuel 15:18,19) and who probably acted as a kind of body-guard. Obed-edom "the Gittite" may have been so named from the town of Gittaim in Benjamin, (2 Samuel 4:3; Nehemiah 11:33) or from Gath-rimmon.
ISBE 1915
git'-its (gittim, plural of gittiy): The inhabitants of Gath. They are mentioned along with the inhabitants of the other chief Philistine cities in Jos 13:3. It would seem that numbers of them emigrated to Judah, for we find 600 of them acting as a bodyguard to David with Ittai at their head (2Sa 15:18 ff; 18:2). Obed-edom, to whom David entrusted the ark when he was frustrated in bringing it into the city of David, was a Gittite (2Sa 6:11 f; 1Ch 13:13). The Gittites seem to have been remarkable for their great stature (2Sa 21:19; 1Ch 20:5).
In Scripture
Sources
- Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863) · Public domain
- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · Public domain