<P> The Philistines and Philistia are mentioned more than 250 times in the Hebrew Bible . The Hebrew word Peleshet (פלשת Pəlésheth)--usually translated as Philistia in English--is used in the Bible to denote the southern coastal region that was inhabited by the Philistines ("Plištim" (פְּלִשְׁתִּים Pəlištîm) The Philistines first appear in a listing of the Hamitic branch of Noah's descendants . The word Philistia is generally accepted to be a cognate of the word Palestine . However, the terms for biblical Philistia and geographical Palestine have been different since at least the second century BC . As early as the LXX, thought to have been completed in 132 BC, the biblical term for Philistines in Greek (Philistieim) was different from the contemporary Greek name for the region (Palaistine) </P> <P> The five books of the Pentateuch / Torah include a total of 10 references, including: </P> <Ul> <Li> Genesis 10: 14: (first reference) "And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim ." </Li> <Li> Genesis 21: 32 - 34: "Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines . And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God . And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days ." </Li> <Li> Exodus 13: 17: "And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt" </Li> <Li> Exodus 23: 31: "And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee ." </Li> </Ul> <Li> Genesis 10: 14: (first reference) "And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim ." </Li>

When was palestine first mentioned in the bible