Nope, Rome Put That There, MUCH LATER!
Let’s just start right where it hits, right? Exodus 15:14, “The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.”
Now I read that and had to stop. My eyes locked on that word like a hawk. “Palestina?” In Exodus? With Moses and the Red Sea still foaming behind them? Something’s seriously off here. That’s like reading about someone calling a horse a Harley Davidson. Doesn’t fit. You’re telling me Moses just crossed the Red Sea and sang this epic, fiery song to Yahweh about how all the nations will tremble, and he suddenly drops a Roman word in the middle of it? No! Way!
So I dug. I dug deep. And guess what. The Hebrew does not say “Palestina.” It never did. That is not the word Moses used. That’s not what God inspired him to write. That’s what translators, later, stuck in there because of Rome, politics, and a whole ugly mess that tried to erase Israel from the map.
The word in Hebrew is Peleshet. That’s Philistia. The land of the Pelishtim, the Philistines. You know them. They show up later trying to kill Samson, and chasing after David, and shouting curses at the armies of the living God while their giant Goliath (a nephilim) stomps around in bronze armor. The Pelishtim were already around at the time of the Exodus, they were seafaring people, from somewhere around Crete or Cyprus, who’d migrated and settled along the coastal plain of Canaan. That land later came to be known in shorthand as “Philistia”, Peleshet. But never, ever was it called “Palestina” in Moses’ day. That word does not belong anywhere in the text.
So where did “Palestina” come from? Simple. Rome.
About fifteen hundred years after Moses sang that song, the Roman Empire had finally crushed the second Jewish revolt, the Bar Kokhba rebellion in 135 AD. Rome was mad. The Jews wouldn’t stay crushed, wouldn’t stay quiet, and wouldn’t stop clinging to the name God gave them. So Emperor Hadrian came in and said, “Fine. You want a name? I’ll give you one. We’re gonna rip the name ‘Israel’ off this land and call it Syria Palaestina insteadWhy They Are Trying to Seal the Gate – And Why It Won’t Work.”
And just like that, Rome tried to erase God’s covenant people with a name. That name was a deliberate insult. It came from the Philistines, the very enemies of Israel. And they weren’t even around anymore! Hadrian chose it to mock the Jews, to sever them from their own soil. And for centuries, that name stuck. Maps said “Palestine.” Churches said “Palestine.” Even modern translations still stick that name in places it never belonged. But here’s the truth: that’s not the name God gave the land. And that’s not the name Moses spoke in Exodus 15.
The Hebrew says Peleshet, the land of the Philistines. And back in Moses’ day, they weren’t quite yet the full-blown iron-helmeted enemies they’d become later under the Judges and Kings, but they were still known along the coast. And when they heard what happened in Egypt, the Nile turned to blood, Pharaoh humiliated, the Red Sea opening like a highway and then snapping shut like a bear trap, they were terrified. The verse says, “chil achaz yoshvei Peleshet”, trembling, deep anguish, gripped the people living there. Not “Palestinians,” not Romans, not political entities, but Philistine peoples whose hearts melted in fear of the One True God.
And that’s the tragedy of letting politics creep into God’s Word. Once you inject a Roman name like “Palestina” into the Exodus, you end up dragging in a 2,000-year history that has absolutely nothing to do with what God originally said. And it muddies the truth. It makes people think this land was always called Palestine. It certainly was not. Not in the days of Abraham. Not in the days of Moses. Not when Joshua crossed the Jordan. And not when David danced before the Ark.
Rome tried to rename the land to wipe out God’s people. But God’s Word stands anyway. Always has. Always will.
Now when you go back and read that verse the way Moses said it, you see something totally different. “The peoples have heard, they tremble. Terror has taken hold of the people who live in Philistia.” The song of Moses is a warning cry echoing through the nations. The Exodus didn’t just shake Egypt. It sent shockwaves through the whole region. Every pagan king and tribal chieftain started checking their doors and locking their gates. They saw what Yahweh did to the mighty empire of Egypt and they panicked, thinking, “If He could do that to them, what will He do to us?”
It wasn’t a soft whisper. It was like a thunderclap from Sinai all the way to Canaan. And the Philistines were not left out of that sound. But they were not “Palestinians.” They were ancient, brutal, seafaring warriors. No connection to modern political labels. And that’s why this matters. Because if you read “Palestina” into that verse, you might start thinking God was talking about some modern Middle Eastern group that didn’t even exist until the 20th century. But if you read what He actually said, you see the power of His judgment on real, historical peoples who stood in His way.
And don’t think this only matters in ancient history. Because this same kind of thing is still happening today. People are still trying to erase the name Israel. They’re still trying to slap political names onto God’s covenant land. And they’re still trying to twist His Word to make it sound like He’s saying something He never said. But you can’t change the original. God’s words in Hebrew are fire. And no amount of Latin paint or Roman politics can cover up the burn marks.
So no, Moses didn’t say Palestina. God did not put that word there. That came centuries later when humans tried to overwrite the holy record with their own labels. But the truth still shines through, if you go back to the real thing. The yoshvei Peleshet trembled. The Philistines shook. And Israel sang.
I’ll tell you this, the more I read these old scrolls in the original tongue, the more I see how hard the enemy has worked to blur, bury, and bleach the truth. But it’s still there. Word by word. Breath by breath. And as long as we’ve got eyes to read and hearts to remember, we’re not gonna let anyone swap out what God actually said for some Roman, or otherwhere forgery.
So the next time you hear someone say “Palestina” in Exodus, smile gently and say, “Actually, the Hebrew says Peleshet, and we don’t let Rome, or ANYONE else, rewrite our history.”
Why They Are Trying to Seal the Gate – And Why It Won’t Work Several country leaders had tried over the centuries to “erase” the name of Israel. They still are. Germany even tried by forcing them to take on the names Israel and Sara for middle names thinking it would embarrass them. But Israel is proud of those names! The names of their Father and Mother.