GIRGASHITE gûr’ gə shīt (גִּרְגָּשִֽׁי; LXX Γεργεσαῖον). A Canaanite tribe appearing often in lists of peoples dispossessed by the Israelites (Gen 10:16; 15:21; Deut 7:1; Josh 3:10; 24:11; 1 Chron 1:14; Neh 9:8). No indication is given of the tribe’s locality. The city name Karkisha, known from cuneiform Hitt. texts, has been suggested as the same name. One scholar has proposed that גִּרְגָּשִֽׁי be understood as “client (Heb. גֵּר, H1731) of (the god) Gesh,” a Sumer. god of light introduced to Pal. c. 2000 b.c. More likely related is the personal (and tribal?, cf. bn grgš) name grgš, which appears in Ugaritic texts from the 13th cent. b.c.

Bibliography B. Maisler, ZAW, I (1932), 86, 87; W. F. Albright, JPOS, xv (1935), 189; C. H. Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook (1965), 381, no. 619.