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•PELEG division, one of the sons of Eber; so called because “in his days was the earth divided” (Genesis 10:25). Possibly he may have lived at the time of the dispersion from Babel. But more probably the reference is to the dispersion of the two races which sprang from Eber, the one spreading towards Mesopotamia and Syria, and the other southward into Arabia.
•PELET deliverance. (1.) A descendant of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:47). (2.) A Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:3).
•PELETH swiftness. (1.) A Reubenite whose son was one of the conspirators against Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16:1).
(2.) One of the sons of Jonathan (1 Chronicles 2:33).
•PELETHITES mentioned always along with the Cherethites, and only in the time of David. The word probably means “runners” or “couriers,” and may denote that while forming part of David’s bodyguard, they were also sometimes employed as couriers (2 Samuel 8:18; 20:7, 23;1 Kings 1:38, 44; 1 Chronicles 18:17). Some, however, think that these are the names simply of two Philistine tribes from which David selected his body-guard. They are mentioned along with the Gittites (2 Samuel 15:18), another body of foreign troops whom David gathered round him.
•PELICANS are frequently met with at the waters of Merom and the Sea of Galilee. The pelican is ranked among unclean birds (Leviticus 11:18; Deuteronomy 14:17). It is of an enormous size, being about 6 feet long, with wings stretching out over 12 feet. The Hebrew name (kaath, i.e., “vomiter”) of this bird is incorrectly rendered “cormorant” in the Authorized Version of Isaiah 34:11 and Zephaniah 2:14, but correctly in the Revised Version. It receives its Hebrew name from its habit of storing in its pouch large quantities of fish, which it disgorges when it feeds its young. Two species are found on the Syrian coast, the Pelicanus