Cher´ethites and Pel´ethites, names borne by the royal life-guards in the time of David (; ). Prevailing opinion translates their names, 'Headsmen and Foot-runners.' In the later years of David, their captain, Benaiah, rose to a more commanding importance than the generals of the regular troops; just as in imperial Rome the prefect of the praetorian guards became the second person in the empire. It is evident that, to perpetrate any summary deed, Benaiah and the guards were chiefly relied on. That they were strictly a body-guard is distinctly stated in . In , the Cherethites are named as a nation of the south, and in , the Cherethites and Pelethites are mentioned along with the Gittites, who were undoubtedly foreigners. It has therefore been supposed, with some probability, that David entrusted the care of his person to foreign guards.