Are always mentioned together with the Cherethites, as constituting the king's bodyguard, 2 Samuel 8:18 22:23 . The word, if not the name of a Jewish or a Philistine family, is supposed to signify runners; and thus they would seem to have been the royal messengers; just as the Cherethites, from a Hebrew word signifying to cut off, were the king's executioners. See CHERETHITES.