A people of ancient Canaan
The Perizzites appear in the Old Testament as one of several peoples living in the land of Canaan. When God described the territory promised to Abram, the Perizzites were included among the nations then living there (Genesis 15:18-20). Later, when Abram and Lot's households grew too large to stay together, the text says both Canaanites and Perizzites were already in the land (Genesis 13:7).
That places them in the same broad setting as many other groups Israel encountered. The Bible does not tell us a detailed origin story for the Perizzites, nor does it preserve the names of their kings or cities. So it is wise not to claim more than the text does.
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
What does their name mean?
The Hebrew name behind Perizzites may be related to a word for open country or unwalled villages. If so, it may suggest that they lived in rural settlements rather than heavily fortified cities. But the connection is not certain, and Scripture itself does not stop to explain the name.
That uncertainty is actually helpful. The point of these passages is not to satisfy every historical question about the Perizzites. They show the real, populated land into which God called Abraham's family, and later brought Israel.
They remained in the land
The Perizzites were still present when Israel entered Canaan under Joshua. Joshua told the descendants of Joseph to clear forested hill country where Perizzites and Rephaim lived, because their allotted territory was too small for them (Joshua 17:15). This suggests the Perizzites were associated with at least some of the hill country.
God had told Israel not to adopt the worship and practices of the nations in the land, including the Perizzites (Deuteronomy 7:1-4). These difficult passages belong to the particular history of Israel entering Canaan, not to a general command for Christians to treat other peoples as enemies. Jesus calls his followers to love even their enemies (Matthew 5:44).
And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.
Why their story is mentioned
Judges later says that Israelites lived among the Canaanite peoples, including the Perizzites. The problem described there was not ethnicity. It was Israel's turning towards the gods and practices of surrounding nations, despite God's repeated call to worship him alone (Judges 3:5-7).
So the Perizzites are a small but real part of the Bible's larger story. They remind us that God's promises unfolded in actual places among actual communities. Their brief appearances also underline a recurring question in Scripture: will God's people remain faithful to him when other voices and loyalties surround them?
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves.