1 Samuel 7:14

14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel, were yielded again to Israel, from Ekron unto Gath, and the coasts of Gath; and the Lord delivered Israel from the hand of (the) Philistines; and peace was betwixt Israel and Amorites (and there was peace between Israel and the Amorites).

1 Samuel 7:14 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 7:14

And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel
were restored to Israel
We nowhere read that the Israelites went out to war with them, and took these cities from them by besieging and assaulting them; but they made a demand of them after the above victory obtained, by which the Philistines were so intimidated, that they quietly surrendered them to them:

from Ekron even unto Gath, and the coasts thereof, did Israel deliver
out of the hands of the Philistines;
not by dint of sword, but by demand, to which they submitted; and though Ekron, if not Gath, fell to the tribe of Judah by lot, yet were never in their possession; and so are to be understood exclusively here, that not they, but the cities and towns that lay between them and the coasts thereof, which the Philistines had seized upon, these they were obliged to deliver up again to Israel; and if Ekron and Gath were delivered, they were not long held by them, for we soon read of them as in the hands of others:

and there was peace between Israel and the Amorites;
who were a principal nation of the Canaanites, and are put for the whole of them that remained; and so Josephus ^F16 calls them the remnant of the Canaanites; these, finding the Philistines were subdued, were quiet and peaceable, and gave Israel no more trouble.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F16 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 2. sect. 2.)

1 Samuel 7:14 In-Context

12 And Samuel took one stone, and put it betwixt Mizpeh, and Shen; and he called the name of that place The stone of help (and he called the name of that place Ebenezer). And he said, Hitherto the Lord hath helped us.

13 And the Philistines were made low, and they added no more to come into the terms of Israel (And so the Philistines were humbled, and they did not come any more into the land of Israel). And so the hand of the Lord was made [up]on (the) Philistines in all the days of Samuel.

14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel, were yielded again to Israel, from Ekron unto Gath, and the coasts of Gath; and the Lord delivered Israel from the hand of (the) Philistines; and peace was betwixt Israel and Amorites (and there was peace between Israel and the Amorites).

15 And Samuel deemed Israel all the days of his life, that is, till to the ordaining and confirming of Saul;

16 and he went by each year, and compassed Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and he deemed Israel in the foresaid places.