1 Samuel 7:14

1Sa 7:14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

Ver. 14. And the cities.] So crest fallen were the Philistines after their recent overthrow. Nemo confidat nimium secundis. Let no one be excessively confident the second time.

Between Israel and the Amorites.] The Philistines and the rest.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 7:14. There was peace — An agreement for the cessation of all acts of hostility. Between Israel and the Amorites — That is, the Canaanites, often called Amorites, because these were formerly the most valiant of all those nations, and the first enemies which the Israelites met with, when they went to take possession of their land. They made this peace with the Canaanites, that they might be more at leisure to oppose the Philistines, now their most potent enemies.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7:14 The Amorites had inhabited Canaan and the region east of the Jordan before Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land (see Gen 15:16; Deut 3:8; Josh 2:10). Some Amorites remained in the area after the conquest (see 2 Sam 21:2).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, the Philistines.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 14. The cities which the Philistines had taken] We are not informed of the particulars of these reprisals, but we may rest assured all this was not done in one day: perhaps the retaking of the cities was by slow degrees, through the space of several years.

There was peace between Israel and the Amorites.] That is, all the remaining Canaanites kept quiet, and did not attempt to molest the Israelites, when they found the Philistines, the most powerful of the ancient inhabitants of the land, broken and subdued before them.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) The cities.—The immediate result of Samuel’s great victory at Eben-ezer, and the renovated national spirit of the people, was their recovery of the towns and villages which during the late disastrous period had fallen into the Philistines’ hands.

From Ekron even unto Gath.—It is doubtful whether these words signify that at this period these famous Philistine cities fell into the hands of Samuel. This expression more probably indicates on the Philistine side the direction and limits of the space in which the Israelites recovered their lost territory.

The Amorites.—The Amorites here, as representing the most powerful of the old Canaanite tribes, are especially mentioned. This note respecting them tells us that in these glorious days of the restoration of Israel under Samuel, not only were the Philistines of the coast kept in check and gradually subdued, but that the Canaanite tribes of the interior of the land submitted quietly to the old conditions imposed by Joshua at the time of the conquest.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. from Ekron even unto Gath] The towns which lay on the Danite frontier between these places were restored to Israel, not however including Ekron and Gath themselves. There is no evidence that Gath had ever been occupied by the Israelites, and Ekron was only held for a short time (Jdg_1:18).

the coasts thereof] The territory belonging to these frontier towns. The Sept. reads “the border of Israel.”

there was peace between Israel and the Amorites] The Amorites are mentioned as the most powerful enemies of Israel next to the Philistines. “Amorite” is probably a local not a tribal name, meaning “highlander,” contrasted with “Canaanite,” which means “lowlander.” On the W. of Jordan they lived chiefly in the mountainous country of Judah and Ephraim (Num_13:29; Jos_10:5): E. of Jordan they occupied the high plateau of rich pasture-land between the Jabbok and the Arnon, from which they had expelled the Moabites (Num_21:13; Num_21:26), and were in their turn dispossessed by the Israelites.

In the Egyptian inscriptions the Amorites give their name to the whole country of Canaan, and in several passages of the O.T. the name appears to be used loosely of the original inhabitants in general. Possibly this is the case here.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 (p) calls them the remnant of the Canaanites; these, finding the Philistines were subdued, were quiet and peaceable, and gave Israel no more trouble.

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

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

This shows the vigour and success of Samuel’s government. He seems not only to have expelled the Philistines from the interior of the Israelite country, but to have attacked them in their own land, and taken from them the cities, with the adjacent territory, which properly belonged to Israel, but which the Philistines had taken possession of. In this war the Amorites, finding the Philistines worse masters than the Israelites, made common cause with Samuel, and assisted the Israelites in their wars against the Philistines.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Geth, which two cities still continued in their possession. Others, which had fallen to the share of Dan, they gave up, which explains Judges xviii. 1, 31. --- Philistines. Here ended the forty years’ servitude. (Calmet) --- Salien (the year of the world 2860) rather thinks that it terminated in the death of Samson, when it was judged expedient to entrust the reins of government into the hands of an ole man, Heli, the high priest, as there was no need of an expert general, the heads of the Philistines being all destroyed, Judges xiii. 1. (Haydock) --- Amorrhites: the dispersed nations of Chanaan were all dept under. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The cities were restored to Israel by the Philistines, who, it seems, were frightened into this restitution by their dread of Samuel, and of the Divine vengeance.

Object. The Philistines had cities and garrisons in Israel’s land after this time; as 1Sa 10:5; 13:3. Answ. Either therefore those places were not any of these here mentioned; for it is not said that all their cities were restored, but only indefinitely the cities, and those limited to a certain compass, from

Ekron to Gath; or some of the cities now restored by the Philistines, were afterwards retaken by them.

There was peace; an agreement for the cessation of all acts of hostility.

The Amorites, i.e. the Canaanites, oft called Amorites, because these were formerly the most valiant and terrible of all those nations, and the first enemies which the Israelites met with, when they went to take possession of their land. They made this peace with the Canaanites, that they might be more at leisure to oppose the Philistines, now their most potent enemies.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14. From Ekron even unto Gath — That is, all the cities within a supposed boundary line running from one of these places to the other, but not including these places themselves, for it nowhere appears that Ekron and Gath had ever hitherto been in possession of the Israelites.

Peace between Israel and the Amorites — This signal fact is mentioned because the Amorites were the most powerful of the Canaanitish nations, and therefore the historical importance of such a peace between them and Israel. Some expositors understand that the word Amorites here designates all the Canaanitish nations besides the Philistines. They were overawed by the great victory of Israel, and thought it wise to make peace with them.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

From Ekron even unto Gath. Not that Israel captured these two towns, but they mark the limits upon the borders, within which the Philistines had previously seized towns and villages belonging to Israel, and which Samuel now recovered. There was peace between Israel and the Amorites. In Israel"s weakness the remains of this once powerful Canaanitish stock had probably made many a marauding expedition into the land, and carried off cattle and other plunder; now they sue for peace, and unite with Israel against the Philistines.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Peace - An agreement for the cessation of all acts of hostility. Amorites - That is, the Canaanites, often called Amorites, because these were formerly the most valiant of all those nations, and the first Enemies which the Israelites met with, when they went to take possession of their land. They made this peace with the Canaanites, that they might he more at leisure to oppose the Philistines, now their most potent enemies.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.