Bible Strands
1 Samuel 7:14
The cities from Ekron to Gath, which the Philistines had taken, were restored to Israel, who also delivered the surrounding territory from the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between the Israelites and the Amorites.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the immediate post-judgment landscape after Samuel’s spiritual leadership and the LORD’s sustained pressure on the Philistines.
The words — וַתָּשֹׁבֶנָה (ta.shovenah) literally means “they went back” or “they were restored,” denoting the return of the captured cities to Israel.
The thread — This partial recovery stands in tension with the complete destruction mandates in Deuteronomy 7:2 and Deuteronomy 7:16, a tension Psalm 106:34 later highlights when noting Israel’s failure to fully execute those commands.
Why it lands — The verse states the factual outcome of territorial restoration and peace without theological commentary, forcing the reader to confront the gap between the covenant’s absolute demands and the historical record of partial compliance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Psalms 106:34 They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,
- Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Deuteronomy 7:16 You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- Judges 4:17 Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.