So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more within the border of Israel: and the hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
The concluding reference to peace with the Amorites may imply that this victory began a period of peace with the Amorites as well as with the Philistines. The Amorites had controlled the hill country of Canaan, and the Philistines had dominated the coastal plain. The native Canaanites, here referred to as Amorites, would have profited from Israel’s superiority over the Philistines since the Philistines were more of a threat to the Canaanites than were the Israelites. [Note: Norman K. Gottwald, The Tribes of Yahweh, a Sociology of the Religion of Liberated Israel, 1250-1050 B.C.E., p. 418. ] Often in the Old Testament "Amorites" (Westerners) designates the original inhabitants of Canaan in general.