Verse 2
The Philistines were not native Canaanite people. They had migrated to Canaan from the northwest. They had by this time displaced the Canaanites in the southwest portion of the Promised Land. Because the land they occupied was part of what God had promised Israel, the Israelites were responsible to drive them out too. The Israelites were not successful in doing this. The Philistines increased in power and influence over the Israelites, eventually becoming the major enemy of Israel during King Saul’s reign more than three centuries later. In Joshua’s time, however, they were a smaller, secondary target of the Israelites.
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