The Philistines, mentioned earlier (Judges 3:3; 10:7), were newcomers to Canaan, later called Palestine. This warlike group of sea people had Greek, not Canaanite, roots. They settled in the southwestern coastal areas around 1200 BC. From then on, Philistia became Israel’s natural enemy and increasingly threatened its national existence. Israel developed institutions like kingship partly to respond to the Philistine threat.