Some scholars have suggested that because Achish king of Gath remitted certain fugitives to King Solomon at this time, this indicates Gath was already a dependency of Israel. The remission of these fugitives to their master, however, does not necessarily imply that Gath was a dependency of Israel. The extradition of refugees of all kinds (whether nobles or men of lower class) was not only one of the legal obligations imposed on a vassal state, but was also an article of a “parity treaty,” i.e. one between equally sovereign states.