1 Samuel 7:12

_THEN SAMUEL TOOK A STONE, AND SET IT BETWEEN MIZPEH AND SHEN, AND CALLED THE NAME OF IT EBENEZER, SAYING, HITHERTO HATH THE LORD HELPED US._ Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen - on an open spot between the town and 'the crag' (some well-known rock in the neighbourhood). A huge stone pillar was erected as a monument of their victory (Leviticus 26:1). THE NAME ... EBEN-EZER - i:e., stone of help [Septuagint, Abenezer, lithos tou boeethou]; a memorial of the signal and seasonable deliverance granted by Yahweh. "Set it between Mizpeh and Shen" х_ HA-MITSPAAH _ (H4709), the watch-tower] - a conspicuous height a few miles north of Jerusalem х_ HA-SHEEN_ (H8129), the tooth or crag], not yet identified. Josephus ('Antiquities,' b. 6:, ch. 2:, sec.

7-12 The Philistines invaded Israel. When sinners begin to repent and reform, they must expect that Satan will muster all his force against them, and set his instruments at work to the utmost, to oppose and discourage them. The Israelites earnestly beg Samuel to pray for them. Oh what a comfort it is to all believers, that our great Intercessor above never ceases, is never silent! for he always appears in the presence of God for us. Samuel's sacrifice, without his prayer, had been an empty shadow. God gave a gracious answer. And Samuel erected a memorial of this victory, to the glory of God, and to encourage Israel. Through successive generations, the church of God has had cause to set up Eben-ezers for renewed deliverances; neither outward persecutions nor inward corruptions have prevailed against her, because "hitherto the Lord hath helped her:" and he will help, even to the end of the...

Verse 1 Samuel 7:12. _CALLED THE NAME OF IT EBEN-EZER_] אבן העזר _Eben haezer_, "The Stone of Help; " perhaps a _pillar_ is meant by the word _stone_....

Shen was a tooth-pointed or sharp-pointed rock (see 1 Samuel 14:4), nowhere else mentioned and not identified....

EXPOSITION 1 SAMUEL 7:1 At Kirjath-jearim the people reverently undertook the charge of the ark, and carried out their arrangements so carefully that no further calamity occurred. On its arrival they placed it in THE HOUSE OF ABINADAB IN THE HILL. More probably _at Gibeah, _as it is translated in 2 Samuel 6:3, 2 Samuel 6:4. In Joshua 15:57 a village of this name is mentioned in the tribe of Judah not far from Kirjath-jearim (_ibid. _Joshua 15:60), and probably Abinadab, who lived there, was a L

AND SAMUEL TOOK A STONE, AND SET IT,.... Not for worship, but as a monument of the victory obtained by the help of God: and this he placed BETWEEN MIZPEH AND SHEN; which latter signifies a tooth, and designs the precipice of a rock which juts out, and hangs over in the form of one: AND CALLED THE NAME OF IT EBENEZER; which signifies "the stone of help"; and is the same place which by anticipation has this name, 1 Samuel 4:1, so that in the selfsame place where the Israelites were twice beaten by the Philistines, and the ark taken, was this salvation wrought for them: SAYING, HITHERTO HATH THE LORD HELPED US; this was but the beginning of their deliverance from the Philistines, and which was owing to the help of the Lord; and as he had begun to help them, they might hope and encourage themselves that he would go on to help them until th

EBENEZER That is, The stone of help....

7. THE RETURN UNTO JEHOVAH AND THE DELIVERANCE CHAPTER 7:3-14 _ 1. Samuel's message and the response of the people (1 Samuel 7:3)_ 2. Gathered at Mizpah (1 Samuel 7:5) 3. The deliverance (1 Samuel 7:7) Samuel now is seen beginning his great national ministry. The message he brings is the message of repentance and the assurance of faith. In simple words he addressed the people, who no doubt were prepared for it by their long period of humiliation. He demands that their true return to the Lord must be practical; the strange gods and Ashtaroth must be put away. If they serve the Lord only, deliverance out of the hands of the Philistines would come. The message was at once obeyed. Every true

SAMUEL AS JUDGE. Philistines subdued by Divine intervention; probably an ideal picture, by the Deuteronomic writer, of the happy results of Israel's repentance and Samuel's piety peace, victory, and orthodoxy. The section is the typical form of the Deuteronomic accounts of the Judges apostasy, oppression, repentance, deliverance. The statements that the Philistines ceased to invade Israel, and that the Israelites recovered the Philistine cities from Ekron to Gath, are inconsistent with the older narratives. On the other hand, the writer sees no difficulty in Samuel building an altar at Ramah, because his view was that the limitation of sacrifice to a central sanctuary did not come into force till Solomon built the Temple. 1 SAMUEL 7:2. The return of the Ark leads the people to repent; Samuel encourages them in this by promising deliverance if they worship Yahweh only....

Total Rout of the Philistines at Ebenezer 7. _when the Philistines heard_, &c. The lords naturally regarded a national assembly of their vassals as a preliminary step towards revolt, and mustering the army of the confederation, marched up towards Mizpah....