1 Samuel 7:17

_AND HIS RETURN WAS TO RAMAH; FOR THERE WAS HIS HOUSE; AND THERE HE JUDGED ISRAEL; AND THERE HE BUILT AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD._ His return was to Ramah - not at Nabi-Samuel; the site uncertain (Robinson's 'Biblical Researches,' 2:, pp 40, 141, 331-334; Wilson's 'Lands of the Bible,' 2: p. 36). [But the expression, _ HAA-RAAMAATAAH_ (H7414) (with the article), shows it is the same as Ramathaim-zophim (see the note at 1 Samuel 1:1: cf. Josephus, 'Antiquities' b. 6: ch. 4:, sec. 6; also ch. 13:, sec. 5).] THERE HE BUILT AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD. Here is another instance of his deviation from the prescribed ordinance of the law (Deuteronomy 12:5;...

13-17 In this great revival of true religion, the ark was neither removed to Shiloh, nor placed with the tabernacle any where else. This disregard to the Levitical institutions showed that their typical meaning formed their chief use; and when that was overlooked, they became a lifeless service, not to be compared with repentance, faith, and the love of God and man....

AND THERE HE BUILT AN ALTAR - Whether this altar was in connection with the tabernacle or not we have no means of deciding, since we are in complete ignorance as to where the tabernacle was at this time, or who was High Priest, or where he resided. It is quite possible that Samuel may have removed the tabernacle from Shiloh to some place near to Ramah; and indeed it is in itself improbable that, brought up as he was from infancy in the service of the tabernacle, he should have left it. At the beginning of Solomon’s reign we know it was at Gibeon, close to Raimah 1Ki 3:4; 2 Chronicles 1:3, 2 Chronicles 1:6. If the tabernacle had been at Shiloh at this time, it is likely that Shiloh would have been one of the places at which Samuel

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 HIS RETURN WAS TO RAMAH,.... When he had gone his circuit, he came back to this city, which was his native place, and where his father and mother had dwelt, see 1 Samuel 1:1 FOR THERE WAS HIS HOUSE; and his father's house before him, and perhaps the same, 1 Samuel 1:19 and there he judged Israel; here was his fixed residence, and here he was always to be met with, except when on his circuit; and hither the people of Israel might come from all parts, to have justice done them between man and man, or receive information in matters of difficulty and importance: AND THERE HE BUILT AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD: to offer his own sacrifices, and the sacrifices of the people, either by himself, or by a priest, when the people came to have justice administered to them; or to desire

8. SAMUEL EXERCISING HIS OFFICE AND HIS FAILURE Chapter S 7:15-8:3 _ 1. Samuel the Prophet-Judge (1 Samuel 7:15)_ 2. His failure (1 Samuel 8:1) Samuel's activity as the great prophet-judge is now seen. He had a blessed circuit of ministry, which has its spiritual lessons for us. He first visited Bethel (the house of God). Judgment must begin there. When Jacob was obedient to the divine call “Arise and go up unto Bethel,” he buried the strange gods, the household gods under the oak of Shechem. So the evil things must be put away. Then came Gilgal (rolling). There the reproach of Egypt was rolled away (Joshua 5). This is what we need, to be freed from the world, dead to it and the world dead to us. Mizpeh

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....

THERE WAS HIS HOUSE. Compare 1 Samuel 1:19, &c. ALTAR. Shiloh forsaken, and Ark separated from Tabernacle. There was no chosen "place"....

Summary Account of Samuel's Judgeship 13. _So the Philistines were subdued_ Cp. Judges 3:30; Judges 4:23-24. The word signifies "_were brought low_," but does not imply complete subjugation. The forty years oppression (Judges 13:1) now came to an end. _they came no more into the coast of Israel_ The same phrase is used in 2 Kings 6:23, where the very next verse speaks of a fresh invasion. It is obvious therefore that the Hebrew historian could use the expression relatively and not absolutely, to describe a cessation of the Philistine inroads _for the time being_. How long it lasted we are not told, but...

DISCOURSE: 291 SAMUEL’S JUDICIAL CHARACTER 1 Samuel 7:15. _And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the Lord._ AS there are times and seasons commended to our special attention on a religious account, so there are particular occasions which it is proper for us to notice, on account of the interest they create in the public mind, and the facility they afford for imparting instruction suited to them. The pomp with which the judges of the land are surrounded, when they go their circuits for the purpose of dispensing justice through the land, is calculated to make a good impression upon the community at large; and to fill all ranks of me