1 Samuel 7:2-6

The National Repentance and Reformation under Samuel

2. And it came to pass, &c. Better, And it came to pass, from the day when the ark rested in Kirjath-jearim, that a long time elapsed, even twenty years. Twenty years was not, as the E. V. seems to imply, the whole duration of the Ark's sojourn at Kirjath-jearim, but the time that elapsed before the reformation now to be recorded.

The period here passed over in silence was a dark page in Israel's history, politically and religiously. They were vassals of the Philistines, reduced apparently to abject submission. The public worship of Jehovah was intermitted; for the Tabernacle seems to have been dismantled, and the Ark was in a private house. The people sank into gross idolatry. But meanwhile Samuel was growing in strength and influence, and when the right moment came and the desire for better things sprang up as the fruit of his prophetic labours, he was ready to take his place as the leader of the nation.

lamented after the Lord As a child follows the father who has been forced to turn a way in anger, and with sighs and tears entreats for reconciliation.