CHAPTER VII _The men of Kirjah-jearim bring the ark from Beth-shemesh, and_ _consecrate Eleazar, the son of Abinadab, to keep it; and there_ _it continued twenty years_, 1, 2. _Samuel reproves and exhorts the people, and gathers them_ _together at Mizpeh, where they fast and pray, and confess_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:2. _IT WAS TWENTY YEARS_] This chapter contains the transactions of at least _twenty_ years, but we know not the date of each event.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:3. _AND SAMUEL SPAKE_] We have heard nothing of this judge since he served in the tabernacle. He was now grown up, and established for a prophet in the land of Israel. _IF YE DO RETURN_] From your backsliding and idolatry. _WITH ALL YOUR HEARTS_] For outward services and professio... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:4. _PUT AWAY BAALIM AND ASHTAROTH_] These were not two _particular deities_, but two _genera_ of idols; the one _masculine_, BAALIM; the other _feminine_, ASHTAROTH; both the words are in the _plural_ number, and signify all their _gods_ and _goddesses_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:5. _GATHER ALL ISRAEL TO MIZPEH_] This appears to have been an _armed_ assembly, though probably collected principally for religious and political purposes; but Samuel knew that an _unarmed_ multitude could not safely be convened in the vicinity of the Philistines.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:6. _DREW WATER, AND POURED IT OUT_] It is not easy to know what is meant by this; it is true that _pouring out water_, in the way of _libation_, was a religious ordinance among the _Hebrews_, (Isaiah 12:3), and among most other nations, particularly the _Greeks_ and _Romans_, who us... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:7. _THE PHILISTINES WENT UP AGAINST ISRAEL_] They went to give them battle before that, by continual accessions of numbers, they should become too powerful.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:8. _CEASE NOT TO CRY UNTO THE LORD_] They had strong confidence in the intercession of Samuel, because they knew he was a holy man of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:9. _SAMUEL TOOK A SUCKING LAMB_] This sucking lamb must have been _eight days under its mother_ before it could be offered, as the law says, Leviticus 22:27. Though Samuel was not a _priest_, yet he offered this sacrifice; or he might have ordered _Eleazar_ to offer it, and still b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:10. _THE LORD THUNDERED WITH A GREAT THUNDER_] Literally, _The Lord thundered with a great voice_-he confounded them with a mighty tempest of thunder and lightning, and no doubt slew many by the lightning.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:11. _UNDER BETH-CAR._] We know not where this place was; the _Septuagint_ have _Beth-chor_; the _Targum, Beth-saron_; and the _Syriac_ and _Arabic, Beth-jasan_.... [ Continue Reading ]
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_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:13. _THEY CAME NO MORE INTO THE COAST OF ISRAEL_] Perhaps a more signal victory was never gained by Israel; the Lord had brought them low, almost to extermination; and now, by his miraculous interference, he lifts them completely up, and humbles to the dust their proud oppressors. G... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:14. _THE CITIES WHICH THE PHILISTINES HAD TAKEN_] We are not informed of the particulars of these reprisals, but we may rest assured all this was not done in one day: perhaps the _retaking_ of the cities was by slow degrees, through the space of several years. _THERE WAS PEACE BETW... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:15. _SAMUEL JUDGED ISRAEL ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE._] Samuel is supposed to have lived _one hundred_ years; he did not begin to judge Israel till he was about _forty_ years of age; and if he was _one hundred_ years of age when he died, he must have been a judge _sixty_ years, and co... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 7:16. _HE WENT FROM YEAR TO YEAR IN CIRCUIT_] When he was at BETH-EL, the tribe of Ephraim, and all the northern parts of the country, could attend him; when at GILGAL, the tribe of Benjamin, and those beyond Jordan, might have easy access to him; and when at MIZPEH, he was within rea... [ Continue Reading ]