Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

7:3-4 Returning here is the act of repentance, i.e., a change of direction back to the Lord. Samuel gives three commands: (1) turn away from idolatry; (2) direct the heart to the Lord; and (3) serve him alone (see Deut. 6:4-15; Josh. 24:14-28; Judg. 10:6-16). Foreign gods and the Ashtaroth refers to the totality of idols. The Baals and the Ashtaroth has the same meaning.

7:5-6 Mizpah is probably the modern Tel en-Natsbeh, about 7 miles (11 km) north of Jerusalem, near an important north-south road. It was a place of assembly for all Israel, as in Judges 20-21 and 1 Sam. 10:17-27, where Saul was proclaimed king. It was on Samuel's circuit for judging (7:16). I will pray to the Lord for you. Samuel was known as an intercessor (v. 8; 12:23; Jer. 15:1). They drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted. Like fasting, pouring out the water was an act of self-denial as part of Israel's confession. We have sinned against the Lord. The people's action was also an act of offering with similarities to the whole burnt offering in 1 Sam. 7:9--it was given completely to the Lord.

7:9 nursing lamb. An animal could be sacrificed once it was eight days old (Ex. 22:30; Lev. 22:27). A basic purpose of the whole burnt offering was to make atonement (Lev. 1:4).

7:10 The term for confusion (Hb. hamam) occurs first in Ex. 14:24, where the Lord threw the Egyptian army into "panic" (see also Ex. 23:27; Josh. 10:10). See especially 2 Sam. 22:15 (cf. Ps. 18:14), where the Lord's lightning routs (same Hb. word, hamam) the enemy.

7:13 did not again enter the territory of Israel. The victory is here described as a decisive turning point, although Philistine garrisons appear in 10:5; 13:3. Perhaps this refers only to a temporary condition, such as during all the days of Samuel.

7:14 from Ekron to Gath. Ekron and Gath were the easternmost cities of the Philistine pentapolis (see note on 5:1). This verse probably means that the cities and territories that had come under the control of those two ruling cities were freed from their control. The Amorites, broadly speaking, were the pre-Israelite Canaanites (see 2 Sam. 21:2). Thus Israel was not bothered by enemies from inside or from outside.

7:15 Samuel judged (see v. 6) Israel all the days of his life. This is a summary of Samuel's activities as judge; from his hometown of Ramah, he visited the cities of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, which are all in or around the district of the Benjaminite clans.

7:16 Bethel was one of the most important sacred sites, being associated with the patriarchs (see Gen. 35:15). The ark was there at one time (Judg. 20:26-27). Joshua 18:21-22 lists it as a Benjaminite city, but during most of history it was a part of Ephraim. It was in Bethel, as well as in Dan, that Jeroboam established a sanctuary for worshiping a golden calf as a rival to Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:28-29). The modern site is Beitin, 10 miles (16 km) north of Jerusalem, at the intersection of two major highways--the mountain ridge road and the main road leading from Jericho to the coastal plain. The site of Gilgal has not yet been identified. It was the place on "the east border of Jericho" where Joshua and the Israelites camped after crossing the Jordan River (Josh. 4:19, etc.). This ancient city was a place of worship and sacrifice in the Benjaminite district. Gilgal was important in the kingship of Saul: he was ordered to go there and wait on God after his private anointing (1 Sam. 10:1); there the people made him king (11:15); and there his perpetual (i.e., dynastic) kingship was rejected (13:8-15) and finally negated (15:23). Later, in the eighth century, Amos (Amos 4:4; 5:5) and Hosea (Hos. 4:15; 9:15; 12:11) denounced Gilgal, along with Bethel, as an active but illegitimate place of worship. Thus, the narrator summarizes Samuel's era: Israel was secure and stable both externally and internally under the judgeship of Samuel, for the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines and there was peace between the Israelites and the Amorites. Samuel's annual visits from his hometown of Ramah gave the people confidence and trust in God and in Samuel's leadership. In the next episode, however, the people of Israel senselessly request a new institution (kingship) rather than a new judge, despite Samuel's opposition.