1 Samuel 7

1 Samuel 7:9

9.— and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel:] It is here related, that the people, terrified at the approach of the Philistines, had recourse to the intercession of Samuel; and he, by his intercession and prayers, obtained a miraculous victory. The greatest blessing that any people can enjoy, is to have wise rulers, and such as fear God: the prayers of good men, and of the faithful servants of God, are of great efficacy; and, for their sakes, God often spares and blesses a nation. Ostervold.

1 Samuel 7:15

15.— all the days of his life.] As Samuel was the author of this book, he could not speak literally of “all the days of his life:” the sense probably is, that he was so diligent in the discharge of his office, that he gave himself no rest, but sat to judge causes every day. Bp. Patrick. All that the text says comes to this; that Samuel discharged his office with the greatest exactness, and that he employed himself in it every day of his life. Locke.

1 Samuel 7:17

17.— there he built an altar] No doubt, by God’s direction or permission for the present; as He had made no declaration where He wished the ark to be fixed, after it was taken from Shiloh; and as it was fit that there should be an altar where Samuel himself resided, for the purpose of invoking God’s direction and blessing, when the people came to consult the Divine majesty through him. Dr. Wells.

Chap. VIII. ver. 5.— make us a king to judge us] The inconvenience, which the Israelites allege, arising from

the age of Samuel, and the misconduct of his sons, was so plainly temporary and easily removable, that it could have been but a mere pretence. The real motive undoubtedly was, that they should be governed “like all the (other) nations:” a motive originating in their not sufficiently attending to the Divine interpositions of the judges, but yielding to their ardent and culpable fondness for the manners and customs of the surrounding idolatrous states; a fondness they were restrained from indulging, by the control of that theocracy established by the Mosaick Law; which control they in all probability secretly hoped would be less strict, if they changed the form of their civil government. This criminal disposition God exposes and reprobates, ver. 7. Dr. Graves. It is generally thought, that the circumstance which made the Israelites so urgent at this time for a king, was a present strait, into which they had fallen, for want of an able leader, when Nahash king of the Amorites came up against Jabesh-gilead. But their duty was to inquire of the Lord, as at other times, who it was that He would be pleased to constitute their general in this exigency, to lead out their forces against their enemies. Stackhouse.