1 Samuel 7
PATA COMMENTARY UPON [chap. -VII. was about forty-six years; therefore it refers to the following words. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. Or rather (as Dr. Lightfoot translates them), Then all the house of Israel, &c. Their idolatry had taken such deep root in them, that neither the loss of the ark, nor the.slaughter of so many Israelites, wrought upon their hearts, ttut it was twenty years before they minded the ark, or took ar.y notice of it. Then they Mere awakened to some -sense of their duty, and began to seek the favour of God, ♦and lament their apostacy from him. (See his Annot. on this place, and upon Acts iii.24. p. 758.) And one reason why they did not regard the ark, was, perhaps, because it’was now seated in the borders of the country of the Philistines, of whom’ they were afraid. And this is the sense’of Abarbinel. For though others think, that from the day that the ark came to Kirjath-jearim, the Israelites began to lament their sins, and to turn to God; having heard of the miracles that had been done in the land of the Philistines, &c. yet he doth not approve ofthis opinion; but will have their lamentation to begin after the ark had been •twenty years at this place, where it remained many more years than twenty.
1 Samuel 7:1
JilND the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark oftheLord. They cheerfully received the message; and were so far from thinking themselves in danger by entertaining it, that they thought it a blessing, and kept it with them till the reign of David. And brought it to the house ofAbinadab in the hill.]\ln the highest part, I suppose, of the city: as David;afterward placed it upon Mount Sion. And sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark ofrJhe Lord.] Which belonged to the.Levites: therefore Abinadab was of that tribe, otherwise he could not have consecrated (i.e. set apart, or solemnly appointed) his son to keep the ark, i. e. to attend it, and see that no rudeness was offered to it; as well as to keep a guard about it, to defend it from violence. If it be inquired why they did not carry the ark to Shiloh, its ancient seat, the answer is, that the Philistines had destroyed that place;.and the tabernacle, upon the death of -Eli, was removed from thence unto Nob, where it remained till the death of Samuel.?And after his death it was carried to Gibeon, where it remained fifty years, according to the account of the author of Seder Olam Rabba.. All which time the ark was in Kirjath-jearim, till David brought it first to the house of Obcd-Edqm, and then to his own city. After which the tabernacle still remained at Gibeon till Solomon’s temple was built, 1 Chron. xvi. 39. 2 Chron. i. 3. where we read, that, even after the death of his father, Solomon sacrificed at Gibeon, the tabernacle being there.
1 Samuel 7:2
And it came to pass, while the ark abodein Kirjath-jearim, the time teas long; for it teas twenty years. This is not to be understood of the whole time that*the ark remained here; for it continued, as I said before, in this place, till the time of- David, (2 ChTon. vi. 3.) whicb.
1 Samuel 7:3
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel. Who were assembled at some solemn festival; or were summoned by him to attend him; for after the death of Eli he began to judge Israel. If you return to the Lord with all your heart. 1 By’ this it appears, that his reproofs and instructions, and the representation he had made of their sin, and of their danger, had touched their hearts, and made them beginto lament themselves, and seek his favour; whereupon he exhorts them - to give this following proof of their sincerity. Then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you.’] By the strange gods I take Baalim to be meant; which are frequently joined with Ashtaroth, as they are in the very next verse to this, where their obcdi-. ence< to’this exhortati6n is reported. (And see upon Judg. ii. 12, 13. 17. iii. 7. viii. 33.) And prepare your heart unto the Lord.] By serious resolutions. To serve him only.] As it follows in the next verse. And he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines.] Who had now oppressed them, less or more, for the space of forty years.
1 Samuel 7:4
Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only. There was now, I suppose, a general reformation made in the worship of God.
1 Samuel 7:5
And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh. Aplaee where they had been wont anciently to assemble upon great occasions. (See upon Judg. xx. 1.) And I will pray for you unto the Lord.] To accept of their repentance, and pardon their sins, and establish them in their good resolution to serve the Lord alone; and to deliver them out of the hand of the Philistines. For all which he could have prayed alone by himself; but he thought their public prayer would be more effectual. Ver.G. And they gathered inMizpeh,and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord.’] This being a day. of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, as appears by the latter part of these words, interpreters commonly expound the former part of them, as belonging to the same matter. And some think, as the Targum doth, that by pouring out water, is to be understood the tears of contrition, which were drawn from the bottom of their hearts, and fell from their eyes before the Lord. Others think they washed their bodies in water, signifying the purification of their souls from the filthiness of sin. And others (which Bochartus himself thinks more probable), that this water was poured on the ground, in token of the expiation of their sin, which they desired and hoped might be remembered no more: as water poured on the ground could no more be seen. Unto which tbey think a place in Job alludes: (xi. 16.) but we no where find any such rite as this among the Jews, either in ancient or later times. And the conjecture of Fortunatus Scacehus seems more ingenious, that an altar being to be erected to offer sacrifice, they poured out water to cleanse the ground, that it might not be set up in an impure place,(Myrothee.EIaeochrysm. Sacr. ii.cap.3I.) But after all, I think the interpretation which Constantine L’Empereur hath given of these words (in his annot. on Codex Mirldoth, cap. 2.) is far more reasonable; which is, that they poured out water in token of joy, after they had fasted and confessed their sins (for he translates the words, -‘f Postquam jejunarunt/‘q/jfer they had fasted on that day), as they were wont to do in the feast of tabernacles: unto which he refers those words in lsa. xii. 3. in which the prophet foretels the joy that should be in the days of the Messiah, by saying, " T e shall draw waters with joy out of the wells of salvation:" alluding to a known rite among.the Israelites in the feast of tabernacles, unto which our Saviour is thought to allude, John vii. 37, 38. And there is the greater reason for this interpretation, because Samuel had just before promised them, that the Lord would deliver them from the Philistines, if they heartily repented: which made them rejoice in hope of it, because they did now sincerely turn to him. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.] When they were reconciled to God, he reconciled them one to another, by determining their differences and doing right where any one was wronged: or he declared the law to them whereby they were to be judged; and, perhaps, punished some gross idolaters, or other great offenders.
1 Samuel 7:7
And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together at Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went tip against Israel. Being ignorant of the true reasons of this meeting, the Philistines imagined the Israelites assembled to consult about war, and so resolved to be beforehand with them, and surprise them. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.] Being unarmed, I suppose, or not prepared to give them battle.
1 Samuel 7:8
And the children of Israel said unto Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hands of the Philisfi7ies. According to the promise made to them, (ver. 3.)
1 Samuel 7:9
And Samuel took a sucking lamb. For after a lamb was eight days old, it was fit to be sacrificed unto God, (Exod. xxii. 30. Lev. xvii. 27.) The Hebrew word tale is the name for the youngest sheep, as ajil is for the eldest, and chebes for one between both. And offered it for a burnt-offering wholly iinto the Lord*] frffwf vwwf I CHAP. VII.] THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. Whereby he supplicated the Divine mercy, as the son of Sirach explains it: (Ecclus. xlvi. 16.) " He called upon the mighty Lord, when his enemies pressed him on every side, ivrpoff<popa, by the obligation of a sucking lamb" And Samuel cried unto the Lord Gdd of Israel; and the’ Lord heard him.’] Which is a demonstration, that though he was not a priest, nor this place appointed for sacrifice, yet, as a prophet, he had authority from God to build an altar any where, and to make his supplication in this manner. Thus other holy men, Gideon and Manoah, were warranted to offer extraordinary sacrifices in places which God had not before appointed. And it is probable that God answered Samuel, as he did Manoah, by fire consuming the sacrifice, in testimony of God’s acceptance, (Judg. xiii. 20.) And thus wc read of an altar he built in another place, ver. 17. as Elijah did in following times.
1 Samuel 7:10
And as Samuel was offering up the burntoffering. Before it was consumed. The Philistines drew hear to battle against Israel.] Hoping to find them unprepared. - The son of Sirach saith, they of Tyre joined with the Philistines in this action, (Ecclus. xlvi. 17.) Bat the Lord thundered xcith a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.] They were affrighted, like men outbf. thehr’wits, with thunder and lightning; which killed many of them before the Israelites could come up to fight them. For, together with this horrible tempest, Josephus saith there was an earthquake, and that the earth opened in several places, and swallowed up some of them, who, like blind men, ran into those gaps.
1 Samuel 7:11
And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued after the Philistines. Having Samuel to lead them, as their captain, according to Josephus. And smote them, until they came under Beth-car.] A place in the confines of the tribe of Judah. This victory was the more wonderful, because wc do not find the Israelites came appointed with any weapons to Mizpeh; but, as far as can be gathered by the relation of the fight, they smote them with their own weapons; which the Philistines threw away when they fled, and which were found among those that were slain by the lightning. *
1 Samuel 7:12
And Samuel took a stone, and set it up between Mizpeh and Shen. So Jacob and Joshua had done, as monuments of God’s mercy to them, and their obligations to him. And called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.] That is, thus far we have gotten the better: for they were not utterly destroyed, but driven quite out of their coasts, as it follows in the next verse.
1 Samuel 7:13
So the Philistines were subdued, and they’came no more into the coast of Israel. He put an end to the forty years’ tyranny of the Philistines, mentioned Judg. xiii. 1. (See my notes there, and upon ver. 5. of that chapter, and Judg. xv. 20.) And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.] As in this battle he gavo them such an overthrow, that they were quite driven out of the country of Israel: soj during’ Samuel’s government, until Saul was made king, wc never read that they attempted with an army to invade them; but then they did, (xiii. 19.)
1 Samuel 7:14
And the cities which the Philistines had taken vol. a. from Israel were restored to Israel. They not only expelled the Philistines, but recovered also several placesof ■which the Philistines had possessed’themselves, during their dominion over them. From Ekron even unto Gath;. and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines.’]‘Ekron was in the tribe of Judah, (Josh.xv. 451) which the Philistines now forsook out of fear, as some think: or’ were driven out of It for the present, though it was not long before they got possession of it again. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.] Not by compact and covenant; but by the inclination of both sides, they abstained from all hostile actions. The Amorites were not the *only remainders of the old inhabitants of Canaan; but being the most powerful among them, they had long given name to the rest, (Gen. xv. 16.).And now the Philistines were thus subdued, none of them, who used to infest the Israelites, durst stir to give them any molestation, but sat quiet and still.
1 Samuel 7:15
And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. From these words Mr. Hobbes and his followers draw an argument that this was written by somebody after the death of Samuel. Which is a very weak proof: for the sense’ may be no more than this: that Samuel was so diligent in the discharge of his office, that he gave himself no rest;, but sat to judge causes every day. Ver. 1G. And he went from year to year in a circuit to Beth-el; and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.]‘Ev navi toIq riyiaafiivoiQ tovtoiq, in all these sanctified places, as the LXX. translate these last words (though there be no such thing in the Hebrew), because, as Mr. Mede conjectures, here were proseuchas, i. e. places of prayer, in those ancient days. But we may more certainly gather from hence; that there was no such high court then established (which they called the Sanhedrin’in following ages) to judge all causes; at least/not such inferior courts as were appointed by the law in.Deut. xvi. 18. as the high court is in Deut. xviii. 8. For if there had, there would have been no need of Samuel’s riding circuit every year about the country to do justice, as other judges had done. (Judg. v. 10. x. 4. xii.14.)
1 Samuel 7:17
And his return was to Ramah; for there teas his house: and there lie judged Israel. The power of the judges was greatest in war: but when it was over, they still retained such an authority, that all difficult causes (at least) were brought before them. They were consulted also in all political affairs: and, that they might know where to resort to Samuel, when he had ended his circuity he kept his constant station at Ramah. And there he built an altar unto the Lord.] There being no declaration yet made where God would have the ark to be fixed/after the destruction of Shiloh, he built an altar where he himself constantly resided. Because it was fit, when they consulted about any public business, concerning the good of the commonwealth of Israel, that. there should bo a public, invocation of God’s direction and blessing: which was done by sacrifice, as appears from ver. 9.