1 Samuel 7:9-14

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:7-12

Here, I. The Philistines invade Israel (1 Sam. 7:7), taking umbrage from that general meeting for repentance and prayer as if it had been a rendezvous for war, and, if so, they thought it prudent to keep the war out of their own country. They had no just cause for this suspicion; but those that seek to do mischief to others will be forward to imagine that others design mischief to them. Now see here, 1. How evil sometimes seems to come out of good. The religious meeting of the Israelites at... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:13-17

We have here a short account of the further good services that Samuel did to Israel. Having parted them from their idols, and brought them home to their God, he had put them into a capacity of receiving further benefits by his ministry. Having prevailed in that, he becomes, in other instances, a great blessing to them; yet, writing it himself, he is brief in the relation. We are not told here, but it appears (2 Chron. 35:18) that in the days of Samuel the prophet the people of Israel kept the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:9

And Samuel took a sucking lamb ,.... Which it might be, and yet more than eight days old, for under that it might not be sacrificed, Exodus 22:30 . and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord ; the whole of it was burnt, skin and all, whereas the skin was the priest's in other burnt offerings; and this is remarked F13 Midrash Schemuel apud Abarbinel in loc. as one of the three things in which it differed from other offerings; the word being feminine, the Jews gather... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:10

And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering .... Which he might do by a priest, as Ben Gersom suggests, he being only a Levite; though he being a prophet, and an extraordinary person, and this an extraordinary case, he might do it himself, as Gideon and others, as well as offer it in another place than where the tabernacle was; Shiloh being now destroyed, persons and places for sacrifice were now dispensed with: and before Samuel had made an end of offering the sacrifice: the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:11

And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh ,.... To which they were encouraged by hearing or perceiving that the army of the Philistines was discomfited by the thunder, and lightning, and earthquake: and pursued the Philistines ; who, when they came out, were fleeing from the opening earth, and frightened with thunder and lightning, and many were killed, and all put in disorder; so that they stayed not to engage in battle with Israel, and who had nothing to do but to pursue their enemy: ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:12

And Samuel took a stone, and set it ,.... Not for worship, but as a monument of the victory obtained by the help of God: and this he placed between Mizpeh and Shen ; which latter signifies a tooth, and designs the precipice of a rock which juts out, and hangs over in the form of one: and called the name of it Ebenezer ; which signifies "the stone of help"; and is the same place which by anticipation has this name, 1 Samuel 4:1 , so that in the selfsame place where the Israelites... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:13

So the Philistines were subdued ,.... Not that their country was conquered, or they made subject and become tributaries to Israel; but they were so humbled, as not to attempt to give the people of Israel any further trouble and distress, who were now delivered from their oppression and tyranny: and came no more into the coast of Israel ; at this time they did not gather together their forces dispersed, nor raise and bring a new army into the land of Israel; they contented themselves with... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:14

And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel ,.... We nowhere read that the Israelites went out to war with them, and took these cities from them by besieging and assaulting them; but they made a demand of them after the above victory obtained, by which the Philistines were so intimidated, that they quietly surrendered them to them: from Ekron even unto Gath, and the coasts thereof, did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines ; not by dint... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 be said to have done it himself: Qui facit per alterum, facit per se ; "He who procures a thing to be done, may be said to do it himself." His not sacrificing at the tabernacle was justified by the necessity of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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. read more

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