1 Samuel 7:3 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:3-6

We may well wonder where Samuel was and what he was doing all this while, for we have not had him so much as named till now, since 1 Sam. 4:1; not as if he were unconcerned, but his labours among his people are not mentioned till there appears the fruit of them. When he perceived that they began to lament after the Lord he struck while the iron was hot, and two things he endeavoured to do for them, as a faithful servant of God and a faithful friend to the Israel of God:? I. He endeavoured to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:3

And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel ,.... When they assembled at one of their three yearly feasts, or as he went from place to place, exhorting them to repentance and reformation; and perceiving they began to be awakened to a sense of their sins, and seemed desirous of returning to God, and restoring his worship: saying, if ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts ; truly and sincerely; for he might fear there was hypocrisy and dissimulation at least in some of them: ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 professions will avail nothing. Put away the strange gods - Destroy their images, altars, and groves: they are strange; you do not know them as helpers, saviours, or defenders. Prepare your... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:1-12

Steps of return to God. The whole interest of this passage is moral. No stress is laid on the forms, or even the authorised appurtenances, of religion. The ark, of which we have heard so much, and which had been treated with a singular mixture of superstition and profanity, plays no part in the history. It is left for years in a quiet retreat. Israel had backslidden from the Lord. The steps of their return have a meaning and a moral lesson for all generations. I. THE FEELING OF A... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:3

If ye do return, etc. At length everything was ripe for a change, and the reformation wrought privately in their hearts was followed by public action. Samuel's secret addresses had no doubt been watched with anger by the Philistines, but he now ventures upon open resistance; for this public summons to Israel to put away its idols by a national act was a summons also to an uprise against foreign domination. We must suppose that the people had often assured Samuel in his wanderings of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:3-12

Ebenezer. The facts are— 1 . Samuel calls on the people to prove their desire to return to God by putting away idols and preparing their hearts for a blessing. 2 . A response to the call is followed by a summons to Mizpah for prayer and humiliation. 3 . A rumoured approach of the Philistines excites fear, and an urgent request for Samuel's intercession with God. 4 . While Samuel is engaged in worship God discomfits the assailing Philistines by thunder. 5 . The victory... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Samuel 7:3-5

Compare the marginal references. Twenty years of Samuel’s life had passed away since the last mention of him 1 Samuel 4:1. Now he appears in the threefold character of prophet, Judge, and the acknowledged leader of the whole people. His words were an answer to a profession of repentance on the part of Israel, the practical proof of which would be the putting away all their false gods. (Compare Judges 6:10 note.)Will pray for you ... - So Moses prayed for the people at Rephidim Exodus 17:11-12;... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Samuel 7:3

1 Samuel 7:3 . Samuel spake to all the house of Israel To all the rulers and people too, as he had occasion in his circuit, described below, mixing exhortations to repentance with his judicial administrations. If ye return unto the Lord If you do indeed what you profess, if you be resolved to go on in that which you seem to have begun; with all your heart Sincerely and in good earnest; put away the strange gods Out of your houses, where some of you keep them; and out of your hearts,... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:2-17

Samuel’s leadership (7:2-17)During the years of Philistine oppression, Samuel’s position as chief ruler in Israel became firmly established. As a religious leader he commanded the people to turn from idols and worship the Lord only, and the people responded (2-6a). As a civil leader he settled disputes among them (6b). In response to the people’s repentance and Samuel’s prayers for them, God gave Israel a great victory over the Philistines (7-11). The Israelites continued to fight against the... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 Samuel 7:3

ISRAEL GETS RID OF THEIR FALSE GODS"Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your heart to the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. So they put away the Baals and the Ashteroth, and they served the Lord only.""Then" (1 Samuel 7:3). This does not mean "after twenty years," but refers to the time when Israel was... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:3-6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 7:3

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:1-12

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:3

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:3-12

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Samuel 7:3-5

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Samuel 7:3

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 7:2-17

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 Samuel 7:3

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