12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto has Yahweh helped us.
Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there to this day.
Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink-offering on it, and poured oil on it.
Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. Jacob said to his relatives, "Gather stones." They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha,{"Jegar Sahadutha" means "Witness Heap" in Aramaic.} but Jacob called it Galeed.{"Galeed" means "Witness Heap" in Hebrew.} Laban said, "This heap is witness between me and you this day." Therefore it was named Galeed and Mizpah, for he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you, when we are absent one from another. If you will afflict my daughters, and if you will take wives besides my daughters, no man is with us; behold, God is witness between me and you." Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap, and see the pillar, which I have set between me and you. May this heap be a witness, and the pillar be a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.
Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen,
who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;
Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh-Jireh.{"Yahweh-Jireh" means "Yahweh is my provider."} As it is said to this day, "In Yahweh's mountain it will be provided.
Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Yahweh our Banner.{Hebrew, Yahweh Nissi}
Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of Yahweh which he spoke to us: it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God.
I have relied on you from the womb. You are he who took me out of my mother's womb. I will always praise you.
In that day shall there be an altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border of it to Yahweh.
Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne [by me] from their birth, that have been carried from the womb; and even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry, and will deliver.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Samuel 7
Commentary on 1 Samuel 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
In this chapter we have,
1Sa 7:1-2
Here we must attend the ark to Kirjath-jearim, and then leave it there, to hear not a word more of it except once (ch. 14:18), till David fetched it thence, about forty years after, 1 Chr. 13:6.
1Sa 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 ch. 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:-
1Sa 7:7-12
Here,
1Sa 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 Chr. 35:18) that in the days of Samuel the prophet the people of Israel kept the ordinance of the passover with more than ordinary devotion, notwithstanding the distance of the ark and the desolations of Shiloh. Many good offices, no doubt, he did for Israel, but here we are only told how instrumental he was,