1 Samuel 7

1 Samuel 7:2-17

Samuel’s Day of Power (7:2-8:22) Samuel as Judge (7:2-17) We are told that the Ark remained twenty years at Kiriathjearim. The story now returns to Samuel, and the scene changes from Shiloh to Mizpah. In the original source there may have been some account of the destruction of Shiloh, but we are left with the mystery of its disappearance. In a speech which echoes the Deuteronomic framework of the Book of Judges, Samuel arraigns the Israelites on the ground that they have fallen away from the true worship of the Lord into the pagan ways of their Canaanite neighbors. They worship the fertility gods and goddesses, “the Baals and the Ashtaroth” of Canaan. Samuel calls for absolute and undivided loyalty to the Lord, and summons the people to Mizpah, about five miles north of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah, in the last years of his ministry, had contact with Mizpah (Jeremiah 40:6), and he preserves the memory of Samuel as a man of prayer (Jeremiah 15:1), a memory authenticated in this story where Samuel offers to pray for Israel. We have to remember that the function of a prophet was twofold — to declare the will of God and to intercede with God for the people. Oracle and prayer both played a part in the prophet’s ministry, thus showing that the prophet was much more akin to the priest than has often been allowed, a truth supported by the fact that the priest was also associated with oracular consultation, though with a different type. Samuel, trained to be a priest at Shiloh, here emerges also as a prophetic leader. Jeremiah with his emphasis on prayer stands in the same tradition (Jeremiah 29:7; Jeremiah 42:2; Jeremiah 42:20).

The penitence of the people was acted out symbolically by the pouring out of water. There was no law enjoining this, although we need to remember that water was a precious thing in the Near East, and there is a parallel in 2 Samuel 23:16 (see comment). The people of Israel fasted, showing penitence and acknowledging sin.

The gathering of the Israelites at Mizpah also brought together the Philistine hosts, always on watch for a possible resurgence of Israelite power. The craven Israelites were encouraged by Samuel, who is now described as judge (1 Samuel 7:6). Once more a charismatic personality was to lead Israel. Samuel, the prophet-priest-judge, directed the burnt offering, possibly as the beginning of a military . campaign (see Judges 6:20; Judges 6:26; Judges 20:26), and sought to allay the fears of his compatriots. The narrative seems somewhat telescoped. We may assume that battle was joined, but that a terrible storm swept the Philistines away in defeat.

The Hebrew word for “voice” (1 Samuel 7:10) is also a word for “thunder” and the latter was often interpreted in those early days as the direct intervention of the Lord himself. The “Stone of help,” Ebenezer (7:12, see margin), set up by Samuel near the place of victory, was a victory marker.

In verses 13 and 14 we come on difficulty . There is every indication that the triumph over the Philistines was by no means so complete as these verses imply. The Philistines continued to invade the land of Israel, as the stories of Saul show. This short passage, out of keeping with the early tradition, is usually attributed to the Deuteronomic editors of First Samuel, who thus sought to glorify Samuel as the last great judge. Undoubtedly, however, the Israelites did win a notable victory near Mizpah.

Samuel’s judgeship appears to have carried him on a regular annual circuit, centering in Raman but passing through Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. Thus the judgeship was now understood as a true rule, rather than simply as leadership in war and the championing of the oppressed. Samuel administered justice, and since the shrines were centers of such activity, we can understand both Samuel’s right to do this, as prophet and priest, and his choice of the three centers, since each had a local sanctuary.