Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 7:15
And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
15. Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life ] This, like the statement of 1Sa 7:13, must be understood with qualifications: for ( a) Samuel in his old age made his sons judges (1Sa 8:1): ( b) Saul was made king a considerable time before Samuel’s death. But it does not contradict the subsequent history. Clearly his sons supplemented but did not supersede their father’s judicial office; and Samuel retained a civil and religious authority even after Saul had become the military leader of the people.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Samuel judged Israel … – The repetition of the phrase in 1Sa 7:16-17, in connection with Samuels circuit, is a proof that it is his civil judgeship which is meant. The military leadership of course belonged to Saul, when he became king.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Sa 7:15-17
And Samuel judged Israel all the darts of his life.
The prophet judge
In the hopeful emergency of Israels lamenting after Jehovah, Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel; and the clear, bright word, and the wise act of that and subsequent days, show him to us as worthy to be a prophet of the Lord, and a judge or ruler of a great people. Great soldiers have been admired for the way in which they have seized the black and bloody opportunity of a crisis in a battle in order to plunge into more successful carnage; but what better is that than the sharks swift and well-timed whirl and dash at its almost escaping prey? How much loftier and demanding what higher gifts and power is the act of him who sees and grasps the opportunity of raising a nation from its almost ruin, and even before the delivering time has come sees the flower of hope blooming among the ruins? Such was Samuels act in this passage; and such in our own day the hope and deed of Cavour and Victor Emmanuel, who foresaw and made possible the growth of united Italy, at a time when the priests and soldiers had brought the Italy of history to a degradation that only soldiers and priests know the way unto. It is of the greatest importance that we should understand Samuels arrangements for the national recovery, and apply the principles involved as piously and intelligently as we can
1. Notice, then, that Samuels first great act in his character of prophet-judge was to call the people to a thorough religious and moral cleansing: religious in that they were required to disown the idolatry that was in their lives and opposed to the worship of Jehovah; and moral in that the worship of Baal and Astarte was licentious, degrading; vicious in society as well as profane before their God. Samuel required this of them as well as lamenting after the Lord. Israel needed the true worship of the pure God. Purity of heart, temperance of spirit, chastity of body, righteousness to one another; these things, aimed at for the love of God, are His true worship; these were the true ways of putting from them the false and foul idols that God abhorred. So we have to learn. Mourn after God; be penitent and contrite; but aim after Godlikeness as well. Mourn over your sins, but show the true contrition that seeks to be like God; that says, I will arise and go to my father. Remember that the invader was in the land; the polluters of the sanctuary still in the sacred places. A soldier patriot might have earned renown by military expeditions and dashing raids into the conquered territory; but the dark day of soldier-judges was gone. There was now a man leading who preferred his countrys purity to her prosperity, and would have rather seen his nation die than have her prosper with the work and wages of iniquity. Therefore he called them to a national purifying. But the call of Samuel is intended to be to us. For it is not the only duty of a nation to summon its armed bands and squadrons in times of national peril, or international anxiety. Nor is it less than profanity to send armies forth invoking the God of battles, forgetting that before the barbarity of man shed human blood in war, God was a God of purity, and is to be remembered in war and strife, and before conflict and carnage, as the God of righteousness, who will require unjustly or heedlessly shed blood at the hands of those who have poured it out to cry unto Him from the ground.
2. Samuels next great act as a prophet-judge was to summon the people to a great prayer assembly. So distinctly did he put the duty of consecration to God before all things that, instead of military deliberations, instead of holding a great council of war, he said to them, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord. But this mighty act of penitence and prayer was rudely disturbed. Like the royal and prelatic dragoons, that rushed down the mountain side against the meetings of the Scottish Covenanters, to stain the heather with their blood, the Philistines marched swiftly to Mizpeh against their defenceless tributaries. Evidently the Israelites had made no military preparation; and all seemed to threaten that the meeting for prayer and purification would end in a horrible massacre, like many similar meetings in Christian times. The only brave heart there was Samuels. The best man was the most courageous. Penitence led to prayer, prayer to victory, and victory to praise. Such is our souls sure way. The prominent feature of the day in connection with Samuel is one that repeatedly shows itself in his life, and that is his character of intercessor. He prayed hopefully when all was gloomy and foreboding, and he did so not because or when he could do nothing else. He did not act as we so often do; he did not make prayer a last resource, but first and foremost he cried unto the Lord. It was for prayer that he assembled the people, and it was while he was uttering his peculiar cry of earnest intercession that the voice of the Lords thunder was heard. Nor, in thinking of Samuels prayers and the peoples penitence and their efficacy, must we forget the instructive contrast there is between this day of unexpected triumph and the day of battle at the same place; when, notwithstanding the presence of the ark and all the Divinely ordained accompaniments of its mystery when it led the armies of Israel, there was nothing but disaster, disgrace, and death. Under Samuel, without the ark, or priest, or any symbol of the presence of God, Israels enemies were destroyed and the penitent people delivered. The difference was in the penitence; in the setting of their hearts towards the Lord in contrition and prayer. Ichabod was the word that ended the day of trusting in the ark; but Ebenezer crowned the day of penitence and prayer.
3. Samuels next great act as a prophet-judge was to consolidate the reformation and prosperity by systematic righteous judgment. He went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. He was too wise not to know, and too devout not to remember, that a land left with only a military success, and rejoicing chiefly over the damage done to its political rivals, would ever be a temptation to itself, and would expose itself more and more to the perils of raillery ambition and adventure. History is full of instances of this. Ambition will govern the military nation, and avarice the commercial, with little regard to the God of justice in either. But by judging for God, witnessing regularly to the presence of Gods law as he went through the various districts, Samuel prevented the peoples penitence being only fugitive, as the morning cloud and as early dew, and guarded against the perils of their enormous deliverance from foreign oppression. Concentrate the truth of this on the smaller range of your own private lives and personal development. For it is possible that penitence, if only fleeting, and the great kindnesses of God may be made the occasions of greater condemnation. And this grace of knowing the Lord and the revelations of Himself to His earnest souls are not spasmodic, interjectional, and unreliable; for His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall came unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Consolidate your penitence into piety, your thankfulness for deliverance into earnest devotion and regular good doing. Go, round your nature, and set everything and every power to the acquirement of holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. (G. B. Ryley.)
Samuel the Judge
Samuel is a splendid model of sanctified authority. Even as Mount Gideon towers in rugged, regal grandeur above that broad tableland on which the fortunes of the Jewish monarchy were afterwards unrolled, so his strong pure character towers in magnificent sublimity above the fickle, selfish age in which he lived. He was the highest type of a ruler. There are two kinds of authority, that which is sustained by force of arms, and that which is held by force of character. Samuel had the latter; the former is hard to get and hard to keep. It is the possession of tyrants. We have had in these later days a striking illustration of these two kinds of power in the Czar of Russia and the late ex-Emperor of Brazil. A certain writer in commenting on the life of the former says: No one in the world is so grand a monarch, and yet no one in the world today is more wretched. He knows that the spirit of Nihilism is abroad throughout his vast domains, he fears to see in every face the look of an assassin. Turn now to the other picture, Dom Pedro, for many years the loved and trusted emperor of the Brazilian people, the friend of the oppressed, the emancipator of the slave, the patron of the arts and sciences, who was willing when his people had become, through his own generous influence and training, ripe for a republican form of government, to abdicate his throne and to go uncomplainingly into exile. His was an authority resulting from character. He held a throne within a throne which could not be touched or overthrown by the vicissitudes of a progressing civilisation. The influence of the last of the Brazilian emperors, like the influence of the last of Israels judges, will be felt throughout successive, generations. The authoritative power of a strong, continuous character is a fact familiar to us all. Samuel ruled by virtue of what he was in himself, and he was what he was because of his early training and continuous growth in character. I would like to say a few words about this continuity of righteousness. As a rule the men and women who have the strongest influence in the world today are those whose moral characters have been built up from their youth time. I do not wish to say anything that shall discourage those who have emerged from the wild excessses of youth into a manhood comparatively strong and influential. I think of men like Augustine, and John Bunyan, and John Newton, and John Gough, who, having emerged from the fiery furnace of dissipation, went about among their fellow men and, despite the awful scars upon their characters and the smell of fire upon their garments, wielded a mighty influence for good and exercised a moral authority in the world which might have been impossible had they, like Timothy and St. Anthony and Edward the Sixth of England, led lives of unbroken righteousness. And yet these men may be regarded as exceptions to the general law of influence. The wild oats theory is all wrong, the assertion that you must be a profligate and a prodigal before you can be a prince among men is devils gospel. I have no doubt that the devil over-reaches himself and cheats himself, but in any transaction between you and him he is longer-headed than you are. If you give him a mortgage on your life in the early days, he will be pretty sure to get out of you double the face of your note before he gets through with you. Many a reformed man, many a converted man, is obliged to lament today, as Job did, because the iniquities of his youth possess him. The sin is forgiven, but the disabled body, the weakened will, the impaired influence, the thought of those who have been led astray by his example, must abide with him. Chaucer, the bright herald of English song, a man of surpassing abilities, failed to be the power that he might have been because of his early sins. He cried out repeatedly On his deathbed: Woe is me that I cannot recall and annul these things; but, alas! they are continued from man to man and I cannot do what I desire. I had a letter from one of these unfortunates only a few days ago. He has for many years been yielding to temptation. Again and again he has striven to break away from the thraldom of his past life, but as yet in vain. He says: I have been on a disastrous downhill slide for the past few weeks; nothing wrong other than dissipation, which ought to be a criminal offence, particularly for me. Sinning and trying to repent seems to be my lot. Why cannot I be saved? The difference between a character that has grown up into a matured strength from early goodness and purity and that which results from some sudden and violent conversion after years of weakening excesses is like the difference between the stalactite and the icicle: they look much alike, they are formed by the same forces of nature; but the one is many years forming, and the other grows in a night-time. Keep the icicle under right conditions of temperature and it remains, like the stalactite, solid and beautiful; but change those conditions, put the two together under the burning heat of the sun, and the creation of a night time will molt away, while the deposit of many years will be strong and solid still. The prince among men who is the greatest moral power in the world today, the man who can do the most in moderating and guiding the passions of his fellow men, who is best able to help the weak and encourage the faint, and who impresses his character upon the age in which he lives, is the man who, like Samuel, can look back through middle age and youth and childhood upon a life which has been clean and true. (C. A. Dickinson.)
Samuel the Ruler
Other books–the works of great men and possessed of great merit–have been written for the use of princes in training for a throne; but in preference to all such, were we a princes tutor, we should select the Bible; and for a pattern for rulers him whose name stands at the head of this chapter. America boasts her Washington; England her Hampden; Scotland her Wallace; Greece and Rome their patriots or patriot-kings; but among the few illustrious men whose deeds shine in the annals and whose names are embalmed in the heart of nations, where, in all history, sacred or profane, is there one so eminently fitted to rule as Samuel–who presents such a remarkable combination of mental power, the purest patriotism, and the highest piety?
1. He was a patriotic ruler.
(1) His object was not the possession of power–that for which so many kings and statesmen have had recourse to the meanest devices. How basely did Henry IV desert the sacred cause for which, his white plume dancing in the thick of the fight, he had often led his followers to battle! And from him who embraced Popery to win Paris, and, with its gay capital, the kingdom and crown of France, to such as by bribery have purchased meaner offices, what sacrifices of conscience, and virtue, and truth, have been offered at the shrine of power! The crimes which some have committed to gain it have been without a parallel, unless those which others have committed to retain it. Unlike that grand old Roman who threw up the helm of the state and retired to plough his paternal acres, how many has the world seen clinging to power as a drowning man to a plank; and to retain possession of it, resorting to the most dishonourable and vilest means! For this purpose, once and again the sword of Joab was plunged into the heart of a rival; to prop up his throne, Charles I, in Stratford, gave the neck of a devoted friend to the headsmans axe; to secure their places and appease an angry crowd, a British ministry cast an admiral of the fleet to the mob, and hanged him up before the sun; and Richelieu, a cardinal of the Church, and chief minister of France, arranged that her armies should suffer an ignominious defeat–scrupling not, rather than that he should lose his place, that thousands of his gallant countrymen should lose their lives, and cement with their blood the tottering fabric of his power. In the crooked policy they have pursued to gain or to retain place and power, what base things have great men done, and what bad things good men! A finer contrast to the general character of the princes and statesmen, and, whether they occupied a high or a low place, of the rulers of this world, we cannot imagine than that which Samuel presents. Place, honour, and power sought him, not he them. He became the judge of Israel, or its ruler, at the call of God; and when, without respect to his grey hairs and long years of honourable, successful service, an ungrateful country called him to resign his office, like the sun which looks largest at its setting, he never seems so great, so grand, as in the last scenes of his public life.
2. His object was not his own personal aggrandisement. Letat, cest moi (The State, it is I), said Louis XIV to one who happened to speak in his presence of the interests of the State. A striking picture that of one who, though called the great, was an incarnation of the worst passions of human nature–of selfishness, pride, heartless cruelty, insatiable ambition, and abominable lust!–a truer picture, though drawn by his own hand, than any left by Bossuet, or Massillon, or the other flatterers of a bloody tyrant and ruthless persecutor of Gods heritage. We meet with no such scenes under the rule of Samuel. Unlike those that had preceded, or were to follow, the sword slept in its scabbard all the days of Samuel–that great battle excepted which inaugurated his reign, and was won by his prayers. Under his government–Samuel himself the highest example of it–piety flourished; the stream of justice ran pure; the rights of all classes were respected; private property was safe; and the public burdens, pressing lightly, were easily borne by a prosperous people. I can fancy, when old men described the happy and quiet life they led in the good days of Samuel, how many felt that when their fathers clamoured for a king, on that occasion, as old Bishop Latimer said of another, the vox populi was rather the vox diaboli than the vox Dei–the voice of the devil than the voice of God.
2. Samuel was a pious, as well as patriotic, ruler. It would appear that in the rudest times of old an altar always rose near the throne; and that an indispensable part of every palace was the chapel, where he to whom others knelt, knelt to God; and learned to remember that there was One above him whose throne overshadowed his; at whose mercy seat kings had to seek for mercy; whose laws were to form the rule, and his glory the chief end of their government. Simply the vicegerent of God, and no king, Samuel had no place in Israel; the palace, if such it could be called, was the tabernacle, where God dwelt within the curtains of the holy place, No armed guards protected the person, nor gorgeous retinue attended the steps of Samuel. No pomp of royalty disturbed the simple manner of his life, or distinguished him from other men; yet there rose by his house in Ramah that which proclaimed to all the land the personal character of its ruler, and the principles on which he was to conduct his government In a way not to be mistaken, Samuel associated the throne with the altar; earthly power with piety; the good of the country with the glory of God. He judged Israel, it is said, all the days of his life, and went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgah, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all these places; and his return was to Ramah, for there was his house, and there he judged Israel, and there, it is added, he built an altar unto the Lord. That altar had a voice no man could mistake. In a manner more expressive than proclamation made by the voice of royal heralds with painted tabards and sounding trumpets, it proclaimed to the tribes of Israel that piety was to be the character, and the will of God the rule, of his government. What an example Samuel presents to our magistrates, our judges, our members of parliament–to all entrusted with authority, and how should all who love their God and country pray that every post of honour and of public trust may be filled with a man of the type of Samuel! Religion is the root of honour; piety the only true foundation of patriotism; and the best defence of a country, a people nursed up in godliness–of such virtue, energy, and high morale, that, animated with a courage which raises them above the fear of death, they may be exterminated, but cannot be subdued. It, is not, as some allege, our blood, with its happy mixture of Celtic, Saxon, and Scandinavian elements, but the religion of our island–our Bibles, our schools, our Sabbaths, our churches, and our Christian homes–which, more than any and than all things else, has formed the character of its inhabitants; and to that more than to the genius of its statesmen, or to its fleets and armies, Britain owes her unexampled prosperity, and the peace that has brooded for a hundred years unbroken on her sea-girt shores. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
The judge in circuit; or, religion in business
In every State much depends on the proper administration of justice, and it is of the first consequence to sustain it incorrupt. It is with the body politic as with the individual. Regard must be had to those secondary laws which influence health and contribute to our fitness for discharging ordinary duties. If we pay no respect to the laws of diet, exercise, and ventilation, by which health is conserved, we become unable to perform our business, the internal economy is deranged, and all the members of the body suffer. In society there are principles that regulate order and prosperity, which cannot with impunity be set aside. If the administration of justice be neglected or perverted, liberty and religion must seriously suffer. But when religion is revived, it is of vast moment to bring all civil affairs under its purifying influence. Without this, religious ceremonies would serve as cloaks for sin, and liberty excuse licentiousness. It was, therefore, the great business of Samuel, when by Gods blessing he had godliness recovered and national order re-established, to free the judgment seat from corruption, and to make it a respect and a dread through all the land. The civil government of Israel was peculiar. It had its origin from God, and was as much a Divine institution as the Church itself. Jehovah was their lawgiver and king, both in Church and State. Church and State being co-extensive in Israel, the Levites acquired a large share in the administration of justice. In the days of David, we read that six thousand of the Levites were officers and judges (1Ch 23:4), in addition to the number employed in the tabernacle service. Members of the State were subject to the law of the Church, and the members of the Church were citizens. Religious error was criminal in civil law. Idolatry was treason, for God was their king. Offences against society were subject to ecclesiastical censure, and cut off the guilty from the congregation of the Lord. The two forms of government were mutually helpful and interdependent. The revival of piety purified the State, and spiritual officers led rulers to reform. Samuel was a Levite, and was devoted to the sanctuary by the circumstances of his birth. But he also discharged high civil offices on account of the position into which he was providentially raised. He officiated as a priest, and he ruled as a judge. Samuel was an upright and godly judge. There is a danger of separating the official from the personal character, and whenever this is done the individual is seriously injured. There have been good men who have been bad judges, and bad men who have made respectable judges. There is another danger to which a judge is exposed, when he is tempted to indulge personal feelings while seated where impartial judgment should be given. It is recorded of Aristides, one of the brightest names in ancient Greece, and a man to whom his contemporaries awarded the title of the Just, that when he was a judge between two private persons, one of them declared that his adversary had greatly injured Aristides. He thus hoped to awaken the personal feelings of the judge against his opponent and secure a verdict favourable to himself. But the just judge replied, Relate rather what wrong he hath done to thee, for it is thy cause, not mine, that I now sit judge of. Private feelings may, however, sometimes be tried severely. When Brutus had to occupy the seat of justice and his two sons were placed at the bar charged with treason against the State, it was trying for the patriot to set aside the parent, and for duty to act against affection. But the majesty of law prevailed over the emotions of kindred, and the spectators are said to have gazed more at the judge than on the culprits on that august occasion, and to have regarded the scene as a most illustrious exhibition of moral heroism. Party feeling is another danger to which judges are exposed. When Richard Baxter had to bear the coarse ribaldry and unjust judgment of Jeffreys, it was evident that party feeling ruled the decision of that wicked man. A judge should be upright, and Samuel brought to the judicial seat a character fitted for the high office he had to discharge. The altar was beside his bench and his home. The profession of his faith was beside his robe of office. The believer was in the judge. He connected the official with the personal so intimately that he could not be a godly man without also being at the same time an upright judge. Nor has he stood alone in the lives of judges. Sir Matthew Hale was a man after Samuels pattern. Under the power of godliness and familiar with the word of God, he sought to evidence the principles of religion in the practice of his profession. When he was an advocate, he would not plead a cause, if he were convinced of its injustice; and when he rose to the bench and was Chief Baron of the Exchequer he was noted for the impartiality of his decisions. A peer of the realm who had a case in court once called upon him to give him private information, that he might have fuller understanding of it when it was brought up for judgment. Sir Matthew is reported to have said that he did not deal fairly to come to his chamber about such affairs, for he never received any information of causes but in open court, where both parties were to be heard alike. The duke complained to the king; but his majesty observed, that he believed he would have used himself no better, if he had gone to solicit him in any of his causes. Sir Matthew feared God and regarded man, but his integrity of righteous action was not to be sacrificed. Samuel did not forget whose law it was which he dispensed, whose worship he observed, whose altar was at his house. After the fatigue of official duty, the exercise of devotion at the family altar was sweet refreshment. Before entering upon the anxieties of judgment or the vexation of litigation, domestic worship was his best preparation. Amidst the difficulties of the conflicting cases before him he would remember the altar, and seek wisdom requisite for the occasion from the Lord most high. Secular engagements did not pervert his godliness, or lead him to neglect family worship. He could come from the strife of tongues to the peace-speaking blood, and approach with humble faith the altar of his God. That is not a complete house which is without an altar. It may have a hearth to warm, and accommodation to suit the body, but it has not that which likens it, as it links it to heaven. You may have a respectable business, and conduct it well, and yet want what blesses it–a domestic altar. A house without an altar lacks its brightest ornament, its clearest light, its best principle, and its sure consecration. But where the altar is in the house it has a safety lamp. Numerous have been the testimonies to the value of the domestic altar. (B. Steel.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.] Samuel is supposed to have lived one hundred years; he did not begin to judge Israel till he was about forty years of age; and if he was one hundred years of age when he died, he must have been a judge sixty years, and consequently filled that office during the whole of Saul’s reign. But that he had been dead before Saul’s last battle, is evident from the transactions of that king with the witch of En-dor, and probably not long before. Samuel was the prophet of that time; declared the will of the Lord, and frequently directed both the civil and military transactions of the kingdom. Samuel seems, in many respects, to have been considered the governor of the people, while Saul was only looked on as the general of the armies.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For though Saul was king in Samuels last days, yet Samuel did not then quite cease to be a judge, being so made by Gods extraordinary call, which Saul could not destroy; and therefore Samuel did sometimes, upon great occasions, though not ordinarily, exercise the office of a judge after the beginning of Sauls reign; as 1Sa 11:7; 15:32,33. And the years of the rule of Saul and Samuel are joined together, Act 13:20,21.
Quest. How doth the office of a judge agree with Hannahs vow, whereby she devoted him to a perpetual attendance upon the Lords service?
Answ. This was not inconsistent with her vow, which consisted of two branches; the one more general, that he should be given or lent to the Lord all his days, 1Sa 1:11,28, which she faithfully executed, leaving him wholly to the service and disposal of the Lord, who thought fit to employ him in this way; and if any thing therein was contrary to that vow, could undoubtedly dispense with it, as being his own right only: the other more particular, that
no razor should come upon his head; nor doth it appear that this part was violated; or if it was, it was done by Divine dispensation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. Not only before Saul was made king, but afterwards; for though he had not the exercise of the supreme government of the nation, yet he might act as a judge under Saul, and hear and try causes brought before him, and execute justice and judgment; and as a prophet he taught and instructed the people, and reformed abuses among them; and besides, he held and exercised his extraordinary office, to which he was raised up of God, and even took upon him to reprove Saul himself, and to kill Agag. The Jews say q he judged Israel thirteen years only, eleven by himself, and two with Saul; but his government must be much larger, his with Saul is reckoned forty years, Ac 13:21.
q Seder Olam Rabba, c. 13. p. 35. Midrash Tillim apud Abarbinel in loc. Kimchi in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Samuel’s judicial labours. – With the calling of the people to Mizpeh, and the victory at Ebenezer that had been obtained through his prayer, Samuel had assumed the government of the whole nation; so that his office as judge dates from his period, although he had laboured as prophet among the people from the death of Eli, and had thereby prepared the way for the conversion of Israel to the Lord. As his prophetic labours were described in general terms in 1Sa 3:19-21, so are his labours as judge in the verses before us: viz., in 1Sa 3:15 their duration, – “ all the days of his life,” as his activity during Saul’s reign and the anointing of David (1 Samuel 15-16) sufficiently prove; and then in 1Sa 3:16, 1Sa 3:17 their general character, – “ he went round from year to year ” ( serves as a more precise definition of , he went and travelled round) to Bethel, i.e., Beitin (see at Jos 7:2), Gilgal, and Mizpeh (see at. 1Sa 3:5), and judged Israel at all these places. Which Gilgal is meant, whether the one situated in the valley of the Jordan (Jos 4:19), or the Jiljilia on the higher ground to the south-west of Shiloh (see at Jos 8:35), cannot be determined with perfect certainty. The latter is favoured partly by the order in which the three places visited by Samuel on his circuits occur, since according to this he probably went first of all from Ramah to Bethel, which was to the north-east, then farther north or north-west to Jiljilia, and then turning back went towards the south-east to Mizpeh, and returning thence to Ramah performed a complete circuit; whereas, if the Gilgal in the valley of the Jordan had been the place referred to, we should expect him to go there first of all from Ramah, and then towards the north-east to Bethel, and from that to the south-west to Mizpeh; and partly also by the circumstance that, according to 2Ki 2:1 and 2Ki 4:38, there was a school of the prophets at Jiljilia in the time of Elijah and Elisha, the founding of which probably dated as far back as the days of Samuel. If this conjecture were really a well-founded one, it would furnish a strong proof that it was in this place, and not in the Gilgal in the valley of the Jordan, that Samuel judged the people. But as this conjecture cannot be raised into a certainty, the evidence in favour of Jiljilia is not so conclusive as I myself formerly supposed (see also the remarks on 1Sa 9:14). is grammatically considered an accusative, and is in apposition to , lit., Israel, viz., all the places named, i.e., Israel which inhabited all these places, and was to be found there. “ And this return was to Ramah;” i.e., after finishing the annual circuit he returned to Ramah, where he had his house. There he judged Israel, and also built an altar to conduct the religious affairs of the nation. Up to the death of Eli, Samuel lived and laboured at Shiloh (1Sa 3:21). But when the ark was carried away by the Philistines, and consequently the tabernacle at Shiloh lost what was most essential to it as a sanctuary, and ceased at once to be the scene of the gracious presence of God, Samuel went to his native town Ramah, and there built an altar as the place of sacrifice for Jehovah, who had manifested himself to him. The building of the altar at Ramah would naturally be suggested to the prophet by these extraordinary circumstances, even if it had not been expressly commanded by Jehovah.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Samuel’s Circuit, vs. 15-17
It is interesting that the Scriptures say that Samuel judged Israel throughout his life, for he lived many years after Saul had been anointed king. There is no statement of the length of Samuel’s judgeship in years in the Old Testament, nor of Saul’s reign. However, the statement of Paul in his sermon at Antioch-pisidia (Act 13:21) indicates that Saul reigned forty years. Samuel must have lived through about thirty of those years, for he did not die until after David became a fugitive from Saul (see 1Sa 19:18 ff). Therefore the Lord, and probably the devout of Israel, continued to look on Samuel as their leader under God until his death.
It is also interesting to note that at some time after he reached maturity Samuel left Shiloh and the tabernacle and went to live in his ancestral home at Ramah. Perhaps as the eldest son of Elkanah he received the land at his father’s death. Here at Ramah Samuel met and judged the people, and from here went round about in circuit to Bethel, some ten straight-line miles north of Ramah in Ephraim; to Gilgal, in the Jordan valley of Benjamin, where the Israelites under Joshua first camped after crossing the river dry-shod (Jos 4:19); to Mizpeh, very nearby to Ramah, where he had gathered Israel before the defeat of the Philistines. Samuel had his altar at his home in Ramah, showing his devotion to the Lord and also the importance of a worshipful house, or home.
Some significant lessons are to be gleaned from chapter seven: 1) The Lord waits for His people to return to Him before giving them His richest blessings; 2) when the Lord’s people sincerely repent He readily and promptly supplies their needs; 3) when people are engaged in the Lord’s battles He will lead out before them in the fight; 4) the right approach to the Lord is through the blood of the atonement provided by the innocent Lamb; 5) it is the Lord who has brought His people to the present stage of victory, and it must be the Lord who brings them to the ultimate victory; 6) great men of God cannot outlive their usefulness and influence for and with His people.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1Sa. 7:15. And Samuel Judged Israel. We must regard Samuels judging as a directing and ordering, in accordance with the above act of repentance, of the inner affairs of the people, who were by that religious act inwardly again purified. It consisted both in the administration of right and justice according to the law of the Lord, and in government proper, in the wise carrying out of measures that looked to the good of the people. During Sauls life he kept unchanged the position of a prophet, who employed the authority of the Divine will for the direction of the national lifethe mediating priestly position between God and the people; but he also, as last judge, held in his hands the highest control of the theocracy and the kingdom. (Erdmann).
1Sa. 7:16. Bethel. A well-known city and holy place of central Palestine, twelve miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Sichem, where its ruins still lie under the scarcely altered name of Beitin. (Smiths Bib. Dictionary.) Gilgal. At least two places in ancient Palestine were so named, one in the Jordan valley, between that river and Jericho (Jos. 4:19), and one south-west of Shiloh, now called Jiljilia (1Ki. 2:1). It is impossible to decide which is the place here mentioned. Dr. Erdmann says, The question must be decided in favour of the former, for the reason that Samuel would certainly choose for such assemblies the place that was consecrated by its historical association and religious importance. Keil rather leans to the opinion that it was the modern Jiljilia.
1Sa. 7:17. Ramah. See note on 1Sa. 1:1. There he builded an altar. Another instance of Samuels deviation from the Levitical law. See note on 1Sa. 7:9.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(15) And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.The influence and supreme power of Samuel only ended with his life. For a very long periodprobably for at least twenty years after the decisive battle of Eben-ezerSamuel, as judge, exercised the chief authority in Israel. The time at length arrived when, convinced by clear Divine monition that it was best for the people that a king should rule over them, Samuel the seer, then advanced in years, voluntarily laid down his high office in favour of the new king, Saul; but his influence remained, and his authority, whenever he chose to exercise it, seems to have continued undiminished, and on momentous occasions (see, for instance, 1Sa. 15:33) we find king and nation submitting to his counsel and expressed will.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. All the days of his life Though Saul superseded him in the government, and was recognised as the anointed king of Israel, yet Samuel never lost his influence over the people; and for him Saul ever had the profoundest reverence. So he actually executed the office of judge to the day of his death. See note at the beginning of chap. 12.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Samuel Judges Israel Faithfully And Successfully ( 1Sa 7:15-17 ).
Samuel’s judgeship after the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines is passed over very briefly, for the book is not a history of Samuel or of Saul but of the deliverances and kingship of YHWH. Note the twofold stress on justice and godliness, Samuel judged Israel and he built an altar to YHWH. This latter would be as a stand-in for the Tabernacle.
Analysis.
a
b And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal, and Mizpah (1Sa 7:16 a).
c And he judged Israel in all those places (1Sa 7:16 b).
b And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house (1Sa 7:17 a).
a And there he judged Israel, and he built there an altar to YHWH (1Sa 7:17 b).
1Sa 7:15
‘ And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.’
And Samuel’s judgeship then continued ‘all the days of his life’. This was firstly as sole Judge, then in association with his sons (1Sa 8:1) and then finally in his old age as prophetic guide to Saul, until Saul fell. Compare 1Sa 7:6. Here the emphasis is more on his activity as their spiritual and moral guide,
1Sa 7:16
‘ And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places.’
In pursuance of his judgeship he performed a regular circuit to Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah. Bethel was about 8 miles north of Jerusalem, Gilgal was in the Jordan Valley not far from Jericho, and was seemingly the place where for a while the Tabernacle was later erected when Philistine incursions had begun again under the reign of Samuel’s sons and of Saul, (see 10:8. This was probably because it was well out of reach of the Philistines who did not venture that far) and Mizpah was probably about 4 miles north west of Jerusalem. It will therefore be observed that while many of the tribes had responded to his call for arms, and saw him as their prophet, Samuel did not act overall as direct judge over them. He was there to guide and arbitrate if they needed it. His direct judgeship appears to have been over a fairly limited area, although, of course, being available to all if they wished (compare Deborah in Jdg 4:4-5 where she judged ‘between Ramah and Bethel’ to ‘all Israel’, and called on Barak to act as war-leader for Zebulun and Naphtali, assisted by some of the other tribes).
1Sa 7:17
‘ And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house, and there he judged Israel, and he built there an altar to YHWH.’
But his main base was in Ramah where he now lived. And it was there that he judged Israel when not on circuit, and it was there that he built an altar to YHWH. In the absence of the Tabernacle this was very necessary. (The Tabernacle had clearly ceased to operate at this time, for Samuel had been bound by a vow to serve it while it was still in existence). Indeed he may well have established a tent sanctuary around the altar to act as a substitute all the while that he was judge.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Sa 7:15, &c. And Samuel judged Israel “According to Le Clerc,” says Mr. Locke, “these words could not have been written by Samuel. But surely the objection is very weak; for all that the text says comes only to this, that Samuel discharged his office with the greatest exactness, and that he employed himself in it every day of his life. What is there in this which could lead one to think that he did not write these words, and thus do justice to his own fidelity? And even supposing that the hand of Esdras, or of any other person, might have inserted these verses in the text, would it follow from thence, that the body of the work was not from the pen of Samuel, as Hobbes and his followers would infer?”
REFLECTIONS.Great were the blessings which followed this victory under Samuel’s wise and spirited administration.
1. The Philistines were so broken and intimidated, that they gave Israel no more disturbance while Samuel presided, but quitted peaceably to them all the cities which they had taken between Ekron and Gaza. And the Amorites, now struck with terror, were glad to be left quiet; so that peace was perfectly restored within their borders. Note; (1.) When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him. (2.) Prayer and penitence can do more for a nation than the sword.
2. The internal peace of the people was secured to them by the regular administration of justice. Samuel went his yearly circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpeh, where he heard and determined the causes which were brought before him; and at his residence in Ramah, judged Israel, who brought their complaints thither, and abode by his decisions; and perhaps came thither to worship and offer sacrifices, to hear his preaching, and partake of his prayers: for Samuel had built an altar at Ramah, as no other place was yet fixed for stated offerings to God. As a prophet raised up of God, he might be authorised to offer his own and the people’s sacrifices there, till the ark and tabernacle-worship should be again set up. Note: (1.) The administration of impartial justice is among the greatest blessings that any land can enjoy. (2.) They will be upright in their decisions among men, who, like Samuel, keep God always before them, and walk in his fear and worship. An irreligious judge cannot be truly impartial.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 291
SAMUELS JUDICIAL CHARACTER
1Sa 7:15-17. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the Lord.
AS there are times and seasons commended to our special attention on a religious account, so there are particular occasions which it is proper for us to notice, on account of the interest they create in the public mind, and the facility they afford for imparting instruction suited to them. The pomp with which the judges of the land are surrounded, when they go their circuits for the purpose of dispensing justice through the land, is calculated to make a good impression upon the community at large; and to fill all ranks of men with gratitude to God, for the protection which they enjoy, under the dominion of laws wisely enacted and well administered. We avail ourselves of the opportunity now offered, to set before you the judicial character of Samuel, (than whom there never existed a more diligent or impartial judge,) with a view to trace a parallel between the privileges enjoyed by Israel under his government, and those with which we are favoured in this happy land.
In the prosecution of this subject I will state,
I.
The advantages of Israel under the government of Samuel
Perhaps, amongst all the governors of Israel, there was not one that maintained a more blameless character than Samuel. Indeed, he is distinguished in Scripture as inferior to none, not excepting even Moses himself [Note: Psa 99:6; Jer 15:1.]: and in our text, we see how eminent he was,
1.
In the administration of justice
[Though he had all the cares of government upon his hands, yet did he, from year to year, make a circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, in order to take cognizance of the violations of the law, and to decide with equity all the cases that should be brought before him. Now, this was a very great benefit, not to those particular places only, but to all the country round about them: for it tended to uphold the authority of the laws: it gave to all an assurance that their grievances should be redressed, and that those who dared to violate the law should not go unpunished. Thus it conduced to the peace and welfare of society in general, inasmuch as it checked the commission of outrage amongst the lawless, and gave security to those who were quiet in the land. His knowledge of the laws inspired all with confidence: his known integrity disposed all to a ready acquiescence in his decisions: his authority silenced opposition, where unreasonable selfishness would otherwise have maintained and perpetuated discord: and his taking a circuit, annually, for the express purpose of dispensing justice, facilitated the access of all to his tribunal; when, if he had remained at home, multitudes would have been constrained to go without redress, through an incapacity to bring before him all the witnesses that should be necessary to substantiate their claims.]
2.
In the maintenance of true religion
[Whilst the ark was at Shiloh, he would probably have not felt himself authorized to build an altar at Ramah: but now that it had been many years removed from the Tabernacle, in which, till it was taken by the Philistines, it had been keptand, consequently, the worship of Jehovah, as appointed in the Law, had been neglectedhe, as a prophet of the Most High God, and doubtless by inspiration of God, raised an altar at Ramah, where the seat of government was; and thus proclaimed through the land, that Jehovah, and Jehovah alone, was to be worshipped. To see this in a proper light, we must recollect, that the whole people of Israel had been addicted to idolatry, worshipping everywhere strange gods, even Baalim and Ashteroth [Note: 1Sa 6:3-4.]. For this, God had given them up into the hands of the Philistines for several years; till, upon their repenting and turning to the Lord, he had delivered them by the hands of Samuel. It was under these circumstances that Samuel built an altar to the Lord, that so the people might be kept steadfast to the faith they had received. And this was doubtless a great benefit conferred upon the land; because his example, supported and enforced as it was by his authority, could not fail to deter many from relapsing to idolatry, and to encourage everywhere the worship and the service of the one true God.]
Perceiving, as we now must, how happy that people was under such a governor, we yet are only the better prepared to see,
II.
The superior advantages which we enjoy under our government
We will mark this in both of the preceding particulars: for it is certain that we far, very far, excel them,
1.
In our legal proceedings
[We have an order of persons expressly for the purpose of maintaining, and enforcing, and executing the laws. For this office they are qualified, by a long and most laborious education; and are chosen from amongst their competitors on account of their superior proficiency: and, so far from having their time occupied with political engagements, they are absolutely prohibited from entering upon the great political arena of the nation, in order that they may be kept free from any undue bias, and be enabled to devote all their time and all their talents to the prosecution of their one object of dispensing justice through the land. And these persons take a circuit, not through one district only, (like Samuel, who went not beyond the country belonging to the tribe of Benjamin,) but through the whole kingdom; and that, not once only, but twice in the year, and in some part even thrice: and in respect of impartiality and integrity, they were not exceeded even by Samuel himself. Under the whole heavens there never was a country where the laws were more equitably, more impartially dispensed. Even religion itself, which, as an object of aversion, is more likely to warp the judgment than any thing else, is sure to find support according to the laws; and, if it is on any occasion oppressed, it is only in conformity with laws that have been unadvisedly enacted, and not in opposition to laws that have been made for its support.
And who amongst us has not reason to bless God for such a constitution as this? Who is there that can injure the very meanest amongst us, without being amenable to the laws, and paying the penalty due to his transgression? The peace and security which we of this happy land enjoy, under the dominion of the laws, are not exceeded by any people under heaven, and are equalled by very few. And this benefit depends not on the life of any individual: (the Israelites found a far different state of things under the government of Saul:) it is the constitution of the land: it is transmitted and perpetuated under every reign: and I trust it will continue the happy portion of this country to the latest generations!]
2.
In our religious privileges
[We have not one altar raised, in one favoured place; but many, throughout the whole land; so that, for the most part, they are accessible to all: and where the increase of population has required more, they have been erected, with great liberality, at the public expense. Nor is our worship so unedifying or expensive as that at Ramah. No, truly; we have a Liturgy provided for us; a Liturgy, in which all that was shadowed forth under the Jewish ceremonies is plainly declared. The imposition of hands on a dying victim, the sprinkling of his blood upon the mercy-seat and on the offerer, and the consuming of his flesh upon the altar, were but faint emblems of what we are taught in express terms. We go as sinners unto God: we bring before him that great Sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ: we implore mercy in the name of that adorable Saviour; and declare our affiance in his all-atoning blood, which we sprinkle on our consciences for the remission of our sins. The king upon the throne, and the meanest subject in the land, here meet upon a footing of equality; all having equal access to God, and equal encouragement to expect mercy at his hands. Say, ye who are here assembled, whether ye do not feel your elevation in these respects, and congratulate yourselves that the golden sceptre of mercy is held forth equally to all; and that, instead of having occasion to envy the great and mighty of the earth, you have reason rather to rejoice that there is no respect of persons with God, or that, if there be, it is in your favour; since God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of his kingdom [Note: Jam 2:5.]? Truly the preaching of the Gospel, unrestrained as it is to time, or place, or party, calls for the devoutest gratitude from every person in the land.]
Learn ye then, Brethren,
1.
How to appreciate the blessings ye enjoy
[We have seen how happy Israel was under the government of Samuel; and what still richer privileges we of this nation enjoy. But we are surprisingly slow to acknowledge the blessings which are thus richly bestowed upon us. Indeed, the commonness of these mercies is the very thing which hides them from our view. Could we but see what has been done by the Court of Inquisition in Popish countries, and what is still clone wherever that tribunal exists; could we see our own friends and relatives seized for some supposed crime, we know not what; and carried, we know not whither; and tried, by we know not whom; and put to death by torments more cruel and lingering than we can conceive; verily we should bless our God for our courts of law, for our trials by jury, for the publicity of all judicial acts, and for the high unimpeachable integrity of our judges. And if we could conceive the cruelties exercised on thousands on account of articles of faith, we should indeed adore our God for the liberty we enjoy, of worshipping God in conformity with our own judgment, and of serving him according to the dictates of our own conscience. Religion, with us, is a part of the national law; and is upheld as sacred, against the efforts of all who would subvert it. Verily, I must say, if we praise not God for these benefits, the very stones may well cry out against us.]
2.
How to improve the influence we possess
[Samuel improved his influence for the honour of God, and for the benefit of man. And thus must we also act, according to our ability. True, we are not invested with such authority as his: yet have all of us, in our respective spheres, some opportunity of doing good. We may, both by our example and advice, promote the dominion of law and equity, by doing unto others as we, in a change of circumstances, would think it right that they should do unto us: yes, and on many occasions we may strengthen the hands of those who administer the laws, by giving them the aid of our testimony, and upholding them in the execution of their high office. In so doing, we may be public benefactors to the state. Yet we must not let our zeal be exercised only on things relating to the outward benefit of man: we must have a zeal for God also, and must endeavour to uphold his worship in the land: yes, and in this we must be particularly active in the place where we live. There are many who will take extensive circuits about some temporal matter, who yet are found very remiss at home in matters relating to their God. But in us should be combined a zeal, both public and personal, both civil and religious. Look well then, I pray you, Brethren, to this duty. Let there be in you a holy consistency: and let it be seen, that, if you are benevolent abroad, you are religious at home: and that the more closely your conduct is inspected, the brighter will it be found, and the more will your character be exalted in the estimation both of God and man.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
(15) And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. (16) And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. (17) And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD.
This account of Samuel’s administration is but short, but it is highly honorable. His annual circuit for the looking into things himself, shows his great vigilance; and the altar he built unto the Lord, proves his gracious intercourse with Heaven. No doubt, as Samuel was a child of prayer, his manhood was eminently distinguished by a life of prayer, and that his great influence and authority arose from the intimate communion and fellowship he had with God. The Holy Ghost hath ranked him among the worthies of faith, and given us thereby authority to say, that it was through faith that he subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, and obtained promises. Heb 11:32-33 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Sa 7:15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
Ver. 15. And Samuel judged Israel. ] Being a mixed person, a prophet and a judge, as among the heathen, Anius was
“ Rex idem hominum Phoebique sacerdos. ” – Virg.
Saul was the ordinary judge, and Samuel the extraordinary.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
8. Samuel Exercising His Office and His Failure
CHAPTERS 7:15-8:3
1. Samuel the Prophet-Judge (1Sa 7:15-17)
2. His failure (1Sa 8:1-3)
Samuels activity as the great prophet-judge is now seen. He had a blessed circuit of ministry, which has its spiritual lessons for us. He first visited Bethel (the house of God). Judgment must begin there. When Jacob was obedient to the divine call Arise and go up unto Bethel, he buried the strange gods, the household gods under the oak of Shechem. So the evil things must be put away. Then came Gilgal (rolling). There the reproach of Egypt was rolled away (Joshua 5). This is what we need, to be freed from the world, dead to it and the world dead to us. Mizpeh (watch tower) was his third station. This is our constant need to be on our guard and watch against the foe, as well as look upward and forward from Mizpeh to that blessed home where He is and which we shall surely share with Him. This is represented in Ramah (heights) where Samuel had his home. But there is failure. Samuel makes the mistake in making his sons judges. Because he was a judge and prophet and had success in it, his sons are to follow him in the same capacity. God does not work by succession, nor does He transmit gift and power from father to son. The so-called apostolic succession and traditional authority is an invention and one of the greatest factors in the corruption of Christianity. The Lord alone can call to service and give gifts for the ministry. Joel and Abiah were judges in Beersheba, but walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. And this opened the way for the introduction of the monarchy in Israel.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
am 2873-2947, bc 1131-1057
judged: 1Sa 7:6, 1Sa 12:1, 1Sa 25:1, Jdg 2:16, Jdg 3:10, Jdg 3:11, Act 13:20, Act 13:21
Reciprocal: 2Ch 19:4 – went out again
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 7:15. Samuel judged Israel, &c. For though Saul was king in Samuels last days, yet Samuel did not cease to be a judge, being so made by Gods extraordinary call, which Saul could not destroy; and therefore Samuel did sometimes, upon great occasions, though not ordinarily, exercise the office of judge after the beginning of Sauls reign; and the years of the rule of Saul and Samuel are joined together, Act 13:20-21.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3. Samuel’s regular ministry 7:15-17
In addition to providing the special leadership just described, Samuel’s ministry as a judge in Israel included regular civil, as well as spiritual, leadership. He was active especially in the tribal territory of Benjamin and in the town of Bethel just north of Benjamin in Ephraim’s tribal allotment. Samuel covered a four-town circuit as preacher (prophet) and judge. He was obviously similar to the other judges in the Book of Judges, all of whom also served local regions primarily. It is not clear whether the Gilgal referred to here was the Gilgal in the Jordan Valley near Jericho, or whether it was another Gilgal located a few miles north of Bethel. [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, p. 76, said it was the latter as did Marten H. Woudstra, The Book of Joshua, p. 95, but I have not been able to verify the existence of a Gilgal there.] The fact that Samuel built an altar (1Sa 7:17) illustrates his response to God’s grace and his commitment to Yahweh (cf. Gen 12:7; et al.).
"Brief as the portrait of Samuel here is, it gives us a glimpse of the ideal ruler. He had been provided by God and trained by him; he now showed himself able to read his people’s minds and capable of rebuking them effectively. He was decisive in word and action, and he was fully in touch with God. Nor is his concern to provide justice purely coincidental. Yet the irony was that such a ruler was precisely the man whom Israel rejected, as chapter 8 will show. Political unrest may mirror inadequate or oppressive leadership; on the other hand, it may well demonstrate the fatal flaws in human nature. Exactly the same may be true of unrest within any human community, including a local congregation." [Note: Payne, p. 39.]
Samuel’s personal faithfulness to God qualified him for spiritual leadership and resulted in God blessing Israel. He was God’s man, calling the people back to faithful obedience to His will so they could experience His blessing.