Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 7:10
And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.
10. thundered with a great thunder ] Lit., with a great voice. Thunder is the “voice of God” (Psa 29:3-4). Cp. ch. 1Sa 2:10 ; 2Sa 22:14-15.
discomfited them ] The Heb. word expresses the confusion of a sudden panic, and is especially used of supernatural defeats. Cp. Exo 14:24 (E. V. troubled); Jos 10:10; Jdg 4:15 ; 2Sa 22:15.
and they were smitten before Israel ] The thunder which dismayed the Philistines gave courage to the Israelites. The verb “ they were smitten ” (different from the one similarly translated in the next verse) is specially spoken of God, e.g. ch. 1Sa 4:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either by the lightnings, or thunderbolts, or other things which accompanied the cracks of thunder; or by the Israelites, who perceiving them to be affrighted and flee away, pursued and smote them, as the next verse mentions.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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 Philistines drew near to battle against Israel; and were come as far almost as Mizpeh, where Israel were, and Samuel was sacrificing:
but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines; which fulfilled Hannah’s prophecy, 1Sa 2:10 and this, as Josephus n says, was attended with lightning, which flashed in their faces, and shook their weapons out of their hands, so that they fled disarmed; and also with an earthquake, which caused gaps in the earth, into which they fell:
and discomfited them; disturbed, affrighted them, and threw them into confusion and disorder, as well as destroyed many of them:
and they were smitten before Israel; the meaning of which is not that they fled before them, and were killed by them; but that before Israel could come out against them, and fight with them, they were smitten and destroyed, many of them by the thunder and lightning, and by the earth opening upon them, and devouring them; for this phrase, “before Israel”, denotes time, as Abarbinel observes, and not place.
n Antiqu. l. 6. c. 2. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
10. The Lord thundered with a great thunder Rather, with a great voice. Thus in Samuel’s day was Hannah’s prophecy fulfilled. 1Sa 2:10. Compare also the marginal references. This amazing miracle was wrought in answer to Samuel’s prayer, and was a confirmation of his words to Israel as recorded in 1Sa 7:3. It showed, too, that the Jehovah of the exodus was still powerful to save his people and confound their enemies.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 7:10. The Lord thundered with a great thunder Baldwin the Second, with other princes, marching to Damascus, fully resolved to take it by surrender or storm, met with a check in foraging, which enraged the army so much, that they immediately flew to their arms to chastise the affront; when suddenly God, against whose will men can do nothing, sent such violent showers, such darkness in the sky, such difficulty in the roads by means of the vast quantities of water, that scarcely any one could hope for life; which darkness of the air, and thickness of the clouds, the irregular blowing of the winds, the thunders, and continual lightnings, signified before hand. But as the human mind is ignorant of futurity, they did not attend to the divine patience calling to them to refrain, but strove to proceed in an impossible attempt. The intemperateness of the weather, however, obliged them to desist; and made those who had been at first such a terror to their enemies that they thought they had no means of escaping, look upon it as a great thing to be able to get back again. This account, says the author of the Observations, I cite as no improper comment on the present passage. See Observations, p. 352.
REFLECTIONS.Satan will begin to roar when sinners begin to pray.
1. No sooner was Israel assembled at Mizpeh to repent, than the Philistines took the alarm, and assembled to crush them, suspecting (as the suspicious are very ready to do) that their designs were evil, and construing their repentance towards God into rebellion against them. Note; The first struggles for glory are often the hardest.
2. The news terrifies the people; broken with their long servitude, though they had never less reason to fear than when thus found on their knees before God, they cry to Samuel to help them with his prayers, more dependent now on the arm of God for their safety than on the arm of flesh. Note; Weak as we are to encounter the numerous hosts of our spiritual enemies, we have a prevailing advocate with the Father; and if he pray for us, while we trust in him it is impossible that we should fail.
3. Samuel, deeply interested in Israel’s safety, is as ready to pray as they to desire him. A sucking lamb he offers for a burnt-offering, and with the blood of atonement to plead, in faith and prayer approaches the throne of grace. Note; (1.) Jesus Christ is the slain lamb, offered up to God for us sinners. (2.) Through the efficacy of his sacrifice, we may come before God; assured that whatsoever we ask, believing, we shall receive.
4. God hears, and answers his request. The Philistines drew near while the sacrifice was offering; and never was an attack so ill-timed for them, so critical for Israel. Armed with hot thunder bolts, in wrath the God of Israel arose; and who can stand before the blasting breath of his displeasure? The flashing lightnings glare around, the terrible thunders roll above them, terror and amaze seize their affrighted hosts, they turn, they fly; while the men of Israel, shouting, pursue their defenceless foes, and smite them down like sheep appointed for the slaughter. Note; (1.) When God arises his enemies must be scattered. (2.) Glorious and instant are the answers that God often gives to the prayer of faith.
5. Samuel commemorates the victory, by setting up a great stone on the spot, and calling it Ebenezer, The Stone of help. And it is remarkable, that this was the very place where Israel, chap. 1Sa 4:1 were defeated by the Philistines; in which passage this name is given it by anticipation. Note; (1.) Answers of prayer deserve memorials of gratitude. (2.) Every christian may, by experience, set up his Ebenezer, and, whilst he acknowledges past help, confidently depend on the continuance of the same protection.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(10) And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. (11) And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar.
There is a sweet promise of our covenant God, and here, as in a thousand other instances, it was instantly fulfilled. Before my people call (saith God) I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear. Isa 65:24 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Sa 7:10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.
Ver. 10. And as Samuel was offering. ] If Numa, king of Rome, could say, when he was sacrificing, and heard of the enemy’s approach, E , Yea, but I am serving my gods, and therefore I fear them not; a how much more might Samuel say so!
But the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day.
And they were smitten before Israel.
a Plut., in Vita Numae.
b Euseb., lib. v. cap. 5.
c Oros., lib. vii. cap. 35.
d Preacher’s Travels, 49.
e .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
thundered with a great thunder. Figure of speech Polyptoton. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
thundered: 1Sa 2:10, 1Sa 12:17, Exo 9:23-25, Jdg 5:8, Jdg 5:20, Psa 18:11-14, Psa 77:16-18, Psa 97:3, Psa 97:4, Rev 16:18-21
discomfited: Deu 20:3, Deu 20:4, Jos 10:10, Jdg 4:15, Jdg 5:20, Zec 4:6
Reciprocal: Deu 28:7 – flee before 2Sa 22:14 – thundered Job 36:31 – by Psa 18:13 – thundered Psa 29:3 – thundereth Isa 30:30 – the flame Jer 21:2 – according
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD {f} thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.
(f) According to the prophecy of Hannah Samuel’s mother, 1Sa 2:10.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
CHAPTER IX.
NATIONAL DELIVERANCE–THE PHILISTINES SUBDUED.
1Sa 7:10-17.
IT must have been with feelings very different from those of their last encounter, when the ark of God was carried into the battle, that the host of Israel now faced the Philistine army near Mizpeh. Then they had only the symbol of God’s gracious presence, now they had the reality. Then their spiritual guides were the wicked Hophni and Phinehas; now their guide was holy Samuel. Then they had rushed into the fight in thoughtless unconcern about their sins; now they had confessed them, and through the blood of sprinkling they had obtained a sense of forgiveness. Then they were puffed up by a vain presumption; now they were animated by a calm but confident hope. Then their advance was hallowed by no prayer; now the cry of needy children had gone up from God’s faithful servant. In fact, the battle with the Philistines had already been fought by Samuel on his knees. There can be no more sure token of success than this. Are we engaged in conflict with our own besetting sins? Or are we contending against scandalous transgression in the world around us? Let us first fight the battle on our knees. If we are victorious there we need have little fear of victory in the other battle.
It was as Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering that the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. There was an unseen ladder that day between earth and heaven, on which the angels of God ascended and descended as in Jacob’s vision at Bethel. The smoke of the burnt-offering carried up to God the confession and contrition of the people, their reliance on God’s method of atonement, and their prayer for His pardon and His blessing. The great thunder with which God thundered on the Philistines carried down from God the answer and the needed help. There is no need for supposing that the thunder was supernatural. It was an instance of what is so common, a natural force adapted to the purpose of an answer to prayer. What seems to have occurred is this: a vehement thunder-storm had gathered a little to the east, and now broke, probably with violent wind, in the faces of the Philistines, who were advancing up the heights against Mizpeh. Unable to face such a terrific war of the elements, the Philistines would turn round, placing their backs to the storm. The men of Israel, but little embarrassed by it, since it came from behind them, and gave the greater momentum to their force, rushed on the embarrassed enemy, and drove them before them like smoke before the wind. It was just as in former days – God arose, and His enemies were scattered, and they also that hated Him fled before Him. The storm before which the Philistines cowered was like the pillar of fire which had guided Israel through the desert. Jehovah was still the God of Israel; the God of Jacob was once more his refuge.
We have said that this thunderstorm may have been quite a natural phenomenon. Natural, but not casual. Though natural, it was God’s answer to Samuel’s prayer. But how could this have been? If it was a natural storm, if it was the result of natural law, of atmospheric conditions the operation of which was fixed and certain, it must have taken place whether Samuel prayed or not. Undoubtedly. But the very fact that the laws of nature are fixed and certain, that their operation is definite and regular, enables the great Lord of Providence to make use of them in the natural course of things, for the purpose of answering prayer. For this fact, the uniformity of natural law, enables the Almighty, who sees and plans the end from the beginning, to frame a comprehensive scheme of Providence, that shall not only work out the final result in His time and way, but that shall also work out every intermediate result precisely as He designs and desires. “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.” Now if God has so adjusted the scheme of Providence that the final result of the whole shall wonderfully accomplish His grand design, may He not, must He not, have so adjusted it that every intermediate part shall work out some intermediate design? It is only those who have an unworthy conception of omniscience and omnipotence that can doubt this. Surely if there is a general Providence, there must be a special Providence. If God guides the whole. He must also guide the parts. Every part of the scheme must fall out according to His plan, and may thus be the means of fulfilling some of His promises.
Let us apply this view to the matter of prayer. All true prayer is the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in the human soul. All the prayer that God answers is prayer that God has inspired. The prayer of Samuel was prayer which God had inspired. What more reasonable than that in the great plan of providence there should have been included a provision for the fulfillment of Samuel’s prayer at the appropriate moment? The thunderstorm, we may be sure, was a natural phenomenon. But its occurrence at the time was part of that great scheme of Providence which God planned at the beginning, and it was planned to fall out then in order that it might serve as an answer to Samuel’s prayer. It was thus an answer to prayer brought about by natural causes. The only thing miraculous about it was its forming a part of that most marvelous scheme – the scheme of Divine providence – a part of the scheme that was to be carried into effect after Samuel had prayed. If the term supernatural may be fitly applied to that scheme which is the sum and substance of all the laws of nature, of all the providence of God, and of all the works and thoughts of man, then it was a miracle; but if not, it was a natural effect.
It is important to bear these truths in mind, because many have the impression that prayer for outward results cannot be answered without a miracle, and that it is unreasonable to suppose that such a multitude of miracles as prayer involves would be wrought every day. If a sick man prays for health, is the answer necessarily a miracle? No; for the answer may come about by purely natural causes. He has been directed to a skilful physician; he has used the right medicine; he has been treated in the way to give full scope to the recuperative power of nature. God, who led him to pray, foresaw the prayer, and in the original scheme of Providence planned that by natural causes the answer should come. We do not deny that prayer may be answered in a supernatural way. We would not affirm that such a thing as supernatural healing is unknown. But it is most useful that the idea should be entertained that such prayer is usually answered by natural means. By not attending to this men often fail to perceive that prayer has been answered. You pray, before you set out on a journey, for protection and safe arrival at the end. You get what you asked – you perform the journey in safety. But perhaps you say, “It would have been all the same whether I had prayed for it or not. I have gone on journeys that I forgot to pray about, and no evil befell me. Some of my fellow-passengers, I am sure, did not pray for safety, yet they were taken care of as much as I was.” But these are sophistical arguments. You should feel that your safety in the journey about which you prayed was as much due to God, though only through the operation of natural causes, as if you had had a hairbreadth escape. You should be thankful that in cases where you did not pray for safety God had regard to the habitual set of your mind, your habitual trust in Him, though you did not specially exercise it at these times. Let the means be as natural as they may – to those who have eyes to see the finger of God is in them all the same.
But to return to the Israelites and the Philistines. The defeat of the Philistines was a very thorough one. Not only did they make no attempt to rally after the storm had passed and Israel had fallen on them, but they came no more into the coast of Israel, and the hand of the Lord was against them all the days of Samuel. And besides this, all the cities and tracts of land belonging to Israel which the Philistines had taken were now restored. Another mercy that came to Israel was that “there was peace between Israel and the Amorites”- the Amorites being put here, most likely, for the remains of all the original inhabitants living among or around Israel. Those promises were now fulfilled in which God had said to Moses, “This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of thee” (Deu 2:25). “There shall no man be able to stand before you; for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land ye shall tread upon, as He hath said to thee.” It was so apparent that God was among them, and that the power of God was irresistible and overwhelming, that their enemies were frightened to assail them.
The impression thus made on the enemies of Israel corresponds in some degree to the moral influence which God-fearing men sometimes have on an otherwise godless community. The picture in the Song of Solomon – “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?” – ascribes even to the fair young bride a terrifying power, a power not appropriate to such a picture in the literal sense, but quite suitable in the figurative. Wherever the life and character of a godly man is such as to recall God, wherever God’s image is plainly visible, wherever the results of God’s presence are plainly seen, there the idea of a supernatural Power is conveyed, and a certain overawing influence is felt. In the great awakening at Northampton in Jonathan Edwards’ days, there was a complete arrest laid on open forms of vice. And whensoever in a community God’s presence has been powerfully realized, the taverns have been emptied, the gambling-table deserted, under the sense of His august majesty. Would only that the character and life of all God’s servants were so truly godlike that their very presence in a community would have a subduing and restraining influence on the wicked!
Two points yet remain to be noticed: the step taken by Samuel to commemorate this wonderful Divine interposition; and the account given of the prophet and his occupations in his capacity of Judge of Israel.
”Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”
The position of Shen is not known. But it must have been very near the scene of the defeat of the Philistines – perhaps it was the very spot where that defeat occurred. In that case, Samuel’s stone would stand midway between the two scenes of battle: the battle gained by him on his knees at Mizpeh, and the battle gained by the Israelites when they fell on the Philistines demoralized by the thunderstorm.
“Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” The characteristic feature of the inscription lies in the word “hitherto.” It was no doubt a testimony to special help obtained in that time of trouble; it was a grateful recognition of that help; and it was an enduring monument to perpetuate the memory of it. But it was more, much more. The word ”hitherto “denotes a series, a chain of similar mercies, an unbroken succession of Divine interpositions and Divine deliverances. The special purpose of this inscription was to link on the present deliverance to all the past, and to form a testimony to the enduring faithfulness and mercy of a covenant-keeping God. But was there not something strange in this inscription, considering the circumstances? Could Samuel have forgot that tragic day at Shiloh – the bewildered, terrified look of the messenger that came from the army to bring the news, the consternation caused by his message, the ghastly horror of Eli and his tragic death, the touching death of the wife of Phinehas, and the sad name which she had with such seeming propriety given to her babe? Was that like God remembering them? or had Samuel forgot how the victorious Philistines soon after dashed upon Shiloh like beasts of prey, plundering, destroying, massacring, till nothing more remained to be done to justify the name of “Ichabod”? How can Samuel blot that chapter out of the history? or how can he say, with that chapter fresh in his recollection, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us”?
All that Samuel has considered well. Even amid the desolations of Shiloh the Lord was helping them. He was helping them to know themselves, helping them to know their sins, and helping them to know the bitter fruit and woeful punishment of sin. He was helping them to achieve the great end for which he had called them – to keep alive the knowledge of the true God and the practice of His worship, onward to the time when the great promise should be realized, – when He should come in whom all the families of the earth were to be blessed. Samuel’s idea of what constituted the nation’s glory was large and spiritual. The true glory of the nation was to fulfill the function for which God had taken it into covenant with Himself. Whatever helped them to do this was a blessing, was a token of the Lord’s remembrance of them. The links of the long chain denoted by Samuel’s “hitherto” were not all of one kind. Some were in the form of mercies, many were in the form of chastenings. For the higher the function for which Israel was called, the more need was there of chastening. The higher the destination of a silver vessel, the greater is the need that the silver be pure, and therefore that it be frequently passed through the furnace. The destination of Israel was the highest that could have been. So Samuel does not merely give thanks for seasons of prosperity, but for checks and chastenings too.
Happy they who, full of faith in the faithfulness and love of God, can take a similar view of His dealings! Happy they who, when special mercies come, deem the occasion worthy to be commemorated by some special memorial, but who can embrace their whole life in the grateful commemoration, and bracket joys and sorrows alike under their “hitherto”! It is not that sorrows are less sorrows to them than to others; it is not that losses of substance entail less inconvenience, or bereavements penetrate less deeply; but that all are seen to be embraced in that gracious plan of which the final consummation is, as the apostle puts it, “to present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” And well is it for us, both in individual life and in Church and national life, to think of that plan of God in which mercies and chastenings are united, but all with a gracious purpose! It is remarkable how often in Scripture tears are wiped away with this thought. Zion saying, “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me,” is assured, “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands, thy walls are continually before Me.” Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, is thus addressed, “Refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and thy children shall come again from the land of the enemy.” “Weep not,” said our Lord to the woman of Nain; and His first words after His resurrection were, “Woman, why weepest thou?” Vale of tears though this world is, there comes from above a gracious influence to wipe them away; and the march Zion-ward has in it some- thing of the tread and air of a triumphant procession, for “the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
We have yet to notice the concluding verses of the chapter (1Sa 7:15-17), which give a little picture of the public life of Samuel. He judged Israel all the days of his life. The office of judge had a twofold sphere, external and internal. Externally, it bore on the oppression of the people by foreign enemies, and the judge became the deliverer of the people. But in this sense there was now nothing for Samuel to do, especially after the accession of Saul to the kingdom. The judge seems to have likewise had to do with the administration of justice, and the preservation of the peace and general welfare of the nation. It is very natural to suppose that Samuel would be profoundly concerned to imbue the people with just views of the purpose for which God had called them, and of the law and covenant which He had given them. The three places among which he is said to have made his circuit. Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpeh, were not far from each other, all being situated in the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, – in that part of the land which afterwards constituted the kingdom of the two tribes. To these three places falls to be added Ramah, also in the same neighbourhood, where was his house. In this place he built an altar to the Lord.
Whether this was in connection with the tabernacle or not, we cannot say. We know that in the time of David’s wanderings “the house of God” was at Nob (Compare 1Sa 21:1 and Mat 12:4), but we have nothing to show us when it was carried thither. All we can say is, that Samuel’s altar must have been a visible memorial of the worship of God, and a solemn protest against any idolatrous rites to which any of the people might at any time be attracted.
In this way Samuel spent his life like Him whose type he was, “always about his Father’s business.” An unselfish man, having no interests of his own, full of zeal for the service of God and the public welfare; possibly too little at home, taking too little charge of his children, and thus at last in the painful position of one, “whose sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment” (1Sa 8:1). That Samuel attained the highest reputation for sanctity, intercourse with God and holy influence, is plain from various passages of Scripture. In Psa 99:6, he is coupled with Moses and Aaron, as having influence with God, – “they called upon the Lord and He answered them.” In Jer 15:1, his name is coupled with that of Moses alone as a powerful intercessor, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this people.” His mother’s act of consecration was wonder-fully fulfilled. Samuel stands out as one of the best and purest of the Hebrew worthies. His name became a perpetual symbol of all that was upright, pure and Godlike. The silent influence of his character was a great power in Israel, inspiring many a young heart with holy awe, and silencing the flippant arrogance of the scoffer. Mothers, did not Hannah do well, do nobly, in dedicating her son to the Lord? Sons and daughters, was it not a noble and honourable life? Then go ye and do likewise. And God be pleased to incline many a heart to the service; a service, which with all its drawbacks, is the highest and the noblest; and which bequeaths so blessed a welcome into the next stage of existence: “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”