2 6. The National Repentance and Reformation under Samuel<\/p>\n
2<\/strong>. And it came to pass<\/em>, &c.] Better, And it came to pass, from the day when the ark rested in Kirjath-jearim, that a long time elapsed, even twenty years.<\/strong> Twenty years was not, as the E. V. seems to imply, the whole duration of the Ark’s sojourn at Kirjath-jearim, but the time that elapsed before the reformation now to be recorded.<\/p>\n The period here passed over in silence was a dark page in Israel’s history, politically and religiously. They were vassals of the Philistines, reduced apparently to abject submission. The public worship of Jehovah was intermitted; for the Tabernacle seems to have been dismantled, and the Ark was in a private house. The people sank into gross idolatry. But meanwhile Samuel was growing in strength and influence, and when the right moment came and the desire for better things sprang up as the fruit of his prophetic labours, he was ready to take his place as the leader of the nation.<\/p>\n lamented after the Lord<\/em> ] As a child follows the father who has been forced to turn a way in anger, and with sighs and tears entreats for reconciliation.<\/p>\n And all the house of Israel lamented … – <\/B>The occupation of the country about Shiloh by the Philistines 1Sa 7:3<\/span> was partly the reason for the ark being kept so long at Kirjath-jearim. But another reason seems to have been the fall of the Israelites into idolatry, which made them neglect the ark, and brought upon them this Philistine servitude; probably the last 20 years of the Philistine oppression described in Jdg 13:1<\/span>, which is there expressly connected with Israelite idolatry. Now, probably, through the exhortations of Samuel, coupled with the chastening of the Philistine yoke, the Israelites repented and turned again to the God of their fathers.<\/P> <\/p>\n 1Sa 7:2<\/span><\/p>\n The time was long, for it was twenty years.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n An absent God<\/strong><\/p>\n Well might it be said, The time was long. Twenty hours, without Thy presence, are long indeed, and cloud the brightest day, and veil the loveliest scenes. How should you like to be twenty years away from your beloved father or mother? Would not the time seem very long? And have you ever mourned an absent God? Have you been like Job, when he looked on every side and found Him not? (Job 23:8-9<\/span>); or, like Mary Magdalene, whose tears were her meat, day and night, until she found Him whom her soul loved? See how she stands beside the empty gravel Peter may leave–John may leave–they may go to their house, or to their nets. The place where the body of Jesus had lain was sweeter and dearer to Mary than all the sweets of earth: and though her tearful eyes had too plainly told her His precious body was not there, yet again she stoops, again she looks in, as though she hoped her ardent wishes might bring Him back again. Yes, blessed woman, and they have power with thy God, and prevail. Quickly was He at her side whom she sought sorrowing: and quickly, at His presence, are tears exchanged for joy unspeakable, Happy art thou, O Israel, when thou canst mourn an absent God! We have a beautiful description given us of real, godly sorrow, in 2Co 7:10-11<\/span>. If one of you were to ask a gentleman or lady to come and see you, would you sit with the cottage all in litter and confusion? would you not be tidying it, cleaning out every corner, dusting every piece of furniture, and getting it as nice as you could? Oh! when you truly cry to the Lord to return unto you, how diligent you will be preparing your hearts unto the Lord! (2Ch 30:19<\/span>.) What carefulness, lest there should be anything left undone! What clearing of idols and rubbish! what indignation against the things which have usurped His place in your heart, and robbed you of all your joy! what vehement desire to see Him again filling the whole, and bringing every thought into captivity! what zeal to make up for lost time! what revenge against ungrateful, treacherous self! Would you wish to know the first step a soul takes in departing from God? You may find it in your secret chamber–beside the little bed or chair, where you once used to hold sweet communion with Him. Thou hast restrained prayer, is the print of the first footstep in the downward road. Would you know the first step of the returning soul? Go again, and look in the secret chamber: now that distressed soul seeks Him early; and soon its youth is renewed like the eagles–it walks, it runs, it flies (Isa 11:81). (Helen Plumptre.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 2<\/span>. It was twenty years<\/B><\/I>] This chapter contains the transactions of at least twenty<\/I> years, but we know not the date of each event.<\/P> <\/p>\n The ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, <\/B>and was not carried to Shiloh, its former place, either because that place was destroyed by the Philistines when the ark was taken, as may be gathered from this history, compared with Jer 7:12<\/span>,14<\/span>; 26:6<\/span>,9<\/span>; or because God would hereby punish the wickedness, either of that particular place of Shiloh, or of the people of Israel, by keeping it in a private and obscure place, and that near to the Philistines, whither the generality of the people neither durst nor could safely come. It was twenty years<\/I>; he saith not that this twenty years was all the time of the arks abode there; for it continued there from Elis time till Davids reign, 2Sa 6:2<\/span>, which was forty years, Act 13:21<\/span>; but that it was so long there ere the Israelites were sensible of their sin and misery, ere they lamented, &c., as it follows. <\/P> The house of Israel lamented after the Lord, <\/B>i.e. they followed after God with lamentation for his departure and so long estrangement from them, and with prayers for his return and favour to them. <\/P> <\/p>\n 2. the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim .. . twenty years<\/B>It appears, in the subsequent history, that amuch longer period elapsed before its final removal fromKirjath-jearim (2Sa 6:1-19<\/span>;1Ch 13:1-14<\/span>). But thatlength of time had passed when the Israelites began to revive fromtheir sad state of religious decline. The capture of the ark hadproduced a general indifference either as to its loss or itsrecovery. <\/P> all the house of Israellamented after the Lord<\/B>They were then brought, doubtless bythe influence of Samuel’s exhortations, to renounce idolatry, and toreturn to the national worship of the true God. <\/P> 1Sa7:3-6<\/span>. THE ISRAELITES,THROUGH SAMUEL’SINFLUENCE, SOLEMNLYREPENT AT MIZPEH.<\/P><\/p>\n And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long<\/strong>,…. It could not be less than between forty and fifty years, for it remained here until the times of David, who removed it from hence after he was made king over all Israel, and when he had reigned over Judah seven years; and from the death of Eli to that time, which included the government of Samuel and Saul, it could not be less than what has been hinted:<\/p>\n for it [was] twenty years<\/strong>; not that this was all the time the ark was at Kirjathjearim, but it was so long there before it was much taken notice of, and sought unto, and the Lord by it; there was a great neglect of God, and his worship, which through the means of Samuel began to revive about this time, as it follows:<\/p>\n and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord<\/strong>; became sensible of their evil doings, and repented of them, and sought the Lord with fasting, and prayer, and tears; bewailed their backslidings and revoltings from him, and cried after a departing God.<\/p>\n Purification of Israel from idolatry<\/em>. – Twenty years passed away from that time forward, while the ark remained at Kirjath-jearim, and all Israel mourned after Jehovah. Then Samuel said to them, “ If ye turn to the Lord with all your heart, put away the strange gods from the midst of you, and the Astartes, and direct your heart firmly upon the Lord, and serve Him only, that He may save you out of the hand of the Philistines<\/em>.” And the Israelites listened to this appeal. The single clauses of 1Sa 7:2<\/span> and 1Sa 7:3<\/span> are connected together by vav consec<\/em>., and are not to be separated from one another. There is no gap between these verses; but they contain the same closely and logically connected thought,<\/p>\n (Note: There is no force at all in the proofs which Thenius has adduced of a gap between 1Sa 7:2<\/span> and 1Sa 7:3<\/span>. It by no means follows, that because the Philistines had brought back the ark, their rule over the Israelites had ceased, so as to make the words “he will deliver you,” etc., incomprehensible. Moreover, the appearance of Samuel as judge<\/em> does not presuppose that his assumption of this office must necessarily have been mentioned before. As a general rule, there was no such formal assumption of the office, and this would be least of all the case with Samuel, who had been recognised as an accredited prophet of Jehovah (1Sa 3:19<\/span>.). And lastly, the reference to idols, and to their being put away in consequence of Samuel’s appeal, is intelligible enough, without any express account of their falling into idolatry, if we bear in mind, on the one hand, the constant inclination of the people to serve other gods, and if we observe, on the other hand, that Samuel called upon the people to turn to the Lord with all their heart and serve Him alone, which not only does not preclude, but actually implies, the outward continuance of the worship of Jehovah.) <\/p>\n which may be arranged in one period in the following manner: “And it came to pass, when the days multiplied from the time that the ark remained at Kirjath-jearim, and grew to twenty years, and the whole house of Israel mourned after Jehovah, that Samuel said,” etc. The verbs , , and , are merely continuations of the infinitive , and the main sentence is resumed in the words . The contents of the verses require that the clauses should be combined in this manner. The statement that twenty years had passed can only be understood on the supposition that some kind of turning-point ensued at the close of that time. The complaining of the people after Jehovah was no such turning-point, but became one simply from the fact that this complaining was followed by some result. This result is described in 1Sa 7:3<\/span>. It consisted in the fact that Samuel exhorted the people to put away the strange gods (1Sa 7:3<\/span>); and that when the people listened to his exhortation (1Sa 7:4<\/span>), he helped them to gain a victory over the Philistines (1Sa 7:5<\/span>.). , from , to lament or complain (Mic 2:4<\/span>; Eze 32:18<\/span>). “The phrase, to lament after God<\/em>, is taken from human affairs, when one person follows another with earnest solicitations and complaints, until he at length assents. We have an example of this in the Syrophenician woman in Matt 15.” (Seb. Schmidt). The meaning “to assemble together,” which is the one adopted by Gesenius<\/em>, is forced upon the word from the Chaldee , and it cannot be shown that the word was ever used in this sense in Hebrew. Samuel’s appeal in 1Sa 7:3<\/span> recalls to mind Jos 24:14<\/span>, and Gen 35:2<\/span>; but the words, “ If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts<\/em>,” assume that the turning of the people to the Lord their God had already inwardly commenced, and indeed, as the participle expresses duration, had commenced as a permanent thing, and simply demand that the inward turning of the heart to God should be manifested outwardly as well, by the putting away of all their idols, and should thus be carried out to completion. The “strange gods” (see Gen 35:2<\/span>) are described in 1Sa 7:4<\/span> as “ Baalim<\/em>.” On Baalim<\/em> and Ashtaroth<\/em>, see at Jdg 2:11<\/span>, Jdg 2:13<\/span>. , to direct the heart firmly: see Psa 78:8<\/span>; 2Ch 30:19<\/span>.<\/p>\n (2) And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years.<\/strong>Literally, And it came to pass, from the day that the Ark rested at Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years. <\/em>There is something very touching in this sad note of time. We think we read Samuels own words here. The unwearied toiler for God and His dear people found the twenty years a weary period of waiting. We must not, however, by any means suppose that the hungering of Israel after their God-Friend only began after the twenty years of sorrow were over.<\/p>\n It had been a stern trial time. The great victory of Aphek and the destruction of Shiloh had laid all Israel at the feet of their Philistine enemies, and they, we know, made their supremacy bitterly felt. The restoration of the Ark in no wise signified that they loosed their hold on the conquered people. This long time, when the hand of Philistia pressed so heavily on Israel, was the important period of Samuels life. For these twenty years he must have laboured incessantly to wake up the old worship of the Eternal and the pure life loved by God among the people. The early dreams of his boy days, the hopes excited by his burning enthusiasm, were scattered to the winds. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.<\/strong>The English Version is singularly happy here. The Hebrew word Englished by lamented after has been variously rendered and paraphrased. The Syriac translates, they all cast themselves down after Jehovah. Gesenius and some would translate were assembled together; others, the people of Israel quieted themselves, and in quiet devotion followed Jehovah, but the English Version is best on all grounds. This lamenting or <\/em>hungering after the Lord was a gradual result of Samuels unwearied labours. The assertion of 1Sa. 3:19<\/span>, that none of his words fell to the ground, especially belongs to this period of restless activity, when dangers and apparently insurmountable difficulties hemmed him in; slowly, but surely, the heart of the people, roused by his loving but passionate appeals, returned to their Eternal Friend; sick of crime and folly, gradually they began to hate their impurity and moral degradation; by degrees they began to loathe their idolatry; and when Samuel, after his twenty years of faithful restless work among them, summoned them boldly to declare their abhorrence of the strange Philistine gods, and the life taught and lived by the Philistine peoples, the heart of all Israel responded with intense gladness to the summons.<\/p>\n Then the wise and patriotic statesman-prophet saw the hour of deliverance and national restoration had struck. No longer solitary hamlets and scattered families mourned after the glorious Eternal and His pure holy worship and life; but the heart of a whole people mourned after the Lord, and hungered for His presence among them once more.<\/p>\n THE GREAT DELIVERANCE AND REFORM UNDER SAMUEL, 1Sa 7:2-17<\/span>.<\/p>\n 2<\/strong>. <\/strong> Twenty years <\/strong> A period of silence in the history of Israel. What notable events occurred and what Samuel did during these twenty years are largely matters of conjecture. Some suppose that this period was nearly simultaneous with the twenty years of Samson’s judgeship. Jdg 15:20<\/span>. This opinion claims no certain proof in the biblical record; only it is probable that the forty years of Philistine oppression (Jdg 13:1<\/span>) from which Samson began to deliver Israel is the same oppression which was completely removed by the instrumentality of Samuel, as recorded in this chapter. Samson’s authority as judge was confined to southwestern Israel, and probably never came in contact with that of either Eli or Samuel. There is nothing at war with the supposition that two or more judges in Israel were contemporary. In our Introduction to Judges we have shown that the officers of Israel bearing that title, and raised up of God from time to time to deliver the people from their oppressors, were not regular national governors, whose authority extended over all the land.<\/p>\n During these twenty years Samuel was not idle. He was known to be a prophet of Jehovah, and often acted as judge, but probably most of his time was spent in retirement and in founding the schools of the prophets. See on 1Sa 10:5<\/span>. When Shiloh was made desolate he probably took care to preserve the precious records of the law, of which he doubtless made much use in teaching the younger prophets who gathered around him. Of Samuel’s marriage and domestic life we know nothing; but we know that his sons walked not after the pattern of their father’s piety. 1Sa 8:3<\/span>. The worship of Baal and Ashtaroth crept in among the people, and the ark remained in obscurity at Kirjath-jearim. <\/p>\n Lamented after the Lord <\/strong> This both Gesenius and Furst render, assembled themselves after Jehovah. <\/em> But no sufficient reason is given for taking the Hebrew word in this sense of assembling together. <\/em> To be sure, the Niphal form occurs here only, but the Kal form, in Eze 32:18<\/span>, and Mic 2:4<\/span>, means to wail, to lament, <\/em> and, therefore, with Thenius and Keil, we adhere to the common translation. The people remembered how gloriously the Lord had manifested himself to Israel in former years, and therefore they lamented after the Lord, that is, longed for his glory to appear again.<\/p>\n Chapter 7. <\/p>\n Samuel Successfully Begins His Public Ministry And Establishes His Rule Over Israel Under YHWH, Finally Driving The Philistines Back To Their Own Territory And ‘Judging’ Israel From Then On ( 1Sa 7:3-17<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ). <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Once Samuel had grown to manhood he began his ministry and called on Israel to turn to YHWH from all their idolatry, something which met with great success. The people were tired of being subservient to the Philistines. <\/p>\n Eventually, satisfied with their genuineness he called an assembly at Mizpah, which means ‘the watchtower’, possibly because there was at this stage no Tabernacle to gather at, although it had been a gathering place in the past, see Judges 20<\/span>, and belonged to the tribe of Benjamin (Jos 18:26<\/span>). And there he was appointed ‘judge’ of Israel. Whether it was his intention to proceed against the Philistines, or whether it was simply a gathering for the spiritual purposes which unfolded we are not told, but it was sufficient to alarm the Philistines whose five Tyrants took it as a declaration of war for the purposes of gaining their freedom. They gathered their army and advanced on Mizpah. In the face of this reality the Israelites were filled with fear. They pleaded with Samuel to intervene with YHWH on their behalf. <\/p>\n Samuel indicated to them that they should not be afraid by offering up a further burnt offering and calling on YHWH for His aid, and the result was that the advancing Philistine troops experienced the most appalling weather conditions, impeding their chariots and horsemen and demoralising their troops. Thus when Israel attacked the Philistines could do nothing but retreat, and were totally defeated. The consequence was that while Samuel was judge of Israel the Philistines no longer encroached on Israel (although they may have tried to), and the Israelite lands as far as Ekron and Gath were returned to them. <\/p>\n There are interesting parallels between Israel’s defeat in 1 Samuel 4<\/span>, and their triumph here. Thus in 1 Samuel 4<\/span> it was Israel who were ‘smitten, struck down’ by the Philistines (1Sa 4:2-3<\/span>; 1Sa 4:10<\/span>), here the Philistines are ‘smitten, struck down’ by Israel (1Sa 7:10<\/span>). In 1Sa 4:3<\/span> Israel look in vain to the Ark to save them from their enemies, in 1Sa 7:8<\/span> they look to YHWH to save them from their enemies. In 1Sa 4:21<\/span> the result is the naming of Ichabod (for she said, ‘the glory has departed), in 1Sa 7:12<\/span> the result is the naming of Ebenezer (for Samuel said ‘YHWH has helped us’). 1 Samuel 7<\/span> is thus a reversal of the whole situation. <\/p>\n The Ark of God Having Been Suitably Re-established in Israel They Are Promised That If They Return to YHWH and Put Away Their Idolatry They Will Be Delivered from the Philistines ( 1Sa 7:2-4<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ). <\/p>\n Analysis. <\/p>\n a <\/strong> And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to YHWH with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to YHWH, and serve him only.” <\/p>\n “And he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” <\/p>\n Then the children of Israel did put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served YHWH only (1Sa 7:3-4<\/span>). <\/p>\n 1Sa 7:3<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to YHWH with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to YHWH, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’ <\/p>\n We should here remind ourselves of the words in 1Sa 3:19<\/span> to 1Sa 4:1<\/span>. Samuel has now grown to mature manhood and begins his ministry as a prophet of YHWH, calling on the house of Israel to put away their foreign gods and their Ashtaroth and to direct their hearts towards YHWH, and serve Him alone. Then, he assures them, He would deliver them out of the hands of the Philistines. <\/p>\n The foreign gods are defined in 1Sa 7:4<\/span> as the Baals. The plural may refer to the fact that Baal images were found everywhere, or it may indicate the differing Baals worshipped in different places (Baal-zebub, Baal Melchart, and so on). The Ashtaroth (-oth is a plural ending) were poles or Asherah images representing the consort of Baal which were placed alongside the Baals in the sanctuaries and high places. After the death of Joshua many Israelites succumbed to the appeal of the gods of Canaan, and Israel were never fully free of them during the whole period of the Judges. So the prophetic call now comes to finally put them away. <\/p>\n 1Sa 7:4<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> Then the children of Israel did put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served YHWH only. <\/p>\n So the children of Israel who were within the sphere of Samuel’s prophetic ministry obeyed him, and put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served YHWH only. <\/p>\n 1Sa 7:2<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>That the time was longtwenty years<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> Houbigant renders this verse much more intelligibly: but after many days had passed from the time that the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, and when the twentieth year was passed, the whole house of Israel sought after the Lord with tears. <\/em>Samuel was now grown up, and by his instrumentality the Israelites, after this period of rebellion against their God, were recovered to a right sense of themselves and their duty. <\/p>\n SECOND SECTION 1Sa 7:2-17<\/span><\/p>\n I. Israels Repentance and Conversion by Means of Samuels Prophetical Labors<\/em>. 1Sa 7:2-6<\/span><\/p>\n 2And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years. [And it came to pass, after the day when the ark rested in K., a long time, even twenty years, elapsed], and all the house of Israel 3lamented after the Lord [Jehovah]; And1<\/span> Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord [Jehovah] with all your hearts, then<\/em> put away the strange gods [ins.<\/em> from among you] and [ins.<\/em> the] Ashtaroth2<\/span> from among you [om.<\/em> from among you], and prepare [direct3<\/span>] your hearts unto the Lord [Jehovah], and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines. 4Then the children of Israel did put away [ins.<\/em> the] Baalim and [ins.<\/em> the] Ashtaroth, 5and served the Lord [Jehovah] only. And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh 6[Mizpah], and I will pray for you unto the Lord [Jehovah]. And they gathered together to Mizpeh [Mizpah], and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord [Jehovah], and said there,4<\/span> We have sinned against the Lord [Jehovah]. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh [Mizpah].<\/p>\n EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n 1Sa 7:2-4<\/span>. The penitential return of the people from idolatry to the sole service of the living God.<\/em> First, as to the union<\/em> and connection<\/em> of these sentences, their close union is so distinctly marked by the five-times occurring Waw<\/em> [and] that to suppose (with Thenius) a gap between 1Sa 7:2-3<\/span> is unwarranted. And also the connection of the individual statements is opposed to such a view. In 1Sa 7:2<\/span> the phrase after or from the day [ Eng. A. V. while] marks a terminus a quo,<\/em> on which follows the statement of a period of time,<\/em> of a condition of things<\/em> which lasted during5<\/span> this period, and of a definite fact<\/em> which introduced a new era. The point of time,<\/em> from which reckoning is made, is the day when the ark rested at Kirjathjearim, important enough, after its long absence, to form the beginning of a new development. The following period<\/em> of twenty years is characterized as disproportionally long by the added words and the days grew many.<\/em> [The sentence reads literally: and it came to pass, from the resting of the ark in K., and the days were many, and they were twenty years]. This is done to set forth more distinctly the condition of the people during this period, after the restoration of the ark. The condition of all the people of Israel is described by the words , etc.<\/em> [Eng. A. V. lamented, etc<\/em>.] according to the inner side of their life in relation to God. The meaning assigned to this verb () by Gesenius and others, assembled, rests merely on Buxturfs congregati sunt<\/em> (Lex. Chald.,<\/em> p. 1310), which is here and elsewhere an utterly incorrect translation of the Chald. Reflexive. Bttcher (hrenlese<\/em> I., p. 111) translates: the people of Israel quieted<\/em> themselves, and (in quiet devotion) followed Jahveh, and sees in this the contrast to the great disquietude mentioned in 1Sa 6:19<\/span> sq. But, in the first place, against this view is the phrase after Jehovah, which, in this translation, requires the arbitrary insertion of another verb and followed, without which insertion the expression and quieted themselves after<\/em> Jehovah gives no sense. Further, the reference to 1Sa 6:19<\/span> sq. is irrelevant, because there it is only a local disquietude that is spoken of, not one that touched all the people. Rather, according to Bttchers own remarkthat , in the first place, expresses remarkable breathing in general, heavy respiration, with sighing and lamentation, and hence is used of wailingwe must accept as well-grounded the translation: And sighed or lamented after the Lord. (So is used in Mic 2:4<\/span>; Eze 32:18<\/span>).6<\/span> The matter<\/em> or the cause<\/em> of the lamentation<\/em> is determined by the connection between these words and the following, and by the external condition of Israel during this period. In respect to the latter, Bttcher asks: Why should the Israelites still mourn after twenty years of immunity and quiet? And how could they have lamented after Jahveh, unless it was that their sanctuary had to move again? To which we reply by pointing to the uninterrupted oppression<\/em> of the Philistine domination; for, though the Philistines had brought the ark humbly back (Then.), there is no conflict between this and 1Sa 7:3<\/span> He will save you from the hand of the Philistines, since according to the narrative, the restoration of the ark had a definite religious ground, and noways involved the abandonment of the dominion which had been gained anew over Israel by the victory recorded in chap, iv. Indeed, it is expressly assumed in 1Sa 7:3<\/span> that this dominion had continued. It is, therefore, incorrect to suppose that the Israelites could have had cause and occasion for lamentation only by a new loss of the ark. Their external condition under the weight of the Philistine rule was cause enough for sighing and lamenting.<\/p>\n The tone and content of the lamentation is more precisely stated by the context.<\/em> The succeeding address of Samuel (1Sa 7:3<\/span>) if ye return (properly, if ye are returning, are in a state of conversion) and the mention of the sincere penitence of the people (1Sa 7:6<\/span>), presuppose a very deep sorrow and suffering, in which the foreign Philistine rule was felt to be a judgment of God, there being throughout the whole people a tone of feeling, which led them to return humbly to God, and to sigh and long after Him, now that He had turned away from His people: a return back to the living God, on whom they had often turned their back,7<\/span> to whom, however, they now, in consequence of His continuing judgments, again turned, just as, in the period of the Judges, return so often alternated with apostasy. The lamenting after the Lord therefore expresses the penitent disposition and decided direction of the innermost life of the people to their God, in which, with sorrow and pain over the self-incurred national misfortune under the rule of the Philistines, they seek Gods mercy and saving help, He having hitherto turned His back<\/em> on them, and forsaken them. The image is that of a child that goes weeping after its father or mother, that it may be relieved of what hurts it. An allusion to such a relation might perhaps be found in the expression the whole house of Israel. S. Schmid: The phrase lament after God is taken from human affairs, when one follows another, and entreats him with lamentations till he assents. An example of this is the Syrophenician woman, Matthew 15<\/span>After the lapse of the twenty years occurred this decided return of the whole people to their God. As, besides the constant pressure of the Philistine rule, no special calamity is mentioned, we must suppose a gradual preparation for this penitential temper of the people, which now, after the lapse of twenty years from the return of the ark, was become universal. The preparation came from within. By what means<\/em>? by the prophetic labors of Samuel, from the summary description of which, according to their intensive power, their extensive manifestation, and their results in the whole nation (1Sa 3:19-21<\/span>), we may clearly see, that Samuel without ceasing proclaimed to the people the word of God. And as in 1Sa 3:19<\/span> it is said that none of his words fell to the ground,<\/em> we shall have to recognize this penitential temper and this following after<\/em> God with sighing and lamentation from the consciousness of being forsaken and needing help, as a fruit of Samuels prophetic labors, which were directed to the relation of the innermost life of the people to their God. So by his influence the way was secretly and gradually paved for a reformation of the religious-moral life from within outwards. Certainly the lamentation of the people after the Lord was already the turning-point<\/em> to a better God-ward direction of the inner life (against Keil); the important thing was only that the people should maintain this following after God, should anew devote themselves in heart firmly<\/em> and decidedly<\/em> to the living God, and should give an outward confirmation of their resolution by completely breaking with idolatry. This<\/em> it is to which Samuel will yet further lead the people; on this<\/em> it depended whether the help of the Lord should be obtained, and the true covenant-relation restored; in this<\/em> was first thoroughly completed the reformation of the innermost life of the people; therefore the narrator describes this in detail in 1Sa 7:3<\/span> sqq., while he sets forth that preparation for the reformation only in its last stage of development, and even then merely by hints.<\/p>\n In 1Sa 7:3<\/span> Samuels word of exhortation<\/em> is in the first place described as addressed to the whole<\/em> people (comp. 1Sa 3:20<\/span>); we see him here in the performance of his prophetical work, which embraces all Israel. The content<\/em> of this word is first a conditionally expressed preliminary<\/em>: If ye return to the Lord with all your hearts. Two<\/em> things are here assumed and recognized as facts: 1) That a conversion<\/em> to God had already taken place in the whole nation, and 2) that this conversion was a permanent condition<\/em>, and that a permanent tendency towards God existed, as we may see from the Particip. if ye are turning. He thus points back to what is said before of Israels sighing and lamenting after the Lord.<\/em> The phrase with all the heart<\/em> involves an exhortation to what must be inseparably connected with conversion, if the latter is to be true and thorough, demands, that is, an internalizing and deepening of what is described in 1Sa 7:2<\/span> as lamenting after the Lord, in order that the right attitude of soul<\/em> towards God may exist. Since the heart8<\/span> is the centre and source of all movements of the inner life, as the bodily heart is the centre of the bloodflow and the life thereon founded, to turn with all the heart is so to turn ones self to God, from the central innermost kernel of the personal life, that is, of all thinking, feeling, desiring, willing, that the whole life shall be controlled by the fellowship with Him. To this deeply and thoroughly heartfelt turning, conversion of the whole inner life to the holy God, must now correspond the external confirmation<\/em> of such a disposition. The demand<\/em> is in conformity with the condition:<\/em> Put away the strange gods from among you,<\/em> which is exactly the same with the demand that Jacob (Gen 35:2<\/span>) once made of his house, and Joshua (Jos 24:23<\/span>, comp. 1 Samuel 14<\/span>.) of his people. After the return of the ark an earnest longing after the Lord arose among Israel. Samuel, availing himself of this, exhorted them to remove all idolatry from their midst (Hengst., Beitr.<\/em> [Contrib.<\/em>] I. 153 sqq.). The strange gods here spoken of, and called Ashtaroth and Baalim9<\/span> (comp. 1Sa 7:4<\/span>) are the gods of the Philistines, whose worship had gained entrance during the decline of the theocratic life and of the worship of the living God, as indeed during the whole Period of the Judges the idol-worship of the heathen nations was constantly forcing its way in, wherefore the Lord gave them again and again into the hand of the latter (Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
The fatal battle of Aphek, the capture of the holy Ark, the death of his old guardian, the great high priestly judge Eli, the sack and devastation of Shiloh, the loved sanctuary, the terrible and continued oppression of Philistia, had opened the eyes of the young inspired man of God. Taught by the bitter lessons of adversity, he saw it was by no bold stroke of a few gallant patriots that the nation could be saved; all such efforts Samuel the seer, after the crushing defeat of Aphek, saw would only sink the nation into still lower depths of degradation and misery. Other and different things were needed before the lion standard of Judah could be safely unfurled, or the war-cry of Ephraim raised on her mountains. What means he used we are not told, or what was his mode of life during those twenty years of waiting and work; but probably the life of the young prophet-judge was that of a fugitive, going stealthily from place to place that he might teach and preach, hiding in the caverns in the limestone ranges of Juda, emerging thence to visit now one quarter of the country and now another, ever in danger, but gradually stirring up, not merely those districts which were contiguous to the Philistines, but all Israel to a sense of the greatness of their sins, and to the necessity of renewed trust in and return of old love to their God. And so a fresh spiritual life by degrees sprang up among the people, and with it came the certainty of the future restoration of their national independence.Dean Payne Smith.<\/em><\/p>\nFuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
The Reformation of Israel by Samuel<\/strong><\/p>\n