1 Samuel 7


1 Samuel 7 is the seventh chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter records a victory of Israel under the leadership of Samuel against the Philistines as part of the "Ark Narrative" within a section concerning the life of Samuel, and also as part of a section comprising 1 Samuel 7–15 which records the rise of the monarchy in Israel and the account of the first years of King Saul.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 17 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis. Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q51 with extant verse 1.
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.

Places

This chapter provides the background leading to the rise of the monarchy in chapters 8–12 by indicating the threat to Israel, here from the Philistines, and later also from other nations, as well as showing that theocracy, based on Israel's faithfulness to the covenant with God, brought success against the enemies, but later when Israel became unfaithful to
God, a monarchy became a necessity.

The Ark at Kiriath Jearim (7:1–2)

At the request of the people of Beth-shemesh, men of Kiriath Jearim moved the Ark of the Covenant from Beth-shemesh to their city and installed it at the house of Abinadab. The people set aside Eleazar, son of Abinadab, as the guard to the Ark, a term which may mean a priestly task of liturgical services to take care of it as a sacred object or the actual task of keeping people away from it. Both the names Abinadab and Eleazar often appear in levitical lists. Eleazar seemed to perform his duties well as there was no reported casualties during the twenty years of the Ark being there. The Ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim until David moved it to Jerusalem.

Verse 1

  • "People": in Hebrew literally "men".
  • "Kiriath Jearim" : now identified with Deir el-Azar, a place near Abu Ghosh on a hill about 7 miles west of Jerusalem.
  • "Abinadab": also the father of Uzzah and Ahio, the priests related to the transportation of the Ark to Jerusalem, as recorded in 2 Samuel 6:3–4, 6–8; 1 Chronicles 13:7, 9–11.

    Verse 2

  • "Twenty years": may allude to "half a generation", fitting Samuel's story in the Book of Judges, where 'a period of foreign oppression precedes Israel's repentance'.

    Rematch with the Philistines (7:3–14)

Although the Philistines had been forced to return the ark, they were still a threat, so Samuel surfaced to lead his people to fight, first by addressing the issue in verse 3, then by assembling the army in verse 5. The battle in verses 7–11 'bears the marks of the holy war tradition', such as in Joshua 10:
  • an enemy assault causing panic among the Israelites;
  • petition by Samuel, accompanied by sacrifice;
  • YHWH entering into battle, causing a thunderstorm to confuse the Philistines;
  • the Israelites pursuing the defeated Philistines.
These elements emphasize the basic claim that 'victory belongs to YHWH alone'. Using a formula similar to those in the book of Judges, the section concludes by stating that the Philistines were completely subjugated with Israel repossessing towns and territories formerly lost to the Philistines, restoring their position, as it was before an earlier battle at Ebenezer, a place with significant meaning, 'Stone of Help', reminding Israel that 'thus far the has helped us'. The Israelites even made peace with the Amorites.

Verse 3

Samuel's address contains Deuteronomistic phrases, such as 'returning to the LORD with all your heart', and many expressions found in the book of Judges.

Verse 5

  • "Mizpah": identified as Tell en-Nasbeh a few miles north of Jerusalem. It was an important tribal center and location of many prophetical activities.
  • "Pray": on this occasion was usually accompanied by two rites: drawing and pouring water ; fasting was a sign of penitence.

    Verse 12

  • "Shen": according to Hebrew texts; Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts have "Jeshanah".
  • "Ebenezer": literally, "stone of help" or "the stone, the help", where 'the second noun is in apposition to the first one'; apparently forming the name by which the stone was known; cf. the expression used in 1 Samuel 5:1 and 7:12, where, unlike 4:1, the first word lacks the definite article.

    Verse 13

  • "All the days of Samuel": this phrase indicates that the statement summarizes Samuel's judgeship. This directly contrasts with the characterization of the reign of Saul in 1 Samuel 14:52, as follows:
1 Samuel 7:131 Samuel 14:52
"all the days of Samuel""all the days of Saul"
"the hand of the was against the Philistines""there was bitter war with the Philistines"

The contrast displays the ineffectiveness of Saul's reign against the Philistines, but moreover shows how the people of Israel demanded a king during the time of military dominance over the Philistines under Samuel, thus lack of valid reason to replace theocracy with monarchy.

Samuel judges Israel (7:15–17)

Samuel the prophet led Israel in the style of preceding "judges", who saved the people from their enemies, while also fulfilling a narrower judicial role. In affirming the effectiveness of a charismatic, non-royal leadership, the inappropriateness of Israel's wish to have a king in subsequent events is established.

Commentaries on Samuel

General

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