1Sa 7:1-2 | JFB | STEP | 1. the men of Kirjath-jearim —"the city of woods," also Kirjath-baal ( ). It was the nearest town to Beth-shemesh and stood on a hill. This was the reason of the message ( ), and why this was chosen for the convenience of people turning their faces to the ark ( ). brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill —Why it was not transported at once to Shiloh where the tabernacle and sacred vessels were remaining, is difficult to conjecture. sanctified . . . his son —He was not a Levite, and was therefore only set apart or appointed to be keeper of the place.

1 Samuel 7:1-2

1. the men of Kirjath-jearim—"the city of woods," also Kirjath-baal (Jos 15:60; 18:14; 1Ch 13:5, 6). It was the nearest town to Beth-shemesh and stood on a hill. This was the reason of the message (1Sa 6:21), and why this was chosen for the convenience of people turning their faces to the ark (1Ki 8:29-35; Ps 28:2; Da 6:10).

brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill—Why it was not transported at once to Shiloh where the tabernacle and sacred vessels were remaining, is difficult to conjecture.

sanctified . . . his son—He was not a Levite, and was therefore only set apart or appointed to be keeper of the place.

2. the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim . . . twenty years—It appears, in the subsequent history, that a much longer period elapsed before its final removal from Kirjath-jearim (2Sa 6:1-19; 1Ch 13:1-14). But that length of time had passed when the Israelites began to revive from their sad state of religious decline. The capture of the ark had produced a general indifference either as to its loss or its recovery.

all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord—They were then brought, doubtless by the influence of Samuel's exhortations, to renounce idolatry, and to return to the national worship of the true God.

1Sa 7:3-6. THE ISRAELITES, THROUGH SAMUEL'S INFLUENCE, SOLEMNLY REPENT AT MIZPEH.