1Sa 7:12-17 | TNotes | STEP | 7:12 Ebenezer: The location of this stone memorial is unknown. The Philistines had defeated Israel and captured the Ark at a place with the same name (4:1 ; 5:1 ). Samuel erected this memorial to commemorate God’s help in turning the tide against the Philistine attacks.

7:12 ^a Ebenezer: The location of this stone memorial is unknown. The Philistines had defeated Israel and captured the Ark at a place with the same name (4:1 ^b; 5:1 ^c). Samuel erected this memorial to commemorate God’s help in turning the tide against the Philistine attacks.
7:13 ^d The Philistines were quiet for some time—until Saul became king (see 13:5 ^e).

• God’s powerful hand, not Samuel’s giftedness, was the key factor in Israel’s deliverance from the Philistines.
7:14 ^f The Amorites had inhabited Canaan and the region east of the Jordan before Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land (see Gen 15:16 ^g; Deut 3:8 ^h; Josh 2:10 ⁱ). Some Amorites remained in the area after the conquest (see 2 Sam 21:2 ^j).
7:15 ^k judge for the rest of his life: Once Saul became king (ch 10 ^l), Samuel’s role was more judicial than military.
7:16 ^m Bethel and Mizpah were places of national assembly in the judges era (Judg 20:1 ⁿ, 18 ^o, 26 ^p; 21:1-2 ^q). Bethel’s significance went back to the days of Abraham (Gen 12:8 ^r; 13:3-4 ^s; 28:10-22 ^t; 35:1-15 ^u).

• Gilgal, located near Jericho, had been a sacred place since Joshua’s day (Josh 4:19-24 ^v; 5:2-10 ^w). From this circuit, Samuel influenced “all the people of Israel” (1 Sam 10:17 ^x).
7:17 ^y Ramah was Samuel’s hometown (see 1:1 ^z).