1 Samuel 7:4

4 So the Israelites got rid of their idols of Baal and Astarte, and worshiped only the Lord.

1 Samuel 7:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 7:4

Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth,
&c.] Both their male and female deities, of which see ( Judges 2:13 ) ( 3:7 )

and served the Lord Only;
Dr. Lightfoot ^F9 observes, that a spirit of repentance and conversion came generally upon all the people; a matter and a time as remarkable as almost any we read of in Scripture, one only parallel to it; and that is in Acts, chapters two and three, at the great conversion there.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F9 Works, vol. 1. p. 54.

1 Samuel 7:4 In-Context

2 The Covenant Box of the Lord stayed in Kiriath Jearim a long time, some twenty years. During this time all the Israelites cried to the Lord for help.

3 Samuel said to the people of Israel, "If you are going to turn to the Lord with all your hearts, you must get rid of all the foreign gods and the images of the goddess Astarte. Dedicate yourselves completely to the Lord and worship only him, and he will rescue you from the power of the Philistines."

4 So the Israelites got rid of their idols of Baal and Astarte, and worshiped only the Lord.

5 Then Samuel called for all the Israelites to meet at Mizpah, telling them, "I will pray to the Lord for you there."

6 So they all gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water and poured it out as an offering to the Lord and fasted that whole day. They said, "We have sinned against the Lord." (It was at Mizpah where Samuel settled disputes among the Israelites.)