1 Samuel 7:5

5 Then Samuel said, "Gather all of the people of Israel together at Mizpah. I will pray to the LORD for you."

1 Samuel 7:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 7:5

And Samuel said, gather all Israel to Mizpeh
Not Mizpeh in Gilead, on the other side Jordan, but a city which lay on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, where the tribes met on the account of the Levite's concubine, ( Judges 20:1 ) . This order Samuel gave by messengers sent to the several tribes, or the heads of them, to meet him at this place:

and I will pray for you unto the Lord;
no doubt he prayed for them privately, that the reformation begun might be carried on, and appear to be sincere, and hearty, and general, and universal; but he was desirous that they might appear in a body, and join with him in public prayer for their spiritual and temporal welfare; that they might have true repentance for their sins, reform from them, and have remission of them, and be delivered out of the hands of their enemies.

1 Samuel 7:5 In-Context

3 Samuel spoke to the whole community of Israel. He said, "Do you really want to return to the LORD with all your hearts? If you do, get rid of your strange gods. Get rid of your statues of goddesses that are named after Ashtoreth. Commit yourselves to the Lord. Serve him only. Then he will save you from the powerful hand of the Philistines."

4 So the people of Israel put away their statues of gods that were named after Baal. They put away their statues of goddesses named after Ashtoreth. They served the LORD only.

5 Then Samuel said, "Gather all of the people of Israel together at Mizpah. I will pray to the LORD for you."

6 When the people had come together at Mizpah, they went to the well and got water. They poured it out in the sight of the Lord. On that day they didn't eat any food. They admitted they had sinned. They said, "We've sinned against the Lord." Samuel was the leader of Israel at Mizpah.

7 The Philistines heard that Israel had gathered together at Mizpah. So the Philistine rulers came up to attack them. When the people of Israel heard about it, they were afraid.