1 Samuel 7:4

4 So Israel put away the Ba'als and the Ash'taroth, and they served the LORD only.

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 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kir'iath-je'arim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
3 Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ash'taroth from among you, and direct your heart to the LORD, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."
4 So Israel put away the Ba'als and the Ash'taroth, and they served the LORD only.
5 Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you."
6 So they gathered at Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, "We have sinned against the LORD." And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.