1 Samuel 7:12

12 Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. ^[a] He named it Ebenezer, ^[b] saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

1 Samuel 7:12 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 7:12

And Samuel took a stone, and set it
Not for worship, but as a monument of the victory obtained by the help of God: and this he placed

between Mizpeh and Shen;
which latter signifies a tooth, and designs the precipice of a rock which juts out, and hangs over in the form of one:

and called the name of it Ebenezer;
which signifies "the stone of help"; and is the same place which by anticipation has this name, ( 1 Samuel 4:1 ) , so that in the selfsame place where the Israelites were twice beaten by the Philistines, and the ark taken, was this salvation wrought for them:

saying, hitherto hath the Lord helped us;
this was but the beginning of their deliverance from the Philistines, and which was owing to the help of the Lord; and as he had begun to help them, they might hope and encourage themselves that he would go on to help them until their deliverance was completed: however, they with Samuel thought it their duty, which was right, to acknowledge what the Lord had done for them, and perpetuate the memory of it, though they could not be sure what he would do for them hereafter; yet as they were sensible of, and thankful for this instance of his goodness, they hoped for more, and had their dependence on him for future success against their enemies.

1 Samuel 7:12 In-Context

10 As the Philistines drew near to fight against Israel, Samuel was offering up the burnt offering. But that day the LORD thundered loudly against the Philistines and threw them into such confusion that they fled before Israel.

11 Then the men of Israel charged out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth-car.

12 Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they stopped invading the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

14 The cities from Ekron to Gath, which the Philistines had taken, were restored to Israel, who also delivered the surrounding territory from the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between the Israelites and the Amorites.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew; LXX and Syriac Jeshanah
• [b]. Ebenezer means stone of help.