1 Samuel 7:4

4 So the people of Isra'el banished the ba'alim and the 'ashtarot and served only ADONAI.

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Works, vol. 1. p. 54.

1 Samuel 7:4 In-Context

2 From the day that the ark arrived in Kiryat-Ye'arim a long time elapsed, twenty years; and all the people of Isra'el yearned for ADONAI.

3 Sh'mu'el addressed all the people of Isra'el; he said: "If you are returning to ADONAI with all your heart, then be done with the foreign gods and 'ashtarot that you have with you, and direct your hearts to ADONAI. If you will serve only him, he will rescue you from the power of the P'lishtim."

4 So the people of Isra'el banished the ba'alim and the 'ashtarot and served only ADONAI.

5 Sh'mu'el said, "Gather all Isra'el to Mitzpah, and I will pray for you to ADONAI."

6 So they gathered together at Mitzpah, drew water and poured it out before ADONAI, fasted that day, and said there, "We have sinned against ADONAI." Sh'mu'el began serving as judge over the people of Isra'el at Mitzpah.