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.
