1 Samuele 7:12

12 Allora Samuele prese una pietra, e la pose fra Mispa e la punta della rupe; e pose nome a quella pietra Eben-ezer; e disse: Il Signore ci ha soccorsi fino a questo luogo.

1 Samuele 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 Samuele 7:12 In-Context

10 Ora, mentre Samuele offeriva quell’olocausto, i Filistei si accostarono in battaglia contro ad Israele; ma il Signore in quel giorno tonò sopra i Filistei con gran tuono, e li mise in rotta; e furono sconfitti davanti ad Israele.

11 E gli Israeliti uscirono di Mispa, e perseguitarono i Filistei, e li percossero fin disotto a Bet-car.

12 Allora Samuele prese una pietra, e la pose fra Mispa e la punta della rupe; e pose nome a quella pietra Eben-ezer; e disse: Il Signore ci ha soccorsi fino a questo luogo.

13 E i Filistei furono abbassati, e non continuarono più d’entrar ne’ confini d’Israele. E la mano del Signore fu contro a’ Filistei tutto il tempo di Samuele.

14 E le città, che i Filistei aveano prese ad Israele, ritornarono ad Israele; Israele riscosse dalle mani dei Filistei quelle città da Ecron fino a Gat, insieme co’ lor confini. E vi fu pace tra gl’Israeliti e gli Amorrei.