1 Samuel 7:15

7:13-17 In this great revival of true religion, the ark was neither removed to Shiloh, nor placed with the tabernacle any where else. This disregard to the Levitical institutions showed that their typical meaning formed their chief use; and when that was overlooked, they became a lifeless service, not to be compared with repentance, faith, and the love of God and man.

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. Not only before Saul was made king, but afterwards; for though he had not the exercise of the supreme government of the nation, yet he might act as a judge under Saul, and hear and try causes brought before him, and execute justice and judgment; and as a prophet he taught and instructed the people, and reformed abuses among them; and besides, he held and exercised his extraordinary office, to which he was raised up of God, and even took upon him to reprove Saul himself, and to kill Agag. The Jews say (q) he judged Israel thirteen years only, eleven by himself, and two with Saul; but his government must be much larger, his with Saul is reckoned forty years, Acts 13:21 . (q) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 13. p. 35. Midrash Tillim apud Abarbinel in loc. Kimchi in loc.

1 Samuel 7:15 . Samuel judged Israel, &c. — For though Saul was king in Samuel’s last days, yet Samuel did not cease to be a judge, being so made by God’s extraordinary call, which Saul could not destroy; and therefore Samuel did sometimes, upon great occasions, though not ordinarily, exercise the office of judge after the beginning of Saul’s reign; and the years of the rule of Saul and Samuel are joined together, Acts 13:20-21 .

Verses 15, 16. - And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. As long as Samuel lived there was no clear]imitation of his powers as shophet compared with those of Saul as king. In putting Agag to death ( 1 Samuel 15:33 ) he even claimed a higher authority, and though he voluntarily left as a rule all civil and military matters to the king, yet he never actually resigned the supreme control, and on fitting occasions even exercised it. It was, however, practically within narrow limits that he personally exercised his functions as judge in settling the causes of the people; for Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh were all situated in the tribe of Benjamin. Both Bethel and Mizpah were holy spots, and so also, probably, was Gilgal; and therefore we may conclude that it was the famous sanctuary of that name (see 1 Samuel 11:14 ), and not the Gilgal mentioned, in 2 Kings 2:1 ; 2 Kings 4:38 . For this latter, situated to the southwest of Shiloh, near the road to Jerusalem, had no religious importance, and would not, therefore, attract so many people to it as one that was frequented for sacrifice. Probably, too, it was upon the occasion of religious solemnities that Samuel visited these places, and heard the people's suits. 1 Samuel 7:15

15 . Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life ] This, like the statement of 1 Samuel 7:13 , must be understood with qualifications: for ( a ) Samuel in his old age made his sons judges ( 1 Samuel 8:1 ): ( b ) Saul was made king a considerable time before Samuel’s death. But it does not contradict the subsequent history. Clearly his sons supplemented but did not supersede their father’s judicial office; and Samuel retained a civil and religious authority even after Saul had become the military leader of the people.

(15) And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. —The influence and supreme power of Samuel only ended with his life. For a very long period—probably for at least twenty years after the decisive battle of Eben-ezer—Samuel, as “judge,” exercised the chief authority in Israel. The time at length arrived when, convinced by clear Divine monition that it was best for the people that a king should rule over them, Samuel the seer, then advanced in years, voluntarily laid down his high office in favour of the new king, Saul; but his influence remained, and his authority, whenever he chose to exercise it, seems to have continued undiminished, and on momentous occasions (see, for instance, 1Samuel 15:33 ) we find king and nation submitting to his counsel and expressed will.

For though Saul was king in Samuel’s last days, yet Samuel did not then quite cease to be a judge, being so made by God’s extraordinary call, which Saul could not destroy; and therefore Samuel did sometimes, upon great occasions, though not ordinarily, exercise the office of a judge after the beginning of Saul’s reign; as 1 Samuel 11:7 15:32,33 . And the years of the rule of Saul and Samuel are joined together, Acts 13:20,21 . Quest. How doth the office of a judge agree with Hannah’s vow, whereby she devoted him to a perpetual attendance upon the Lord’s service? Answ. This was not inconsistent with her vow, which consisted of two branches; the one more general, that he should be given or lent to the Lord all his days, 1 Samuel 1:11,28 , which she faithfully executed, leaving him wholly to the service and disposal of the Lord, who thought fit to employ him in this way; and if any thing therein was contrary to that vow, could undoubtedly dispense with it, as being his own right only: the other more particular, that no razor should come upon his head; nor doth it appear that this part was violated; or if it was, it was done by Divine dispensation.

12. Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen—on an open spot between the town and "the crag" (some well-known rock in the neighborhood). A huge stone pillar was erected as a monument of their victory (Le 26:1). The name—Eben-ezer—is thought to have been written on the face of it.

Samuel's judicial labours. - With the calling of the people to Mizpeh, and the victory at Ebenezer that had been obtained through his prayer, Samuel had assumed the government of the whole nation; so that his office as judge dates from his period, although he had laboured as prophet among the people from the death of Eli, and had thereby prepared the way for the conversion of Israel to the Lord. As his prophetic labours were described in general terms in 1 Samuel 3:19-21 , so are his labours as judge in the verses before us: viz., in 1 Samuel 3:15 their duration, - "all the days of his life," as his activity during Saul's reign and the anointing of David ( 1 Samuel 15-16 ) sufficiently prove; and then in 1 Samuel 3:16 , 1 Samuel 3:17 their general character, - "he went round from year to year" (וסבב serves as a more precise definition of והלך, he went and travelled round) to Bethel, i.e., Beitin (see at Joshua 7:2 ), Gilgal, and Mizpeh (see at. 1 Samuel 3:5 ), and judged Israel at all these places. Which Gilgal is meant, whether the one situated in the valley of the Jordan ( Joshua 4:19 ), or the Jiljilia on the higher ground to the south-west of Shiloh (see at Joshua 8:35 ), cannot be determined with perfect certainty.

The latter is favoured partly by the order in which the three places visited by Samuel on his circuits occur, since according to this he probably went first of all from Ramah to Bethel, which was to the north-east, then farther north or north-west to Jiljilia, and then turning back went towards the south-east to Mizpeh, and returning thence to Ramah performed a complete circuit; whereas, if the Gilgal in the valley of the Jordan had been the place referred to, we should expect him to go there first of all from Ramah, and then towards the north-east to Bethel, and from that to the south-west to Mizpeh; and partly also by the circumstance that, according to 2 Kings 2:1 and 2 Kings 4:38 , there was a school of the prophets at Jiljilia in the time of Elijah and Elisha, the founding of which probably dated as far back as the days of Samuel. If this conjecture were really a well-founded one, it would furnish a strong proof that it was in this place, and not in the Gilgal in the valley of the Jordan, that Samuel judged the people.