1 Samuel 7:16
in 1 Samuel 7Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places.
KJV
And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth–el, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 7
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHe went from year to year in circuit - When he was at Beth-el, the tribe of Ephraim, and all the northern parts of the country, could attend him; when at Gilgal, the tribe of Benjamin, and those beyond Jordan, might have easy access to him; and when at Mizpeh, he was within reach of Judah, Simeon, and Gad; but Ramah was the place of his ordinary abode; and there he held his court, for there he judged Israel; and, as it is probable that Shiloh was destroyed, it is said, 1Sa 7:17, that there (viz., at Ramah) he built an altar unto the Lord.
This site's exposition
Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life
on 1 Samuel 7:15-17
This closes the line the book of Judges left open, there was no king in Israel in that book's own refrain, and Samuel is named here as the last man to judge Israel by that older office before a king is asked for. His circuit runs Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpeh with Ramah as his home, where he also builds an altar, so the closing picture of the judge is a man who worships as well as rules. The office does not end because it failed but because chapter eight will ask Israel's leader for something else.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 5 · Written before 604.
proposed
29. Bethel is called the house of God; Gilgal, a wheel; Mizpah, as has already been repeated above, is interpreted as a watchtower. What then does Bethel signify, if not men appointed to the office of the sacred altar, who, while they devote themselves to spiritual pursuits, are as it were intimates and members of the household of almighty God? And what does Gilgal, which is called a wheel, designate, if not the order of married persons? For they go around as if on a wheel, since they cannot be entirely free from the cares of this changing world.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
In all places - He went to those several places, in compliance with the people, whose convenience he was willing to purchase with his own trouble, as an itinerant judge and preacher; and by his presence in several parts, he could the better observe, and rectify all sorts of miscarriages.
): He judged Israel; as a prophet he taught them their duty and reproved them for their sins, which is called judging, Ezek. xx. Moses judged Israel when he made them know the statutes of God and his laws ( Exod. xviii. 16 ); and thus Samuel judged them to the last, even after Saul was made king; so he promised them then, when Saul was inaugurated ( ch. xii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
In all places - He went to those several places, in compliance with the people, whose convenience he was willing to purchase with his own trouble, as an itinerant judge and preacher; and by his presence in several parts, he could the better observe, and rectify all sorts of miscarriages.
And he went from year to year in circuit,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Now he set those wheels a-going; and, whereas he began to act as a magistrate, to prevent their relapsing into those sins which now they seemed to have renounced.
And these were the things for which God was preparing the designing him, in the early vouchsafements of his grace to him. The Ark at Kirjath-jearim. 1 And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the L ORD , and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the L ORD .
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He went from year to year in circuit - When he was at Beth-el, the tribe of Ephraim, and all the northern parts of the country, could attend him; when at Gilgal, the tribe of Benjamin, and those beyond Jordan, might have easy access to him; and when at Mizpeh, he was within reach of Judah, Simeon, and Gad; but Ramah was the place of his ordinary abode; and there he held his court, for there he judged Israel; and, as it is probable that Shiloh was destroyed, it is said, 1Sa 7:17, that there (viz., at Ramah) he built an altar unto the Lord.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Gilgal - It is uncertain whether Gilgal in the valley of the Jordan, or the modern Jiljulieh, the Gilgal of 2Ki 2:1; 2Ki 4:38, be meant; but far more probably the former (see 1Sa 11:14 and note).
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָלַ֗ךְ | vehalakh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| מִדֵּ֤י | midei | as often as | H1767 → | 39 times |
| שָׁנָה֙ | shanah | a year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| בְּשָׁנָ֔ה | beshanah | in a year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| וְסָבַב֙ | vesavav | and he went round | H5437 → | 161 times |
| בֵּֽית־ | beit- | Beth- | H1008 → | 142 times |
| אֵ֔ל | ʾel | -el | H1008 → | 142 times |
| וְהַגִּלְגָּ֖ל | vehagilgal | and <the> Gilgal | H1537 → | 41 times |
| וְהַמִּצְפָּ֑ה | vehamitzpah | and <the> Mizpah | H4709 → | 40 times |
| וְשָׁפַט֙ | veshafat | and he judged | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֵ֥ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַמְּקוֹמ֖וֹת | hamekomot | the places | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הָאֵֽלֶּה׃ | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
וְהָלַ֗ךְand he went
vehalakhH1980 →1546 times
מִדֵּ֤יas often as
mideiH1767 →39 times
שָׁנָה֙a year
shanahH8141 →877 times
בְּשָׁנָ֔הin a year
beshanahH8141 →877 times
וְסָבַב֙and he went round
vesavavH5437 →161 times
בֵּֽית־Beth-
beit-H1008 →142 times
אֵ֔ל-el
ʾelH1008 →142 times
וְהַגִּלְגָּ֖לand <the> Gilgal
vehagilgalH1537 →41 times
וְהַמִּצְפָּ֑הand <the> Mizpah
vehamitzpahH4709 →40 times
וְשָׁפַט֙and he judged
veshafatH8199 →202 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֵ֥ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַמְּקוֹמ֖וֹתthe places
hamekomotH4725 →401 times
הָאֵֽלֶּה׃<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Judges 5:10You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder
it leads to
- Judges 12:14
He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 10:4
He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 12:14
Through
Psalms 75:2“When I choose a time, I will judge fairly.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 3:17
I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
- Acts 17:31
For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
- Acts 1:7
Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.
- John 7:6
Therefore Jesus told them, “Although your time is always at hand, My time has not yet come.
- Psalms 102:13
You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor— the appointed time has come.
- Ecclesiastes 3:17
Through
Judges 12:14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years.
it leads to
- Judges 5:10
You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 5:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceJordan valley near JerichoGilgalIsrael's first Canaan camp where the stones were set and the reproach rolled away (Josh 4-5); later a corrupted shrine the prophet…
- PlaceCentral hill countryBethelThe house of God, where Jacob saw the ladder and heard the promise, where he returned to raise an altar, and where Jeroboam’s gold…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The First Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).