1 Samuel 7:17
in 1 Samuel 7Then he would return to Ramah because his home was there, and there he judged Israel and built an altar to the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house; and there he judged Israel: and he built there an altar unto Jehovah.
KJV
And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the Lord.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 7
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And there he built an altar - Whether this altar was in connection with the tabernacle or not we have no means of deciding, since we are in complete ignorance as to where the tabernacle was at this time, or who was High Priest, or where he resided. It is quite possible that Samuel may have removed the tabernacle from Shiloh to some place near to Ramah; and indeed it is in itself improbable that, brought up as he was from infancy in the service of the tabernacle, he should have left it.
This site's exposition
Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life
on 1 Samuel 7:15-17
This closes the line Judges left open with its refrain of no king in Israel, and Samuel is the last man to judge Israel by that older office. His circuit runs Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah, and at his home in Ramah he “built an altar to the LORD”, a judge who worships as well as rules. The office ends when chapter eight asks for something else.
This site's exposition
Then he would return to Ramah
Ramah was the home of Samuel's parents at 1:19, and he made it his base. Matthew Henry explained the altar there: Shiloh lay waste, and no other place had yet been chosen for Israel's offerings. John Wesley held that Samuel built it by prophetic direction.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
And he returned to Ramathia, etc. The Lord returned to heaven in body by ascending once, the office of His dispensation having been completed; he returns daily in divine presence, by which he always and everywhere reaches entirety from end to end strongly, and arranges …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 5 · Written before 604.
proposed
31. As we have already said far above, Ramah is interpreted as "consummated vision" and signifies that blessed and perfect society of the citizens above, to which Samuel returns lest he be weighed down by the burden of his labor. For Samuel returns to Ramah when the mind of the preacher is refreshed through love of heavenly things. For amid the immense burdens of his office he would collapse, if he did not return to love of heavenly things through the desire of his hope.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Built an altar - That by joining sacrifices with his prayers, he might the better obtain direction and assistance from God upon all emergencies. And this was done by prophetical inspiration, as appears by God's acceptance of the sacrifices offered upon it.
In keeping up the public exercises of religion; for there, where he lived, he built an altar to the Lord, not in contempt of the altar that was at Nob, or Gibeon, or wherever the tabernacle was; but divine justice having laid Shiloh waste, and no other place being yet chosen for them to bring their offerings to ( Deut. xii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Built an altar - That by joining sacrifices with his prayers, he might the better obtain direction and assistance from God upon all emergencies. And this was done by prophetical inspiration, as appears by God's acceptance of the sacrifices offered upon it.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And his return was to Ramah,....
In keeping up the public exercises of religion; for there, where he lived, he built an altar to the Lord, not in contempt of the altar that was at Nob, or Gibeon, or wherever the tabernacle was; but divine justice having laid Shiloh waste, and no other place being yet chosen for them to bring their offerings to ( Deut. xii.
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 words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּתְשֻׁבָת֤וֹ | uteshuvato | and return his | H8666 → | |
| הָרָמָ֙תָה֙ | haramatah | [was] <the> Ramah towards | H7414 → | 36 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שָׁ֣ם | sham | [was] there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| בֵּית֔וֹ | beito | house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְשָׁ֖ם | vesham | and there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| שָׁפָ֣ט | shafat | he judged | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וַיִּֽבֶן־ | vaiyiven- | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| שָׁ֥ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| מִזְבֵּ֖חַ | mizbeach | an altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| לַֽיהוָֽה׃ פ | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וּתְשֻׁבָת֤וֹand return his
uteshuvatoH8666 →
הָרָמָ֙תָה֙[was] <the> Ramah towards
haramatahH7414 →36 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
שָׁ֣ם[was] there
shamH8033 →834 times
בֵּית֔וֹhouse his
beitoH1004 →2046 times
וְשָׁ֖םand there
veshamH8033 →834 times
שָׁפָ֣טhe judged
shafatH8199 →202 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וַיִּֽבֶן־and he built
vaiyiven-H1129 →376 times
שָׁ֥םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
מִזְבֵּ֖חַan altar
mizbeachH4196 →401 times
לַֽיהוָֽה׃ פto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 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
1 Samuel 1:19The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered…
it leads to
- Genesis 21:1
Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.
- 1 Samuel 1:11
And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then…
- Genesis 30:22
Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,
- Genesis 4:1
And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.
- Psalms 119:147
I rise before dawn and cry for help; in Your word I have put my hope.
- Genesis 21:1
Through
1 Samuel 1:1Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 6:34
Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel, the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah,
- 1 Chronicles 6:25–27
The descendants of Elkanah:
- 1 Samuel 1:19
The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered…
- 1 Chronicles 6:34
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; 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).