1 Samuel 7:4
in 1 Samuel 7So the Israelites put away the Baals and Ashtoreths and served only the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then the children of Israel did put away the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, and served Jehovah only.
KJV
Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 7
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThen the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth,.... Both their male and female deities, of which see Jdg 2:13. and served the Lord Only; Dr. Lightfoot (i) observes, that a spirit of repentance and conversion came generally upon all the people; a matter and a time as remarkable as almost any we read of in Scripture, one only parallel to it; and that is in Acts, chapters two and three, at the great conversion there. (i) Works, vol. 1. p. 54.
This site's exposition
put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you
on 1 Samuel 7:3-4
Samuel's charge is the first recorded word to reach all Israel since the ark's capture, and it names the actual idols kept in Israelite houses, Baalim and Ashtaroth, the storm god and the fertility goddess of Canaan. Returning unto the Lord with all your hearts is put before any promise of deliverance, and the people obey at verse four before Samuel calls the assembly at Mizpeh. The order of the chapter argues that reform is the ground of deliverance, not deliverance the reward for asking.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
God alone is substantially and essentially God. When I say "alone," I set forth the holy and uncreated essence and substance of God. For the word alone is used in the case of any individual and generally of human nature. In the instance of Paul, that he alone was caught into the third heaven and "heard unspeakable words that are not lawful for a man to utter," and of human nature, as when David says, "as for man his days are as grass," not meaning any particular man but human nature generally; for every human is short-lived and mortal.
The Medieval Church2 voices
So the children of Israel removed Baalim and Ashtaroth, etc. These idols are from the Sidonians; of which Baalim signifies the higher or ascending ones, and Ashtaroth the workmanship of explorers. Therefore, whoever of the children of Israel served the true God the Father at …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 5 · Written before 604.
proposed
10. For it is the custom of the elect that when they receive the exhortations of divine preaching, they are kindled to zeal for the good works they have heard. For the reprobate frequently hear the words of God, yet from those same words they undertake no good works. They remain sluggish in their actions, because, cast out from the divine light, they do not see by inward contemplation the glory of almighty God whose words they hear. Rightly, therefore, those who obey are called children of Israel, because the more openly they behold His majesty in its manifestation, the more devoutly they are known to obey His commandments. But since he is speaking to those who have been converted, let us hear what he perceives is still lacking in them.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
): They put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, not only quitted the worship of them, but destroyed their images, demolished their altars, and quite abandoned them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Put away Baalim and Ashtaroth - These were not two particular deities, but two genera of idols; the one masculine, Baalim; the other feminine, Ashtaroth; both the words are in the plural number, and signify all their gods and goddesses.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The re-establishment of the faith of their fathers was inaugurated at a great public meeting, held at Mizpeh in Judah, and hallowed by the observance of impressive religious solemnities.
Two enemies held Israel in subjection. The Philistines had fought against them and defeated them, even though they sent to Shiloh and brought the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of Jehovah's Presence, into their camp. The Lord was not with them, so they were smitten with a great slaughter. The crowning disaster of the day was "the Ark of God was taken." The Philistines carried it away to Ashdod and set it in the house of Dagon, their idol. You remember how God, jealous for His honor and Glory, worked mighty wonders, causing Dagon to fall and inflicting punishment on every city where the ark came, until, at last, the Philistines, wearied with their trials, sent the Ark back to the people on whose behalf Jehovah had shown Himself so strong. Twenty years the Ark abode at Kirjath Jearim and, during all that time, Israel was under the hand of the Philistines. But a worse enemy than the Philistines held sway over the land. Though the Ark had returned, the people had gone away from their God and had set up the abominable worship of Baal and Astarte, the idols of the Phoenicians and other heathen nations by whom they were surrounded. I will not stay to explain to you about these gods. Suffice it to say that the Baalim were the male gods and the Ashtaroth the female—and that worship of these idols was attended with great lewdness and filthiness—in fact, the holy things of Baal and Astarte we would call obscene and degrading. The people were thus in double bondage. The heavy yoke of the Philistines was upon them because the heavier burden of a false worship crushed out the life of their hearts. It may very naturally be asked, "Where was Samuel all that time?" I know not what he was doing during those 20 years, but I have a suspicion.
Two enemies held Israel in subjection. The Philistines had fought against them and defeated them, even though they sent to Shiloh and brought the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of Jehovah's Presence, into their camp. The Lord was not with them, so they were smitten with a great slaughter. The crowning disaster of the day was "the Ark of God was taken." The Philistines carried it away to Ashdod and set it in the house of Dagon, their idol.
Put away Baalim and Ashtaroth - These were not two particular deities, but two genera of idols; the one masculine, Baalim; the other feminine, Ashtaroth; both the words are in the plural number, and signify all their gods and goddesses.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּסִ֙ירוּ֙ | vaiyasiru | and they removed | H5493 → | 299 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַבְּעָלִ֖ים | habealim | the Baals | H1168 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעַשְׁתָּרֹ֑ת | haashtarot | the Ashtaroth | H6252 → | 12 times |
| וַיַּעַבְד֥וּ | vaiyaavdu | and they served | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְבַדּֽוֹ׃ פ | levado | to only him | H905 → | 200 times |
וַיָּסִ֙ירוּ֙and they removed
vaiyasiruH5493 →299 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַבְּעָלִ֖יםthe Baals
habealimH1168 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָעַשְׁתָּרֹ֑תthe Ashtaroth
haashtarotH6252 →12 times
וַיַּעַבְד֥וּand they served
vaiyaavduH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְבַדּֽוֹ׃ פto only him
levadoH905 →200 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
Hosea 14:3Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”
it leads to
- Psalms 10:14
But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
- Psalms 68:5
A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.
- John 14:18
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
- Isaiah 31:1
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- Psalms 10:14
Through
Hosea 14:8O Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes from Me.
it leads to
- Job 34:32
Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’
- James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Luke 15:20
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and…
- Job 34:32
Through
Judges 2:13for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
it leads to
- Judges 10:6
And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus…
- Judges 10:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Basil of Caesarea, LETTER 8.3; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2220: “Three Decisive Steps” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 5; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.