1 Samuel 7:5
in 1 Samuel 7Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD on your behalf.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you unto Jehovah.
KJV
And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 7
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd Samuel said, gather all Israel to Mizpeh,.... Not Mizpeh in Gilead, on the other side Jordan, but a city which lay on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, where the tribes met on the account of the Levite's concubine, Jdg 20:
This site's exposition
Gather all Israel to Mizpeh
on 1 Samuel 7:5-6
Mizpeh becomes the site of national repentance: water drawn and poured out before the Lord, a fast kept, and the confession spoken aloud, We have sinned against the Lord. The older writers read the poured water as a picture of the heart emptied out before God, whether or not it also marked a fixed rite of the day. Samuel judges Israel at Mizpeh in the same verse as the confession, so the judge's office and the intercessor's task meet in one man.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 5 · Written before 604.
proposed
11. Mizpah is interpreted as "watching" or "contemplation." The blessed Paul explains this contemplation when he says: 'For now we see through a glass, darkly' (1 Cor. 13:12). For to watch is, for us, to contemplate eternal goods from the heights of the Scriptures. For we watch, as it were, what we already know by the truth of faith, yet do not yet see with unveiled face. For converted sinners to gather at Mizpah is to trust, through the attention of the mind, in the mercy of almighty God.
Samuel said: Gather all Israel to Mizpah, etc. The Savior said to the apostles that by preaching the word of the Gospel, they should gather all spiritual Israel to Mizpah, that is, to the watchtower, namely of the new truth and life. From this gathering …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Put away Baalim, the strange gods, and Ashtaroth, the strange goddesses," for such also they had. Or Ashtaroth is particularly named because it was the best-beloved idol, and that which they were most wedded to. Note, True repentance strikes at the darling sin, and will with a peculiar zeal and resolution put away that, the sin which most easily besets us.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Note, Ministers should pray for those to whom they preach, that God by his grace would make the preaching effectual. And, when we come together in religious assemblies, we must remember that it is as much our business there to join in public prayers as it is to hear a sermon.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Gather all Israel to Mizpeh - This appears to have been an armed assembly, though probably collected principally for religious and political purposes; but Samuel knew that an unarmed multitude could not safely be convened in the vicinity of the Philistines.
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.
Gather all Israel to Mizpeh - This appears to have been an armed assembly, though probably collected principally for religious and political purposes; but Samuel knew that an unarmed multitude could not safely be convened in the vicinity of the Philistines.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שְׁמוּאֵ֔ל | shemuel | Samuel | H8050 → | 141 times |
| קִבְצ֥וּ | kivtzu | gather | H6908 → | 127 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הַמִּצְפָּ֑תָה | hamitzpatah | <the> Mizpah towards | H4709 → | 40 times |
| וְאֶתְפַּלֵּ֥ל | veetpalel | so I may pray | H6419 → | 84 times |
| בַּעַדְכֶ֖ם | baadkhem | for you | H1157 → | 105 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
שְׁמוּאֵ֔לSamuel
shemuelH8050 →141 times
קִבְצ֥וּgather
kivtzuH6908 →127 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הַמִּצְפָּ֑תָה<the> Mizpah towards
hamitzpatahH4709 →40 times
וְאֶתְפַּלֵּ֥לso I may pray
veetpalelH6419 →84 times
בַּעַדְכֶ֖םfor you
baadkhemH1157 →105 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →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 7:12Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 1:10
He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,
- Joshua 4:9
Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.
- Acts 26:22
But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
- Genesis 22:14
And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
- Genesis 35:14
So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had spoken with him—a stone marker—and he poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil.
- 2 Corinthians 1:10
Through
1 Samuel 12:23As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
it leads to
- Colossians 1:9
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and…
- Romans 1:9
God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
- 2 Timothy 1:3
I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as I constantly remember you night and day in my prayers.
- Colossians 1:9
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 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.