1 Samuel 7:6

Contextual Overview

³ And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you are returning to Yahweh with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to Yahweh, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. ³ Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, "If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines." ³ And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your heart, then put away the strange gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. ³ Samuel spoke to the whole group of Israel, saying, "If you're turning back to the Lord with all your hearts, you must remove your foreign gods and your idols of Ashtoreth. You must give yourselves fully to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will save you from the Philistines." ³ Samuel said to all the people of Israel, "If you are really turning to the Lord with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth. Give your hearts to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines." ³ And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return to the LORD with all your hearts, [then] put away the strange gods, and Ashtaroth, from among you, and prepare your hearts to the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines. ³ Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return to Yahweh with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to Yahweh, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. ³Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth (pagan goddesses) from among you and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him only; and He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines." ³ And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." ³ Forsothe Samuel spak to al the hows of Israel, and seide, If in al youre herte ye turnen ayen to the Lord, do ye awei alien goddis, Balym and Astaroth, fro the myddis of you; and make ye redi youre hertis to the Lord, and serue ye hym aloone; and he schal delyuere you fro the hond of Filisteis.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

drew water: Grotius says, that the pouring out of water means the shedding of tears; and the Targum reads, "And they poured out their hearts in penitence, as waters, before the Lord." Others suppose that it was done emblematically, to represent the contrition of their hearts, and their desire to wash away their past offences. But some learned men conceive that it was poured out as a libation, in token of joy, after they had fasted and confessed their sin, as they were wont to do in the feast of tabernacles. - See note on Numbers 29:35. 1 Samuel 1:15, 2 Samuel 14:14, Job 16:20, Psalms 6:6, Psalms 42:3, Psalms 119:136, Jeremiah 9:1, Lamentations 2:11, Lamentations 2:18, Lamentations 3:49

fasted: 2 Chronicles 20:3, Ezra 8:21-23, Nehemiah 9:1-3, Daniel 9:3-5, Joel 2:12, Jonah 3:1-10

We have sinned: Leviticus 26:40, Judges 10:10, 1 Kings 8:47, Ezra 9:5-10, Job 33:27, Job 40:4, Job 42:6, Psalms 38:3-8, Psalms 106:6, Jeremiah 3:13, Jeremiah 3:14, Jeremiah 31:19, Luke 15:18

judged: Judges 3:10, Nehemiah 9:27, Ezekiel 20:4

Reciprocal: Joshua 15:38 - Mizpeh Judges 2:4 - the people Judges 20:1 - in Mizpeh Judges 20:26 - wept 1 Samuel 7:15 - judged 1 Samuel 10:17 - unto the Lord 2 Samuel 23:16 - poured it 1 Chronicles 11:18 - poured 2 Chronicles 16:6 - Mizpah Jeremiah 40:6 - Mizpah Lamentations 2:19 - pour

Cross-References

Genesis 5:32
After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5:32
And Noah was 500 years old: And Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5:32
After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5:32
After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5:32
And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5:32
Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5:32
After Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5:32
Forsothe Noe whanne he was of fyue hundrid yeer gendride Sem, Cham, and Jafeth.

Genesis 5:32
And Noah is a son of five hundred years, and Noah begetteth Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5:32
After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they gathered together to Mizpeh,.... Even all Israel, at least the heads of the people, and representatives of them:

and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord; drew it from some fountain near at hand, and poured it out as in the presence of God, who was where his people were met together. Jerom k relates it as tradition of the Jews, that curses were cast into this water, as in the water of jealousy, and that idolaters were tried by it; and that whatever idolater, who denied he worshipped idols, and tasted of it, his lips so stuck together that they could not be separated, and by this means was known and put to death; and therefore it is said Samuel judged now at this place: but it should be observed, this water was not drank, but poured out; and that as a token of their humiliation, as Jarchi, that they were before the Lord, as water poured out; and of the sincerity of their repentance, as the Targum, which is,

"they poured out their heart in repentance, as water;''

and of the atonement and expiation of their sins, which passed away as water to be remembered no more, as Kimchi, or rather signifying hereby that they thoroughly renounced idolatry, that nothing of it should remain; as water entirely poured out, there remains not so much as any smell of it in the cask, as does of honey or oil, or such kind of liquor; for what a learned writer l says, that this was in token of joy, like that at the feast of tabernacles, when they drew water out of the fountain of Siloah, seems not so agreeable, since this was a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, as follows:

and fasted on that day, and said there, we have sinned against the Lord; Samuel prayed in public for them, with whom they joined; and they fasted in a literal sense, abstaining from food, and made a confession of their sins; this was the work of that day:

and Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh; not that he now began to judge them, but went on in a more public and vigorous manner to judge them; he sat, and heard, and tried causes that came before him; explained the laws of God to them, and enforced the obedience of them; reformed abuses that were among them, and punished idolaters.

k Trad. Heb. in lib. Reg. fol. 75. F. l L'Empereur, annot. in Misn. Middot, c. 2. sect. 5. No. 7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Two rites are brought together here which belong especially to the Feast of Tabernacles and the Day of Atonement, respectively, namely, drawing and pouring out water, and fasting. Hence, some think that Samuel chose the Feast of tabernacles, and the fast which preceded it, as the occasion for assembling the people. Others explain the pouring out water as the pouring out the heart in penitence as it were water; or, as a symbolic act expressing their ruin and helplessness 2 Samuel 14:14; or as typifying their desire that their sins might be forgotten “as waters that pass away” Job 11:16.

And Samuel judged - This seems to denote the “commencement” of Samuel’s Judgeship civil and military, as having taken place at Mizpeh on this occasion. As civil Judge he did exactly what Moses did Exodus 18:13-16; as military Judge he did what Othniel, Ehud, Barak, and Gideon had done before him, organized and marshalled the people for effectual resistance to their oppressors, and led them out to victory.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 7:6. Drew water, and poured it out — It is not easy to know what is meant by this; it is true that pouring out water, in the way of libation, was a religious ordinance among the Hebrews, (Isaiah 12:3), and among most other nations, particularly the Greeks and Romans, who used, not only water, but wine, milk, honey, and blood, as we find by Homer, Virgil, Euripides, Sophocles, Porphyry, and Lucian. Our Lord seems to allude to this ceremony, John 7:37-38, where see the note.

The Chaldee Paraphrast understands the place differently, for he translates: "And they poured out their hearts in penitence, as WATERS, before the Lord." That deep penitential sorrow was represented under the notion of pouring out water, we have a direct proof in the case of David, who says, Psalms 22:14, I am POURED OUT LIKE WATER, my heart is like wax; it is MELTED in the midst of my bowels. And to repentance, under this very similitude, the prophet exhorts fallen Jerusalem: Arise, cry out in the night; in the beginning of the watches POUR OUT thine HEART LIKE WATER before the face of the Lord; Lamentations 2:19. David uses the same image, Psalms 62:8: Trust in him at all times, ye people; POUR OUT your hearts before him. The same figure is used by Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:15 of this book; I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit; I have POURED OUT my soul before the Lord. Perhaps the drawing and pouring out of water mentioned in the text was done emblematically, to represent the contrition of their hearts.

And Samuel judged — He gave them ordinances, heard and redressed grievances, and taught them how to get reconciled to God. The assembly, therefore, was held for religio-politico-military purposes.