as the participle שׁבים expresses duration, had commenced as a permanent thing, and simply demand that the inward turning of the heart to God should be manifested outwardly as well, by the putting away of all their idols, and should thus be carried out to completion. The “strange gods” (see Gen 35:2) are described in 1Sa 7:4 as “Baalim.” On Baalim and Ashtaroth, see at Jdg 2:11, Jdg 2:13. לב הכין, to direct the heart firmly: see Psa 78:8; 2Ch 30:19.Victory obtained over the Philistines through Samuel's prayer. - 1Sa 7:5, 1Sa 7:6. When Israel had turned to the Lord with all its heart, and had put away all its idols, Samuel gathered together all the people at Mizpeh, to prepare them for fighting against the Philistines by a solemn day for penitence and prayer. For it is very evident that the object of calling all the people to Mizpeh was that the religious act performed there might serve as a consecration for battle, not only from the circumstance that, according to 1Sa 7:7, when the Philistines heard of the meeting, they drew near to make war upon Israel, but also from the contents of 1Sa 7:5 : “Samuel said (sc., to the heads or representatives of the nation), Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord.” His intention could not possibly have been any other than to put the people into the right relation to their God, and thus to prepare the way for their deliverance out of the bondage of the Philistines. Samuel appointed Mizpeh, i.e., Nebi Samwil, on the western boundary of the tribe of Benjamin (see at Jos 18:26), as the place of meeting, partly no doubt on historical grounds, viz., because it was there that the tribes had formerly held their consultations respecting the wickedness of the inhabitants of Gibeah, and had resolved to make war upon Benjamin (Jdg 20:1.), but still more no doubt, because Mizpeh, on the western border of the mountains, was the most suitable place for commencing the conflict with the Philistines.
Verses 6-9
When they had assembled together here, “they drew water and poured it out before Jehovah, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord.” Drawing water and pouring it out before Jehovah was a symbolical act, which has been thus correctly explained by the Chaldee, on the whole: “They poured out their heart like water in penitence before the Lord.” This is evident from the figurative expressions,
