The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Samuel — Section 9

an Ephroimitc, no doubt because before Zuph the phrase was one of long standing shortened cmigrn'.cd t.l_ie family had belonged to Eph- down by co:nstant use. And yet, though rn1m, it bcmg npparently the practice to found 260 times iu the Bible this is the reckm1 LcYitcs as pertaining to the tribes to first place where it occurs. " Ldrd of Hosts" which they were attached (Judges xYii. 7). (Lord not in capitals, and meanina master The Heb. Ephrathite is rightly rendered ?"'ltlei·) occurs only once, in Isa. x. :f6. " God Ephrnimite in Judges xii. 5, and should be of Hosts," Elohim-Sahaoth, though rare so transl,1ted here, and in l Kings xi. 26. occurs four times in Ps. lxxx. 4, 7, 14, 19: In Ruth i. 2 ; 1 Sam. xYii. 12 it menus The .wo~ Sabaoth, hosts, docs not mean llethlehernite, that town being rilso called ai·niies, masmuch as it refers to numbers, Ephi-atah, the f,·11itf11l; Ephraim has the and not to order aud arrangement. It is same meaning, but being a dual, uo adjective usual!)'.. employed of the heavenly bodies -can be fonncd from it. (Gen. 11. 1 ; Dent. iv. 19 ; xvii. 3), which 1er. 2.-As a wealthy man, Elkanah h11.d seem countless in multitude as they are two wives, Ha.nn11.h-the Anna of Virgil, spread over the vast expanse of an Oriental ~,·ho ,·ery properly gins this name to the sky (Gen. xv. 6); and as their worship was sister of the Phrenician Dido, the language one of the oldest and most natural forms of of Phrenicia being identical with Hebrew- idolatry (Dent. iv. 19; Job xxxi. 26-28), -and Peninnah. The word Hannah signifies so . this title is a protest against it, and grac~fulness, while Peninnah is the red pearl, claims for the one God dominion over the translated coral in Job xxviii 18, but ruby world of stars as well as in this lower sphere. in ProY. iii. 15, &:c. Its ruddy colour is Its origin then is to be sought at some time Youched for in Lam. iv. 7. The Hebrew when there was a struggle between the wor- names for women generally bear witness to ship of the sun and stars and the plll"e mono- the affection and respect felt for them; while theism of the Hebrews. Occasionally tho those for men are usue.lly religious. Though angels are called " the host of heaven " (1 polygamy we.s a licence permitted to the Kings xxii. 19; Ps. ciii. 21; cxlviii. 2), when- _Jews, it does not seem to have been generally ever the allusion_ is to their number, but when indulged in, except by the kings. Here, as the idea is that of orderly arrangement they -elsewhere, it was the ruin of family life. In are called God's armies (Gen. xxxii. 2). Christianity it was marked for final extinc- The two sons of Eli ... were there. The -tion by the rule that no polygamist should right translation of the Hebrew is, "And be admitted even to the diaconate, and there (at Shiloh) the two sons of Eli ... were much less to higher office (1 Tim. iii. 2, 12). priests." Eli apparently had devolved upon Yer. 3. -This man went up out of his his sous his priestly functions, while he dis- city ye11.rly. Once in the year Elkanah went charged the duties only of a judge. His up to offer sacrifice before the ark. The position is remarkable. In the Book of -original command had required this thrice a Judges we find a state of anarchy. .The year of all Israelites ; but though a Levite people are rude, untutored, doing much as ,and a religious man, Elkanah went up but they pleased, committing often atrocious -once ; and such apparently was the rule in crimes, yet withal full of generous impulses, our Lord's time (Luke ii 41), the season brave, and even heroic. There is little preferred being naturally the passover, while regular government among them, but when- the other feasts gave opportunities for the ever a great man stands- forth, the -people performance of this duty to those unable to in his district submit themselves to him. leave their homes at so early a period c,f The last judge, Samson, a man of pungent the year. The ark was now at Shiloh, a wit and vast personal prowess, seems to have town in Ephraim, about ten miles south of been entirely destitute of all those qualities Shechem ; for Joshua had removed it from which make a man fit to be a ruler, but Gilgal (Josh. xviii. 1), not merely because he kept the patriotism of the people alive Shiloh occupied a more central position, but and nerved them to resistance by the fame as marking the primary rank of his own of his exploits. In Eli we find a ruler tribe (1 Chron. v. 1, 2). Its destruction by possessed of statesmanlike qualities. The the Philistines after the capture of the ark country wider him is prosperous ; the Philis- (1 Sam. v. 1) was so complete, and attended tines, no longer dominant as in Samson's apparently by such barbarous cruelties (Ps. time, have so felt his power that when they lxxviii. 60-64), that it never recovered its gain a victory the Israelites are astonished importance, and Jeroboam passed it by when at it (eh. iv. 3). Moreover, he is not only seeking for places where to set up his ea! ves. judge, he is also high priest ; but instead To s&Criflce unto the LORD of hosts. This of belonging to the family of Phiuehas, the title of the Deity, "LORD (in capitals, i. e. dominant house in the time of the Judges, Jehovah) of Hosts," is a remarkable one. he belongs to that of Ithamar. When, to Fully it would be "Jehovah God of Hosts," solve the problem, we turn to the genea~ogies and the omission of the word God shows that in the Chronicles, we find Eli's house omitted, en. 1. 1-8.] THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 3