The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Samuel — Section 127

fugitive, going stealthily from place to place faith, mul all he can promise is, "I will pmy- that he might tench and preach, hi.ling in for yon unto Jehovah" (nr. 6). - the ca"Verns in the limestone range of JnJrea, Yer. 4.-Then the children of Israel did emerging thence to visit now one quarter of put away [the] Baalim and [the] Aahtaroth. the country and now another, ever in danger, '!'his n~ust have bee?- done ~y a public net, but gradually awakening, not merely those by winch at. some time prcv1011sly arran,,ccl districts which were contiguous to the Philis- the images of their Banis and Astnrtes ";re t:.!les, but all Israel to a sense of the b'l'eat- torn from their shrines, thrown down and ness of their sins, and the necessity ofrenewed broken in pieces. Of course this w;s an trnst and love to their God. And so a overt act of rebellion, for these deities were frc>sh spiritual life sprang up among the ~specially Phmnic!a~1 idols, and subsequentl_v people, and "ith it came the certainty of the 1t was the Phmmeiau Jezebel who tried so restoration of their national independence. fanatically to introduce their worship i11to All the house of Israel lamented after Israel in Ahab's time. To cast off the Philis- ,Tehovah. The word used here is rare, an\l tine deities was equivalent to a rebelliun the versions all differ in their trauslation of generally against Philistine supremacy, Baal it. Really it is a happy one, embracing the and Astarte, the husband and the wife, re- two ideas of sorrow for sin, and also of re- presented the reproductive powers of nature, turning to and gathering themselves round and under various names were worshippecl J ehomh. The Syriac alone retains this throughout the East, and usually with lewd double meaning, by°sayingthat "they all cast and wanton orgies. themseh-es down after Jehovah," i. e. that Ver. 5. -Gather all Israel to llrlizpeh. they sought him "ith deep humility. Gradu- Mizpah, for so the place should be spelt, ally, then, a change of heart came over the means a watch-tower (Gen. xxxi. 49), and so people ; but the removal of the ark to a more is a not uncomn10n name for spots among- fit place, and the restoration of Divine service the hills commanding an extensive outlook. with ministering priests and Levites, could This was probably the Mizpah in the tribe take place only after the Philistine yoke of Benjamin, distant about five miles from had been broken. From eh. xiii. 19- 22 Jerusalem (see Conder, 'Tent Work,' i. 25) ;. we learn l10w vigilant and oppressive that and though Samuel may have partly chosen tyranny ,ms ; and the heart of the writer, in it as a holy place (.fudges xi. 11; xx. 1), inditing this verse, was full of sorrow at the yet the chief reason was probably its lofty thought that the repentance of Israel was so situation, 500 feet above the neighbouring slo"· and unreaJy, and that therefore it had tableau, which itself was 2000 feet above the to "·ait twenty years before deliverance sea level. It was thus difficult to surprise came. and admirably adapted for warlike purposes. Yer. 3.-If ye do return, &c. At length The gathering of the people at Mizpah was e.erything was ripe for a change, and the the necessary rnsult of the public insult reformation wrought privately in their hearts offered to the Philistine gods, and virtually was followed by public action. Samuel's a declaration of war, as being an assertion of secret addresses had no doubt been watched national independence. with anger by the Philistines, but he now Ver. 6. -They . . . drew water, and ventures upon open resistance; for this public poured it out before Jehovah. While tho summons to Israel to put away its idols by drawing of water was a joyful act (Isa. xii. a national a.et was a summons also to an 3; John vii. 37, 38), as symbolising the uprise against foreign domination. We must winning from the depths below of the source suppose that the people had often as~ured of life and health, the pouring it out before Samuel in his wanderings of the reality of Jehovah expressed sorrow for sin, o.nd so it their repentance, and of their readiness to is explained by the Chaldee Parnphrnst : stake everything upon the issue of war. As a "They poured out their heart in pcnitenee statesman be now judges that the time has like water before the Lord" (comp. Ps. xxii. come and convenes a national assembly. 14). It might here also signify weakness But 'evervthing would depend npon their and powerlessness, the being "as water spilt earnestne;s. They were virtually unarmed ; upon the ground, which cannot be gathered they would have to deal with an enemy long up again" (2 Sam. xiv. 14). They further victorious and who held the most important expressed their sorrow by fasting, enjoined posts in their country with garrisons. Ter- '' for the afflicting of their souls" upon the- riLle suffering would follow npon defeat. great day of atonement (Levit. xvi. 29, 31 ; Was their faith strong enough, th~ir courage xxiii. 27, 32; Num. xxix. 7). And to these desperate enough, for so fearful a risk 1 symbolical acts they joined tlrn confession Especially as Samuel is never described to us of the mouth, acknowledging that "they e.s a warrior or mi! itary hero. He could had sinned against J chovah." inspire no co11fiJcnce as a genernl. He him- And Samuel judged the children of Israel self makes everything depend npon theia· in llrlizpeh. '!'hat is, he uow becarno thr CR. Vil. 1-17.] THE FIRST BOOK OF SA~ICEL. 123