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Bible Commentary for Judges Chapter 17 – 1 Samuel 13

Judges Chapter 17

This chapter deals with events that occurred during the time when ‘Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.’ A man named Micah who lived in the hill country of Ephraim had taken eleven hundred shekels of silver that belonged to his mother and she had uttered a curse against the thief. This curse prompted Micah to confess to her that he had taken her silver. After his mother learned that he had taken her money, she uttered a blessing to nullify the curse that she had uttered. She then pledged to consecrate the money to Jehovah by having a carved image and a cast idol made. When he returned the money to her she gave him two hundred shekels of silver to give to a silversmith to make the idol and the image. Micah also made an ephod, a priest-like garment, and terrapin idols or household gods. (Genesis 31:34) He put these images in the shrine he had made and installed one of his sons as his priest to wear the ephod.

Meanwhile, a young Levite left his home in Bethlehem in Judah to seek another place to reside. This Levite was living in a city that had not been designated as a Levitical city. He may have been moving around because Israel was not bringing their tithes and giving them to the Levites, as they had been required by Jehovah to do in order to support the Levites. In his travels he came to Micah’s house. Micah asked him where he was from he told him that he had come from Bethlehem and was looking for a place to stay. Micah then invited him to live with him in his home and be his priest. He would pay him ten shekels of silver a year and provide him with food and clothing. The Levite agreed to this offer and became Micah’s priest for his shrine. This served to assure Micah that Jehovah would be good to him because he had a Levite as his priest even though he was not a descendant of Aaron. This is a good example to show how far the nation had strayed from keeping the covenant and how they mixed their worship of Jehovah with idolatry.

Judges Chapter 18

Around this same time, the tribe of Dan was looking for a place to settle. They were unable to secure the territory that they had been given (See Judges 1:34; Joshua 19:47) and showed no faith in Jehovah’s ability to help them. They sent five men from their clans to scout out the land to find a place large enough for them and one that they could conquer. As they neared Micah’s house they recognized the voice of the Levite and they stopped to ask him what he was doing in this place. He told them that he had been hired as a priest to Micah. They then asked him to inquire of Jehovah in their behalf as to whether they would have success. The Levite told them that they had Jehovah’s approval on their journey. The men traveled north until they arrived at Laish and found a people living in peace in a prosperous land and they had no immediate neighbors.

The NIV Bible Commentary, Volume I, p. 361, tells us this: "The spies traveled straight north till they arrived at the city of Laish, some one hundred miles from their original inheritance and farther north than any territory allotted to the tribes of Israel. There, at the foot of Mount Hermon, they discovered a highly desirable location, a long distance from potential enemies and furnished with an excellent supply of water. The Lebanon range protected it from interference from either Syria or Phoenicia. The people of Laish enjoyed their secure position and had not built any defenses against invaders. It was an ideal situation for the land-hungry Danites."

When they returned to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol they told them about the people of Laish, that they were an unsuspecting people living in a spacious land that lacked for nothing. Six hundred men armed for battle, along with their families, left to take the land. They eventually came to Micah’s house. One of the five spies had told the Danites that Micah had household gods, an ephod, a carved image and a cast idol. When the five men went into Micah’s house to take the image, the ephod and the cast idol, the Levite asked them what they were doing. They told him that he should be quiet and they invited him to come with them to be their father and priest, as it would be better to serve a tribe than to serve one man. The Levite agreed as it would have been more advantageous, materially speaking, and so he went with them.

This act certainly shows that the Danites were not interested in worship of Jehovah but were instituting idolatrous worship in their new homeland. As we will later learn, when Jeroboam set up calf worship in Israel, Dan, now located in the northern part of Israel, would be one of the places where he would install a golden calf.

When Micah learned what had happened, he chased after the Danites and caught up with them. His only reason for pursuing them was to get back ‘the gods that he had made.’ The Danites warned Micah to return to his home or someone of them might take it into his head to kill him and his family. Micah had no choice but to do just that because he and his men were outnumbered which leads us to believe that his gods were not more important to him than his life was. He could always ‘make’ other gods to put before Jehovah's face.

The Danites attacked Laish and put all of its people to the sword and burned down their city. They rebuilt the city and named it after their forefather, Dan. They set up the idols and carved images that they had taken from Micah in a shrine and the Levite and his sons served as priest in this shrine for as long as the ark remained at Shiloh. The name of the Levite was Jonathan who was a grandson of Moses.

Judges Chapter 19

The incident recorded in the last three chapters of the book of Judges occurred during the time that Phinehas, son of Eleazar, was serving as high priest. (20:28)

A Levite who lived in the hill country of Ephraim had taken a concubine from a family that lived in Bethlehem in Judah. She had been unfaithful to him and had returned to her father’s house. After four months had passed he decided to try and persuade her to return to his house. So he traveled to Bethlehem and the girl’s father welcomed him with open arms and encouraged him to stay with him for awhile. The father was probably glad that the man still wanted his daughter after her disgraceful actions. He stayed for four days and on the fifth day he arose early to leave but the father encouraged him to wait until the afternoon. So he sat down and had another meal with him. In the afternoon, he was determined to leave even though his father-in-law wanted him to wait until the next morning. He refused to stay another night and so took his wife and servant and left going in the direction of Jebus (Jerusalem).

When they neared Jebus, the servant suggested that they stay overnight there but the Levite did not want to stay in a city that belonged to non-Israelites, as the Amorites had control of the city. So he said that they would try to reach either Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night there. As the sun set they came into Gibeah in Benjamin and sat in the City Square, but no one offered them lodging for the night. An old man was returning from the fields and saw them and asked them where were they from and where were they going. The Levite told him that he was coming from Bethlehem in Judah and was on his way to the house of Jehovah. The man invited them to stay the night with him and he would provide food for them and their animals.

While they were eating, wicked men (or sons of Belial) from the city surrounded the house and begin pounding on the door demanding that the Levite be sent out to them so that they could have sexual relations with him. But the man went out to plead with them not to do something so disgraceful to his guest. He told them that there were two women in the house and he would send them out to them. This did not satisfy them until finally the man sent his concubine out to them and they raped and abused her all night. At daybreak, she went back to the house where her master was staying and fell down at the door. She lay there until daybreak. When the Levite came out of the house to go on his way, he found her dead. He put her on his donkey and went home.

When he entered his house, he took a knife and cut her body into twelve pieces and he sent these pieces to each of the twelve tribes. The reaction of those who received this gruesome package was as the Levite had hoped. They said: “Has such a thing ever happened since the day that the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt until this day? Consider it, take counsel, and speak out.”

The Bible Knowledge Commentary of the Old Testament, Volume I, page 410, has this to say about his actions. “While this is difficult for modern readers to understand (as well as for the Levite’s contemporaries; Judges 19:30; cf. Hosea 9:9), he meant to arouse the nation to action by calling for a national judicial hearing. Perhaps he was charging them with the responsibility of removing the bloodguiltiness that rested on the entire nation for his concubine’s death.” This is another good example of how community guilt can be brought upon the entire nation because of the conduct of a few men.

Judges Chapter 20

All Israel assembled at Mizpah (including the tribes from east of the Jordan), some four hundred thousand soldiers bearing arms and all of the tribal chiefs. Benjamin knew of this meeting but did not attend. They asked the Levite to tell them how this crime had been committed. He related the story to them and then asked Israel to give their advice and counsel. They all agreed that they should attack Gibeah so that they would pay for the disgraceful thing they had done. They set aside a certain number of men to bring provision for the fighting men.

First they sent men to all of Benjamin to ask that they turn the scoundrels who were guilty of this sin over to them to be put to death so that this evil would be purged from Israel. The people of Benjamin refused to listen to their brothers and they gathered together to fight against them. They enlisted twenty-six thousand armed men from their towns of which there were seven hundred men who were left-handed and could throw a stone at a hair and not miss it.

A comment from Matthew Henry’s Commentary in One Volume, page 273 says this: “The wretched obstinacy and perverseness of the men of Benjamin, who seem to have been as unanimous and zealous in their resolutions to stand by the criminals as the rest of the tribes were to punish them, so little sense had they of their honour, duty and interest. They took it ill that the other tribes should meddle with their concerns; they would not do that which they knew was their duty because they were reminded of it by their brethern, by whom they scorned to be taught and controlled.”

Israel then went to Bethel to inquire of God. Jehovah told them that the men from Judah would lead the fight against Benjamin. But the men of Benjamin killed twenty-two thousand Israelites. They returned to Bethel and wept before Jehovah until evening. On the second day they inquired of Jehovah and he told them to go up against Benjamin. Again they suffered a defeat with eighteen thousands of their soldiers being killed by the Benjamites. Again they sought Jehovah by weeping and fasting. They also presented burnt offering and fellowship offerings to Jehovah. Phinehas had obviously brought the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh to Bethel. Jehovah allowed the defeat of Israel these two times because they had probably been neglecting Jehovah’s worship and when they sought Jehovah by making these sacrificial offerings, He allowed himself to be entreated by them. When they asked a third time if they should go out in battle once more or should they desist, Jehovah not only told them to go but that He would give them the victory.

This time when they went against Benjamin, they set an ambush against them by sending ten thousand men west of Geba. They drew up in formation against Benjamin as before and deliberately drew back their battle line to lure them away from the city. The men of Benjamin begin to inflict casualties against Israel as before and they thought they were routing the army as before. But they were unaware that the ten thousand men had gone into Gibeah and attacked it, putting it to the sword then setting it on fire. The signal for the whole army to turn back from retreating was that they would see the cloud of smoke ascending from the city. Jehovah had turned the battle in favor of the Israelites.

Once the men in ambush entered the city, they put it to the sword and set it afire. When the men of Benjamin looked back and saw Gibeah on fire they knew that they were defeated. The main body of the army turned back to fight the Benjamites and the Benjamites began to flee towards the desert but they were overtaken. The Israelite army began to slaughter them as they fled. They killed twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites that day. Six hundred Benjamites made it to the Rock of Rimmon, about four miles east of Bethel. They remained there for four months until Israel made peace with them. Israel then went back and killed all of the remainder of the people of Benjamin and burned all of their towns. Benjamin became as something devoted to Jehovah.

Judges Chapter 21

Israel had now atoned for the bloodguilt brought upon them by the tribe of Benjamin by putting them to death. They now became painfully aware of what this meant; they are now missing one tribe. They return to Bethel and weep before Jehovah. They knew that the only solution to the problem was to find wives for the six hundred men remaining of Benjamin. But they had taken an oath that they would not give their daughters to the men of Benjamin as wives. They offered sacrifices to Jehovah and awaited His solution.

They had also made an oath that any that did not assemble in Mizpah would be put to death. It was learned that no one from Jabesh-Gilead, located east of the Jordan, had participated in the fight. So they sent twelve thousand soldiers there to put the inhabitants to the sword, including woman and children. They were to spare only the virgins from the sword of which they found four hundred.

Then they summoned the men of Benjamin from the rock of Rimmon to proclaimed peace to them. They accepted the offer of peace and came to Bethel where they were given the four hundred women that had been spared at Jabesh-Gilead but there were still two hundred men who had no wives.

There was a yearly festival being celebrated at Shiloh in which there would be many single women there. They would participate in the dances and the two hundred men were told to wait in the vineyards until the dancing began and then they were to kidnap a girl from the group who would be his wife. They were then to go back to their territory to rebuild their towns. If the fathers or brothers of any of the girls complained to the elders, they would tell them that they were not guilty of breaking the oath as they had not consented to these marriages. By these means the tribe of Benjamin was saved from extinction.

This situation was remembered many years after it occurred as it represented a serious breach of faith in Jehovah. This was a sin as serious as idolatry. The prophet Hosea wrote accusatorily of Israel in his day comparing them to the Benjamites. He wrote at Hosea 9:9 this: “They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; he will remember their iniquity, he will punish their sin.” Similarly at Hosea 10:9 he says: “Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel; there they have continued. Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah?”

THE BOOK OF RUTH

Ruth Chapter 1

This narrative takes place during the time that judges ruled in Israel. A famine arose in the land and Elimelech decided to take his wife, Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to live in Moab. They were from Bethlehem in Judah. Famine in the land is indicative of one thing, Israel has left Jehovah to go after other gods and so He has brought the curses of the law upon his people one of which is that no rain would fall. (See Leviticus 26:18-20)

While in Moab, Elimelech died and Naomi took wives for her sons from the people of Moab. The name of one was Orpah and the other was Ruth. At the end of ten years in Moab both Mahlon and Chilion died. Naomi had heard that Jehovah had blessed his people so she decided to return to the land of Judah. She thought it best that her two daughters-in-law should return to their families as she would not have other sons that would grow up and perform levirate marriage with them. Nor did she believe that there would be much opportunity for these women to find husbands in Israel. Orpah decided to return to her family but Ruth did not want to go back to her family. She had become so attached to Naomi that she wanted to stay with her. She said, “Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” (Verse 16) When Naomi saw how determined Ruth was to go with her she allowed it.

When they arrived in Bethlehem, it was the season for barley harvesting, which occurred during the month of Nisan. When greeted by the women of the town she stated that it would be more appropriate to call her Mara, which means ‘bitter,’ rather than Naomi which means ‘pleasant’. She said that when she left Bethlehem she was full, meaning that she had a family, but now she is returning empty without any family at all. She is so embittered that she has discounted Ruth as being of any consequence to her at all.

Ruth Chapter 2

Ruth volunteers to make an effort to provide food for the two of them by taking advantage of a provision Jehovah had made for the poor, that is, gleaning. Moses had instructed Israel that during harvesting time, the reapers were not to go over the field more than once. They were to leave the edges untouched and were not to go back and pick up anything that they dropped when going through the first time. These were to be left for the poor to gather up. (Leviticus 19:9, 10) The fact that Ruth knew about this law shows that Naomi had probably taught her much about Jehovah and His laws. So she sent her out to glean.

Ruth came upon a field that belonged to a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, though she was not aware of it. She began gleaning behind the reapers. About that time Boaz came to his field and saw her. He asked his servant who she was and was told that she was the Moabitess who had come back with Naomi. He was told that she had been gleaning since early morning and had not stopped to rest. Boaz spoke to her and told her to stay close to the other women and to continue gleaning in his field. When she became thirsty she was to drink from the vessels provided. He had also warned the reapers not to bother her. She was surprised that he would be so kind to her and she asked why. He told her that he had heard about the kindness she was showing to her mother-in-law since the death of her husband and how she had forsaken her own family to come to live among a people that she did not know. He then pronounced a blessing on her saying "May you be richly blessed by Jehovah, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."

Boaz then invited her to eat a meal with them and gave her more than enough for her to eat so she saved some to give to Naomi. When she got up to return to her gleaning, Boaz instructed his reapers to help her by dropping some extra sheaves for her to pick up and they were not to hinder her in any way. When she had completed her gleaning, she then separated the grain from the stalks. What she had gleaned amounted to an ephah of barley, or about half of a bushel, a sufficient amount to last for many days.

When she returned home, Naomi asked her where she had gleaned and she told her that she had gleaned in the field of a man named Boaz. Naomi was very glad to hear this as he was a near kinsman and he was now exercising kindness to his dead family. She told Ruth that it was much better for her to continue gleaning in Boaz’s fields otherwise she would be bothered by the men if she went into another field. So she gleaned in Boaz’s field until the end of the barley and the wheat harvests.

Ruth Chapter 3

Naomi was now determined to find security for Ruth by finding her a husband. She was convinced that Boaz was kindly disposed towards Ruth and would do his duty as nearest kinsman. She seemed unaware that there was someone who was a nearer kinsman to her than Boaz was. She drew Ruth’s attention to the fact that since it was threshing season that Boaz would most likely be staying overnight at his threshing floor. She told her to dress herself up, go to the threshing floor but she was not to show herself immediately. She was to wait until he had finished eating and drinking and had lain down to sleep. Then she was to go and uncover his feet and lie down at his feet. When he became aware of her he would tell her what she should do. Ruth did exactly as Naomi told her.

When Boaz awoke in the middle of the night he was aware of a woman at his feet. He asked her who she was and Ruth responded by saying to him, “I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin.” Boaz said to her that she had acted in an even more loyal way by agreeing to abide by the laws of Israel in that she would choose an older man who was a member of her husband’s family rather than a younger man outside of his family. He also told her that everyone was aware that she was a most worthy woman. He then told her that there was someone else who was a nearer relation than he. He would speak to this person to see if he was willing to act as next-of-kin. If he was unwilling, then he himself would do it. Because he did not want to send her home in the middle of the night, she was to continue to lie at the threshing floor until dawn then she should leave. He was interested in protecting both of their reputations against any gossip that might ensue because she had come to the threshing floor at night. Before she left, he gave her six measures of barley to take to Naomi. When Ruth told her what had transpired, Naomi said that Boaz would not rest until he had settled the matter that very day.

Ruth Chapter 4

Boaz went to the city gate where the elders usually gathered and where many business transactions were concluded. The nearest kinsman came to the gate at that time and Boaz asked him to come and join him. He also had the elders join them also. He then brought up the matter that he wanted to settle. He said to the man that Naomi was selling a parcel of land that had belonged to her husband and since he was the nearest of kin he should redeem it and he agreed to do so. Boaz then added that if he redeemed the land he must also marry Ruth to produce a son so that the dead man’s name would continue on his inheritance. The man then said that he could not redeem Naomi’s land without damaging his own inheritance. Possibly he believed that if he had a son by Ruth, that this son would not only inherit her dead husband’s land but also his own land.

So, in front of the elders of the town, he told Boaz to redeem the land himself and to confirm the transaction, he took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz. Boaz took it and said to all who heard the transaction that they were witnesses to the fact that he had redeemed all that belonged to Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion and that he would also marry Ruth so that the name of the dead would remain on their inheritance. The townspeople gave their blessing upon this arrangement and stated that their hope was that Jehovah would make Ruth as fruitful as the women who built up the house of Israel, Leah and Rachel.

According to the NIV Bible Commentary, Volume I, page 375, "This case differs from the livirate law on several counts: (1) here a more distant relative than a brother was expected to marry the widow; (2) the kinsman removed his own shoe instead of the rejected widow doing it; and (3)apparently no disgrace was involved, as the significance of removing the shoe here was to deal a legal transaction."

Boaz took Ruth as he wife and she bore a son. The women blessed Jehovah because he had provided someone with the right to redeem for Naomi and now she would be secure in her old age and her daughter-in-law, who was worth more to her than seven sons, had borne a son. She took the child and became its nurse. The women of the town also suggested a name for this son, Obed, which means ‘worshipper.’ Obed became the father of Jesse who in turn fathered David, Israel’s greatest king. Another interesting fact in this lineage is that Rahah, the prostitute from Jericho, was an ancestress of Boaz, hence of David. Additionally, even though Jehovah said that ‘no Moabite even down to the tenth generation may come into the assembly of Israel,’ yet we learn from this example that Jehovah does not turn away any individual who exercises unwavering faith in Him and His laws as Ruth did. (See Deuteronomy 23:3)

THE BOOK OF 1 SAMUEL

1 Samuel Chapter 1

There was a man who lived in Ramar in the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah and he had two wives, Hanna and Peninnah. Peninnah had children but Hannah did not. Each year he would take his family and travel to Shiloh to worship and offer sacrifices to Jehovah. After the fellowship offerings had been made he would give portions to Peninnah and her children but to Hannah he would give a double portion because he loved her. Peninnah would taunt Hannah constantly because she had no children and this would cause her to cry and she would not eat any of the food. On this day she approached Jehovah and made a vow that if he would give her a male child she would dedicated him to Jehovah to serve as a Nazirite all of his life. He would not drink intoxicating liquor nor would a razor touch his head. In this case her child would be born a Nazirite not because Jehovah had decreed it as with Samson, but because the parents made the vow.

Eli, the high priest, was watching her and assumed that she was drunk because even though her lips moved no sound came from her mouth. He said to her “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.” But she reassured him that she had had nothing to drink but was a woman who was deeply troubled and she was pouring out her soul to Jehovah. He then told her to go in peace and that Jehovah would grant her petition. She returned to her husband and joined them in their meal no longer sad and downcast.

After their return home, Elkanah had relations with Hannah and she conceived and bore him a son. She called him Samuel because she had asked God for him. Hannah did not attend the next yearly festivals with her husband because she had not weaned Samuel. When she went again to Shiloh she wanted to present Samuel to Jehovah as a Nazirite.

Hannah in this case had made the vow of her own volition and her husband had not annulled it as he could have done when he heard of it. So the vow stood. She would now have to keep her word. (Numbers 30:3, 10, and 11)

When Samuel was weaned, Hannah took him to Shiloh along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine. With the offering of the sacrifice, Samuel was presented to Eli the priest. Hannah reminded the priest that she was the woman who he had seen standing in his presence praying to Jehovah. She had prayed for this child and had been granted her petition and she was now giving him back to Jehovah to serve Him as long as he lived.

1 Samuel Chapter 2

Hannah now offers a prayer to Jehovah in which she praises Him because he has helped her to achieve victory over her enemies. There is no holy one like Jehovah, no rock besides him. No human should talk proudly or arrogantly, probably a reference to her rival wife, Peninnah, for God is a God of knowledge and He takes into account the actions of humans. God breaks the bows of the mighty but He strengthens the feeble. Those who have had plenty now will soon be in need but the one who was hungry will have plenty to eat. Jehovah is the one who lifts up or brings down. He can even raise the needy from the ash heap and cause them to sit with princes. Jehovah has control of the foundations on which the earth rests. He guards the feet of the faithful, but leaves the wicked in darkness because it is not by might that one prevails. Jehovah will shatter his enemies, He will judge the earth; He will give strength to his king and will exalt the power of his anointed one. This prayer does have prophetic overtones that are yet to be fulfilled.

The family now returns home and they leave Samuel in Shiloh in the care of Eli. Eli has two sons who serve as priests but who are wicked. They were very disrespectful of Jehovah and treated his offerings with contempt. When anyone offered a sacrifice, they would send their servant to take whatever they wanted even though Jehovah had already told the priest what their portion of the sacrifice would be. (See Leviticus Chapters 6 and 7) Even before the fat was burned on the altar, these priests demanded that they be given their portion of the offering. They wanted it to be raw so that they could roast it; they did not want boiled meat. If someone refused to give them the meat they threatened to take it by force. Their sin was very great before Jehovah.

Samuel served Jehovah in a linen ephod that his mother would make for him each year. Eli would bless them when they came to offer the yearly sacrifice saying, “May Jehovah repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the LORD [Jehovah]." Jehovah then took note of, or turned His attention to, Hannah and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters.

Eli, although very old, was aware of what his sons were doing with the sacrifices the people were bringing to Jehovah and how they would have intercourse with the woman who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Jehovah had forbidden His people to engage in such ritual prostitution. (Deuteronomy 23:17) He gave them a rebuke that was too mild and too gentle and to which they paid absolutely no attention, as it was Jehovah’s will to put them to death. Eli did not seem to have any real zeal for Jehovah’s worship because he allowed his sons to continue in their office carrying on their wickedness. As if in stark contrast to Eli’s sons, Samuel is spoken of as continuing to grow in stature and in favor with Jehovah and with the people.

But Jehovah would not remain silent on this matter. He sent a prophet to Eli who in effect accused him of scorning the offerings of Jehovah and honoring his sons more that he honored Jehovah by allowing them to take the choice parts of every offering. Eli would now loose the privilege of being the father of future high priests. Jehovah could not honor Eli because He could only honor those who honored Him. Jehovah now declares that not one of Eli’s descendants would live to be an old man, they would all die at a young age. The sign that Eli would be given that Jehovah would carry out all that He had spoken would be that Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, would both die on the same day. Yet Jehovah was not ending the priesthood, no, but He would raise up a faithful priest who would do all that Jehovah required. His house would be firmly established and he would minister before Jehovah’s anointed one forever. Then anyone left over in Eli’s house would come and implore this priest for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread saying, “Appoint me to a some priestly office so I can have food to eat.” (Verse 36, NIV)

Eli was a descendant of Aaron’s son Ithamar. So the changing of the priesthood means that it would return to the line of Eleazar of whom Zadok was a descendant. The transfer of the priesthood was fulfilled in a typical sense when the priestly office was taken from Abiathar, a descendant of Eli, and given to Zadok during the reign of Solomon. (1 Kings 2:27, 35) The antitypical fulfillment occurs in our modern times when the responsibility for carrying out the duties of the high priest is taken from the hands of the wicked WTS and is given to the Modern-Day Servant.

1 Samuel Chapter 3

Because of the wickedness of the nation, Jehovah rarely communicated with his people. Samuel is spoken of as ministering to Jehovah although Jehovah had not spoken to him directly as of yet. On this occasion, when both Eli and Samuel had gone to bed, Samuel heard a voice call his name and he ran to Eli as he thought he was calling him. But Eli assured him that he did not call him. So Samuel returned to his bed. Then the voice called him again and he ran to Eli only to find that he had not called him. Samuel did not know Jehovah at this time. So he lay back down. A third time Jehovah called and Samuel went to Eli. This time Eli realized that it must be Jehovah speaking to Samuel so he told Samuel what to say if the voice called him again. When it did, Samuel said: “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Jehovah said to Samuel that He was about to do something that would make the ears of anyone who heard it tingle. He would fulfill all of His words against the house of Eli because of the blasphemy of his two sons, which Eli did not restrain. The sins of Eli’s house could never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.

According to the NIV Bible Commentary, Volume I, page 385, "The disaster to overcome Eli and his sons (including the destruction of Shiloh) would "make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle." Death was the penalty for showing contempt for the priesthood (Dt. 17:12) as well as for disobeying one's parents (21:18-21), and Eli was implicated because he did not "restrain" Hophni and Phinehas. The house of Eli had thus committed blatant sins against God and showed no signs of remorse. They were now subject to the divine death sentence (2:25; cf.Heb 12:16-17), and no sacrifice or offering could atone for their guilt."

Samuel was very reluctant to tell Eli what Jehovah had said to him but Eli was persistent. When Samuel told him Jehovah’s words, he simply said “He is the LORD [Jehovah]; let him do what is good in his eyes.” (NIV)

As Samuel grew up, Jehovah was with him and He let none of Samuel’s words go unfulfilled. All Israel came to know that Samuel was a true prophet of Jehovah and a reliable leader or judge of Israel.

1 Samuel Chapter 4

Israel now engages in warfare with the Philistines and they are defeated. The elders thought that the reason for the defeat was that Jehovah was not among them. So they had the ark brought from Shiloh to the battlefield with Phinehas and Hophni carrying it. This turned out to be a recipe for disaster. Israel is about to learn a valuable lesson about Jehovah. When the ark came into Israel’s camp there was loud shouting among them. When the Philistines heard this shouting they wanted to know what the cause of it was. They were told that the ark of Jehovah had been brought into the camp of Israel and they became afraid. They knew what this God had done to the Egyptians so they were told to be courageous and fight because if they lost the battle, they would become slaves of Israel. So they fought and defeated Israel, as Israel’s God was not with them even though they had the ark of God with them on the battlefield. Thirty thousand men of Israel fell that day, the ark was captured and Phinehas and Hophni were both killed. Having the "Ark of Jehovah" with them at this time did not mean that Jehovah was with them. For those who believed that the ark meant Jehovah's presence, it was a sad dissapointment.

A man from Benjamin came to Shiloh after the battle was over and told the people what had happened. When they heard the news that Israel had suffered a great defeat and the Philistines had captured the ark, they gave a loud outcry and Eli heard it. He was sitting by the side of the road anxiously awaiting news of the ark of God. Eli asked what had happened and the man told him that his two sons had been killed and that the Philistines had captured the Ark of God. Upon hearing this news about the ark, he fell to the ground, broke his neck and died. He had judged Israel for forty years. Phinehas’ wife, when she heard that her husband and her father-in-law had died and the ark had been captured, her labor pains began and she gave birth to a son that she named Ichabod which means, “The glory has departed from Israel” because of the capture of the ark. Then she died.

1 Samuel Chapter 5

The Philistines took the ark of God with them and put it in the temple of their god, Dagon, in Ashdod. When they awoke the next morning, they found that their god, Dagon, had fallen on its face to the ground in front of the ark. They put Dagon back upon his pedestal but the next day the same thing happened except that this time its head and hands had been cut off and were lying on the threshold of the temple. In the eyes of the Philistines this made the threshold holy and so whenever anyone entered the temple they would not step on the threshold. Jehovah plagued the people of Ashdod until they decided that the ark must be moved somewhere else. Their leaders decided that it should be placed in Gath and they moved it there. The people of Gath were also afflicted with tumors and they decided to send the ark to Ekron. When the ark came to Ekron the people raised a great outcry because of the ark. They said, “Why have they brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people?” The leaders of the Philistines met together and decided to send the ark back to Israel because the hand of God was heavy upon the people and death and sickness were everywhere.

1 Samuel Chapter 6

The Philistines called together their priests and diviners and asked them what must they do in order to send the ark of Jehovah away from them. The priests told them that they must not send the ark away empty but should send a guilt offering with it so that they would be healed and ransomed. They should send five gold tumors and five gold mice as a tribute, representing the five Philistine cities that had been plagued by Jehovah. In this way they would acknowledge that Jehovah was superior and maybe He would lighten His hand on them and on their gods. They must not imitate Pharaoh and the Egyptians by hardening their hearts only to suffer a major blow. They were to put the ark along with the tribute on a new wagon that would be pulled by two cows that had never been yoked. They would let it go its own way and if it went straight up to Beth-shemesh in Judah, then they would know that it was Jehovah who had afflicted them. But if the cows wandered around aimlessly then they would know that what had happened to them was a mere chance happening.

The NIV Bible Commentary, Volume I, page 388, had this to say about the tribute sent by the Philistines. “The linking of tumors, rats, and plague suggests that the tumors were symptoms of bubonic plague spread by an infestation of rats, which were capable of destroying a country (cf. Jer 36:29; Da 11:16). The Philistine advisors recommended gold models of the tumors and rats to serve as the guilt offering to placate the God of Israel. Perhaps the Philistines intended the models to function in the realm of sympathetic magic also, so that by sending them out of their land the genuine articles would depart as well.”

The Philistines did as they were told and they sent the wagon off. They watched it as it went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh turning neither to the right or to the left. The Philistines followed it as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. The people of Beth-shemesh were working in their fields when they saw the ark and they rejoiced at seeing it because it had been in Philistine territory for seven months. The cart stopped in a field where there was a large stone and the Levites removed the ark and put it on this stone. The people cut the cart up and took the two cows and offered them as a burnt offering to Jehovah.

The event recorded next in this chapter is not easily understood. Had the people strayed so far from Jehovah’s laws that they were not aware of the sacred nature of the Ark of the Covenant? (See Numbers 4:5, 15, and 20) They certainly were not showing the proper respect due Jehovah’s belongings. They were about to be given a stringent reminder. We learn that Jehovah struck down many of the people of Beth-shemesh, some translations say seventy people, because they actually took the covering of the ark off in order to look inside of it. The people began to mourn because of this great slaughter and they wanted to get rid of the ark. They said: “Who is able to stand before the LORD [Jehovah], this holy God? To whom shall He go so that we may be rid of Him?” They appear now to not want anything to do with this ‘holy God.’ So they sent to Kiriath-jearim saying to the people of this city, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD [Jehovah]. Come down and take it up to you.” Kiriath-jearim was located about ten miles northeast of Beth-shemesh on the road to Shiloh. The people of Beth-shemesh have now lost out on an opportunity to receive a blessing from Jehovah

1 Samuel Chapter 7

The men of Kiraith-jearim came and took the ark of Jehovah to the house of Abinadab that was located on a hill. They concentrated his son, Eleazar, to take charge of the ark of Jehovah. The ark remained in this home for some fifty to eighty years until the time of David when it was taken to Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 13:6; 15:15) It was never returned to Shiloh where the Tent of Meeting had been located since Joshua’s day. It may have been that Psalms 78:60 had at that time been fulfilled. It reads, in part: “He abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mortals.” Jeremiah 7:12 adds this: “Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.” Jehovah's allowing the Philistine army to destroy Shiloh was part of the punishment of Eli and his family.

After the ark had been in Kiriath-jearim for twenty years, the people began to mourn and seek after Jehovah. Samuel said to them that if they were truly returning to Jehovah to serve him with all their hearts, then they should rid themselves of all the foreign gods that they were worshipping. He would even deliver them out of the hands of the Philistines. After hearing this, they got rid of the Baals and the Ashtoreths and began to serve Jehovah only. Samuel then called for all Israel to assembly at Mizpah and he would pray for them. When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before Jehovah. This act of pouring out water before Jehovah is only mentioned here and is thought to symbolize contrition as in the pouring out of their hearts to Jehovah. (See Lamentations 2:19) They also fasted that day and made confessions of their sins against Jehovah. The statement is made here that Samuel began to judge Israel on this day in Mizpah.

When the Philistines learned that Israel had gathered at Mizpah they used this as an excuse to attacked them. The people of Israel were very much afraid and asked Samuel to continue to cry out to Jehovah that He would save them out of the hands of the Philistines. Samuel offered a suckling lamb as a whole burnt offering to Jehovah and called out to Him for help. Jehovah answered him by throwing the camp of the Philistines into confusion and Israel was able to defeat them. They pursued them as far as Bethcar, a town four miles west of Jerusalem, and struck them down. To commemorate this victory by Jehovah, Samuel then set up a stone between Mizpah and Jeshanah, a place unknown today. He called it Ebenezer, which literally means “the stone of divine help.” The Philistines were subdued that day although they were not subjugated until the time of David. Saul their first king would continue the fight against them. Many of the towns that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to them.

As judge of Israel, Samuel traveled in a circuit that encompassed the towns of Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah about a fifty-mile radius. Then he would return to his home in Ramah where he continued to judge Israel.

1 Samuel Chapter 8

When Samuel became old, he appointed his sons, Joel and Abijah, to be judges over Israel. But they were dishonest men and did not judge Israel with justice. The elders gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and asked Samuel to appoint a king to govern them just as the nations around them had. It is not stated why they believed that a king would be more honorable than a judge would be. But here it was, they had now done exactly what Jehovah predicted they would. (Deuteronomy 17:14) However, this was displeasing to Samuel and he prayed to Jehovah about it. Jehovah told him to listen to the elders as they were doing as they had done throughout their history, rejecting Jehovah in favor of other gods. But Samuel was to warn them about the duties and requirements of the king that they wanted to rule over them.

Samuel dutifully reported to the people the words of Jehovah. He made sure to clearly delineate to them what a king would exact from them. He told them that a king would:

1. take their sons and assign them to be in his army
2. appoint commanders to oversee the army
3. assign some to do the sowing and harvesting of his fields
4. assign some to make war weapons and the equipment for his chariots
5. take their daughters to be cooks, bakers and perfumers
6. take the best of their fields and give them to his attendants
7. take a tenth of their grain and wine and give it to his officials
8. take their maidservants and menservants for his own use
9. take a tenth of their flocks and they would become slaves to him.

He in effect told them that their king would be a demanding dictator who would enrich himself at their expense and when they cried out to Jehovah because of the heavy burden he would put upon them, Jehovah would not be listening. But they refused to listen to Samuel because they were determined to have a king, to be just like all the nations around them. Jehovah decreed that they should get exactly what they asked for.

1 Samuel Chapter 9

The stage is being set for the introduction of a monarchy into Israel. Saul is the son of a Benjamite named Kish who is a man of influence and wealth. They live in Gibeah, the town infamous for the abuse and death of the concubine belonging to a Levite. Saul was a physically impressive man, tall and handsome and somewhat naive. One day, some donkeys belonging to Kish strayed and he sent Saul and a servant to look for them. They did not have any success finding them. As Saul and the servant approached the region of Zuph, Saul suggested that they return home, as his father would now become worried about them. But the servant told him that there was a man of God living in this region and he might be able to help them as everything he said came true. So they proceeded to the town where Samuel lived. They met some girls coming to draw water and they asked them if the seer was in town to which they answered yes. They said that the seer was about to go up to the high place, as the people were about to offer a sacrifice and eat. They would be able to find him easily. So they proceeded on and there was Samuel coming toward them on his way up to the high place.

The day before Saul came into the town, Jehovah had revealed to Samuel that He was sending him a young man from Benjamin and he was to anoint him king over Israel as he would be the one who would save Israel from the Philistines. When Samuel saw Saul coming towards him, Jehovah told him that this was the one He had spoken to him about. Saul approached Samuel and asked where the house of the seer was. Samuel answered that he was the seer and he wanted Saul to accompany him to the high place to eat with him and then spend the night with him. He would then tell him all that was in his heart. He then reassured him that the donkeys had been found. Then he said to Saul “And on whom is all Israel’s desire fixed, if not on you and on your ancestral house?” Saul does not believe that his situation in life warrants such an honor so he asks why had Samuel spoken to him in this way.

When they arrived at the place of the sacrifice, Saul was seated at the head of the table and Samuel told the cook to bring the meat that he had asked him to reserve. The cook brought the portion and put it before Saul and he ate with Samuel. Afterwards Saul stayed the night with Samuel and early the next morning Samuel woke Saul and said that it was time for him to return to his home. As they were about to leave the town, Samuel suggested that Saul send his servant on ahead as he had a message for him from God.

1 Samuel Chapter 10

Samuel had a flask of oil with him and he poured it over Saul’s head, kissed him and told him that Jehovah had anointed him to be ruler over Israel and he would save them from all their enemies. He would be given a three-part sign to show that what Samuel had said to him was true. First, he would meet two men by the tomb of Rachel and they would tell him that the donkey's had been found and his father was now worried about him. Second, he would meet three men at the great tree of Tabor; one would be carrying three kids, another three loaves of bread and the other a skin of wine. He would be offered two loaves of their bread that he is to accept. Third, he would meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place at Gibeah of God with harp, tambourine, flute and lyre being played in front of them. They would be prophesying and as he came upon them, Jehovah’s spirit would empower him and he would prophesy along with them and he would become a different person. Once these signs were fulfilled, he would be able to do what he saw fit to do because God was with him.

When Saul left Samuel God immediately changed his heart and the signs that Samuel told him about were fulfilled upon him. The third part of the sign being fulfilled upon Saul was so significant that when those who knew Saul saw him prophesying they said “Is Saul also among the prophets?” This statement became a proverb in Israel for any unexpected and unexplainable phenomenon that occurred.

When Saul had finished prophesying, he went home. His uncle asked where he and his servant had gone, Saul replied that he had been searching for the donkeys and not finding them he went to see Samuel. His uncle then wanted to know what Samuel had said to him and Saul told him that Samuel had said that the donkeys had been found. He did not tell him about his being anointed as king.

Samuel then summoned Israel to Mizpah to tell them what Jehovah had said concerning their request for a king. He told them that Jehovah had rescued them out of the hand of the Egyptians and all the other nations that were oppressing them. But today they were rejecting him by asking for a king to rule over them. They will have their king. They are to present themselves before Jehovah by tribes and by clan and Jehovah would show them the one he had chosen. Benjamin was selected in the first lot; then from all of the families of Benjamin, the Matrites were selected and subsequently Saul is selected. But they could not find him as he had hidden himself among the baggage. When they learned this they brought him out and stood him before the people. Samuel said to them, “Do you see the one whom the LORD [Jehovah] has chosen? There is no one like him among the people.” He certainly did look the part, physically speaking, as he towered over all of them. The people then shouted, “Long live the king.”

Samuel then told the people all the rights and duties of their king, which he wrote in a book and placed before Jehovah. He then sent the people to their homes. Saul also returned to his home in Gibeah and warriors whose hearts God had touched went with him. Others despised him because they did not believe that he could help them in any way. Saul did not respond to these dissenters to his kingship.

1 Samuel Chapter 11

Nahash, king of Ammon, had been besieging Reuben and Gad and had now camped at Jabesh Gilead. This is the city that had not supported the nation in the matter of the men of Gibeah abusing and causing the death of the concubine of the Levite. Four hundred women had been spared destruction when Israel came up against this city and they were given as wives to the remaining six hundred Benjamites. (Judges chapters 19 – 21) The people of Jabesh asked Nahash to make a treaty with them and they would serve him. But Nahash declared that the only way he would make a treaty with them was that they would agree to have their right eye gouged out in order to bring disgrace upon Israel. The loss of the right eye would make the men of Jabesh Gilead unfit to go into battle and rise up against the Ammonites in order to break their yoke. The men of Jabesh Gilead then asked for seven days in which to find someone to deliver them from the Ammonites. If they were unsuccessful, then they would submit to their demands. The Ammonite king agreed because he was sure they would not be able to find a deliverer. They certainly discounted Saul as a leader of any measure.

They sent messengers throughout Israel and when they came to Gibeah, they told the people of the situation in Jabesh Gibeah and they began to weep aloud. Saul, returning from plowing his fields, heard them and wanted to know what was wrong. They told him what the messenger had said. Saul became outraged at this travesty and Jehovah’s spirit began to empower him. He cut the oxen into pieces and sent these pieces to all the tribes telling them that if they did not follow him to fight the Ammonites, that all their oxen would be cut in pieces. This seems to have been an effective way to move the people out of their complacency as the people responded as one and they met Saul at Bezek, three hundred and thirty thousand in all. Saul then sent messengers to Jabesh Gilead telling them that by the time the sun becomes hot the next day, they would be delivered from Nahash. The elders of Jabesh then told Nahash that they would surrender themselves to him on the next day.

Saul divided the soldiers into three divisions and set upon the Ammonites in the last watch, that is, early morning. They utterly destroyed the Ammonite army so that by noon they were unable to muster two men together at one time. The people were so overjoyed at this victory that they wanted to put to death the men who had despised Saul’s kingship. But Saul would not agree to this because he knew that Jehovah had brought a great victory to Israel that day. Samuel now convinced that Jehovah was really backing Saul suggested that all Israel assemble at Gilgal to reaffirm Saul’s kingship. They offered fellowship offerings to Jehovah and rejoiced greatly before Him.

1 Samuel Chapter 12

Samuel gave his farewell address to the people assembled in Gilgal. He told them that he has acceded to their desire to have a king over them. He had been their leader since his youth, but now that he has grown old, this king will be their leader. He then chides them to show where he had dealt unfairly, or unjustly with any of them in all of the years he has led them. They reply that he had not cheated or oppressed them, nor had he taken anything from them. He now recites a brief history of how Jehovah has been kind to them by rescuing them from the hand of many oppressors beginning with their Egyptian bondage. When Jehovah brought them to this land they quickly forgot Him and He allowed the Canaanites, Philistines and Moabites to oppress them. But when they acknowledged their sins and petitioned Jehovah to rescue them, he sent deliverers to them, men such as Jerubbaal (Gideon), Barak, Jephthah and Samson to rescue them. The most recent oppression of them by the Ammonites prompted them to ask for a king, a request that Jehovah has now granted. So now that they have a king, Samuel urges them to continue to fear Jehovah, serve Him and listen to His voice and do not become rebellious so that all will go well with them. If they choose to rebel against Jehovah, then His hand will be against them.

Samuel now tells them that Jehovah will now give them a sign which will serve to show that Jehovah still backed Samuel’s words as it was well known to Israel that whatever Samuel said was sure to come true and also to cause the people to revere their God. He also wanted them to know that they had done a very wicked thing in Jehovah’s eyes in asking for a king. This sign came in the form of rain and thunder during the wheat harvest season, something that never happens during this time. This sign produced the appropriate reaction for the people asked Samuel to pray for them that they not die because, in addition to all their other sins, they had done evil in asking for a king. Samuel assured them that they would not die and that Jehovah was willing to continue blessing them if only they would be steadfast in their devotion to him. He would not cast them off because they carried His great name. Samuel would continue to pray for this people because he did not want to become guilty of sin by refusing to do so. He would also continue to instruct them in the way that they should walk. If they refused to serve Jehovah faithfully, they and their king would be swept away.

1 Samuel Chapter 13

It is most probable that the first verse of this chapter, though translated differently by many translators, is intended to show that the events described in the following verses occurred in the second year of Saul’s reign. The age at which Saul began his reign cannot be determined so easily but we do know that his son Jonathan was old enough to be a military commander. The number of years that Saul ruled as king can be ascertained from the words of Paul. (See Acts 13:21) This verse (1) is not found in the LXX.

Saul at this time began to build up his army. He chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand remained with him in Micmash and one thousand he put under the control of Jonathan in Gibeah. Jonathan and his men defeated a garrison of Philistines stationed at Geba and it was announced to all Israel. Now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines and all Israel needs to come out to fight against them. The Philistines heard about this defeat and they mustered their army together to fight against Israel. The call for Israel to join Saul to fight the Philistines went unheeded and even those soldiers who had already joined Saul became frightened and hid themselves when they saw the size of the Philistine army.

Saul and Samuel had a previous arrangement whereby Saul would wait for Samuel to come to offer the burnt offering in order to entreat Jehovah to help them before he went into battle. (10:8) He waited the seven days and when Samuel did not come, he decided to make the sacrifice himself. Samuel arrived as soon as he finished making the offering and Samuel asked him what had he done. He proceeded to explain that he was loosing control of his army and the Philistines were preparing to fight against him, so he had no other choice but to go ahead and make the offering. So very early in his reign Saul has shown himself to have developed an independent spirit, which is very different than his original attitude. Samuel told him that he had acted foolishly and now his kingdom would not be established over Israel but would end. He also told Saul that Jehovah had looked for a man whose heart was devoted to him and he would be appointed as ruler over Israel. Samuel them left Saul and went to Gibeah in Benjamin. Some scholars suggest that Samuel went to Gibeah to show Saul that he had not forsaken him because Saul followed him there.

Saul had only about six hundred men left with him and they stayed in Gibeah while the Philistines camped in Micmash from where they would send out raiding parties.

In verses 19-23, we learn why the Israelites were so frightened of the Philistines and their army that was equipped with chariots, swords and spears. Apparently, the Philistines, when they regained control over them, had not allowed Israel to have any blacksmiths, that is, men who worked with iron tools. So they were forced to go to the Philistines in order to have their farm implements sharpened and had to pay for this service. The Philistines reasoned that if Israel could not make iron weapons then they would not become militarily worthy enough to resist their rulership over them. So at this time in their history, Saul and Jonathan were the only members of the army that had swords and spears as well as armor. No explanation is offered as to how they came to have these weapons.


NOTE: All direct quotes are taken from the New Revised Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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