Reading for February 21st

Read 1 Samuel 7.2-17
In 7.2-17: Samuel judges Israel.
Samuel is described as a transitional figure between the era of the judges and the monarchy.
he embodies the roles of priest, prophet, and now judge.
In verse 2: Twenty years is a way of designating half a generation.
The phrase fits Samuel into the structure of the book of judges in which a period of foreign oppression precedes Israel's repentance.
In verses 3-4: The call for returning to the Lord with all your heart from the sin of idolatry marks these verses as an addition by the deuteronomistic editor.
Baal and Astarte were the leading male and female fertility gods of Canaan.
In verse 5: Mizpah became the administrative and religious capital after Jerusalem's destruction in 586 BCE.
The setting of this story in Mizpah may indicate a late date of composition.
In verse 6: The libations and fasting described here are part of a community purification ritual, perhaps in preparation for war.
In verses 8-9: The first part of this verse is parenthetical; Yahweh's answer is the thunder.
In verse 12: An etiology for the name Ebenezer, whose original meaning was religious and military: "stone of the helper/warrior."
In verses 13-14: The typical deuteronomistic formulas for the judges are applied to Samuel (compare Jud 3.30; 8.28; 11.33).
In verse 15-17: The book of judges describes two types of judges: military leader and legal figure.
This chapter ascribes both roles to Samuel.
The towns of Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpah and Ramah were all within the territories of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin.
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