7:12 Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen. 1 He named it Ebenezer, 2 saying, “Up to here the Lord has helped us.”
7:2 It was quite a long time – some twenty years in all – that the ark stayed at Kiriath Jearim. All the people 3 of Israel longed for 4 the Lord.
1 tn Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “Jeshanah.”
2 sn The name Ebenezer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר) means “stone of help” in Hebrew (cf. TEV); NLT adds the meaning parenthetically after the name.
3 tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).
4 tn Heb “mourned after”; NIV “mourned and sought after”; KJV, NRSV “lamented after”; NAB “turned to”; NCV “began to follow…again.”
5 tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.
6 tn Grk “for all.” The form “all” can be either neuter or masculine.
7 tn Grk “in one body.” This phrase emphasizes the manner in which the believers were called, not the goal of their calling, and focuses upon their unity.