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.” 7:13 So the Philistines were defeated; they did not invade Israel again. The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
7:14 The cities that the Philistines had captured from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath. Israel also delivered their territory from the control 3 of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. 7:15 So Samuel led 4 Israel all the days of his life. 7:16 Year after year he used to travel the circuit of Bethel, 5 Gilgal, and Mizpah; he used to judge Israel in all of these places.
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 “hand.”
4 tn Heb “judged” (also in v. 17).
5 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.