1 Samuel 7 Footnotes

7:10 How could thunder confuse the Philistines and cause them to run away from Israel? When the Philistines heard the thunder, they interpreted it to mean that Israel’s God was riding into battle on a storm cloud (Ps 18:10-14), sending thunderbolts against them and their gods. They believed their army could not prevail against the Israelites unless their gods prevailed against the Israelites’ God. When it became apparent that the Lord was aggressively advancing against their forces, and their gods as well, their only option was flight from the battlefield.

7:15 The phrase “throughout his life” (lit “all the days of his life”) means that Samuel served as Israel’s judge during the rest of his career—that is, from this time in his life until his retirement in old age. He is not called a judge up to this point in the narrative; when he grew old he appointed his sons as judges (8:1), effectively transferring his responsibilities to the next generation. When the nation rejected Joel and Abijah as judges, the elderly statesmen helped Israel to eliminate the role of “judge” altogether, installing a king to lead Israel instead (12:2). It is worth noting that the term judge in the Bible carries a broad range of meanings. The earlier judges operated more as local military leaders or heroes; Samuel, on the other hand, functioned in a more magisterial capacity for Israel as a whole.