1 Samuel 7:9

9 Then Samuel got a very young lamb. He sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the LORD to help Israel. And the LORD answered his prayer.

1 Samuel 7:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 7:9

And Samuel took a sucking lamb
Which it might be, and yet more than eight days old, for under that it might not be sacrificed, ( Exodus 22:30 )

and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord;
the whole of it was burnt, skin and all, whereas the skin was the priest's in other burnt offerings; and this is remarked ^F13 as one of the three things in which it differed from other offerings; the word being feminine, the Jews gather from hence, as Jarchi notes, that females might be offered at a private altar:

and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel;
not only offered a sacrifice for them, but prayed for them:

and the Lord heard him;
and answered him, either by causing fire to come down on the sacrifice, by which it was consumed, or by the voice of thunder, which frightened and discomfited the Philistines; and the event of things manifestly showed it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Midrash Schemuel apud Abarbinel in loc.

1 Samuel 7:9 In-Context

7 The Philistines heard that Israel had gathered together at Mizpah. So the Philistine rulers came up to attack them. When the people of Israel heard about it, they were afraid.

8 They said to Samuel, "Don't stop crying out to the LORD our God to help us. Keep praying that he'll save us from the powerful hand of the Philistines."

9 Then Samuel got a very young lamb. He sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the LORD to help Israel. And the LORD answered his prayer.

10 The Philistines came near to attack Israel. At that time Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering. But that day the LORD thundered loudly against the Philistines. He threw them into such a panic that the Israelites were able to chase them away.

11 The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah. They chased the Philistines all the way to a point below Beth Car. They killed them all along the way.