1 Samuel 7:6

1 Samuel 7:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against the Lord." And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.
• New Living Translation (NLT)So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.)

Context of 1 Samuel 7:6

4So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only. 5Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah. 7When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. 8They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 7:6 word by word

וַיִּקָּבְצ֣וּ הַ֠מִּצְפָּתָה וַיִּֽשְׁאֲבוּ־מַ֜יִם וַֽיִּשְׁפְּכ֣וּ׀ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֗ה וַיָּצ֙וּמוּ֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּ שָׁ֔ם חָטָ֖אנוּ לַיהוָ֑ה וַיִּשְׁפֹּ֧ט שְׁמוּאֵ֛ל אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בַּמִּצְפָּֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And they gathered togetherקָבַץqâbats · to gatherH6908
• to Mizpehמִצְפָּהmitspâh · MizpahH4709
• and drewשָׁאַבshâ'ab · to drawH7579
• waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
• outשָׁפַךְshâphak · to pour: pourH8210
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• and fastedצוּםtsûm · to fastH6684
• on that dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• there, We have sinnedחָטָאchâţâ' · to sinH2398
• And Samuelשְׁמוּאֵלshemû'êl · SamuelH8050
• judgedשָׁפַטshâphaţ · to judgeH8199
• the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• in Mizpehמִצְפֶּהmitspeh · MizpehH4708

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 7:6

• 1 Samuel 1:15“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.
• 2 Samuel 14:14Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.
• Job 16:20My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God;
• Psalms 6:6I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
• Psalms 42:3My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
• Psalms 119:136Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.
• Jeremiah 9:1Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.
• Lamentations 2:11My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.
• Lamentations 3:49My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief,
• 2 Chronicles 20:3Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
• Ezra 8:21There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
• Nehemiah 9:1On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.
• Daniel 9:3So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
• Joel 2:12“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
• Jonah 3:1Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:
• Leviticus 26:40“ ‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me,

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 7:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Drew water, and poured it out - It is not easy to know what is meant by this; it is true that pouring out water, in the way of libation, was a religious ordinance among the Hebrews, ( Isaiah 12:3;), and among most other nations, particularly the Greeks and Romans, who used, not only water, but wine, milk, honey, and blood, as we find by Homer, Virgil, Euripides, Sophocles, Porphyry, and Lucian. Our Lord seems to allude to this ceremony, John 7:37-38…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Two rites are brought together here which belong especially to the Feast of Tabernacles and the Day of Atonement, respectively, namely, drawing and pouring out water, and fasting. Hence, some think that Samuel chose the Feast of tabernacles, and the fast which preceded it, as the occasion for assembling the people. Others explain the pouring out water as the pouring out the heart in penitence as it were water; or, as a symbolic act expressing their ruin…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-6Verses 5-6 Israel drew water and poured it out before the Lord; signifying their humiliation and sorrow for sin. They pour out their hearts in repentance before the Lord. They were free and full in their confession, and fixed in their resolution to cast away from them all their wrong doings. They made a public confession, We have sinned against the Lord; thus giving glory to God, and taking shame to themselves. And if we thus confess our sins, we shall…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6drew water … poured it out: This ceremony is not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. Sometimes, Israelites fasted (did not eat) to show grief or seek the Lord’s favor (2 Samuel 1:12; 12:22–23; 1 Kings 21:27; Ezra 8:21–23; Nehemiah 9:1; Esther 4:3, 16; Joel 2:12; compare Luke 2:37; Acts 13:2–3; 14:23). Having Samuel as Israel’s judge was refreshing compared to Eli’s poor leadership (see 1 Samuel 4:18 and 1 Samuel 4:18) and the leadership of some…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-63-6. Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel--A great national reformation was effected through the influence of Samuel. Disgusted with their foreign servitude, and panting for the restoration of liberty and independence, they were open to salutary impressions; and convinced of their errors, they renounced idolatry. The re-establishment of the faith of their fathers was inaugurated at a great public meeting, held at Mizpeh in Judah, and hallowed by the…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Samuel 7:6

• Fasting
• Intercession
• Judge
• Repentance
• Revivals
• Samuel
• Water

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Samuel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Children of Israel
• That Day
• David
• Fast
• Judges, Book of
• Mizpah

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings