Ebenezer was a stone memorial set up by Samuel to commemorate Israel's victory over the Philistines (1Sa.4.1; 5:1; 7:12).
Also known as Eben-ezer
Ebenezer, meaning "stone of help," was a memorial stone set up by the prophet Samuel to commemorate a significant victory of the Israelites over the Philistines. The stone was erected between Mizpah and Shen, in the territory of Israel. Prior to this victory, the Israelites had suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the Philistines, who captured the Ark of the Covenant (1Sa.4.1; 5:1). The Ark was eventually returned, and Samuel led the Israelites in a ceremony of repentance at Mizpah. When the Philistines attacked again, God intervened on behalf of Israel, causing confusion among the Philistines and leading to their defeat (1Sa.7.7-11). To commemorate this divine intervention and victory, Samuel set up the stone and named it Ebenezer, acknowledging God's help and deliverance (1Sa.7.12). The stone served as a reminder to the Israelites of God's faithfulness and power in their battles against their enemies.
Approximate location: 31.833, 35.180 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
(stone of help), a stone set up by Samuel after a signal defeat of the Philistines, as a memorial of the “help” received on the occasion from Jehovah. (1 Samuel 7:12) Its position is carefully defined as between Mizpeh and Shen.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
3 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0072
Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek.
After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod,
Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.