{"id":57248,"date":"2019-06-11T18:05:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=57248"},"modified":"2023-01-02T18:58:06","modified_gmt":"2023-01-02T16:58:06","slug":"samuel-prays-for-the-people-at-mizpah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/samuel-prays-for-the-people-at-mizpah\/","title":{"rendered":"Samuel Prays For The People At Mizpah"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The first three chapters of the book of Samuel (chs. 1-3) focus on the development of the young Samuel as the future leader of the people of Israel. \u00a0In the second three chapters (chs. 4-6), Samuel is not mentioned, rather the story focuses on the Ark of the Covenant. When we reach ch. 7, the two storylines converge: \u00a0the Ark is once again in Israelite hands (vv. 1-2), and Samuel implores the people to stop worshipping foreign gods (vv. 3-4).<\/span><\/p>\n

We next read, \u201cAnd Samuel said, \u2018Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray on their behalf to the Lord\u2019\u201d (v. 5). \u00a0Let us recall that the establishment of Jerusalem as the religious center of the people of Israel was still two generations away, so that other cities played the role of center more or less on an <\/span>ad hoc<\/span><\/i> basis. In the present instance it was Mizpah (see earlier at Judg 20:1, and see ahead at 1 Sam 10:17).<\/span><\/p>\n

The identification of Mizpah is well known: \u00a0Tell en-Nasbeh, 12 km north of Jerusalem, excavated during the 1920s and 1930s by William Bad\u00e8 (Pacific School of Religion) \u2013 though this singular scholar is better known as the biographer and literary executor of John Muir. Bad\u00e8\u2019s archaeological work, in turn, has found its own executor in Jeffrey Zorn (Cornell University), whose<\/span> website devoted to Mizpah<\/span><\/a> is a model of clarity and open-source information. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As we have seen in the case of Hannah (1 Samuel, ch. 1), individuals could offer prayers for themselves. On the communal level, however, at this stage in ancient Israelite religious life, an intercessor was required to approach God on behalf of the community at large. \u00a0Thus, one finds Abraham praying for the household of Abimelech (Gen 20:17); and Moses praying on behalf of the people (Num 11:2, 21:7, Deut 9:26). As late as the reign of Hezekiah (701 B.C.E.), the king entreats the prophet Isaiah to pray on behalf of besieged Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:2\u20134). At a later time still, God instructs Jeremiah <\/span>not<\/em> <\/span>to pray on behalf of the people (Jer 7:16, 11:14, 14:11).<\/span><\/p>\n

Only during the Exile and then in the Second Temple period do we read of the community as a whole praying together. \u00a0Thus, for example, Jeremiah instructs the exiles in Babylonia to pray (as a community, it appears) on behalf of the welfare of their new homeland (Jer 29:5) and to God generally (Jer 29:12); while the community in the rebuilt Jerusalem prays to God to protect the city from its enemies (Neh 4:3). Perhaps most famously, see Nehemiah 9, a very long communal prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

In short, in the pre-exilic period, the expectation appears to have been that a prophet would entreat God on behalf of the community. \u00a0Hence, Samuel states, \u201cand I will pray on their behalf to the Lord\u2019\u201d (v. 5). Only later do we see the development of communal prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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