Bible Strands
1 Samuel 7:17
Then he would return to Ramah because his home was there, and there he judged Israel and built an altar to the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Samuel’s post-circuit movements, noting his permanent relocation after judging Israel in Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah.
The words — `u.te.shu.va.T/o` (and his return) and `sha.Fat` (he judged) anchor the verse’s focus on Samuel’s settled residence and ongoing judicial duty.
The thread — Ramah functions as a recurring administrative and religious center, appearing when Elkanah returns there after worship (1 Samuel 1:19), identified as his ancestral home (1 Samuel 1:1), and later serving as the meeting place for Israel’s elders (1 Samuel 8:4).
Why it lands — The text states Samuel fixed his home and altar in Ramah while continuing to judge Israel, requiring the reader to observe the transition from an itinerant leadership model to a permanent base of civil and cultic authority.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the Lord.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 1:19 The next morning they got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then they returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.
- 1 Samuel 1:1 Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
- 1 Samuel 8:4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
- Genesis 33:20 There he set up an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
- Genesis 35:7 There Jacob built an altar, and he called that place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob as he fled from his brother.
- Judges 21:4 The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings.
- 1 Samuel 11:15 So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.
- 1 Samuel 19:18 So David ran away and escaped. And he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.
- 1 Kings 18:30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down.
- Genesis 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.