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Then the children of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served Yahweh only.
1 Samuel 7:4 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.
  • BSB So the Israelites put away the Baals and Ashtoreths and served only the LORD.
  • NKJV So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.
  • NASB So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served the Lord alone.
  • NLT So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Israel obeys, putting away the Baals and Ashtaroth to serve the LORD alone.

Overview

The people respond to Samuel's word with real action, abandoning the Canaanite fertility deities they had adopted. Genuine repentance produces visible fruit, not just sentiment. This obedience prepares them to receive God's deliverance and renewed favor.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • Hos 14:8Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me your fruit is found.”
  • Hos 14:3Assyria can’t save us. We won’t ride on horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ‘Our gods!’ for in you the fatherless finds mercy.”
  • Judg 2:11The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and served the Baals.
  • Judg 10:15–16The children of Israel said to Yahweh, “We have sinned! Do you to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, today.”
  • 1 Kgs 11:33because that they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon. They have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my ordinances, as David his father did.
  • Judg 2:13They abandoned Yahweh, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Samuel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Samuel 7:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 SamuelMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.

How 1 Samuel 7:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.