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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.
1 Samuel 7:6 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB They gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before Yahweh, and fasted on that day, and said there, “We have sinned against Yahweh.” Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.
  • BSB When they had gathered 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.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.
  • 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.
  • NASB So they gathered to 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 sons of Israel at Mizpah.
  • 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.)

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

At Mizpah Israel fasts, pours out water before the LORD, and confesses their sin as Samuel judges them.

Overview

The pouring out of water likely symbolizes humble self-emptying and contrition before God, paired with fasting and open confession. This public acknowledgment of sin is the heart of their renewal. Samuel's judging here means both spiritual leadership and the administration of justice over the gathered nation.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 32

  • 2 Sam 14:14For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
  • 1 Sam 1:15And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.
  • Judg 10:10And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.
  • Ps 106:6We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
  • Ps 62:8Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
  • Joel 2:12Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
  • Jer 9:1Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
  • 1 Kgs 8:47Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
  • Ps 119:136Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.
  • Job 33:27He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
  • Luke 15:18I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
  • Lam 2:18–19Their heart cried unto the LORD, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
  • Jonah 3:1–10And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
  • Job 16:20My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.
  • Neh 9:27Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
  • Neh 9:1–3Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
  • Ezek 20:4Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:
  • Job 42:6Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
  • Lam 3:49Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
  • Judg 3:10And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim.
  • Ps 42:3My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
  • Ezra 8:21–23Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
  • Dan 9:3–5And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
  • Job 40:4Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
  • Ezra 9:5–10And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,
  • Lam 2:11Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
  • Jer 31:19Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
  • Lev 26:40If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
  • Jer 3:13–14Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
  • Ps 38:3–8There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
  • 2 Chr 20:3And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
  • Ps 6:6I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

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 7:6YouTube · 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 7:6 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.