1 Samuel 7:15

SAMUEL'S JUDGESHIP SUMMARIZED

"Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all these places. Then he would come back to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he administered justice to Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord."

There were four of these cities to which Samuel traveled in his administration of justice: Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpah, and Ramah. "The Gilgal here was in all probability the one near Jericho."[21]

"And there he built an altar to the Lord" (1 Samuel 7:17). Young's comment on the building of this altar gives an excellent explanation of it.

"This deviation from the law of Deuteronomy 12:5,13, was probably occasioned by the public disorder of that period and the destruction of both the tabernacle and its altar. Jehovah sanctioned the erection of this altar by his acceptance of both the person and the service of Samuel.[22]