1 Samuel 7:2

1 Samuel 7:2

And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

a. NLT: The Ark remained in Kiriath-jearim for a long time—twenty years in all. During that time all Israel mourned because it seemed the LORD had abandoned them.

b. NIV: The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all. Then all the people of Israel turned back to the LORD.

c. YLT: And it cometh to pass, from the day of the dwelling of the ark in Kirjath-Jearim, that the days are multiplied -- yea, they are twenty years -- and wail do all the house of Israel after Jehovah.

d. Amplified Bible Classic: And the ark remained in Kiriath-jearim a very long time [nearly 100 years, through Samuel’s entire judgeship, Saul’s reign, and well into David’s, when it was brought to Jerusalem]. For it was twenty years before all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

e. Septuagint: And it came to pass from the time that the ark was in Cariathiarim, the days were multiplied, and [the time] was twenty years; and all the house of Israel looked after the Lord.

f. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: From the time the Ark was stationed at Kiriath-jearim there ensued many days, they were twenty years, during which the entire House of Israel was drawn after HASHEM.

1. “And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long…”

a. it came to pass [Strong: 1961 * hayah haw-yaw a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.]

b. the ark [Strong: 727 * 'arown aw-rone' or laron {aw-rone'}; from 717 (in the sense of gathering); a box:--ark, chest, coffin.]

c. abode [Strong: 3427 * yashab yaw-shab' a primitive root; properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry:--(make to) abide(-ing), continue, (cause to, make to) dwell(-ing), ease self, endure, establish, X fail, habitation, haunt, (make to) inhabit(-ant), make to keep (house), lurking, X marry(-ing), (bring again to) place, remain, return, seat, set(- tle), (down-)sit(-down, still, -ting down, -ting (place) -uate), take, tarry.]

d. in Kirjathjearim [Strong: 7157 * Qiryath Y`ariym keer-yath' yeh-aw-reem' or (Jer. 26:20) with the article interposed; or (Josh. 18:28) simply the former part of the word; or Qiryath tAriym {keer-yath' aw-reem'}; from 7151 and the plural of 3293 or 5892; city of forests, or city of towns; Kirjath-Jearim or Kirjath-Arim, a place in Palestine:--Kirjath, Kirjath-jearim, Kirjath-arim.]

e. that the time [Strong: 3117 * yowm yome from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):--age, + always, + chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, X end, + evening, + (for) ever(-lasting, -more), X full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, + old, + outlived, + perpetually, presently, + remaineth, X required, season, X since, space, then, (process of) time, + as at other times, + in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), X whole (+ age), (full) year(-ly), + younger.]

f. was long [Strong: 7235 * rabah raw-baw' a primitive root; to increase (in whatever respect):--(bring in) abundance (X -antly), + archer (by mistake for 7232), be in authority, bring up, X continue, enlarge, excel, exceeding(-ly), be full of, (be, make) great(-er, -ly, X -ness), grow up, heap, increase, be long, (be, give, have, make, use) many (a time), (any, be, give, give the, have) more (in number), (ask, be, be so, gather, over, take, yield) much (greater, more), (make to) multiply, nourish, plenty(-eous), X process (of time), sore, store, thoroughly, very.]

2. “…for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.”

a. for it was [Strong: 1961 * hayah haw-yaw a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.]

b. twenty [Strong: 6242 * `esriym es-reem' from 6235; twenty; also (ordinal) twentieth:--(six-)score, twenty(-ieth).]

c. years [Strong: 8141 * shaneh shaw-neh' (in plura or (feminine) shanah {shaw-naw'}; from 8138; a year (as a revolution of time):--+ whole age, X long, + old, year(X -ly).]

d. and all [Strong: 3605 * kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

e. the house [Strong: 1004 * bayith bah'-yith probably from 1129 abbreviated; a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.):--court, daughter, door, + dungeon, family, + forth of, X great as would contain, hangings, home(born), (winter)house(-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, + prison, + steward, + tablet, temple, web, + within(-out).]

f. of Israel [Strong: 3478 * Yisra'el yis-raw-ale' from 8280 and 410; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity: --Israel.]

g. lamented [Strong: 5091 * nahah naw-haw' a primitive root; to groan, i.e. bewail; hence (through the idea of crying aloud), to assemble (as if on proclamation):-- lament, wail.]

h. after [Strong: 310 * 'achar akh-ar' from 309; properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses):--after (that, -ward), again, at, away from, back (from, -side), behind, beside, by, follow (after, -ing), forasmuch, from, hereafter, hinder end, + out (over) live, + persecute, posterity, pursuing, remnant, seeing, since, thence(-forth), when, with.]

i. the LORD [Strong: 3068 * Yhovah yeh-ho-vaw' from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:--Jehovah, the Lord.]

1). John Gill Commentary: It could not be less than between forty and fifty years, for it remained here until the times of David, who removed it from hence after he was made king over all Israel, and when he had reigned over Judah seven years; and from the death of Eli to that time, which included the government of Samuel and Saul, it could not be less than what has been hinted.

2). Saul reigned 40 years.

a). Acts 13:21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.

3). David did not move the Ark until he had moved to Jerusalem and that was seven and a half years into his reign.

a). 2 Samuel 5:4, 5 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.

4). It is not established how many years the Ark actually stayed in Kirjath-jearim. Scholars differ on how many years there were.