Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.

Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us.

And Samuel took a stone, and laid it between Masphath and Sen: and he called the place, the Stone of help. And he said: Thus far the Lord hath helped us.

And Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, and said, Hitherto Jehovah has helped us.

Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.

And Samuel taketh a stone, and setteth it between Mizpeh and Shen, and calleth its name Eben-Ezer, saying, 'Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us.'

Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Till now has the LORD helped us.

Then Samuel took a stone and put it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, naming it Eben-ezer, and saying, Up to now the Lord has been our help.

Then Samuel took a single stone, and he placed it between Mizpah and Shen. And he called the name of this place: The Stone of Assistance. And he said, "For in this place the Lord gave assistance to us."

Shen was a tooth-pointed or sharp-pointed rock (see 1-Samuel 14:4), nowhere else mentioned and not identified.

Called the name of it Eben-ezer - אבן העזר Eben haezer, "The Stone of Help;" perhaps a pillar is meant by the word stone.

Then Samuel took a stone, and set [it] between Mizpeh and (g) Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.
(g) Which was a great rock over against Mizpeh.

And Samuel took a stone, and set it,.... Not for worship, but as a monument of the victory obtained by the help of God: and this he placed
between Mizpeh and Shen; which latter signifies a tooth, and designs the precipice of a rock which juts out, and hangs over in the form of one:
and called the name of it Ebenezer; which signifies "the stone of help"; and is the same place which by anticipation has this name, 1-Samuel 4:1, so that in the selfsame place where the Israelites were twice beaten by the Philistines, and the ark taken, was this salvation wrought for them:
saying, hitherto hath the Lord helped us; this was but the beginning of their deliverance from the Philistines, and which was owing to the help of the Lord; and as he had begun to help them, they might hope and encourage themselves that he would go on to help them until their deliverance was completed: however, they with Samuel thought it their duty, which was right, to acknowledge what the Lord had done for them, and perpetuate the memory of it, though they could not be sure what he would do for them hereafter; yet as they were sensible of, and thankful for this instance of his goodness, they hoped for more, and had their dependence on him for future success against their enemies.

Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen--on an open spot between the town and "the crag" (some well-known rock in the neighborhood). A huge stone pillar was erected as a monument of their victory (Leviticus 26:1). The name--Eben-ezer--is thought to have been written on the face of it.

As a memorial of this victory, Samuel placed a stone between Mizpeh and Shen, to which he gave the name of Eben-ha-ezer, i.e., stone of help, as a standing memorial that the Lord had thus far helped His people. The situation of Shen is also not known. The name Shen (i.e., tooth) seems to indicate a projecting point of rock (see 1-Samuel 14:4), but may also signify a place situated upon such a point.

A stone - A rude unpolished stone, which was not prohibited by that law, Leviticus 26:1, there being no danger of worshipping such a stone, and this being set up only as a monument of the victory. Eben - ezer - That is, the stone of help. And this victory was gained in the very same place where the Israelites received their former fatal loss. Helped us - He hath begun to help us, though not compleatly to deliver us. By which wary expression, he exciteth both their thankfulness for their mercy received, and their holy fear and care to please and serve the Lord, that he might help and deliver them effectually.