7:12 Ebenezer. A different site than that mentioned in 4:1 (note) and 5:1, this Ebenezer nevertheless recalls the earlier episode, when the Israelites tried to manipulate their God by carrying the ark into battle only to suffer a resounding defeat. Now God has given them a great victory over the same enemies. Samuel sets up a memorial stone with the name Ebenezer, “Stone of Help,” not only to commemorate the victory but also as reminder of the different results brought about by presumption on the one hand and by repentance on the other.

Till now the Lord has helped us. The saying means that the Lord had been with them all the way “to this place,” or “to this hour.”