Editing Samuel (section)

===Leader===
[[File:Vitral com representação de Samuel e a batalha entre Israelitas e Filisteus (1728), Palácio da Pena (cropped).png|250px|thumb|Samuel offers God a sacrifice and erects a large stone at [[Eben-Ezer|the battle site]] as the Israelites slaughter the Philistines in the background, as depicted in an 18th-century stained-glass window ([[Pena Palace]], [[Portugal]]).]]

During Samuel's youth at [[Shiloh (Biblical city)|Shiloh]], the [[Philistines]] inflicted a decisive defeat against the [[Israelites]] at [[Eben-Ezer]], placed the land under Philistine control, and [[Ark of the Covenant#Capture by the Philistines|took the sanctuary's Ark for themselves]]. Upon hearing the news of the capture of the Ark of the Covenant, and the death of his sons, Eli collapsed and died. When the Philistines had been in possession of the Ark for seven months and had been visited with calamities and misfortunes, they decided to return the Ark to the Israelites.<ref name=chabad/>

According to Bruce C. Birch, Samuel was a key figure in keeping the Israelites' religious heritage and identity alive during Israel's defeat and occupation by the Philistines. "[I]t may have been possible and necessary for Samuel to exercise authority in roles that would normally not converge in a single individual (priest, prophet, judge)."<ref name=Birch>{{Cite book |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |last=Birch |first=Bruce C. |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year=2000 |isbn=9780802824004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&q=prophet%20samuel%20bible |editor-last=Freedman |editor-first=David Noel |chapter=Samuel |editor-last2=Myers |editor-first2=Allen C.}}</ref>

After 20 years of oppression, Samuel, who had gained national prominence as a prophet (1 Samuel 3:20), summoned the people to the hill of [[Mizpah in Benjamin|Mizpah]], and led them against the Philistines. The Philistines, having marched to Mizpah to attack the newly amassed Israelite army, were soundly defeated and fled in terror. The retreating Philistines were slaughtered by the Israelites. The text then states that Samuel erected a large stone at the battle site as a memorial, and there ensued a long period of peace thereafter.