Eben-ezer

Eben-ezer (meaning the stone of help) is the name of a memorial stone set up by the prophet Samuel after Israel's victory over the Philistines near Mizpah. Following a period of spiritual renewal — in which the Israelites put away their foreign gods, gathered at Mizpah under Samuel's leadership, and cried out to God — the LORD thundered against the Philistine army with a great noise and threw them into confusion, allowing Israel to defeat them (1 Samuel 7:7–12). Samuel then erected a stone between Mizpah and Jeshanah, naming it Eben-ezer: "Hitherto hath the LORD helped us."

The location is significant because an earlier battle near the same site had ended in catastrophe for Israel — the ark had been captured and 30,000 Israelites had fallen (1 Samuel 4:1–11). The stone of help thus marked a reversal of fortunes and a renewed covenant experience. The name "Ebenezer" became a common name in Christian tradition (particularly in English Puritan and Nonconformist culture) as a testimony to God's past faithfulness, expressing the same sentiment as Samuel's declaration.