What does “Here I raise my Ebenezer” mean?

It is a line from the hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It means setting up a memorial of God's help, as Samuel did in 1 Samuel 7:12 — a way of saying “the Lord has helped me this far”.

What does “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” mean?

It is Samuel's saying as he set up the stone: an acknowledgment that every victory so far came from God, and a confidence that he will keep helping.

Hebrew word · Strong H72

What does Ebenezer mean?

Ebenezer means “stone of help”. It is the name Samuel gives to a stone he sets up after a victory of Israel: “and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12).

אֶבֶן הָעֵזֶר

ʼEben hâ-ʻÊzer · transliteration · eh'-ben haw-e'-zer · pronunciation

In Strong’s lexicon: Eben-ha-Ezer, a place in Palestine
In the King James: Ebenezer3
Appears in: 3 verses

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The meaning of Ebenezer in the Bible

The name joins even, “stone”, and ezer, “help” — the same word used of God as the help of his people. Ebenezer was already the name of the place where Israel had been defeated by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4:1). Twenty years later Samuel gives the same name to the stone of victory — now to remember God's help.

“Hitherto hath the LORD helped us” looks back with gratitude and forward with trust: if God has helped this far, he will help from here on. That is why the word became a Christian symbol of remembrance — “Here I raise my Ebenezer”, sings the hymn Come, Thou Fount — and to raise an Ebenezer is to mark what God has already done.

Where Ebenezer appears

1 Samuel 7:12

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.

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1 Samuel 4:1

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.