Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A stone erected by Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 12) as a memorial of divine aid in defeating the Philistines; hence, any memorial of divine assistance.
  • noun A stone erected by Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 12) as a memorial of divine aid in defeating the Philistines.
  • noun Any memorial of divine assistance: often adopted as a name for a chapel or church.
  • noun A contemptuous name for a ‘dissenting’ chapel or church.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun biblical The stone memorial in Israel erected by Samuel.
  • proper noun A male given name taken up by Puritans in the 17th century.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Hebrew אֶבֶן הָעֵזֶר (éven-ha`éizer, "stone of help").

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Examples

  • The word of Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws was assuredly not to be trusted on most things.

    In praise of … porridge | Editorial 2011

  • Old School, from which time (the two religious bodies having become united), the congregation became known as the Ebenezer Presbyterian

    Gathering Jewels The Secret of a Beautiful Life: In Memoriam of Mr. & Mrs. James Knowles. Selected from Their Diaries. James Sheridan Knowles 1823

  • The word Ebenezer comes from the Hebrew words 'Eben hà-ezer (eh'-ben haw-e'-zer), which simply mean "stone of help ...."

    The Common Room 2009

  • He's cheap, grouchy and stuck with the name Ebenezer, but that doesn't stop him from making us laugh with his wicked old ways or, eventually, breaking our hearts with his sad childhood and lonely old life.

    Houston Press | Complete Issue 2009

  • When Robinson wrote his lyrics, he followed the word Ebenezer with the phrase, "Here by Thy great help I've come."

    The Common Room 2009

  • “The Saltzburgers went further up the river, and selected a place of settlement, which they called Ebenezer, but the Brethren began immediately their settlement near to Savannah; and God so blessed their industry, that they were not only soon in a capacity of maintaining themselves, but, also, of being serviceable to their neighbors.

    Biographical Memorials of James Oglethorpe Harris, Thaddeus M 1838

  • Written by Dr. James Greenlaw Saint Francis Xavier University and Dr. Jazlin Ebenezer (Series Editor) University of Manitoba and published by Pearson - Prentice Hall.

    A Resource for K-12 Teachers 2010

  • His Ebenezer was a tad small, but it contained the essential ingredients: stones and sweat.

    Bonapar and Leland 2009

  • What a boon a vine of the sort contemplated would have been to a Rhenish missionary I met at a part in the west of the colony called Ebenezer, whose children had never seen flowers, though old enough to talk about them!

    Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa 2004

  • Samuel sets up a memorial stone with the name Ebenezer, "Stone of Help," not only to commemorate the victory but also as a reminder of the different results brought about by presumption on the one hand and by repentance on the other. "

    The Happy Wonderer 2009

Comments

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  • "...Here I raise mine Ebenezer;

    Hither by thy help I'm come;

    And I hope, by thy good pleasure

    Safely to arrive at home

    Jesus sought me when a stranger

    Wandering from the fold of God;

    He, to rescue me from danger

    Interposed his precious blood..."

    January 10, 2018