[Heb. eben hā-sēzer ‘the stone of help’: see 1 Sam. vii. 12.]
1. The name of the memorial stone set up by Samuel after the victory of Mizpeh: see 1 Sam. vii. 12. Used appellatively in religious literature in fig. phrases, alluding to the sentiment ‘Hitherto hath the Lord helped us,’ associated with the origin of the name.
1758. R. Robinson, Hymn, ‘Come Thou fount.’ Here I raise my Ebenezer, Hither by Thy help I’m come.
2. Occasionally (like Bethel, Zoar, Zion, etc.) adopted by Methodists, Baptists, Independents, etc., as the name of a particular chapel or meeting-house. Hence used contemptuously as a synonym for ‘dissenting chapel.’
1856. Sat. Rev., II. 318. Such low resorts as public-houses and Ebenezers.
