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1 Samuel 3

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The Word of the Lord Was Rare 1–3

1
And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. ​
2
And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; ​
3
And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; ​

The Lord Calls Samuel 4–10

4
That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
5
And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
6
And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
7
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. ​
8
And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. ​
9
Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ​
10
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

God Pronounces Judgment on Eli's House 11–18

11
And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. ​
12
In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
13
For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. ​
14
And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. ​
15
And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
16
Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.
17
And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.
18
And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good. ​

Samuel Established as a Prophet 19–21

19
And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. ​
20
And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. ​
21
And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Samuel 3

Verse 1

the word of the LORD was precious — Yaqar is costly, hence scarce; ‘no open vision’ is no revelation breaking through. Amos names the same want as a ‘famine… of hearing the words of the LORD’ (Amos 8:11). Samuel, a boy (na’ar), ‘ministered’ (sharath) to the LORD ‘before Eli’ meanwhile.

Verse 2

his eyes began to wax dim — Age goes with it: at his death Eli is ‘ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see’ (4:15), after he ‘had judged Israel forty years’ (4:18). Isaac’s sight failed likewise (Gen 27:1). Eli lies down ‘in his place’; Samuel sleeps within the sanctuary (v.3).

Verse 3

the lamp of God — The lamp was tended by ‘Aaron and his sons… from evening to morning before the LORD’ (Ex 27:21), so ‘ere the lamp… went out’ puts the call before dawn. ‘Temple’ is heykal, here the sanctuary at Shiloh (v.21), where Samuel lay down to sleep near ‘the ark of God’.

Verse 7

did not yet know the LORD — Yada, the verb of 2:12, where the sons of Eli ‘knew not the LORD’. Samuel is already ministering (v.1); what he lacks is the LORD’s word, not yet ‘revealed’ (galah, to uncover) to him. The same verb closes the chapter: ‘the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh’ (v.21).

Verse 8

the third time — The LORD called in vv.4, 6 and 8. Eli ‘perceived’ (bin, to discern) that it was the LORD calling the child, as Job 33:14 states the pattern: ‘God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.’ His perception leads to the instruction of v.9.

Verse 9

Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth — Eli supplies the address ‘LORD’; when the LORD comes in v.10, Samuel’s answer is ‘Speak; for thy servant heareth.’ ‘Servant’ is ’ebed, and ‘heareth’ is shama’, to hear and heed. Cf. ‘I will hear what God the LORD will speak’ (Ps 85:8).

Verse 11

both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle — Tsalal, to ring or tingle, used again of judgment on Jerusalem and Judah (2 Kings 21:12; Jer 19:3). The sign that shall come upon Eli’s house is given in 2:34, ‘in one day they shall die both of them’, and fulfilled when ‘the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain’ (4:11).

Verse 13

he restrained them not — The charge matches the earlier word of the man of God, ‘honourest thy sons above me’ (2:29). Eli had asked, ‘Why do ye such things?’ (2:23), yet the sons ‘hearkened not unto the voice of their father’ (2:25). The iniquity is one ‘which he knoweth’ (yada), and the judgment is ‘for ever’ (’olam).

Verse 14

not be purged with sacrifice nor offering — Kaphar, to atone or cover. The zebach (sacrifice) and minchah (offering) were the very things Eli’s sons treated with contempt: ‘kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering’ (2:29). Isa 22:14 uses the verb in the same way: ‘this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die.’

Verse 18

let him do what seemeth him good — Literally ‘what is good in his eyes’, the form of David’s word in flight, ‘let him do to me as seemeth good unto him’ (2 Sam 15:26). Samuel ‘hid nothing’ (kachad), answering Eli’s charge, ‘hide it not from me’ (v.17).

Verse 19

did let none of his words fall to the ground — Naphal, to fall: ‘there hath not failed one word of all his good promise’ (1 Kings 8:56) and ‘there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD’ (2 Kings 10:10). Deut 18:22 gives the test of a prophet: ‘if the thing follow not, nor come to pass’.

Verse 20

from Dan even to Beersheba — Dan is the northern limit and Beersheba the southern; the same pair marks the whole kingdom in Judg 20:1 and 2 Sam 3:10. ‘Established’ is ’aman, to be sure or faithful, the verb of Num 12:7, where Moses ‘is faithful in all mine house.’

Verse 21

the LORD appeared again in Shiloh — ‘Appeared’ is ra’ah, the verb of Gen 12:7, ‘the LORD appeared unto Abram’; ‘revealed himself’ is galah (v.7). The means is ‘the word of the LORD’, which v.1 said was precious. Shiloh is where the tabernacle was set up (Josh 18:1). Num 12:6 states the manner: ‘I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision.’