Bible Commentaries

At the time when Samuel served the Lord before Eli, both as a boy and asa young man (1 Samuel 2:11, 1 Samuel 2:21, 1 Samuel 2:26), the word of the Lord had become dear,i.e., rare, in Israel, and “Prophecy was not spread.” נפרץ, fromפּרץ, to spread out strongly, to break through copiously (cf. Proverbs 3:10). The “word of the Lord” is the word of God announced byprophets: the “vision,” “visio prophetica.” It is true that Jehovah hadpromised His people, that He would send prophets, who should makeknown His will and purpose at all times (Deuteronomy 18:15.; cf. Numbers 23:23);but as a revelation from God presupposed susceptibility on the part ofmen, the unbelief and disobedience of the people might restrain thefulfilment of this and all similar promises, and God might even withdrawHis word to punish the idolatrous nation. Such a time as this, whenrevelations from God were universally rare, and had now arisen under Eli,in whose days, as the conduct of his sons sufficiently proves, thepriesthood had fallen into very deep corruption.

1 Samuel 3:2-4

The word of the Lord was then issued for the first time toSamuel. 1 Samuel 3:2-4 form one period. The clause, “it came to pass at that time”(1 Samuel 3:2 ), is continued in 1 Samuel 3:4 , “that the Lord called,” etc. The interveningclauses from ועלי to אלהים ארון arecircumstantial clauses, intended to throw light upon the situation. Theclause, “Eli was laid down in his place,” etc., may be connected logicallywith “at that time” by the insertion of “when” (as in the English version:Tr.). The dimness of Eli's eyes is mentioned, to explain Samuel'sbehaviour, as afterwards described. Under these circumstances, forexample, when Samuel heard his own name called out in sleep, he mighteasily suppose that Eli was calling him to render some assistance. The“lamp of God” is the light of the candlestick in the tabernacle, the sevenlamps of which were put up and lighted every evening, and burned throughthe night till all the oil was consumed (see Exodus 30:8; Leviticus 24:2; 2 Chronicles 13:11, and the explanation given at Exodus 27:21). The statement that this light was not yet extinguished, is equivalent to“before the morning dawn.” “And Samuel was lying (sleeping) in thetemple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was.” היכל does notmean the holy place, as distinguished from the “most holy,” as in 1 Kings 6:5; 1 Kings 7:50,

(Note: The Masoretes have taken היכל in this sense, andtherefore have placed the Athnach under שׁכב rednu, to separateשׁכב וּשׁמוּאל from יי בּהיכל, andthus to guard against the conclusion, which might be drawn from thisview of היכל that Samuel slept in the holy place.)

but thewhole tabernacle, the tent with its court, as the palace of the God-king, as in 1 Samuel 1:9; Psalm 11:4. Samuel neither slept in the holy placeby the side of the candlestick and table of shew-bread, nor in the mostholy place in front of the ark of the covenant, but in the court, wherecells were built for the priests and Levites to live in when serving atthe sanctuary (see at 1 Samuel 3:15). “The ark of God, i.e., the ark of thecovenant, is mentioned as the throne of the divine presence, fromwhich the call to Samuel proceeded.

1 Samuel 3:5-9

As soon as Samuel heard his name called out, he hastened to Elito receive his commands. But Eli bade him lie down again, as he had notcalled him. At first, no doubt, he thought the call which Samuel had heardwas nothing more than a false impression of the youth, who had been fastasleep. But the same thing was repeated a second and a third time; for, asthe historian explains in 1 Samuel 3:6, “Samuel had not yet known Jehovah, and(for) the word of Jehovah was not yet revealed to him.” (The perfectידע after טרם, though very rare, is fully supported byPsalm 90:2 and Proverbs 8:25, and therefore is not to be altered into ידע, as Dietrich and Böttcher propose.) He therefore imagined againthat Eli had called him. But when he came to Eli after the third call, Eliperceived that the Lord was calling, and directed Samuel, if the call wererepeated, to answer, “Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth.”

When Samuel had lain down again, “Jehovah came and stood,” sc., beforeSamuel. These words show that the revelation of God was an objectivelyreal affair, and not a mere dream of Samuel's. “And he called to him as atother times” (see Numbers 24:1; Judges 16:20), etc.). When Samuel replied inaccordance with Eli's instructions, the Lord announced to him that Hewould carry out the judgment that had been threatened against the houseof Eli (1 Samuel 3:11-14). “Behold, I do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears ofevery one that heareth it shall tingle,” sc., with horror (see 2 Kings 21:12; Jeremiah 19:3; Habakkuk 1:5).

On that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning hishouse (see 1 Samuel 2:30.), beginning and finishing it,” i.e., completely. דּבּר את־אשׁר הקים, to set up the word spoken, i.e., to carry it out, oraccomplish it. In 1 Samuel 3:13 this word is communicated to Samuel, so far as itsessential contents are concerned. God would judge “the house of Eli forever because of the iniquity, that he knew his sons were preparing a cursefor themselves and did not prevent them.” To judge on account of a crime,is the same as to punish it. עד־עולם, i.e., without the punishmentbeing ever stopped or removed. להם מקללים,cursing themselves, i.e., bringing a curse upon themselves. “Therefore Ihave sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of the house of Eli shallnot (אם, a particle used in an oath, equivalent to assuredly not) beexpiated by slain-offerings and meat-offerings (through any kind ofsacrifice) for ever.” The oath makes the sentence irrevocable. (On the factsthemselves, see the commentary on 1 Samuel 2:27-36.)

Samuel then slept till the morning; and when he opened the doors of thehouse of Jehovah, he was afraid to tell Eli of the revelation which he hadreceived. Opening the doors of the house of God appears to have beenpart of Samuel's duty. We have not to think of doors opening into the holyplace, however, but of doors leading into the court. Originally, when thetabernacle was simply a tent, travelling with the people from place toplace, it had only curtains at the entrance to the holy place and court. Butwhen Israel had become possessed of fixed houses in the land of Canaan,and the dwelling-place of God was permanently erected at Shiloh, insteadof the tents that were pitched for the priests and Levites, who encampedround about during the journey through the desert, there were erected fixedhouses, which were built against or inside the court, and not only served asdwelling-places for the priests and Levites who were officiating, but werealso used for the reception and custody of the gifts that were brought asofferings to the sanctuary. These buildings in all probability supplantedentirely the original tent-like enclosure around the court; so that instead ofthe curtains at the entrance, there were folding doors, which were shut inthe evening and opened again in the morning. It is true that nothing is saidabout the erection of these buildings in our historical books, but the factitself is not to be denied on that account. In the case of Solomon's temple,notwithstanding the elaborate description that has been given of it, there isnothing said about the arrangement or erection of the buildings in the court;and yet here and there, principally in Jeremiah, the existence of suchbuildings is evidently assumed. מראה, visio, a sign or vision. Thisexpression is applied to the word of God which came to Samuel, because itwas revealed to him through the medium of an inward sight or intuition.

When Samuel was called by Eli and asked concerning the divine revelationthat he had received, he told him all the words, without concealinganything; whereupon Eli bowed in quiet resignation to the purpose ofGod: “It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good.” Samuel'scommunication, however, simply confirmed to the aged Eli what God hadalready made known to him through a prophet,But his reply proves that, with all his weakness and criminal indulgencetowards his wicked sons, Eli was thoroughly devoted to the Lord in hisheart. And Samuel, on the other hand, through his unreserved and candidcommunication of the terribly solemn word of God with regard to the man,whom he certainly venerated with filial affection, not only as high priest,but also as his own parental guardian, proved himself to be a manpossessing the courage and the power to proclaim the word of the Lordwithout fear to the people of Israel.

Thus Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and let none of his wordsfall to the ground, i.e., left no word unfulfilled which He spoke throughSamuel. (On הפּיל, see Joshua 21:45; Joshua 23:14; 1 Kings 8:56.) By thisall Israel from Dan to Beersheba (see at Judges 20:1) perceived that Samuelwas found trustworthy, or approved (see Numbers 12:7) as a prophet ofJehovah. And the Lord continued to appear at Shiloh; for He revealedhimself there to Samuel “in the word of Jehovah,” i.e., through a propheticannouncement of His word. These three verses form the transition fromthe call of Samuel to the following account of his prophetic labours inIsrael. At the close of 1 Samuel 3:21, the lxx have appended a general remarkconcerning Eli and his sons, which, regarded as a deduction from thecontext, answers no doubt to the paraphrastic treatment of our book inthat version, but in a critical aspect is utterly worthless.