1 Samuel 3

The boy Samuel served the LORD under Eli's direction. In those days a message from the LORD was rare, and visions did not often come.

1And 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.

NoteEli was the priest in charge of Israel's sanctuary at Shiloh, and Samuel was a boy left there to serve after his mother Hannah dedicated him (chapters 1–2). "Vision" here does not mean eyesight but the recognized way a message from God reached a prophet, something seen or heard in a waking or sleeping state and then reported. The King James "precious" carries its older sense of scarce and costly, not treasured.

2At that time Eli was lying down in his own room. His eyes had grown so weak that he could not see.

2And 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;

3The lamp of God had not yet gone out. Samuel was lying down to sleep in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was kept.

3And 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;

NoteThe "lamp of God" was the lampstand inside the sanctuary, kept burning through the night; its still being lit places the scene in the small hours before dawn. The "temple" at this date was not Solomon's stone building, which was centuries away, but the tent shrine and its associated structures at Shiloh. The ark was the gold-covered wooden chest holding the tablets of the covenant, the most sacred object Israel possessed, kept in the innermost room; sleeping near it means Samuel slept within the sanctuary precinct.

4Then the LORD called Samuel, and he answered, "Here I am."

4That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.

5He ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me." But Eli said, "I did not call you. Go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.

5And 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.

6The LORD called again, "Samuel!" Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, "Here I am. You called me." Eli answered, "I did not call you, my son. Go back and lie down."

6And 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.

7Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

7Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.

Note"Did not yet know the LORD" is not a comment on Samuel's piety: he had served at the sanctuary since childhood. In this idiom, to "know" someone is to have direct personal dealings with them; Samuel had not yet had God speak to him, so he did not recognize the voice.

8The LORD called Samuel a third time. He got up, went to Eli, and said, "Here I am. You called me." Then Eli understood that it was the LORD calling the boy.

8And 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.

9So Eli said to Samuel, "Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

9Therefore 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.

Note"Your servant is listening" uses the ordinary word for a household slave or attendant answering a master. In Hebrew, hearing and obeying are the same verb: the reply offers not just attention but compliance.

10Then the LORD came and stood there, and called as he had before, "Samuel! Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

10And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

11The LORD said to Samuel, "Listen. I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring.

11And 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.

NoteEars tingling, or ringing, was a stock Hebrew expression for news so shocking it stuns the hearer. It recurs at 2 Kings 21:12 and Jeremiah 19:3, each time introducing a disaster.

12On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have said about his family. I will do it from beginning to end.

12In 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.

13I have told him that I will judge his family forever because of the sin he knows about. His sons made themselves worthy of contempt, and he did not stop them.

13For 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.

NoteThe Hebrew of this line is disputed. The traditional written text says Eli's sons "brought a curse on themselves" or "made themselves contemptible," but an ancient Jewish tradition records that scribes altered an original "cursed God" here out of reverence, and the oldest Greek translation supports that reading. Modern versions therefore differ: some say the sons blasphemed God, others that they disgraced themselves. Their offenses are described in chapter 2: seizing meat from worshipers' sacrifices and sleeping with women serving at the sanctuary.

14So I have sworn to Eli's family that the guilt of Eli's family will never be wiped away by any sacrifice or offering."

14And 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.

NoteUnder Israel's sacrificial system, guilt could normally be dealt with by bringing an animal or a grain offering to the sanctuary. The force of this oath is that the usual remedy is closed off to Eli's family, the offense stands outside what the ritual system can settle.

15Samuel lay there until morning, and then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli what he had seen and heard.

15And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.

NoteOpening the sanctuary doors at daybreak was one of the routine duties of those attached to the shrine; the detail marks Samuel going about an ordinary morning task while carrying the message.

16Then Eli called him and said, "Samuel, my son." Samuel answered, "Here I am."

16Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.

17Eli said, "What did the LORD say to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and worse still, if you hide from me anything he said to you."

17And 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.

Note"May God do so to you, and more also" was a standard oath formula. The speaker deliberately left the punishment unnamed (the vagueness was part of its force) while calling down on the other person whatever God saw fit if they broke the demand.

18So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Eli said, "He is the LORD. Let him do what he thinks is good."

18And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.

19Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him, and let nothing Samuel said fail to come true.

19And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

20So all Israel, from Dan in the far north to Beersheba in the far south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.

20And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.

Note"From Dan to Beersheba" was the set phrase for the whole of Israel, naming the northernmost and southernmost settlements much as an English speaker might say "from coast to coast."

21The LORD kept appearing at Shiloh, because it was at Shiloh that the LORD revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

21And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

NoteShiloh was a town in the hill country of Ephraim, about twenty miles north of Jerusalem. In this period it held the tent sanctuary and the ark, making it the central place of worship for the tribes before Jerusalem took that role.