Yahweh called Samuel. He said, “Here I am.”
He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He said, “I didn’t call. Lie down again.” He went and lay down.
Yahweh called yet again, “Samuel!” Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He answered, “I didn’t call, my son. Lie down again.”
Now Samuel didn’t yet know Yahweh, neither was Yahweh’s word yet revealed to him. Yahweh called Samuel again the third time. He arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” Eli perceived that Yahweh had called the child.
Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down. It shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Yahweh; for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Yahweh came, and stood, and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak; for your servant hears.”
Yahweh said to Samuel, “Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he didn’t restrain them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be removed with sacrifice or offering forever.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv4, 7, 8, 11, 14 Josephus writeth that Samuel was 12 years old, when…
Josephus writeth that Samuel was 12 years old, when the Lord appeared to him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–14 1Sa 3:4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he…
1Sa 3:4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here [am] I.
Ver. 4. That the Lord called Samuel] Gratuita et inopinata est vocatio nostra {Eph 1:11} God calleth his people of free grace, and when they least think of it.
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And he answered, Here am I.] A hearing ear is a sweet mercy: a heavy ear, a grievous judgment. {Isa 6:9}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 He ran; showing his great faithfulness and diligence in…
He ran; showing his great faithfulness and diligence in the service, either of the Lord, or of his master Eli.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v11 Here is, I. The message which, after all this…
Here is, I. The message which, after all this introduction, God delivered to Samuel concerning Eli's house. God did not come to him now to tell him how great a man he should be in his day, what a figure he should make, and what a blessing he should be in Israel. Young people have commonly a great curiosity to be told their fortune, but God came to Samuel, not to gratify his curiosity, but to employ him in his service and send him on an errand to another person, which was much better; and yet the matter of this first message, which no doubt made a very great impression upon him, might be of good use to him afterwards, when his own sons proved, though not so bad as Eli's, yet not so good as they should have been, Sa1 8:3. The message is short, not nearly so long as that which the man of God brought, Sa1 2:27. For, Samuel being a child, it could not be expected that he should remember a long message, and God considered his frame. The memories of children must not be overcharged, no, not with divine things. But it is a sad message, a message of wrath, to ratify the message in the former chapter, and to bind on the sentence there pronounced, because perhaps Eli did not give so much regard to that as he ought to have done. Divine threatenings, the less they are heeded, the surer they will come and the heavier they will fall. Reference is here had to what was there said concerning both the sin and the punishment.
1. Concerning the sin: it is the iniquity that he knoweth, Sa1 3:13. The man of God told him of it, and many a time his own conscience had told him of it. O what a great deal of guilt and corruption is there in us concerning which we may say, "It is the iniquity which our own heart knoweth, we are conscious to ourselves of it!" In short, the iniquity was this: His sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. Or, as it is in the Hebrew, he frowned not upon them. If he did show his dislike of their wicked courses, yet not to that degree that he ought to have done: he did reprove them, but he did not punish them, for the mischief they did, nor deprive them of their power to do mischief, which as a father, high priest, and judge, he might have done. Note, (1.) Sinners do by their own wickedness make themselves vile. They debauch themselves (for every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lusts, Jam 1:14) and thereby they debase themselves, and make themselves not only mean, but odious to the holy God and holy men and angels. Sin is a vile thing, and degrades men more than any thing, Psa 15:4. Eli's sons made light of God, and made his offerings vile in the people's eyes; but the shame returned into their own bosom: they made themselves vile. (2.) Those that do not restrain the sins of others, when it is in the power of their hand to do it, make themselves partakers of the guilt, and will be charged as accessaries: Those in authority will have a great deal to answer for if they make not the sword they bear a terror to evil workers.
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2. Concerning the punishment: it is that which I have spoken concerning his house, Sa1 3:12 and Sa1 3:13. I have told him that I will judge his house for ever, that is, that a curse should be entailed upon his family from generation to generation. The particulars of this curse we had before; they are not here repeated, but it is added, (1.) That when that sentence began to be executed it would be very dreadful and amazing to all Israel (Sa1 3:11): Both the ears of every one that hears it shall tingle. Every Israelite would be struck with terror and astonishment to hear of the slaying of Eli's sons, the breaking of Eli's neck, and the dispersion of Eli's family. Lord, how terrible art thou in thy judgments! If this be done in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? Note, God's judgments upon others should affect us with a holy fear, Psa 119:120. (2.) That these direful first-fruits of the execution would be certain earnests of the progress and full accomplishment of it: When I begin I will proceed and make an end of all that I have threatened, Sa1 3:12. It is intimated that it might possibly be some time before he would begin, but let them not call that forbearance an acquittance, nor that reprieve a pardon; for when at length he does begin he will make thorough work of it, and, though he stay long, he will strike home. (3.) That no room should be left for hope that this sentence might be reversed and the execution stayed or mitigated, Sa1 3:14. [1.] God would not revoke the sentence, for he backed it with an oath: I have sworn to the house of Eli; and God will not go back from what he has sworn either in mercy or judgment. [2.] He would never come to a composition for the forfeiture: "The iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. No atonement shall be made for the sin, nor any abatement of the punishment." This was the imperfection of the legal sacrifices, that there were iniquities which they did not reach, which they would not purge; but the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin, and secures all those that by faith are interested in it from that eternal death which is the wages of sin.
II. The delivery of this message to Eli. Observe,
1. Samuel's modest concealment of it, Sa1 3:15. (1.) He lay till the morning, and we may well suppose he lay awake pondering on what he had heard, repeating it to himself, and considering what use he must make of it. After we have received the spiritual food of God's word, it is good to compose ourselves, and give it time to digest. (2.) He opened the doors of the house of the Lord, in the morning, as he used to do, being up first in the tabernacle. That he should do so at other times was an instance of extraordinary towardliness in a child, but that he should do so this morning was an instance of great humility. God had highly honoured him above all the children of his people, yet he was not proud of the honour, nor puffed up with it, did not think himself too great and too good to be employed in these mean and servile offices, but, as cheerfully as ever, went and opened the doors of the tabernacle. Note, Those to whom God manifests himself he makes and keeps low in their own eyes, and willing to stoop to any thing by which they may be serviceable to his glory, though but as door-keepers in his house. One would have expected that Samuel would be so full of his vision as to forget his ordinary service, that he would go among his companions, as one in an ecstasy, to tell them what converse he had had with God this night; but he modestly keeps it to himself, tells the vision to no man, but silently goes on in his business. Our secret communion with God is not to be proclaimed upon the house-tops. (3.) He feared to show Eli the vision. If he was afraid Eli would be angry with him and chide him, then we have cause to suspect that Eli used to be as severe with this towardly child as he was indulgent to his own wicked sons, and this will bear hard upon him. But we will suppose it was rather because he was afraid to grieve and trouble the good old man that he was so shy. If he had run immediately with the tidings to Eli, this would have looked as if he desired the woeful day and hoped to build his own family upon the ruin of Eli's; therefore it became him not to be forward to declare the vision. No good man can take pleasure in bringing evil tidings, especially not Samuel to Eli, the pupil to the tutor whom he loves and honours.
2. Eli's careful enquiry into it, Sa1 3:16, Sa1 3:17. As soon as ever he heard Samuel stirring he called for him, probably to his bed-side; and, having before perceived that God had spoken to him, he obliged him, not only by importunity (I pray thee, hide it not from me), but, finding him timorous and backward, by an adjuration likewise - God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me! He had reason enough to fear that the message prophesied no good concerning him, but evil; and yet, because it was a message from God, he could not contentedly be ignorant of it. A good man desires to be acquainted with all the will of God, whether it make for him or against him. His adjuration - God do so to thee, if thou hide any thing from me - may intimate the fearful doom of unfaithful watchmen; if they warn not sinners, they bring upon themselves that wrath and curse which they should have denounced, in God's name, against those that go on still in their trespasses.
3. Samuel's faithful delivery of his message at last (Sa1 3:18): He told him every whit. When he saw that he must tell him he never minced the matter, nor offered to make it better than it was, to blunt that which was sharp, or to gild the bitter pill, but delivered the message as plainly and fully as he received it, not shunning to declare the whole counsel of God. Christ's ministers must deal thus faithfully.
4. Eli's pious acquiescence in it. He did not question Samuel's integrity, was not cross with him, nor had he any thing to object against the equity of the sentence. He did not complain of the punishment, as Cain did, that it was greater than he either deserved or could bear, but patiently submitted, and accepted the punishment of his iniquity. It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. He understood the sentence to intend only a temporal punishment, and the entail of disgrace and poverty upon his posterity, and not a final separation of them from the favour of God, and therefore he cheerfully submitted, did not repine, because he knew the demerits of his family; nor did he now intercede for the reversing of the sentence, because God had ratified it with a solemn oath, of which he would not repent. He therefore composes himself into a humble resignation to God's will, as Aaron, in a case not much unlike. Lev 10:3, He held his peace. In a few words, (1.) He lays down this satisfying truth, "It is the Lord; it is he that pronounces the judgment, from whose bar there lies no appeal and against whose sentence there lies no exception. It is he that will execute the judgment, whose power cannot be resisted, his justice arraigned, nor his sovereignty contested. It is the Lord, who will thus sanctify and glorify himself, and it is highly fit he should. It is the Lord, with whom there is no unrighteousness, who never did nor ever will do any wrong to any of his creatures, nor exact more than their iniquity deserves." (2.) He infers from it this satisfying conclusion: "Let him do what seemeth him good. I have nothing to say against his proceedings. He is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works, and therefore his will be done. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him." Thus we ought to quiet ourselves under God's rebuke, and never to strive with our Maker.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv4–14 That the Lord called Samuel,.... By a voice which…
That the Lord called Samuel,.... By a voice which came forth from the most holy place, from between the cherubim, the seat of the divine Majesty:
and he answered, here am I; which was not intended to declare the place where he was, but to express his readiness and cheerfulness to do any thing that was required of him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 12, 13, 14 Did not know - He was not acquainted with…
Did not know - He was not acquainted with God in that extraordinary or prophetical way. And this ignorance of Samuel's served God's design, that his simplicity might give Eli the better assurance of the truth of God's call, and message to Samuel.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Verse 4. The Lord called Samuel] The voice probably…
Verse 4. The Lord called Samuel] The voice probably came from the holy place, near to which Eli and Samuel were both lying.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 1Sa 3:7. Samuel did not yet know the Lord…
1Sa 3:7. Samuel did not yet know the Lord — How God was wont to teach and instruct men in his will. Neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him — He was not acquainted with the way wherein God made himself and his mind known unto the prophets, because he had never spoken to him before. So that he did not know how to distinguish between the voice of God and that of men. And this ignorance of Samuel served God’s design, as it gave Eli the fuller assurance of the truth of God’s call and message to Samuel.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Did not yet know the Lord - i. e.…
Did not yet know the Lord - i. e. in His supernatural communication, as follows at the end of the verse. The text rendering of this verse is better than that of the margin.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Him. He had not before an experimental knowledge of…
Him. He had not before an experimental knowledge of the manner in which God revealed his will to men. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v5 he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I;…
he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me--It is evident that his sleeping chamber was close to that of the aged high priest and that he was accustomed to be called during the night. The three successive calls addressed to the boy convinced Eli of the divine character of the speaker, and he therefore exhorted the child to give a reverential attention to the message. The burden of [the Lord's message] was an extraordinary premonition of the judgments that impended over Eli's house; and the aged priest, having drawn the painful secret from the child, exclaimed, "It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good." Such is the spirit of meek and unmurmuring submission in which we ought to receive the dispensations of God, however severe and afflictive. But, in order to form a right estimate of Eli's language and conduct on this occasion, we must consider the overwhelming accumulation of judgments denounced against his person, his sons, his descendants--his altar, and nation. With such a threatening prospect before him, his piety and meekness were wonderful. In his personal character he seems to have been a good man, but his sons' conduct was flagrantly bad; and though his misfortunes claim our sympathy, it is impossible to approve or defend the weak and unfaithful course which, in the retributive justice of God, brought these adversities upon him.
Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 4
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv4, 7, 10, 11, 12 4. The Lord called Samuel — In an audible…
4. The Lord called Samuel — In an audible voice, by pronouncing his name. Compare Gen_22:1; Exo_3:4.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 4. Here am I] Heb. Behold me, the regular…
4. Here am I] Heb. Behold me, the regular formula for expressing attention to a call and readiness to obey. Cp. Gen_22:1; Isa_6:8.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11, 13, 14 (8) And Eli perceived that the Lord had called…
(8) And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.—The whole story of the eventful night is told so naturally, the supernatural wonderfully interwoven with the common life of the sanctuary, that we forget, as we read, the strangeness of the events recorded. The sleeping child is awakened by a voice uttering his name. He naturally supposes it is his half-blind old master summoning him. The same thing occurs a second and a third time. Then it flashed upon Eli the boy had had no dream. We can well fancy the old man, when Samuel again came in, asking, “Where did the voice you thought was mine come from?” and the boy would reply, “From your chamber, master.” And the old high priest would remember that in the same direction, only at the extremity of the sanctuary, behind the veil, was the Ark and the seat of God. Was, then, the glory of the Lord shining there? and did the voice as in old days proceed from that sacred golden throne? Se he bade his pupil go to his chamber again, and if the voice spoke to him again, to answer, not Eli, but the invisible King—“Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 But Eli was neither so inexperienced, nor so lost…
But Eli was neither so inexperienced, nor so lost to all sense of Jehovah being the immediate ruler of Israel, as not to perceive, when Samuel came to him the third time, that the matter was Divine. Possibly he recalled to mind the visit of the man of God, and had some presage of what the message might be. At all events he bade Samuel lie calmly down again, because the best preparation for hearing God"s voice is obedience and trustful submission.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 Then the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here…
1Sa_3:4-10
Then the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
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The child Samuel
Child is not a precise equivalent for the Hebrew word so rendered, which is considerably wider in meaning, and includes adolescence. Samuel was probably a youth when called. He had been growing quietly in ago and goodness, while Elis sons were growing in licentiousness. The two growths are strikingly contrasted in the previous chapter, where, after each statement as to their wickedness, a clause comes in telling how Samuel advanced in his ministry before the Lord. His word was precious, which does not mean highly valued, but seldom heard, because ears were too much clogged with earth, and there was no prophetic vision open--that is, widely spread--because there were few eyes purged to see it. A prophet was needed to arrest the growing evil, and the needed prophet was in training. The best place for a young life to dwell is the temple of God. They that are planted in the house of the Lord will grow fair and straight, and be sheltered from distorting influences, and from many a gnawing enemy that works havoc among the young shoots. A youth that keeps austerely remote from the vileness of Elis sons will be saved from their fate, and will receive messages from the ark as authentic as that which woke Samuel. The Lord called Samuel. No magnificent apocalypse of divine glory shone on the youths opening eyes. Simply his name was spoken in the tone of one bespeaking his attention and about to give him commands. Whoever spoke knew him, claimed authority over him, and had something for him to do. In a word, the speaker was his master, and needed him. God often assimilates His call to the voices with which we are familiar. A stage comes in every young life when the sense of responsibility is wakened, when the thought of a vocation to battle for the truth starts up. Samuels mistake tells a great deal, both as to the nature of the voice he heard and as to his relations to Eli. Evidently he had been accustomed to be roused from sleep, to attend to the old man whose blindness would make him need kindly ministrations. As evidently, he had been accustomed cheerfully to answer the call. His loving readiness to spring from sleep and do whatever was needed, are seen in his running to Eli. No holier office can be entrusted to youth than to care for helpless age; and even if the dependent old man or woman has failings, as Eli had, which the younger hates, the duty of service is still plain, and its blessedness will be the greater, But Samuels mistake has another lesson; for we, too, may think that it is only Eli speaking, when it is really God. There is something very pathetic and beautiful in Elis quick and ungrudging recognition of Gods call to his young attendant. He had had no such communications himself, but he knew them when they came to others. Poor Eli had a bitter pill to swallow when he knew that the boy whom he had trained as his attendant was elevated to the position of a prophet; but he was not offended nor jealous. There is dignity and peace for the old when they heartily acquiesce in the Divine choice of the young to carry his work a stage farther. Samuel had no thought of anything extraordinary, and the explanation of his slowness of apprehension is given in the statement that he did not yet know the Lord, which can only mean that he had not received any Divine communications; for absolute ignorance cannot be supposed in one who had ministered to the Lord all his life. Youth should be slow to believe that its impressions are divine messages. They must be tested well before they are trusted as such. One test, though an imperfect one, is their persistency. When some conviction of duty keeps returning again and again, and forcing us to hear it, we should at least not dismiss it without careful consideration; for it may be the voice of the patient God, who does not let our carelessness silence him. Thy servant heareth--an open ear for Gods commands and revelations will never be left empty. Speak, Lord, is a prayer; and it is never offered in vain when it is accompanied, as Samuels was, by For thy servant hears. Such a disposition is a prevailing reason with God. If we are ready to listen and obey, He is more than ready to speak. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The call of Samuel
I. The circumstances of Samuels call.
1. When the state of the Church was in a very low ebb: The word of prophecy was very precious at that time (1Sa_3:1), a prophet was very rare then, and few or none appeared with open vision by name, though mention be made in general of a prophet (Jdg_6:8). And of a man of God before (1Sa_2:27).
2. At that time (1Sa_3:2) when the Lord had sent the day before that Man of God mentioned (1Sa_2:27), with heavy tidings to Eli, then the very next day God calls and sends Samuel with the same sad message.
3. In that time of the natural day (1Sa_3:3), when the lamps of the golden candlestick were not yet extinguished, which had been lighted the evening before (Exo_27:21; Lev_24:8, 2Ch_13:11). So that this was betimes in the morning, and before day that God called Samuel. The place where, in the temple or tabernacle.
II. The substance of this word of prophecy revealed to Samuel.
III. The gracious carriage of this young prophet, when so high and honourable a preferment is put upon him by the Lord.
1. His humility.
2. His modesty, His modesty most appeared, both in his doing the former office of a doorkeeper (opening the doors in the morning), though he were now called of God to be a prophet. And likewise he was not forward, but fearful to reveal the Divine oracle to Eli, which yet he might not conceal (1Sa_3:15).
3. His faithfulness also here is manifest in not hiding anything (of that which God had spoke to him) from his master Eli: He told him every whirl (1Sa_3:18). Though there was not one drachm of comfort in the whole oracle.
IV. Elis reception of this rigid revelation from God by Samuel. Eli was conscious to himself of great guilt, both in his villainous sons, and in himself for indulging their villany, his conscience was a sore conscience, but theirs were seared consciences, and therefore could he presage no good from God; hereupon he advises his pupil to hide nothing from him, but to tell his tutor all that God had told him (1Sa_1:16-17). When Eli had heard Gods severe sentence he calmly crieth, It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good (1Sa_3:18), as if he had said the Lord Jehovah hath a sovereign absolute power over all the sons and daughters of men, and may dispose of me and mine, and of all created beings according to his good pleasure, unto which I freely submit, well knowing there be better things in Gods will than in my own. (C. Ness.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v10 1Sa_3:11. “The ears of every one that heareth it…
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES.—
1Sa_3:11. “The ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.” A mark of dread and horror. (See 2Ki_21:12 and Jer_19:3.) “As a sharp, discordant noise pains one’s ears, so the news of this harsh punishment shall give pain to all who hear of it” (Lange’s Commentary on Kings).
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1Sa_3:12. “I will also make an end.” “He does not mean that He would begin and make an end at once; but that He would persevere in His punishments, and not desist when He began, till all His threatenings were fulfilled, viz., in the death of Eli, and of his sons, and the slaughter of eighty-five priests of this family by Doeg, and the thrusting Abiathar out of his office, and so depriving that family of its dignity and honour “(Patrick).
1Sa_3:13. “Judge.” “To judge on account of a crime is the same as to punish it.” (Keil.) “Restrained.” “He contented himself with mere remonstrance when, as High Priest and Judge in Israel, he had severer measures at his command, which he ought to have employed, setting aside his personal feelings of parental tenderness.” (Hobson.)
1Sa_3:14. “Sacrifice nor offering.” “Neither the bloody nor unbloody offerings.” (See Lev_16:6.) “The sin of Eli’s sons was so heinous as not to be purged by this appointed sacrifice.” (Hobson.)
1Sa_3:15. “Opened the doors.” “This appears to have been a part of Samuel’s duty. We have not to think of doors opening into the Holy Place, however, but of doors leading into the court.” (Keil.)
1Sa_3:16. “My Son.” “How much is expressed in this one word.” (Thenius.)
1Sa_3:17. Observe the climax in the words with which, in three sentences, Eli demands information from Samuel; it expresses the excitement of his soul. He asks for the word of the Lord; he demands an exact and complete statement, he adjures Samuel to conceal nothing from him.” (Lange’s Commentary.)
1Sa_3:19. “None of his words fall to the ground.” “A metaphor from arrows shot out of a bow, which hit the mark.” (Patrick.)
1Sa_3:20. “From Dan to Beersheba,” i.e., from the northern to the southern extremity of the land. Dan (anciently called Laish) was a northern frontier town, and Beersheba was situated on its southern border. “That Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.” “A very important statement.” What Samuel did in offering sacrifices, etc. (see 1Sa_7:9) was not, as some seem to imagine, an irregular intrusion into the priestly office. But in a time of great degeneracy and confusion, when the exercise of the ordinary functions of the Levitical priesthood was in abeyance, Samuel was specially raised up by God, and received an extraordinary commission from Him to do what He did in maintaining the worship of God, and all Israel “knew,” by visible tokens, that he was established to be an expounder and interpreter of God’s will (Wordsworth).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH—1Sa_3:10-21
THE SIN OF OMISSION AND THE GRACE OF SUBMISSION
I. The mere omission of one man may be the calamity of many. Many and terrible disasters have often been brought upon many people by one man’s omission in the performance of his duty. If the man who stands at the wheel of the vessel omits to look at the compass, he may bring death or ruin to hundreds of his fellow-creatures, as well as loss of reputation to himself if he should survive the wreck. If one miner neglects properly to secure his light, the death of all his fellow-workmen may as truly lie at his door as if he had slain each one separately with his own hand. Omissions permit the play of forces which are destructive to human life, and therefore are sometimes as guilty as commissions. Eli’s great sin was a sin of omission: “His sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.” His omission of parental restraint permitted the unchecked play of the evil passions of his children, and brought as sure and as terrible a destruction upon them as if he had taken their lives with his own hand. And the evil consequences of his neglect of restraint did not end with them; the mischief which was thus left to work spread into every household in the land, and soon the whole nation had cause to mourn over their high-priest’s omission of his duty. If Eli had restrained his sons, he would certainly have delivered his own soul from blood-guiltiness, and might have delivered them from such a public execution, and the nation from overwhelming disgrace. Mere protestation against sin will do something to stem the tide, or if it is powerless to do that it is a witness against it. A godly man can sometimes do no more than can a pillar in the midst of an eddying river. He can but offer the resistance of his own life and words to the prevailing current of iniquity. He cannot check its onward course. Less than this will not deliver him from guilt, but this will do it. “If thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, if he do not turn from his way he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” (Eze_33:8-9.) This is all that God requires when men can do no more. Eli had hardly done this and his power to do more—to hinder his sons from continuing their public profanation of God’s house and services—constituted him a partaker in their sins, and to some extent in their punishment when he “restrained them not.” This great omission of his life made him the instrument of bringing the wrath of God, not only upon his house but upon his nation.
II. A noble nature has no pleasure in the downfall of a rival. A generous soul is grieved at the afflictions that come upon men even through their own sin. He not only “rejoiceth not in iniquity” but rejoiceth not in the punishment that iniquity brings even when the downfall of the evil-doer is the occasion of his own promotion. If a young man sorrows over the just disgrace of those whose fall is his own stepping-stone to promotion, he shows that he is possessed of a truly noble disposition. Samuel was not gladdened by being thus honoured by God, seeing that the message he received was charged with heavy tidings concerning those whom he honoured to some extent. Some consciousness of his own advancement must have been borne in upon him by this revelation—he must have had some presentiment that the setting of Eli’s sun would be the rise of his own, yet he shrinks from showing the vision evidently not only from unwillingness to grieve his aged friend, but from a sense of sorrow at the terrible retribution which awaited him and his.
III. The highest wisdom under Divine chastisement is the submission which justifies God. There are children who will justify their human parents even when they are under correction, because they have such confidence in the character of those parents, and because their own consciences convict them of deserving that which they are now suffering. God’s children should always be able to do this. They ought to be so assured of His unimpeachable justice and wisdom, as well as of His love, as to be able at all times to echo the words of Eli, and thus to “justify the ways of God to men.” Eli here proves himself a true son of Abraham in the full assent he gives to Abraham’s assurance, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen_18:25) Being fully convicted of his own negative sins, and of the positive crimes of his children, he takes the course of true wisdom, and yields himself and his family into the hands of that King who he knows can do no wrong.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1Sa_3:11. When God executes judgment upon anyone, all should tremble at these examples of severity upon others, and say with Paul, “Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear” (Rom_11:20).—De Sacy.
1Sa_3:12. Execution of justice is God’s work, though His strange work (Isa_28:21), and when once He beginneth, He will go thorough-stitch with it; He will neither dally nor desist till it be done.—Trapp.
1Sa_3:13. The judgment that was to fall on Ithamar is the likeness of the judgment which has followed the corruption and the nepotism of the clergy everywhere. It was to begin with the alienation of the people from the worship of the sanctuary; it was to end in a violent revolution, which should overthrow with bloodshed, confiscation, and long humiliation the ancient hereditary succession and the whole existing hierachy of Israel.—Stanley.
Parents cannot do God’s work, and God will not do theirs; but if they use the means, God will not withhold His blessing.—A. Clarke.
Oh, it is dangerous to do the work of God negligently. Eli was a magistrate, and should have put forth his authority and punished those ungodly children.… That you (who are magistrates) be terrors to evil-doers is expressed as one of your chief duties (Rom_13:3).… If you are not, look to yourself, for God hath iron hands for justices that have leaden heels, and will one day strike them home for forswearing themselves to spare others. He will be a terror to thee and make thee a terror to thyself, who will not at His command be a terror to evil-doers. Thou sinnest in others whilst thou sufferest them to sin, and thou shalt one day suffer with them (Rev_18:4).… Cowards are more fit to be slaves than rulers. A magistrate should be like Moses: in his own cause as meek as a lamb, in God’s cause as stiff as an oak, as bold as a lion.… He that spareth the bad hurteth the good. The chirurgeon must cut off incurable members, and the physician of the State must purge out the peccant humours of the body politic, lest they infect and injure the whole.—Swinnock.
“For the iniquity which he knoweth.” Both by that prophet (1Sa_2:29), and by that domestical chaplain, his conscience.—Trapp.
1Sa_3:13-14. The guilt and consequences of parental unfaithfulness.
I. The sin here mentioned. It is not said that Eli set his sons a bad example. It is evident, on the contrary, that his example was good. Nor is he accused of neglecting to admonish them; for we are told that he reproved them in a very solemn and affectionate manner.… But though Eli admonished he did not restrain. He did not employ the authority with which he was clothed, as a parent, to prevent them from indulging their depraved inclinations.… Every parent who is not as careful of the morals as he is of the health of his children; everyone who takes more care of the literary than of the moral and religious education of his children, is guilty of this sin.
II. The punishments denounced. They are here denounced generally; but are described at large in the preceding chapter.
1. That most of his posterity shall die early. The sin of which Eli was guilty naturally tends to produce the consequence here threatened.… If parents wish their sons to die before they reach half the common age of man, they cannot adopt measures better calculated to produce this effect than to cast loose the reins of parental authority.
2. That such of his children as were spared should prove a grief and vexation, rather than a comfort to him.… This was not less terribly fulfilled in the family of David.… We are told respecting one of his children, that his father had not displeased him at any time, saying, Wherefore hast thou done so? We may then conclude that he was equally culpable in his treatment of his other children. And what was the consequence?.… This part of the threatened punishment, like the former, is the natural and almost inevitable consequence of the sin against which it is denounced.… Especially will such parents usually meet with unkindness and neglect from their children if they live to be dependent on them in their old age.
3. That his posterity should be poor and contemptible.… Children who are not restrained by their parents will almost inevitably contract habits of idleness, instability, and extravagance, which naturally lead to poverty and contempt. Here again we see the natural consequences of Eli’s sin in its punishment. Lastly, God declares that none of the methods thus appointed to obtain the pardon of sin, should avail to procure pardon for the iniquity of his house. This awful threat conveyed a plain intimation that they should die in their sins, and this too, was the natural consequence of his conduct. He had suffered them to follow without restraint those courses which rendered them unfit for heaven until their day of grace was past.… They were given up to a hard heart and a reprobate mind. They could not now be brought to repentance, and of course, no sacrifice nor offering could purge away their sins.… Thousands now in the region of despair, and thousands more on their way to join them will for ever curse their parents as the authors of their misery. The terrible punishments denounced against this sin show how exceedingly displeasing it is to God.
1. Because it proceeds from wicked and hateful principles … Sometimes it proceeds from the love and practice of vice … In religious parents, it almost invariably proceeds from indolence and selfishness … There is also much unbelief, much contempt of God, and much positive disobedience in this sin.
2. Because it entirely frustrates His design in establishing the family state.
3. On account of the good which it prevents, and the infinite evil which it produces.… No sin tends to produce more or greater evil and misery.
4. Because those who are guilty of it act a most unnatural part. God knew that it would not be safe to trust us with the education of immortal souls, unless we had powerful inducements to be faithful to the trust. He, therefore, implanted in the heart of parents a strong affection for their offspring, that they might be thus induced to educate them as they ought. But those who neglect to restrain their children do violence to this powerful operative principle, and may be said to be like the heathen, without natural affection.—Payson.
1Sa_3:15. As the child Samuel was not elated by this vision and revelation vouchsafed to him in the temple, but went humbly to Eli, and when it was morning did the daily work prescribed to him,—so the child Jesus, after the honour paid to him in the temple, “went down to Nazareth, and was subject” to Mary and Joseph (Luk_2:51).—Wordsworth.
As this is the first circumstance which throws light upon the character of one who was destined to become a great man in Israel, it behoves us to regard it well. Most lads of his age evince much eagerness in communicating anything surprising, without much regard to the pain it may be calculated to inflict. Samuel knew that he had been highly honoured by a special communication from God. The burden of a great doom had been imparted to him, and such secrets of high import it is hard for youth to bear undisclosed. But with Samuel there was one consideration that overruled every other. The secret concerned his venerable lord, who had been as a father to him, and could not fail to afflict his spirit.—Kitto.
1Sa_3:18. Though we must groan and feel God’s hand, yet we must not grumble and fret at His dealings. Patience is thy duty under the sharpest providence. He is too just to be questioned, too good to be suspected, and too great to be quarrelled with. Eli doth not fall in His face in a passion, but falls down at His feet in humble submission.—Swinnock.
“Told him every whit.” Bitter truths must be spoken, however they be taken, and if ministers be mannerly in the form, yet in the matter of their message let them be resolute.—Trapp.
If Eli have been an ill father to his sons, yet he is a good son to God, and is ready to kiss the very rod he shall smart withal: “It is the Lord,” whom I have ever found holy and just, and gracious, and He cannot but be Himself; “let Him do what seemeth Him good,” for whatsoever seemeth to be good to Him, cannot but be good, howsoever it seems to me. Every man can open his hand to God while He blesses; but to expose ourselves willingly to the afflicting hand of our Maker, and to kneel to Him while He scourges us, is peculiar only to the faithful.—Bishop Hall.
I. A judicious discovery from whence all evils come. “It is the Lord.” He is omnipotent, and who hath withstood His power. He is just, and will bring no evil without good cause. He is wise, and whatsoever evil He bringeth He can draw it to a good end.… He remaineth the same God in the fire and in the earthquake which He was in the still voice; the same when He slew the Israelites as when His light shone upon their tabernacle. His glorious attributes cross not one another. His justice taketh not from His mercy, nor His mercy from the equity of His justice; but He is just when He bindeth up, and merciful when He woundeth us.… The same God that overthrew Pharaoh in the Red Sea, that “slew great and mighty kings” (Psa_136:15; Psa_136:17-18) did deliver up His own people, did deliver up the ark to Dagon: for His justice, His wisdom, and His mercy “did endure for ever.”
II. A well-grounded resolution. Let us learn with Eli to “kiss the Son, lest He be angry” (Psa_2:12), nay, to kiss Him, and bow before Him when He is angry; to offer Him up a peace-offering, our wills, of more power than a hecatomb, than all our numerous fasts and sermons, to appease His wrath.… This is the truest surrendry we can make.… “I do not only obey God, and do what He would have me, but I am of His mind,” saith the heathen Seneca.” … The stubbornest knee may be made to bow, and obedience may be constrained. But the true Israelite doeth it with joy and readiness, and though he receive a blow he counteth it as a favour, for He that gave it hath taught him an art to make it so.—Anthony Faringdon.
1Sa_3:20. Not only of the whole Church in general, but of every Christian hearer in particular, it is demanded that, with reference to the doctrine taught, he shall perceive whether it is right and true or not, and stand his ground. In the case of Samuel the word did not hold good—“the prophet has no honour in his own country.” He comes before us here as a prophet who has much honour in his own country—
(1) Because he was a faithful prophet of God;
(2) because he was counted worthy by God of continual revelations through His word;
(3) and God confirmed his proclamations by the publicly manifested fulfilment of them as a fulfilment of his word.—Cramer.
When Samuel had entered into an immediate relation to God, a relation between him and the nation also began. He receives through them the dignity of a prophet, of a mediator between God and the nation. With him prophecy mounted a new step. While the prophets had previously entered powerfully into the history only in solitary decisive instances, his prophetic activity was a continuous one.—Hengstenberg.
1Sa_3:21. God breaks through the silence of many years, and reveals Himself to Samuel. Wherefore was this? Samuel had a childlike faith; therefore he was very dear to God. The words are remarkable, “the child was a child” (see notes on 1Sa_1:24), and “he grew before the Lord.” He was a child in innocence, humility, simplicity, holiness. He was holy amid scenes of unholiness. In spite of the pernicious example of Eli’s sons, the priests of God, the child stood firm; he was true to God in the most trying circumstances, therefore God revealed Himself to him. The child Samuel was preferred to the aged Eli, the high priest and judge; and thus, as Theodoret remarks, God showed that holy childhood is better than hoar hairs. He was “wiser than the aged,” and had “more understanding than his teachers,” because he “kept God’s commandments” (Psa_119:99-100).—Wordsworth.
The Lord revealed Himself to Samuel. It is with, perhaps, one exception the earliest instance of the use of the word which has since become the name for all Divine communication. “The Lord uncovered the ear,” such is the literal expression; a touching and significant figure taken from the manner in which the possessor of a secret moves back the long hair of his friend, and whispers into the ear thus laid bare the word that no one else may hear. It is a figure which precisely expresses the most universal and philosophical idea conveyed by the term “Revelation,” thence appropriated in the theological language of both East and West. “The Father of Truth,” says Professor Muller—indicating his own use of this phrase to describe the mission of the Semitic races—“chooses His own prophets, and He speaks to them in a voice stronger than the voice of thunder. It is the same inner voice through which God speaks to all of us. That voice may dwindle away and become hardly audible; it may lose its Divine accent, and sink into the language of worldly prudence; but it may also from time to time assume its real nature with the children of God, and sound into their ears as a voice from heaven. A “Divine instinct” would neither be an appropriate name for what is a gift or grace accorded but to few, nor would it be a more intelligible word than “special” revelation.—Stanley.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF 1Sa_3:1-2
THE FIRST DEFEAT AT EBENEZER
On the connection of the first clause of this verse with the following paragraph see Critical and Expository Notes on the chapter. Adopting the view of Kiel and others, we remark—
I. That there may be an obedience which will bring punishment. Upon the people and upon the priests of Israel at this time there rested the curse of unpardoned sin. Eli’s sons had neither confessed their guilt nor amended their lives, and the religion of the entire nation was very much like that depicted by Isaiah at a later period, when, delivering the word of the Lord, he tells both rulers and people that their “incense is an abomination,” and their feasts a “trouble and a weariness” unto the Most High because they had forsaken Him in their hearts. (See Isa_1:1-15.) Therefore punishment came to them while in the act of obeying the word of the Lord by Samuel. As there had been no obedience unto life, there was now an obedience unto death. This act of obedience was doubtless in conformity to the national desire, and the desire to free themselves from the yoke of the Philistines was both natural and right in itself, but it was unaccompanied by a willingness to submit to the righteous law of Jehovah and to obey His word, and therefore it brought judgment instead of blessing. There are many parallel cases in individual history. Many men make plans and try to gratify desires which may in themselves be lawful, but they cannot have the Divine blessing because they set aside the indispensable Divine condition of having in the first place a right relation to God by pardon of sin and righteousness of life; and therefore their efforts to free themselves from difficulties or to gain a more desirable condition often end in placing them in a worse position than they were in at first. But in the case before us it was not the mere effort to gratify a lawful desire that brought the judgment, but an undertaking engaged in in obedience to a Divine command. As in the case of Balaam, obedience was made a means of punishment. That false prophet at last set out on his journey in obedience to the word of the Lord, but “God’s anger was kindled because he went” (Num_22:22), and punishment came to him even in his obedience. Israel at this time desired a national victory without national repentance—they desired freedom from the yoke of the Philistines without submission to the yoke of Jehovah, and thought that this would be true freedom. Their numbers were great, and they imagined that numbers would avail them in conflict with their ancient enemy, even although they lacked cleanness of hands and purity of heart before God. They ignored the conditions of success laid down for them by the mouth of Moses—“If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth … and the Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face; they shall come out against thee one way and shall flee seven ways.” But they again found from bitter experience that the Divine threatening was no idle word. “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and His statutes which 1 command thee this day.… the Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them” (Deu_28:1; Deu_28:7; Deu_28:15; Deu_28:25).
II. Where the moral condition for victory is wanting, it is better to have defeat. The word which came to Israel and led them out to defeat was a blessing, because defeat was just what they needed at the time. The defeat in circumstance that leads to an improvement in character is a victory in reality. If national or individual loss in material things leads to moral gain, it is better than the most splendid worldly success. How terrible seemed the defeat of all the purposes and plans of the mighty monarch of Babylon when he was “driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen;” but it was a great moral victory, for it brought him to a higher moral standing, and taught him to “praise and honour Him that liveth for ever and ever” (Dan_4:34). Many a man in humbler walks of life has learned to know himself and his God in the day which has seemed to bring him nothing but defeat and ruin. The defeat of Israel at this time was the first of a series of steps by which, under the rule of Samuel, they rose to a more healthy state of national life; and, therefore, what was in the first instance a judgment was in the end a blessing. A victory over the Philistines, when they were in a state of opposition to God, would have been a far greater national calamity in the end than the two crushing defeats recorded in this chapter. Freedom from chastisement, either in the nation or in the individual, is the most terrible curse which God can inflct. Far better is it to suffer the severest punishment for sin.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1Sa_3:1. Not only were the people to learn that the Lord had departed from them, but Samuel also was to make the discovery that the deliverance of Israel from the oppression and dominion of its foes was absolutely impossible without its inward conversion to God.—Keil.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v11 The Prophecy Against Eli
The Prophecy Against Eli
v. 11. And the Lord said to Samuel, in a Revelation which was his call to the office of prophet in Israel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle, with sudden dread and horror, which almost cause a person to lose his senses over the fearfulness of the impending doom.
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v. 12. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house, the destruction foretold by the prophet, 1Sa 2:27-36; when I begin, I will also make an end, He would both begin and also conclude what He had decided upon as punishment.
v. 13. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth, punish him and his entire family on account of the transgression of his sons, of whose guilt he had become a partaker; because his sons made themselves vile, deliberately placed themselves under the curse of the Law, and he restrained them not, made no serious, emphatic move to interfere with them.
v. 14. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, by an oath which made the sentence of punishment irrevocable, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever. It was no longer a warning, but a definite statement of a curse which was about to descend upon Eli and his house for his neglect of the duty which he should have performed to his sons as father, high priest, and judge, by employing severe chastisement und punishment upon them. The harm done by the crimes of the priests affected the whole family, even their descendants. This story should be heeded more in our days, when mawkish sentimentality is making a farce of bringing up children.
v. 15. And Samuel lay until the morning, sleeping in his bed, untroubled by an evil conscience, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord, those of the entrance to the court, so the people might come in for the morning worship. And Samuel feared to tell Eli the vision, the Revelation which he had received, since it. threatened evil to the house of his master.
v. 16. Then Eli called Samuel and said. Samuel, my son! And he answered, Here am I. Even the divine Revelation which had been vouchsafed him did not change the simple obedience of Samuel.
v. 17. And he, Eli, said. What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? He felt that the Revelation concerned him, and he was eager to know it. I pray thee hide it not from me; God do so to thee, and more also, in a severe punishment, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that He said unto thee. Eli’s excitement is seen in the climax formed by his words. "He asks for the word of the Lord; he demands an exact and complete statement; he adjures Samuel not to conceal anything from him. " (Lange. )
v. 18. And Samuel told him every whit, placing the pathetic demand of Eli above his own fear and sorrow, and hid nothing from him. Thus Samuel entered upon his prophetic office. And he, Eli, said, It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good. He expressed his humble submission to the will of the Lord, for with all his weakness and in spite of his transgression he was a believer in Jehovah of Israel, and he realized the justice of the punishment.
v. 19. And Samuel grew, he reached full manhood, and the Lord was with him, not only by general manifestations of His goodness and mercy, but also by special Revelation s and gifts of the Spirit which the Lord imparted to him as His prophet, and did let none of his words fall to the ground, what he prophetically announced as the Word of Jehovah was fulfilled.
v. 20. And all Israel from Dan, on the extreme northern boundary, even to Beersheba, the city in the extreme south, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord, throughout all Israel, in the entire land of Canaan, Samuel was known as a faithful, trustworthy prophet, upon whose words one could depend.
v. 21. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, He continued to manifest Himself there; for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the Word of the Lord. God made known His will to the people by the Revelation of His Word to Samuel, who was thus the first exponent of the permanent prophetic order. It has happened repeatedly in history that the Lord graciously visited His people after a season of spiritual drought and gave them His Gospel in rich measure.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv5, 7, 9, 10, 12 my son
my son
Eli was not Samuel's true father. Eli speaks as if he were Samuel's father to show Samuel that he is not angry but that Samuel needs to listen to him. (See: Metaphor)
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translationWords
son
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 3:7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord: He…
3:7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord: He lacked direct experience of the Lord. In contrast, Eli’s sons did not know the Lord (see study note on 2:12) in that they were morally and spiritually deficient.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.