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1 SAMUEL 3

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

 NASB  NKJV  NRSV  TEV   NJB
(MT versing)
The Prophetic Call to Samuel Samuel's First Prophecy God's First Revelation to Samuel
 (3:1-4:1a)		 The Lord Appears to Samuel God Calls Samuel
3:1 3:1-9 3:1 3:1-5b 3:1-9
3:2-9 3:2-9
3:5c
3:6-7c
3:7d-8b
3:8c-9
3:10-14 3:10-14 3:10-14 3:10a-b 3:10-14
3:10c
3:11-14
3:15-18 3:15-18 3:15-18 3:15-16 3:15-18
3:17-18
3:19-21 3:19-21 3:19-4:1a 3:19-21 3:19-4:1a

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

  1. First paragraph
  2. Second paragraph
  3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:1
  1Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.

3:1 "the Lord" See SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, D.

▣ "word from the Lord was rare in those days" Notice the "word" and "vision" are parallel (i.e., apparently Samuel was asleep so this was at first a dream encounter). God communicates in several ways through different gifted people (i.e., Jer. 18:18).

  1. priest
  2. sage
  3. prophet

Evil leaders cause a drought of revelation (i.e., Ezek. 7:26; Micah 3:6).

YHWH manifested Himself to humans in several ways.

  1. physical encounters (i.e., the Angel of the Lord, Exodus 3)
  2. dreams (i.e., Gen. 15:12; 28:12; 31:10,11,24; 37:5,9)
  3. visions (i.e., Ezekiel, Daniel)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:2-9
  2It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), 3and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, 4that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, "Here I am." 5Then he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, lie down again." So he went and lay down. 6The Lord called yet again, "Samuel!" So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he answered, "I did not call, my son, lie down again." 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him. 8So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy. 9And Eli said to Samuel, "Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, 'Speak, Lord , for Your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

3:2 "Eli was lying down in his place" It is uncertain where Eli slept. Samuel slept in the inner shrine of the tabernacle (i.e., "the holy place"). It was his job to make sure the lights on the menorah did not go out (cf. v. 3).

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE TABERNACLE OF THE WILDERNESS (chart)

SPECIAL TOPIC: LAMPSTAND (Menorah)

▣ "his eyesight had begun to grow dim" Loss of sight is common with age.

  1. Isaac ‒ Gen. 27:1
  2. Jacob ‒ Gen. 48:10
  3. Eli ‒ 1 Sam. 3:2
  4. Ahijah ‒ 1 Kgs. 14:4
  5. old people ‒ Eccl. 12:4

3:4 "the Lord called to Samuel" This revelation was

  1. audible
  2. used words Samuel could understand
  3. His words were at first thought to be human words

▣ "Here I am" This was Hebrew idiom of availability (cf. Gen. 22:1,7,11; 27:1; 31:11; 46:2; Exod. 3:4; 1 Sam. 3:4,5,6,8,16; 22:12; 2 Sam. 1:7).

3:7 This verse does not imply that Samuel was without faith but that YHWH had not spoken directly, personally to him.

Josephus states that Samuel's call to the prophetic office came when he was twelve (Antiq. 5.10.4).

Samuel functioned in several leadership roles.

  1. prophet ‒ 1 Sam. 3:19-4:1; 9:6-10
  2. judge ‒ 1 Sam. 7:15-17
  3. priest ‒ 1 Sam. 7:9-10; 13:8-15

3:8 "Eli discerned that the Lord was calling" Apparently a similar revelatory event had occurred to Eli. He recognized what was happening and knew how Samuel should respond to it.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:10-14
  10Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening." 11The Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. 14Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever."

3:10 "the Lord came and stood" This is a revelation in which YHWH appears as a human male (cf. V. 21).

SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE USED TO DESCRIBE GOD

SPECIAL TOPIC: CAN HUMANS SEE GOD AND LIVE?

▣ "Samuel! Samuel!" This was a way to show emphasis.

  1. Abraham, Abraham ‒ Gen. 22:11
  2. Jacob, Jacob ‒ Gen. 46:2
  3. Moses, Moses ‒ Exod. 3:4
  4. Saul ‒ Acts 9:4; 22:7

3:13 "I have told him" This refers to 1 Sam. 2:27-30.

▣
NASB  "on themselves"
NKJV  "made themselves"
NRSV, NJB, REB, LXX, NET  "God"
TEV  "against me"
Peshitta  "the people"

The MT has "to them" but the UBS Text Project, p. 156, gives the supposed understanding of the LXX an "A" rating. The Masoretic scholars may have changed "God" to "to them" for theological reasons.

  1. to them ‒ להם
  2. God ‒ אלהים

▣ "he did not rebuke them" Eli showed more respect to his wicked sons than YHWH's honor (i.e., 1 Sam. 2:22-25).

The VERB "rebuke" (BDB 462 II, KB 461 II, Piel PERFECT) occurs only here in the OT.

3:14 The sins of Eli's sons could not be atoned by sacrifice.

SPECIAL TOPIC: UNINTENTIONAL SINS (OT)]

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:15-18
  15So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16Then Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." And he said, "Here I am." 17He said, "What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you." 18So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him."

3:15 "opened the doors of the house of the Lord" The exact structure of the Tabernacle at Shiloh is uncertain. Apparently there was some type of fellowship building and grounds connected to the tabernacle itself. Therefore, which "doors" Samuel opened is uncertain.

3:17 This verse has three IMPERFECTS used in a JUSSIVE sense.

  1. "do not hide it from me" ‒ Piel (BDB 470, KB 469)
  2. "may God do so to you" ‒ Qal (BDB 793, KB 889)
  3. "and more also" ‒ Hiphil (BDB 414, KB 418)

There is a fourth form in v. 18, "let Him do what seems good to Him" ‒ Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:19-21
  19Thus Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fail. 20All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

3:19 "Samuel grew" This is similar to 1 Sam. 2:19,26. Samuel grew physically, mentally, and spiritually.

▣ "The Lord was with him" This was an idiom for YHWH's care, protection, guidance, and personal attention (cf. Gen. 20:3; 31:3; Exod. 3:12; Josh. 1:5).

▣ "and let none of his words fail" This was to prove he was a true prophet (cf. 1 Sam. 3:20; Deut. 18:21-22).

3:20 "from Dan even to Beersheba" This became an idiom for the whole Promised Land of Canaan (i.e., Jdgs. 20:1).

  1. Dan was a city in the far north after the tribe of Dan migrated north (i.e., Judges 18).
  2. Beersheba was a southern city in Judah.

▣ "prophet" Notice he is affirmed as a prophet but this does not imply he was from the tribe of Levi. However, where he slept and what he did do suggest Levitical activities.

SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHECY (OT)

3:21 "Shiloh" For "Shiloh" see brief article in NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1220-1223 and/or ABD, vol. 5, pp. 1213-1215.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

  1. What is the difference between dreams and visions?
  2. Where did Samuel sleep?
  3. What does it mean, "Samuel did not yet know the Lord"?
  4. What does it mean, "the Lord came and stood"?
  5. Explain the implications between "intentional" and "unintentional" sins.
  6. What does it mean, "let none of his words fail"`?

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