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. read more
The Lord called Samuel - The voice probably came from the holy place, near to which Eli and Samuel were both lying. read more
Light withheld. The facts given are— 1 . A lack of the manifest revelations of the Divine will to which Israel had been accustomed. 2 . A consciousness of this want on the part of the few pious in Israel. 3 . The continued service of Samuel in the ordinary routine of the sanctuary. 4 . The resumption of the manifest revelation by the call of Samuel to receive it. 5 . Samuel experiences difficulty in recognising the call of God. 6 . Eli renders to him the assistance... read more
The old priest and the child prophet. Every imagination must be struck by the contrast between the old man and the child. The more so, that the natural order of things is reversed. Instead of admonition to the child coming through the lips of age, admonition to the aged came through the lips of childhood. 1. THE CHARACTER OF ELI ILLUSTRATED . 1 . His good points. The Lord had ceased to speak to or by Eli; but when the old priest perceived that the Lord had spoken to the... read more
1 Samuel 3:2-4. At that time After the man of God, mentioned in the foregoing chapter, (1 Samuel 2:27,) had been with Eli; perhaps the very night after he had delivered his message: when Eli was laid down in his place In the court of the tabernacle, where there were divers rooms for several uses of the priests, as there were afterward at the temple. That he could not see Clearly to do his duty, after it became duskish. This, it is likely, made him go to bed betimes, and leave... read more
Judgment on the family of Eli (2:12-3:18)Eli the priest had become the judge, or chief administrator, in Israel. He sat at the door of the house of God where people could freely meet him to seek his advice or ask for directions in disputes (see 1:9; 4:18). His sons, it seems, carried out the routine work in connection with the sacrifices and ceremonies.According to the Levitical law, the portion of the sacrifice that was for God had to be burnt on the altar first, after which the priest and the... read more
Here am I = Behold me. read more
1 Samuel 3:4. The Lord called Samuel— The voice came, most probably, out of the most holy place. So the Chaldee renders it; a voice was heard out of the tabernacle of the Lord. Here am I, was a form of speech implying attention to what was said, and readiness to execute what was commanded. read more
1. Samuel’s call 3:1-18The Hebrew word used to describe Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:1 (naar) elsewhere refers to a young teenager (cf. 1 Samuel 17:33). Consequently we should probably think of Samuel as a boy in his early teens as we read this section. Josephus wrote that Samuel was 12 years old. [Note: Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 5:10:4.] At this time in Israel’s history (i.e., the late Judges Period), special revelations from God were rare. These normally came to prophets in visions... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 3:1-10
To make way for the account of God's revealing himself first to Samuel, we are here told, 1. How industrious Samuel was in serving God, according as his place and capacity were (1 Sam. 3:1): The child Samuel, though but a child, ministered unto the Lord before Eli. It was an aggravation of the wickedness of Eli's sons that the child Samuel shamed them. They rebelled against the Lord, but Samuel ministered to him; they slighted their father's admonitions, but Samuel was observant of them; he... read more