1 Samuel 3:7

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 3:7

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord ,.... He knew that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was the true God; he had spiritual knowledge of him, and knew somewhat of his word and worship, ways and ordinances, in which he had been instructed by Eli; wherefore, though the Targum is,"Samuel had not yet learned to know doctrine from the Lord;'it can only be understood, that he had not learnt it perfectly; somewhat he knew of it, but in an imperfect manner, being a child: but the sense of the word is,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 3:7

Samuel did not yet know the Lord - He had not been accustomed to receive any revelation from him. He knew and worshipped the God of Israel; but he did not know him as communicating especial revelation of His will. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 3:1-10

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 3:1-18

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

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Samuel 3:7

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. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Samuel 3:7

1 Samuel 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... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 3:1-18

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

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 Samuel 3:7

1 Samuel 3:7. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord— The second clause in this verse explains the first: Samuel was not yet instructed in the will of GOD as a prophet; he had not yet received any immediate revelation from him. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Samuel 3:1-18

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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