1 Samuel 3:1

THE CALL OF SAMUEL TO THE PROPHETIC OFFICE

"Samuel was called by the providence of God to be the founder of prophecy as an established institution,"[1] and subsequently during the period of the monarchy the prophet of God, side by side with the king of Israel, was responsible for the religious, moral, and ethical guidance of the Chosen People.

The only critical complaints against this chapter question its unity and what some have called the "reworking" of the prophecy regarding Eli's priesthood in the preceding chapter. Regarding the unity of this chapter, H. P. Smith declared that, "The chapter seems to be a unit,"[2] admitting that objections to its unity are "not well founded."[3]

The other objection regarding the alleged "two accounts" of the prophecy regarding Eli is also of no significance. G. B. Caird admitted that if 1 Samuel 3:12 refers to 1 Samuel 2:27-36 (to which it most certainly does refer) then "Both passages would be vindicated against the charge of lateness."[4] Of course, he denied that any such thing should be admitted, declaring that, "Here Eli is warned of a disaster immediately impending ... and in the other passage (1 Samuel 2:27ff) he is warned of a disaster spread over centuries."[5]

The extreme weakness of such a comment lies in the fact that nothing whatever is said of "centuries" in the first prophecy, and nothing whatever is said in the prophecy here that could be construed as a denial that the prophecy was any different from the previous one. It is specifically stated that the punishment would last "forever," and also, the sign given to Eli that both his evil sons would die by the sword on the same day (in the first prophecy) indicates the same immediacy and impending nature of God's punishment that exists in the prophecy here. There is absolutely no discrepancy whatever in these two prophecies. Thus, 1 Samuel 3:12, as a reference to the previous one, is an established fact.

"Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision."

"The boy Samuel." "The term `boy' as used here is applied to an infant (1 Samuel 4:21) or to a man forty years old (2 Chronicles 13:7)."[6] Samuel was probably about twelve years of age at the time of this episode, as was stated by Josephus.[7] That was traditionally among the Jews the age at which bar-mitsvah services were held for boys entering their thirteenth year, indicating that the boy, like all Jewish males, was a "son of the law," that he was personally responsible for his behavior, and that morally and ethically he was considered an adult. That service is still conducted for Jewish boys. And in it, the lad carries a copy of the Torah as he marches around the synagogue, followed by distinguished members of the Jewish priestly community. Many believe that it was upon just such an occasion that Jesus Christ at that age was unintentionally left by his parents in Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-51).

"And the word of the Lord was rare in those days." The Hebrew text here reads "precious" instead of "rare." "The word of the Lord was precious is the correct translation, and it is not clear why the RSV should have altered it."[8] This is another instance in which the KJV is superior to the RSV. This is an example of translators substituting what they CONCEIVE to be the meaning for what the sacred text says. It is a fact, of course, that the word of the Lord was indeed rare at that time, but this truth is actually a deduction. The word of the Lord was precious because it was rare!

The point made here is important. Up until this time in Israel a prophet had not always been available to instruct the people in matters divine. "The prophecy of Hannah, and that of the man of God (1 Samuel 2:27ff, above), are the only instances of prophecy since Deborah."[9] Samuel is mentioned in Acts 3:24 as the first of the prophets after Moses. The importance of this lies in the fact that God's promise to raise up a prophet like unto Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15) should not be understood as a promise to raise up "a continual line or succession of prophets," as some have vainly supposed, but it is a direct and specific prophecy of the Messiah.

"This verse is both an introduction to the narrative that follows and a statement of Israel's sorry plight. We are probably to assume that the faults of Eli's family had occasioned the rarity of the divine voice."[10]