1 Samuel 3:10

THE LORD SPEAKS TO SAMUEL

"And the Lord came and stood forth, calling as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for thy servant hears." Then the Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel, at which the two ears of every one that hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I tell him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever."

This is the full equivalent of the prophecy recorded in 1 Samuel 2:27ff. As D. F. Payne stated it, "1 Samuel 3:10-14 rehearses, but in different words, the prophecy received by Eli in 1 Samuel 2:27-36."[18]

This passage reveals an appearance of the Lord to Samuel in an objective sense. This was NOT a dream, because, "Samuel rises and runs to Eli after each of the first three calls."[19] The appearance of the Lord here, was something more than a voice; "There was an objective presence; because in 1 Samuel 3:15 it is called not [~chazown] (a sight seen when in a state of ecstasy), but [~mar'ah] (something seen when wide awake, and in full, calm possession of every faculty)."[20] The mention of "vision" (1 Samuel 3:15) does not nullify this.

This appearance of the Lord to Samuel had nothing whatever to do with Samuel's sleeping where the ark of the covenant was kept in the Holy of Holies, for it is NOT true that Samuel slept there. God was, in no sense restricted to the ark of the covenant as a place where he would speak to men. Like other great Christophanies of the O.T., the location of the person visited by the Lord had nothing to do with it. Furthermore, the fact of any particular name of God being used in this passage is likewise of no significance whatever. Literally, dozens of names of God appear in the O.T., and they are often used interchangeably, sometimes as many as five different names of God being used in a single passage (Genesis 49:23). It would appear from this that the appearance of the Lord here was similar to that of his appearance to Joshua (Joshua 5:13-15).

"And I tell him" (1 Samuel 3:13). As Willis pointed out, "The best translation here is that of the King James Version, `I (have) told him.'"[21] The same scholar also wrote that it is "most likely" that, "Yahweh is referring back to his previous announcement to Eli through the `man of God' (1 Samuel 2:31-32,36)."[22] The purpose of this, apparently, was to inform Samuel that Eli already knew about the punishment that God would bring upon him.

"The two ears of everyone that hears it will tingle" (1 Samuel 3:11). "`Ears ... will tingle.' This expression occurs two other times in 2 Kings 21:12 and in Jeremiah 9:3, in which passages the reference is to the destruction of Jerusalem."[23]

"The iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever" (1 Samuel 3:14). This seems to imply that Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's evil sons, fully expected that their sins could be removed by offerings and sacrifices. However, no external act of worship is of any value unless it reflects a condition of repentance and sincerity on the part of the worshipper. The arrogant, deliberate, and unrepentant attitude of Eli's sons meant that their punishment could not be averted.