1 Samuel 3:19

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SAMUEL AS GOD'S PROPHET

"And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord again appeared at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord."

"The Lord ... let none of his words fall to the ground" (1 Samuel 3:19). The undeniable proof of the validity of God's inspiration of his prophets lay in the fact that what they prophesied came to pass, exactly as foretold. The reality of the countless "predictive prophecies" of the O.T. is the mountain truth which all the unbelievers of the ages have never been able to remove.

"All Israel from Dan to Beersheba" (1 Samuel 3:20). These places were the northern and southern extremities of Israel and their usage to indicate the whole country of Israel was equivalent to what an American might mean if he said, "from Lubec to San Francisco." "Dan is the modern Tel el-Qadi, located on the southern slope of Mount Hermon."[27] See our comment on Judges 18:27-29 for the manner in which the tribe of Dan came to possess this place. "Beersheba is the modern Tel es-Saba, located about four miles east of the modern town of Beersheba."[28] Except for the extent of Israel's territory in the times of Solomon and of Jeroboam, these two places identified the northern and southern extremities of the territory that was controlled by Israel.

"All Israel knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord" (1 Samuel 3:20). This is a statement of what eventually came to pass and does not mean that this widespread recognition of Samuel as a prophet of the Lord was an instantaneous result. In this book, somewhat later, Saul was apparently ignorant of the fact that Samuel was a prophet of the Lord (1 Samuel 9:5,6).

"The Lord appeared again at Shiloh" (1 Samuel 3:21). The Septuagint (LXX) is different here, and, apparently influenced by the LXX, G. B. Caird rendered this place: "And Israel again appeared in Shiloh, because Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel."[29] However, Keil warned that, "The Septuagint (LXX) in this passage in a critical aspect is utterly worthless."[30] Here again we have an example of translators who write what they believe to be true, or the way it happened, and then substitute their opinions for what the Sacred Text says. It is true that in many instances the changes do not contain error, as such, but are nevertheless a departure from what the Lord has said, and we hold such departures to be totally untrustworthy.