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Matthew Henry

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 3:8

And the Lord called Samuel again the third time ,.... In the same manner he had done before, expressing his name no doubt: and he arose and went to Eli, and said, here am I, for thou didst call me ; as if he should say, it must certainly be so, I cannot be mistaken a third time: and Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child ; he was satisfied now that Samuel must have heard a voice, and he knew there was no man in the tabernacle but himself, and therefore it must be the voice... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 3:9

Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, go, lie down ,.... Once more: and it shall be, if he call thee ; the voice, or the Lord by it: that thou shalt say, speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth ; his meaning is, that he should not rise and come to him, as he had done, but continue on his bed, on hearing the voice again, but desire the Lord to speak to him what he had to say, to which he was ready to attend: so Samuel went and lay down in his place ; which, as commonly understood, was in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 3:10

And the Lord came, and stood ,.... At the place where Samuel lay; either there was, as Kimchi, a form before his eyes in the vision of prophecy, some visible corporeal shape assumed; or a bright splendour an illustrious appearance of the glory of God; or it may be rather the voice, which before seemed to be at some distance whereabout Eli lay; it now seemed nearer, and was as the voice of one just by him, that sounded in his ears: and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel : repeating... 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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 3:9

Speak , Lord ; for thy servant heareth - This was the usual way in which the prophets spoke, when they had intimations that the Lord was about to make some especial revelation. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 3:10

The Lord came , and stood - He heard the voice as if it was approaching nearer and nearer; till at last, from the sameness of the tone, he could imagine that it ceased to approach: and this is what appears to be represented under the notion of God standing and calling. 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

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