1 Samuel 3:1

And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli,.... Under his direction and instruction; the Targum is, in the life of Eli, and in such parts of service, relating to the tabernacle of the

And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. The child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli.

1 SAMUEL CHAPTER 3 The Lord calleth Samuel three times; he knows not God’ s voice, but thinks it to be Eli who calls him; runs to him, who instructs him, . At the fourth call he answers, . God acquainteth Samuel with the destruction of Eli’ s house, . Samuel in the morning discovers it to Eli, at his request: Eli’ s submission, . All Israel acknowledgeth Samuel for a prophet, . Before Eli, i.e. under his inspection and direction, which, being so young, he needed. The word of the Lord, to wit, the word of prophecy, or the revelation of God’ s will to and by the prophets. Was precious, i, e. rare or scarce, such things being most precious in men’ s esteem, whereas common things are generally despised. There was no open vision; God did not impart his mind by way of vision or revelation openly, or to any public person. to whom others might resort for satisfaction, though he might or did privately reveal himself to some pious persons for their particular direction. This is here premised as a reason why Samuel understood not, when God called him once or twice.

1 Samuel 3:1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; [there was] no open vision.Ver. 1. And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli.] Praemonstrante et instruente eum Eli. Eli being his tutor and teacher, he was tractable and officious, faithful in a little, and therefore intrusted with more, being the next famous prophet to Moses, and called the first. The word of the Lord was precious in those days.] Heb., Rare. The Hebrews put rarum pro charo: as Proverbs 25:17, "Let thy feet be precious in thy neighbour’ s house," that is, let them seldom come there. See Psalms 74:9 Isaiah 13:12. A prophet was a rare bird; so was once a preacher in this land, and then much more set by. Diaconos paucitas honorabiles fecit. There was no open vision.] Heb., Broken. See Judges 7:15, with the note. Prophecy was very scarce. Jer., Epist.

(1) The child Samuel ministered unto the Lord.—The writer of this history, although well aware of the great revolution accomplished in Israel by the prophet whose life and work the Holy Spirit bade him record, gives us but the simplest and shortest possible account of the child-days of him who was only second to Moses in his influence on the eventful story of the chosen people. But short and devoid of detail though the record be, it is enough to show us that the atmosphere in which the child lived was a pure and holy one; the boy was evidently kept apart from Hophni, Phinehas, and their impious self-seeking party. The high priestly guardian was evidently fully conscious of the importance of his charge, and he watched over his pupil with a tender watchful care. Perhaps his sad experiences with his evil headstrong sons had taught the old man wisdom; certainly the training he gave to Samuel was one that educated the boy well for his after-life of stirring public work. The notices of the childhood and boyhood are indeed brief. The first contrasts sharply the lawless profligacy of the priestly houses with the pure holy childhood passed in the sanctuary courts, probably always in the company of the old man. Hophni and Phinehas, the grown men prostituted the holy work to their own vile worldly ends: the child ministered before the Lord in his little white robe; and while in the home life of his own mother and father in Ramah, his brothers and sisters were growing up with the sorrows and joys of other Hebrew children, “the child Samuel grew before the Lord” amid the stillness and silence and the awful mystery of the Divine protection, which seems ever, even in the darkest days of the history of Israel, to have surrounded the home of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. It was amidst this silent, sacred mystery, apart from the disorders of his priestly sons, that Eli taught the boy the story of his ancestors, with only the dark curtains of the sanctuary hanging between master and pupil and the mystic golden throne of God, on which His glory was sometimes pleased to rest. The writer wrote his gloomy recital of the wild unbridled life of the wicked priests, wrote down the weak, sorrowful remonstrances of the father and high priest, foreshadowing, however, their certain doom; and then, again, with their life of shame sharply contrasts the pure child-life of the little pupil of the old sorrow-stricken high priest—the boy whom all men loved.

CHAPTER III Samuel ministers to the Lord before Eli, 1. He is thrice called by the Lord; who informs him of the evils which shall be brought on the house of Eli, 2-15. Eli inquires of Samuel what the Lord had said, 16, 17. He gives a faithful reunion of the whole, which Eli receives with great submission, 18. Samuel prospers; is established as a prophet in Israel; and the Lord reveals himself to him to Shiloh, 19-21. NOTES ON CHAP. III Verse 1. Samuel ministered unto the Lord] He performed minor services in the tabernacle, under the direction of Eli, such as opening the doors, c. See 1 Samuel 3:15. The word of the Lord was precious] There were but few revelations from God and because the word was scarce, therefore it was valuable. The author of this book probably lived at a time when prophecy was frequent, See the preface. There was no open vision.] There was no public accredited prophet; one with whom the secret of the Lord was known to dwell, and to whom all might have recourse in cases of doubt or public emergency.

Ch. 1 Samuel 3:1-10. The Call of Samuel 1. the child Samuel] According to Josephus, Samuel had just completed his twelfth year when the word of Jehovah came to him. In later times this age was a critical point in the life of a Jewish boy. He then became ‘a son of the Law,’ and was regarded as personally responsible for obedience to it. It was at the age of twelve that “the child Jesus” first went up to Jerusalem along with his parents (Luke 2:42). ministered] Cp. 1 Samuel 2:11; 1 Samuel 2:18. was precious] Rather, was rare. In the general decay of religion, prophetic communications from God had almost entirely ceased. Cp. Amos 8:11; Psalms 74:9. We read of two prophets only in the days of the Judges (Judges 4:4; Judges 6:8). there was no open vision] Rather, there was no vision published abroad. The word is used in 2 Chronicles 31:5 of the publication of a decree (E. V. came abroad). There was no publicly acknowledged prophet, whose ‘word came to all Israel.’

See the margin reference note. Josephus says that Samuel’s call to the prophetic office happened when he had just completed his twelfth year (compare Luke 2:42).

SAMUEL’S CALL, 1 Samuel 3:1-21. 1. Samuel ministered — See note on 1 Samuel 2:11. According to Josephus, Samuel was now about twelve years old.