Chapter Three

The calling of Samuel to prophetic ministry.

1 Samuel 3:1. Now the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under Eli; the word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not common. “The word of the Lord” – through the prophets, revelation of God’s will through visions was in those days not common.

1 Samuel 3:2. And it came to pass at that time that Eli was lying down in his place – his eyes had begun to fail, and he could not see – “In his place” – near the entrance of the tabernacle.

1 Samuel 3:3. And the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the Ark of God was; “The lamp of God (which was in the sanctuary) had not yet gone out.” The fire in the lamps of the lampstand was lit by the priests in the evening and burned all night until morning, and in the morning was extinguished (Exod 27:21. Cf. 1 Sam 30:7-8; Lev 24:2-4). The care for the proper functioning of the lampstand lamps, especially at night, was apparently placed by the priests on the boy Samuel, which forced him to spend this time “in the house of the Lord, where the Ark of God was,” more precisely – in the first (from the entrance) part of this house, or tabernacle, that is, in the sanctuary.

1 Samuel 3:11. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the ears of everyone who hears it will tingle; “Will tingle” – from horror (cf. 2 Kgs 21:12; Jer 19:3).

1 Samuel 3:12. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken about his house; I will begin and complete it; 1 Samuel 3:13. I have told him that I am going to judge his house forever for the guilt he incurred, because his sons made themselves contemptible, and he did not restrain them; 1 Samuel 3:14. And therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the guilt of the house of Eli will never be wiped away with sacrifice and with grain offering forever. See 1 Sam 2:27-36.

1 Samuel 3:20. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. “From Dan” – the northern point of Canaan – to Beersheba – its southern point. The expression “from Dan to Beersheba” in the language of sacred writers is equivalent to the expression “all the land of the Israelites”, “all Israel”, “all Israel and Judah” (2 Sam 3:10; 1 Kgs 4:25; 1 Chr 21:2; 2 Chr 30:5).

1 Samuel 3:21. And the Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. [And all Israel, from one end of the land to the other, believed that Samuel was a prophet of the Lord. Now Eli had grown very old, and his sons continued to walk in their lawless ways before the Lord.] “Samuel is a prophet of the Lord” – chosen by God and inspired by God, a messenger of the will of the Lord.