1 Samuel 3

Yahweh Calls Samuel

¹And the boy Samuel ministered to Yahweh before Eli.

Now in those days the word of Yahweh was rare, and visions were scarce. ²And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.

• 1SA 3:1[NOTE]The word of Yahweh was rare in those days. Samuel was likely a boy, not yet a teenager. Josephus says he was twelve.

³Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of Yahweh, where the ark of God was located.

⁴Then Yahweh called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.”

⁵He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.”

“I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.”

So he went and lay down.

⁶Once again Yahweh called, “Samuel!”

So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.”

“My son, I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.”

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh, because the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸Once again, for the third time, Yahweh called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.”

Then Eli realized that it was Yahweh who was calling the boy. ⁹“Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, Yahweh, for Your servant is listening.’”

So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰Then Yahweh came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

• 1SA 3:10[MIRACLE]Yahweh comes and stands and calls Samuel by name
• 1SA 3:10[NOTABLE]A boy's simple prayer that has become the prayer of every believer who wants to hear God. Samuel did not know God's voice yet, but he was willing.

¹¹Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle. ¹²On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his house, from beginning to end. ¹³I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”

• 1SA 3:11[PROPHECY]Samuel told judgment was coming on Eli's house that 'both ears would tingle' to hear → 1SA 4

Samuel Shares the Vision

¹⁵Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.”

“Here I am,” answered Samuel.

¹⁷“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”

¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him.

“He is Yahweh,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.”

¹⁹And Samuel grew, and Yahweh was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

²⁰So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of Yahweh. ²¹And Yahweh continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.

• 1SA 3:20[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → HEB 11:32