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.
2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;
3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
4 That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
6 And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.
8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.
9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
11 And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.
15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.
17 And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.
18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.
19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.
21 And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord

1And the child Samuel ministred vnto the Lord before Eli: and the word of the Lord was precious in those daies; there was no open vision.

2And it came to passe at that time, when Eli was layd downe in his place, and his eyes beganne to waxe dimme, that he could not see;

3And yer the lampe of God went out in the Temple of the Lord, where the Arke of God was, and Samuel was layd downe to sleepe;

4That the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, Here am I.

5And he ranne vnto Eli, and sayd, Here am I, for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie downe againe. And he went and lay downe.

6And the Lord called yet againe, Samuel. And Samuel arose, and went to Eli, and said, Here am I, for thou diddest call me. And he answered, I called not, my sonne; lie downe againe.

7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet reuealed vnto him.

8And the Lord called Samuel againe the third time. And hee arose, and went to Eli, and said, Here am I, for thou diddest call me. And Eli perceiued that the Lord had called the childe.

9Therefore Eli said vnto Samuel, Go, lie downe, & it shal be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speake Lord, for thy seruant heareth. So Samuel went, and lay downe in his place.

10And the Lord came, and stood and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speake, for thy seruant heareth.

11 And the Lord sayd to Samuel, Behold, I will doe a thing in Israel, at which, both the eares of euery one that heareth it, shall tingle.

12In that day, I will performe against Eli, all things which I haue spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.

13For I haue tolde him, that I will iudge his house for euer, for the iniquitie which hee knoweth: because his sonnes made themselues vile, and he restrained them not.

14And therefore I haue sworne vnto the house of Eli, that the iniquitie of Elies house shall not be purged with sacrifice, nor offering for euer.

15 And Samuel lay vntill the morning, and opened the doores of the house of the Lord: and Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.

16Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel my sonne. And he answered, Here am I.

17And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said vnto thee? I pray thee hide it not from mee: God doe so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me, of all the things that hee said vnto thee.

18And Samuel tolde him euery whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: Let him doe what seemeth him good.

19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

20And all Israel from Dan euen to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established to bee a Prophet of the Lord.

21And the Lord appeared againe in Shiloh: for the Lord reueiled himselfe to Samuel in Shiloh, by the word of the Lord.

I == Amos 8:11

 

 

 

 

 

III == Ex 27:21 ; Lev 24:3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VII == Acts 19:2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XI == 2nd Kings 21:12 ; Jer 19:3

 

XII == 1st Sam 2:30-36

 

XIII == 1st Sam 2:12 , 17 , 22-23 , 25 , 29-31 Ezek 7:3 ; 18:30

 

XIV == Num 15:30-31 ; Isa 22:14

 

 

 

 

 

XVII == Ruth 1:17

 

 

 

XVIII == Job 1:21 ; 2:10 ; Ps 39:9 ; Isa 39:8

XIX == Gen 39:2 , 21 , 23 ; 1st Sam 2:21 ; 9:6

XX == Judg 20:1

 

 

XXI == 1st Sam 3:1 , 4

1 During the time young Samuel was minister to the LORD under Eli, a revelation of the LORD was uncommon and vision infrequent.

2 One day Eli was asleep in his usual place. His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see.

3 The lamp of God was not yet extinguished, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was.

4 The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, "Here I am."

5 He ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me." "I did not call you," Eli said. "Go back to sleep." So he went back to sleep.

6 Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "You called me." But he answered, "I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep."

7 At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.

8 The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, "Here I am. You called me." Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.

9 So he said to Samuel, "Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" When Samuel went to sleep in his place,

10 the LORD came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

11 The LORD said to Samuel: "I am about to do something in Israel that will cause the ears of everyone who hears it to ring.

12 On that day I will carry out in full against Eli everything I threatened against his family.

13 I announce to him that I am condemning his family once and for all, because of this crime: though he knew his sons were blaspheming God, he did not reprove them.

14 Therefore, I swear to the family of Eli that no sacrifice or offering will ever expiate its crime."

15 Samuel then slept until morning, when he got up early and opened the doors of the temple of the LORD. He feared to tell Eli the vision,

16 but Eli called to him, "Samuel, my son!" He replied, "Here I am."

17 Then Eli asked, "What did he say to you? Hide nothing from me! May God do thus and so to you if you hide a single thing he told you."

18 So Samuel told him everything, and held nothing back. Eli answered, "He is the LORD. He will do what he judges best."

19 Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect.

20 Thus all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba came to know that Samuel was an accredited prophet of the LORD.

21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh; he manifested himself to Samuel at Shiloh through his word,

v 1-10. It was normal for some of te laps to go out before morning. Eli had failed in training his own sons, but diligently trained up Samuel, perhaps to age 12 by now. For centuries God had rarely visited His people with revelation, but in Samuel He had one who could be entrusted to give Eli the message.  This was a new experience for Samuel, so he assumed it was Eli calling him, until Eli realized it was the Lord. Three times Samuel obediently arose and said, “Here am I”, much as Isaiah did, Isa. 6:8. He as quickly responded to the Lord, “Speak for they servant heareth”.

v 11-14. The things God would bring to pass would be extremely shocking, even terrifying to the people. When God’s judgment began, there would be no reprieve. It was only a few more years, after the battle with the Philistines, that Eli died as a blind old man, 4:15, but the priesthood remained in the family for three more generations. Everything God had told Eli, 2:27-36, would come to pass, and Eli would know why, because God had told him, and he knew it was because his sons had become evil and he had not restrained them. This is a powerful message to all parents that God holds them responsible for the upbringing of their children.

v 15-18. Samuel apparently lay awake the rest of the night and tried to go about his duties as usual because he was afraid to tell Eli such a personal condemning message. Still he responded promptly when called. Eli may have suspected this type of message when he adjured Samuel to tell all or face similar judgment. Hard as it must have been to do, Samuel showed he had become a true prophet by telling all. To Eli’s credit, he did not blame Samuel, as Israel blamed many later prophets, but accepted this as coming from a just God.

v 19-21. As Samuel grew, people recognized him as a prophet, because every thing he prophesied came to pass, Deut. 18:15-22. Everyone throughout the 150 mile length of the land could see that this lad was to be a prophet of the Lord, as the Lord continued to give him revelations at Shiloh.  A new era was developing. Instead of revelation by the priest and ephod, God was beginning to speak through His prophets. While Joseph, Jacob and others made prophecies, Acts, 3:24 refers to “All the prophets from Samuel and those who follow after. See also Acts 13:20; Heb. 11:32.