Summary: Samuel hears a voice calling him and initially mistakes it for Eli. After being called three times, Eli discerns that it is God trying to communicate with Samuel. God informs Samuel of his judgment upon Eli’s family due to Eli’s failure to discipline his sons. Eli asks Samuel to recount what God has said, and he accepts the prophecy. Samuel’s credibility as a prophet is affirmed when God’s words are fulfilled exactly as predicted. Bergen comments, “Samuel’s first act as prophet was perhaps his most difficult; though only a child, he had to announce the Lord’s fatal judgment against Israel’s most powerful family.”[]
(3:1) The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.
In the previous chapter, God made it clear to Eli that he was going to pull the plug on his priestly ministry. Most likely, the “word from the Lord was rare” because God was waiting for Samuel to grow older. He must’ve wanted Samuel to speak for him, rather than Eli.
(3:2) One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.
Eli eventually went blind (1 Sam. 4:15). By contrast, Moses had sharp eyesight until the very end of his life (Deut. 34:7). Perhaps the narrative is making a contrast here, because Eli was spiritually compromised and “spiritually blind.”
(3:3) 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 had not yet gone out.” This event must have occurred at night. For one, these lamps were lit at night and kept burning all night long (Ex. 25:31-37; 30:8; 27:20-21). Second, Eli’s repeated command for Samuel to “lie down” implies that he was trying to sleep. Finally, after the talk with God, Samuel “lay down until morning” (v.15).
“Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was.” Samuel slept in the direct vicinity of the Tabernacle and the Ark. By sleeping in this area, the text “positions the youth not only spatially but also spiritually; he was of all Israelites closest to the Lord’s throne.”[]
(3:4-6) Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
“Here I am.” This is a typically expression that servants of God used to respond to him (Gen. 22:1; Ex. 3:4; Isa. 6:8).
(3:7) Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
“Samuel did not yet know the LORD.” After all, visions were “rare” during this time (v.1). Moreover, Samuel was listening and getting up each time in order to know the Lord. This is in contrast to Eli’s sons, who never knew the Lord (1 Sam. 2:12).
(3:8-9) A third time the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
It took three times before Eli recognized that God was speaking to Samuel. This could show his spiritual insensitivity. By contrast, Samuel was just a young boy, and he wasn’t familiar with God speaking to him.
(3:10) The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
This is a theophany or an “appearance” of God.
(3:11) And the LORD said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.”
God’s judgment on Eli and his sons would send a shockwave through the nation of Israel. God was using them as an object lesson for the rest of the nation.
(3:12-14) “At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
God had already spoken this prediction to Eli through an earlier prophet (1 Sam. 2:27-36). He took Eli’s passivity very seriously.
“The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.” Eli’s house couldn’t get away with making a religious sacrifice in order to solve what they had done. Eli’s sons had already denied God, and as his representatives, they should’ve known better.
(3:15-17) Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
17 “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.”
“Do not hide it from me.” It must have been scary for a young boy like Samuel to tell an old man like Eli about this judgment. But a true prophet needed to speak the truth. God told Ezekiel, “I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. 18 If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths” (Ezek. 3:17-18 NLT).
Eli must have known that God was going to repeat the judgment that he had already revealed through the earlier prophet (1 Sam. 2:27ff).
(3:18) So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes.”
“Samuel told him everything.” This shows that Samuel was going to make a good prophet of God. Even though he was scared (v.15), Samuel told Eli everything.
“He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes.” Eli accepts that God can give and take away his blessing (v.18). This is a good attitude to have. However, Eli almost seems to take this judgment passively—just as he showed passivity with his sons. Was Eli’s attitude right or wrong? Was he humbly submitting to God’s sovereign judgment, or was he passively refusing to seek repentance?
(3:19-20) The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD.
“All Israel… recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD.” The people could recognize a true prophet, because Samuel’s predictions came true: “Everything Samuel said proved to be reliable” (NLT).
(3:21) The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.
This chapter opened with God’s words being “rare” (v.1). Now, God ceases his silence, and he begins speaking frequently to Samuel.
Samuel listened to God when he spoke. He got up three times in the middle of the night in order to respond. While Samuel mistakenly thought Eli was the one who was calling, he was still willing to get up and hear from God.
In chapter one, Eli was the man God used. Here in chapter three, God shifted to Samuel. In his sovereignty, God can lift his blessing off of us and give it to another person. That is fully his prerogative.
It’s interesting that sometimes God will speak to the younger generation (Samuel) instead of the older generation (Eli). God enjoys working through young people.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
