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1 Samuel 3

ARC · Chapter 3/31

1E o mancebo Samuel servia ao Senhor perante Eli: e a palavra do Senhor era de muita valia n'aquelles dias; não havia visão manifesta.

2E succedeu n'aquelle dia que, estando Eli deitado no seu locar (e os seus olhos se começavam já a escurecer, que não podia ver),

3E estando tambem Samuel já deitado, antes que a lampada de Deus se apagasse no templo do Senhor, em que estava a arca de Deus,

4O Senhor chamou a Samuel, e disse elle: Eis-me aqui.

5E correu a Eli, e disse: Eis-me aqui, porque tu me chamaste. Mas elle disse: Não te chamei eu, torna a deitar-te. E foi e se deitou.

6E o Senhor tornou a chamar outra vez a Samuel, e Samuel se levantou, e foi-se a Eli, e disse: Eis-me aqui, porque tu me chamaste. Mas elle disse: Não te chamei eu, filho meu, torna a deitar-te.

7Porém Samuel ainda não conhecia ao Senhor, e ainda não lhe tinha sido manifestada a palavra do Senhor.

8O Senhor pois tornou a chamar a Samuel terceira vez, e elle se levantou, e foi a Eli, e disse: Eis-me aqui, porque tu me chamaste. Então entendeu Eli que o Senhor chamava o mancebo.

9Pelo que Eli disse a Samuel: Vae te deitar, e ha de ser que, se te chamar, dirás: Falla, Senhor, porque o teu servo ouve. Então Samuel foi e se deitou no seu logar.

10Então veiu o Senhor, e poz-se ali, e chamou como das outras vezes: Samuel, Samuel. E disse Samuel: Falla, porque o teu servo ouve.

11E disse o Senhor a Samuel: Eis aqui vou eu a fazer uma coisa em Israel, a qual todo o que ouvir lhe tinirão ambas as orelhas.

12N'aquelle mesmo dia suscitarei contra Eli tudo quanto tenho fallado contra a sua casa: começal-o-hei e acabal-o-hei.

13Porque já eu lhe fiz saber que julgarei a sua casa para sempre, pela iniquidade que bem conhecia, porque, fazendo-se os seus filhos execraveis, não os reprehendeu.

14Portanto, jurei á casa d'Eli que nunca jámais será expiada a iniquidade da casa d'Eli com sacrificio nem com offerta de manjares.

15E Samuel ficou deitado até pela manhã, e então abriu as portas da casa do Senhor: porém temia Samuel de relatar esta visão a Eli.

16Então chamou Eli a Samuel, e disse: Samuel, meu filho. E disse elle: Eis-me aqui.

17E elle disse: Que é a palavra que te fallou? peço-te que m'a não encubras: assim Deus te faça, e outro tanto, se me encobrires alguma palavra de todas as palavras que te fallou.

18Então Samuel lhe contou todas aquellas palavras, e nada lhe encobriu. E disse elle: O Senhor é, faça o que bem parecer aos seus olhos.

19E crescia Samuel, e o Senhor era com elle, e nenhuma de todas as suas palavras deixou cair em terra.

20E todo o Israel, desde Dan até Berseba, conheceu que Samuel estava confirmado por propheta do Senhor.

21E continuou o Senhor a apparecer em Silo: porquanto o Senhor se manifestava a Samuel em Silo pela palavra do Senhor.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God calls the young Samuel during the night. After three calls mistaken for Eli's voice, the priest realizes it is God speaking and instructs Samuel how to respond. God reveals the coming judgment on the house of Eli.

Explanation

The text notes that 'the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread vision' (v.1), establishing the context of spiritual silence that made Samuel's calling all the more significant. The response Eli taught him—'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening'—became a classic model of availability and humility before God, placing listening before speaking. It is remarkable that Eli, even knowing the message would concern the judgment of his own family, insists on hearing the whole truth and accepts it with resignation ('He is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him'), showing a kind of submission to God's will even in personally painful circumstances.

Fun facts

  • The phrase 'all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba' (v.20), used here for the first time to describe Samuel as a recognized prophet, became a standard expression in the Hebrew Bible for referring to the whole territory of Israel from north to south.
  • The fact that Samuel literally slept 'in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was' (v.3) points to his extraordinary physical closeness, from a very young age, to the most sacred object in Israel.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Samuel 3:1“The word of the Lord was precious in those days” means that divine revelations were rare at that time — it is this prophetic silence that makes the call Samuel is about to receive so striking.
  2. 1 Samuel 3:2Eli’s weak eyesight, mentioned here in passing, is the same detail that returns in chapter 4, when he cannot see who is approaching with news of the battle.
  3. 1 Samuel 3:3The “lamp of God” was kept burning all night in the sanctuary, going out only shortly before dawn — that is why the scene happens before daybreak, with Samuel still lying near the ark, moments before the lamp’s watch ended.
  4. 1 Samuel 3:4Samuel does not yet recognize God’s voice — so he runs to Eli, thinking it was the priest who called him.
  5. 1 Samuel 3:5This is the first of three times Samuel mistakes God’s call for Eli’s — a repetition that shows how strange it was, for the boy, even to imagine that God would speak to him directly.
  6. 1 Samuel 3:6The repeated call, still without Samuel understanding, shows God’s patience in persisting until the boy finally recognizes his voice.
  7. 1 Samuel 3:7The narrator explains Samuel’s confusion: growing up serving at the sanctuary is not the same as already having had a personal experience of God’s voice — this is his first time.
  8. 1 Samuel 3:8Only on the third time does Eli realize what is happening — ironically it is the priest with weak eyesight and failed leadership who recognizes God’s hand before the boy himself does.
  9. 1 Samuel 3:9Eli teaches Samuel the right response: “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth” — it has become one of the most quoted phrases in the Bible as a symbol of readiness to listen to God, even without yet knowing what one will hear.
  10. 1 Samuel 3:10When the moment comes, Samuel repeats the phrase almost exactly, but without saying “Lord” — perhaps natural hesitation for a boy facing a voice that draws near and calls his name twice.
  11. 1 Samuel 3:11For both ears to “tingle” was an expression for news so shocking it would leave anyone stunned — the same expression returns later in 2 Kings 21:12 and Jeremiah 19:3 for announcements of equally grave judgment.
  12. 1 Samuel 3:12God promises to carry out the sentence against Eli’s house from beginning to end — with no middle ground or chance for the prophecy to remain only a threat.
  13. 1 Samuel 3:13Eli knew of his sons’ corruption and “restrained them not” with any firmness — under the old law, a father and priest was responsible for disciplining those serving under his authority, and it was this failure, not only his sons’ sin, that brought on the announced judgment.
  14. 1 Samuel 3:14Saying that neither sacrifice nor offering will ever wipe out this guilt is an unprecedented sentence: the sacrificial system existed for exactly that purpose, but here the corruption was too serious to be covered that way.
  15. 1 Samuel 3:15Samuel carries out his normal task of opening the sanctuary in the morning, but hesitates to tell what he heard — understandably: the message was the condemnation of the very man raising him.
  16. 1 Samuel 3:16Eli treats Samuel as a son, not merely a disciple — underscoring how much the news that follows will hurt them both.
  17. 1 Samuel 3:17Eli uses a strong form of oath — asking God to punish him if Samuel hides anything — to make sure the boy tells everything, even when it is against Eli himself.
  18. 1 Samuel 3:18Eli’s reaction is not one of revolt but of resignation — he accepts the judgment as just, even knowing it will cost his own line.
  19. 1 Samuel 3:19That the Lord “did let none of his words fall to the ground” means everything Samuel prophesied came true — the mark that confirmed, in the people’s eyes, that he really was a genuine prophet.
  20. 1 Samuel 3:20The phrase “from Dan even to Beer-sheba” is the Hebrew way of saying from one end of the country to the other — Dan lay at the far north and Beersheba at the far south of Israel. The phrase appears several times in the Bible as the equivalent of the whole territory of Israel.
  21. 1 Samuel 3:21After the prophetic silence at the start of the chapter, it is Shiloh that again has regular revelations — through Samuel, who becomes the new channel of communication between God and Israel.

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