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1 Samuel 3

BLIVRE · Chapter 3/31

1E o jovem Samuel ministrava ao SENHOR diante de Eli; e a palavra do SENHOR era rara naqueles dias; não havia visão manifesta.

2E aconteceu um dia, que estando Eli deitado em seu aposento, quando seus olhos começavam a escurecer-se, que não podia ver,

3Samuel estava dormindo no templo do SENHOR, de onde a arca de Deus estava: e antes que a lâmpada de Deus fosse apagada,

4o SENHOR chamou a Samuel; e ele respondeu: Eis-me aqui.

5E correndo logo a Eli, disse: Eis-me aqui; para que me chamaste? E Eli lhe disse: Eu não chamei; volta-te a deitar. E ele se voltou, e deitou-se.

6E o SENHOR voltou a chamar outra vez a Samuel. E levantando-se Samuel veio a Eli, e disse: Eis-me aqui; para que me chamaste? E ele disse: Filho meu, eu não chamei; volta, e deita-te.

7E Samuel não havia conhecido ainda ao SENHOR, nem a palavra do SENHOR lhe havia sido revelada.

8O SENHOR, então, chamou pela terceira vez a Samuel. E ele levantando-se veio a Eli, e disse: Eis-me aqui; para que me chamaste? Então entendeu Eli que o SENHOR chamava ao jovem.

9E disse Eli a Samuel: Vai, e deita-te: e se te chamar, dirás: Fala, SENHOR, que teu servo ouve. Assim se foi Samuel, e deitou-se em seu lugar.

10E veio o SENHOR, e ficou ali, e chamou como das outras vezes: Samuel, Samuel! Então Samuel disse: Fala, que o teu servo está ouvindo.

11E o SENHOR disse a Samuel: Eis que farei eu uma coisa em Israel, que a quem a ouvir, lhe retinirão ambos ouvidos.

12Aquele dia eu despertarei contra Eli todas as coisas que disse sobre sua casa. Em começando, acabarei também.

13E lhe mostrarei que eu julgarei sua casa para sempre, pela iniquidade que ele sabe; porque seus filhos se corromperam, e ele não os repreendeu.

14E portanto eu jurei à casa de Eli, que a iniquidade da casa de Eli não será expiada jamais, nem com sacrifícios nem com ofertas.

15E Samuel esteve deitado até a manhã, e abriu as portas da casa do SENHOR. E Samuel temia revelar a visão a Eli.

16Chamando, pois, Eli a Samuel, disse-lhe: Filho meu, Samuel. E ele respondeu: Eis-me aqui.

17E disse: Que é a palavra que te falou o SENHOR? Rogo-te que não a encubras a mim; assim te faça Deus e assim te acrescente, se me encobrires palavra de tudo o que falou contigo.

18E Samuel se o manifestou tudo, sem encobrir-lhe nada. Então ele disse: o SENHOR é; faça o que bem lhe parecer.

19E Samuel cresceu, e o SENHOR foi com ele, e não deixou cair por terra nenhuma de suas palavras.

20E conheceu todo Israel desde Dã até Berseba, que Samuel era fiel profeta do SENHOR.

21Assim voltou o SENHOR a aparecer em Siló: porque o SENHOR se manifestou a Samuel em Siló com 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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