(concretely) a boy (as active) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵ֔לshe.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
grew
וְגָדֵ֖לve.ga.Del
H1432
large (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + adjective, masculine singular absolute
on
הֹלֵ֥ךְho.Lekh
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
favour
טוֹבṭôwb
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
men
אֲנָשִֽׁים'a.na.Shim
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Luke 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
1 Samuel 2:21 And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.
Luke 1:80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Romans 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
Proverbs 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 2:11-26
In these verses we have the good character and posture of Elkanah's family, and the bad character and posture of Eli's family. The account of these two is observably interwoven throughout this whole paragraph, as if the historian intended to set the one over against the other, that they might set off one another. The devotion and good order of Elkanah's family aggravated the iniquity of Eli's house; while the wickedness of Eli's sons made Samuel's early piety appear the more bright and illustrious.
I. Let us see how well things went in Elkanah's family and how much better than formerly. 1. Eli dismissed them from the house of the Lord, when they had entered their little son there, with a ble…
they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because--it should be therefore.
the Lord would slay them--It was not God's preordination, but their own wilful and impenitent disobedience which was the cause of their destruction.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 2:25
If one man sin against another - All differences between man and man may be settled by the proper judge; but if a man sin against the Supreme Judge, God himself, who shall reconcile him to his Maker? Your sin is immediately against God himself, and is the highest insult that can be offered, because it is in the matter of his own worship, therefore ye may expect his heaviest judgments.
But if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? - This was a question of the most solemn importance under the old covenant, especially after the death of Moses, the mediator. The law had determined what sins should be punished with death; and it was supposed that there was not any appeal from the…
And the child Samuel grew up,.... Increased in stature and in grace, grew more and more in all respects, and better and better, while Eli's sons grew worse and worse; the contrast between these make the one to shine and appear illustrious, and the other to look the blacker: or "he went on, and grew, and was good" (z); as he proceeded on in years, and grew in stature, he appeared more and more to be a good man, a virtuous, holy, and gracious person:
and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men; the Lord was pleased to give him some tokens of his favour, that he delighted in him, that he was wellpleasing in his sight, and that his person and services were acceptable to him; and the…
The Church Fathers
But the boy Samuel advanced and grew, etc. While Eli was growing old and weak, the boy Samuel advanced and grew; because indeed, the rejection of the preceding commandment takes place due to its weakness and uselessness; for the law brought nothing to perfection, but the introduction of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
Now the boy Samuel is recorded as both advancing and growing, and as pleasing both God and men, so that the zeal of the chosen hearer may be indicated—one who directs his efforts toward the heavenly homeland by the path of an upright life, as he grows stronger toward greater things. Hence it is also said through the Psalmist: They shall go from strength to strength; the God of gods shall be seen in Zion (Psalm 83:8). Therefore, advancement in conduct means to grow in merits; to please God and men belongs to consummate perfection. And because conduct pertains to works, and merit proceeds from charity, those hearers advance but do not grow who perform good works out of a desire for vanity and do not have charity. We therefore advance and grow if, together with a more exalted manner of life, we are raised up through better works, and from that very sublimity of work we direct our attention solely to the joys of eternity. Moreover, to please both God and men belongs to great virtue, because very often we offend our neighbors by our good work if we do not perform those same good works with great caution. He therefore pleases both God and men who is careful in the good work that he devotes to the service of Almighty God—who so takes care to please God that he offends no one through God's ministry. And because this is said about Samuel, still a boy and placed under another's instruction, the life of those living in community is thereby instructed. For some living in community in sacred places, with the fervor of novices, desire to devote themselves to their own pursuits under the appearance of great works, and the less useful they are to their fellow brothers, the less they please them. Therefore through Samuel a model is set forth for those living in community, upon which they may be formed. Each of them therefore pleases both God and men when he is useful to his brothers and devoted to God. Therefore let them so attend to their own care that they do not neglect the things that belong to their neighbor, so that through kindness they may please those who are with them in the lowly place, while before heavenly eyes they cautiously display the strength of their devotion, lest they crush the hearts of the weak while hastening toward heavenly things with the force of their own strength.
Dictionary and topics
Fast — The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), Lev. 23:26-32. It is called “the fast” (Acts 27:9). The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old…
Hannah — Favour, grace, one of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. 1; 2). Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle…
Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Songs — Of Moses (Ex. 15; Num. 21:17; Deut. 32; Rev. 15:3), Deborah (Judg. 5), Hannah (1 Sam. 2), David (2 Sam. 22, and Psalms), Mary (Luke 1:46-55), Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79), the angels (Luke 2:13), Simeon…
Favour Of God, The · Exemplified: Samuel — Exemplified: Samuel
Hophni · Sin of — Sin of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The youthful Samuel, on the other hand, continued to grow in stature, and in favour with God and man (see Luk 2:52).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 2:26
As children, both Samuel and Jesus possessed extraordinary qualities (2:21; see also Luke 2:40, 52). Samuel was one of Christ’s forerunners.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 2:25
Tries him.וּפִלְלוֹ is an expression of judgment, as in, "and he shall pay by order of the judges ]פְלִילִים[."15Shemos 21:22.
Judge. The judge.
For it was Adonoy's will to kill them. For their verdict had already been sealed.16See Maseches Rosh Hashanah 18b. Before the verdict is sealed however, Scripture states, "for I do not desire the death of one who should die."17Yechezkeil 27:32.
21. Indeed, it was advancing through the gain of preaching, and growing in the number of ministers. For the Apostle boasts of its progress, saying: "From Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ" (Rom. 15:19). Luke also recalls the manner of its growth, saying: "As the number of disciples was growing, there arose a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were being neglected in the ministry" (Acts 6:1). And shortly after: "They chose," he says, "Stephen, full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Prochorus, and the rest" (ibid., 5). They set these before the sight of the apostles, and praying, they laid hands upon them. Likewise, concerning this advance of the new preachers, it is written: "Their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world" (Ps. 18:5). 22. But it must be subtly considered what is said: 'He was pleasing both to God and to men.' A teacher is pleasing to men when he presents himself as venerable to his subjects and adorned with good character. But he is pleasing to God when he refuses to glory vainly over his good conduct and desires to merit the praise of God alone. Therefore it says: 'He was pleasing both to God and to men,' because some preachers display a pretense of holiness which they do not possess. These, therefore, because even though they please men they displease God, it is now said of Samuel in the type of the new and chosen preacher: 'He was pleasing both to God and to men.' They present themselves as venerable to their subjects, and they offer to God the purity of their intention. Indeed, he had strived to please men who said: 'We are the good fragrance of Christ in every place' (II Cor. 2:15). And likewise: 'I have become all things to all men, so that I might save all' (I Cor. 9:22). He also taught his hearers to please men, saying: 'Be without offense to Jews and Gentiles, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking what is useful to me, but what is useful to many' (I Cor. 10:32, 33). But he who had indicated that he was pleasing to men commends the purity of heart, saying: 'Our glory is this: the testimony of our conscience' (II Cor. 1:12). 'He was pleasing both to God and to men.' This new order of preachers presented itself outwardly as venerable to its hearers for imitation, and inwardly as acceptable to God…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
