to call out to (i.e. properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵ֔לshe.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
said
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵ֣לshe.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
son
בְּנִ֑יbe.Ni
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
answered
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
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).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 3:11-18
Here is, I. The message which, after all this introduction, God delivered to Samuel concerning Eli's house. God did not come to him now to tell him how great a man he should be in his day, what a figure he should make, and what a blessing he should be in Israel. Young people have commonly a great curiosity to be told their fortune, but God came to Samuel, not to gratify his curiosity, but to employ him in his service and send him on an errand to another person, which was much better; and yet the matter of this first message, which no doubt made a very great impression upon him, might be of good use to him afterwards, when his own sons proved, though not so bad as Eli's, yet not so good as th…
he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me--It is evident that his sleeping chamber was close to that of the aged high priest and that he was accustomed to be called during the night. The three successive calls addressed to the boy convinced Eli of the divine character of the speaker, and he therefore exhorted the child to give a reverential attention to the message. The burden of [the Lord's message] was an extraordinary premonition of the judgments that impended over Eli's house; and the aged priest, having drawn the painful secret from the child, exclaimed, "It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good." Such is the spirit of meek and unmurmuring submission in which we…
Samuel feared to show Eli - He reverenced him as a father, and he feared to distress him by showing what the Lord had purposed to do. It does not appear that God had commanded Samuel to deliver this message: he, therefore, did not attempt it till adjured by Eli, Sa1 3:17.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 3:16
Then Eli called Samuel,.... Perceiving he was risen by the opening of the doors of the tabernacle, which he might hear; and observing he did not come to him as usual, to know whether he wanted anything, and being impatient to hear what was said to him of the Lord:
and he said, Samuel, my son; called him by his name, and in a very tender and affectionate manner, the more to engage him to hasten to him, and thereby also putting him in mind of his filial duty to obey him:
and he answered, here am I; ready to attend and perform any service enjoined him.
The Church Fathers
24. For he who is said to have been compelled to speak by such great urgency of entreaty is shown to have been bound by a great strictness of silence. And because some subjects are accustomed to keep silent not so much for the preservation of purity as from the obstinacy of impudence, Samuel showed the pattern of a chosen subject, who kept silent reverently, but when commanded to speak, was afraid to keep silent. And so he shone with the twofold light of his conduct, since he who had kept silent by the virtue of filial fear gained by speaking the benefit of speaking. There follows: (Verse 18.) And he answered: It is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes.
From this reasoning indeed a question arises, because it is related that the vision was revealed to Samuel more by the prayer and imprecation of Eli. For it is added: (Verses 16–18.) "So Eli came to Samuel and said: Samuel, my son. He answered: Here I am. And he asked him: What is the word that the Lord spoke to you? I pray you, do not hide it from me. May God do these things to you, and add these things, if you hide from me any word out of all that was said to you." Samuel therefore revealed to him all the words, and did not hide anything from him. 25. For how did he learn from the executor of the divine sentence the vision of his own rejection, he who heard this not so much from one threatening as from one who was rather compelled by prayers? But let those who inquire about this first understand that we are discussing these things not according to the letter, but according to their spiritual and typological meaning. For in this passage, the coming of Eli is referred neither to a bodily movement of the Jewish priesthood nor to a disposition of the mind, but rather his coming was this very thing: that the rational creature of God appeared to the preachers. He came, therefore, when he was seen in human nature and moved the hearts of the teachers to compassion toward himself. Therefore, Eli's coming is not, among the ancient people, an approach of mind or of body, but a manifestation of the human condition. Or perhaps his coming was from the fact that he was chosen from among all peoples for the worship of God. He also called him "son"—he who is regarded by the one who is remembered as having been the founder of the holy Church among the chosen Fathers. He therefore calls him "son" not out of affection in the address, but as a display of lost dignity. And because he is seen in the darkness of blindness, he is reported to have asked that the vision be revealed to him. For his beseeching is, with regard to their common nature, to provoke the minds of the preachers to mercy. He also added an imprecation to his prayers, because the order of preachers, while it considered the Jewish priesthood placed in such great misery, feared that the almighty Lord would be angry with them if they did not come to his aid with the word. Whence it is also fittingly added: "Samuel told him all the words, and hid nothing from him." Indeed, he told him all the things seen, so that,…
Dictionary and topics
Samuel — Heard of God. The peculiar circumstances connected with his birth are recorded in 1 Sam. 1:20. Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who came up to Shiloh to worship before the Lord, earnestly…
Samuel · His vision concerning the house of Eli — His vision concerning the house of Eli
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).
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 3:16-18
When Samuel was called by Eli and asked concerning the divine revelation that he had received, he told him all the words, without concealing anything; whereupon Eli bowed in quiet resignation to the purpose of God: "It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good." Samuel's communication, however, simply confirmed to the aged Eli what God had already made known to him through a prophet, But his reply proves that, with all his weakness and criminal indulgence towards his wicked sons, Eli was thoroughly devoted to the Lord in his heart. And Samuel, on the other hand, through his unreserved and candid communication of the terribly solemn word of God with regard to the man, whom he certainly ve…
Samuel was afraid to tell Eli of God’s plans for him and his family either because he respected Eli’s position or he feared for his own safety.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 3:13
That his sons were blaspheming themselves. It should properly state, 'blaspheming Me' but Scripture euphemized.12 See Mechilta Beshalach 15:7 for a listing of other places where Scripture euphemized out of reverence to ‘ה. Ralbag, however, interprets this verse that “they [Bnei Yisroel] cursed them [the sons of Eili].”
Blaspheming. Meaning, acting irreverantly, and similarly, every curse [קְלָלָה] is an expression of irreverence and disgrace.
He did not censure. I.e., he did not darken [כהה] their faces by removing them from their high positions.
