And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.
to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal infinitive construct
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵל֮she.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
again
וַיֹּ֨סֶףvai.Yo.sef
H3254
to add or augment (often adverbial · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
time
בַּשְּׁלִשִׁית֒ba.she.li.Shit
H7992
third · preposition with the article + ordinal number, feminine singular absolute
arose
וַיָּ֙קָם֙vai.Ya.kom
H6965
to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
went
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
Eli
עֵלִ֔י'e.Li
H5941
Eli · proper noun, a man's name
said
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
call
קָרָ֖אתָka.Ra.ta
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
Eli
עֵלִ֔י'e.Li
H5941
Eli · proper noun, a man's name
perceived
וַיָּ֣בֶןvai.Ya.ven
H995
to separate mentally (or distinguish) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
called
קֹרֵ֥אko.Re'
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
child
לַנָּֽעַרla.Na.'ar
H5288
(concretely) a boy (as active) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular 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
Job 33:14-15 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
1 Corinthians 13:11-12 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 3:1-10
To make way for the account of God's revealing himself first to Samuel, we are here told, 1. How industrious Samuel was in serving God, according as his place and capacity were (Sa1 3:1): The child Samuel, though but a child, ministered unto the Lord before Eli. It was an aggravation of the wickedness of Eli's sons that the child Samuel shamed them. They rebelled against the Lord, but Samuel ministered to him; they slighted their father's admonitions, but Samuel was observant of them; he ministered before Eli, under his eye and direction. It was the praise of Samuel that he was so far from being influenced by their bad example that he did not in the least fall off, but improved and went on.…
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 did not yet know the Lord - He had not been accustomed to receive any revelation from him. He knew and worshipped the God of Israel; but he did not know him as communicating especial revelation of His will.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 3:8
And the Lord called Samuel again the third time,.... In the same manner he had done before, expressing his name no doubt:
and he arose and went to Eli, and said, here am I, for thou didst call me; as if he should say, it must certainly be so, I cannot be mistaken a third time:
and Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child; he was satisfied now that Samuel must have heard a voice, and he knew there was no man in the tabernacle but himself, and therefore it must be the voice of the Lord out of the most holy place; and he had formerly been acquainted with such voices, and used to them, and now called them to mind; and besides, as Aben Ezra observes, he was the rather confirmed in this,…
The Church Fathers
Now when Eli understood that it was the Lord Who had called him, he commanded him to make answer as unto the Lord, and not to run towards him; for "Eli understood that the Lord had called the boy." And old age sent youth to the Lord to learn His will, and cunning had need of simplicity that by means of it it might learn the Divine Will; for Eli entreated Samuel and begged him to reveal to him everything which he had heard from the Lord, and not to hide anything from him. And because he perceived that he himself was unworthy to speak with the Lord, he offered entreaty to the child to reveal to him the Divine mystery.
15. For if he had not understood, he would by no means have ministered to him the counsels of salvation through the sacred Scriptures. For he understood, because he foresaw. For whatever almighty God arranged to do in the building of the future Church, this He revealed to the ancient Fathers through the holy spirit of prophecy. For through the prophet Amos it is said: "The Lord God will not make a word which He has not revealed to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). For what else had he understood but the calling of the new preachers, who said: "Instead of your fathers, sons have been born to you; you shall establish them as princes over all the earth" (Psalm 44:17).
And the Lord added, and called again Samuel the third time. The Lord calls Samuel the third time, he himself rises the third time and comes to Eli and tells who has called him. The Father showed the Son visible in the flesh, signs of the invisible God, for the third time; namely, in infancy, in boyhood, and in youth. For in infancy, He shone through the angel to the shepherds and with the star to the Magi. In boyhood indeed, when He at twelve years old, showed divine wisdom in the temple, where He Himself said among other things: Because it is necessary for me to be in what is of my Father (Luke II). Moreover, in youth, when the Father Himself from the heavens marked Him after baptism with His voice, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Mark I). But in each of these moments, in which the Son of God is declared by God the Father, He Himself, offering Himself as a mortal man to mortal men, indicated that He was present, who had been long sought, awaited, and desired.
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…
Call · .SAMUEL — .SAMUEL
Prophets · God communicated to: By an audible voice — God communicated to: By an audible voice
Samuel · His vision concerning the house of Eli — His vision concerning the house of Eli
Visions · Mentioned in scripture: To Samuel — Mentioned in scripture: To Samuel
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).
1 Samuel 3:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
At the time when Samuel served the Lord before Eli, both as a boy and as a young man (Sa1 2:11, Sa1 2:21, Sa1 2:26), the word of the Lord had become dear, i.e., rare, in Israel, and "Prophecy was not spread." נפרץ, from פּרץ, to spread out strongly, to break through copiously (cf. Pro 3:10). The "word of the Lord" is the word of God announced by prophets: the "vision," "visio prophetica." It is true that Jehovah had promised His people, that He would send prophets, who should make known His will and purpose at all times (Deu 18:15.; cf. Num 23:23); but as a revelation from God presupposed susceptibility on the part of men, the unbelief and disobedience of the people might restrain the fulfil…
Eli realized: Despite his many shortcomings, Eli was not completely without spiritual insight.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 3:7
[Shmuel] had not yet known Adonoy. He had not yet recognized the nature of the prophetic voice.7He was thus unfamiliar with the ways ‘ה calls man, and he therefore thought that the voice was Eili’s. Every time the word 'טֶרֶם' appears in Scripture, it means 'not yet,' as rendered by the Targum 'עַד לָא' [not yet]. It does not mean 'before.' This verse proves it. And another [proof of this] is the verse כִּי טֶרֶם תִּירְאוּן which is rendered as "that you do not yet fear,"8Shemos 9:30. is a more explicit verse proving this. Also, וְכֹל שִֹיחַ הַשָֹּדֶה טֶרֶם יִהְיֶה בָאָרֶץ ["all plants of the field were not yet on the earth"].9Bereishis 2:5.
