1 Samuel 3:1

Brenton's Septuagint

And the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Heli the priest: and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, there was no distinct vision.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.

Hebrew Names Version
The child Shemu'el ministered to the LORD before `Eli. The word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision.

King James Version
And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

Lexham English Bible
Now the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh in the presence of Eli. The word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

English Standard Version
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

New Century Version
The boy Samuel served the Lord under Eli. In those days the Lord did not speak directly to people very often; there were very few visions.

New English Translation
Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli's supervision. Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

Amplified Bible
Now the boy Samuel was attending to the service of the LORD under the supervision of Eli. The word of the LORD was rare and precious in those days; visions [that is, new revelations of divine truth] were not widespread.

New American Standard Bible
Now the boy Samuel was attending to the service of the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days; visions were infrequent.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Nowe the childe Samuel ministred vnto the Lord before Eli: and the word of the Lord was precious in those dayes: for there was no manifest vision.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now the young boy Samuel was ministering to Yahweh before Eli. And word from Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were infrequent.

Contemporary English Version
Samuel served the Lord by helping Eli the priest, who was by that time almost blind. In those days, the Lord hardly ever spoke directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. But one night, Eli was asleep in his room,

Complete Jewish Bible
The child Sh'mu'el continued ministering to Adonai under ‘Eli's direction. Now, in those days Adonai rarely spoke, and visions were few.

Darby Translation
And the boy Samuel ministered to Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was rare in those days; a vision was not frequent.

Easy-to-Read Version
The boy Samuel was Eli's helper and served the Lord with him. At that time the Lord did not speak directly to people very often. There were very few visions.

George Lamsa Translation
AND the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD, assisting Eli the priest. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

Good News Translation
In those days, when the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under the direction of Eli, there were very few messages from the Lord , and visions from him were quite rare.

Literal Translation
And the boy Samuel was serving Jehovah before Eli. And the Word of Jehovah was rare in those days. There was no breaking-through vision.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And whan the childe Samuel mynistred vnto the LORDE vnder Eli, the worde of ye LORDE was deare at the same tyme, nether was there eny sure & manifest vision.

American Standard Version
And the child Samuel ministered unto Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision.

Bible in Basic English
Now the young Samuel was the servant of the Lord before Eli. In those days the Lord kept his word secret from men; there was no open vision.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the chylde Samuel ministred vnto the Lorde before Eli, and the worde of the Lord was precious in those dayes, neither was there any open vision.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision.

King James Version (1611)
And the child Samuel ministred vnto the Lord before Eli: and the word of the Lord was precious in those daies; there was no open vision.

English Revised Version
And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

Berean Standard Bible
And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare and visions were scarce.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe the child Samuel `mynystride to the Lord bifor Heli, and the word of the Lord was preciouse; in tho daies was noon opyn reuelacioun.

Young's Literal Translation
And the youth Samuel is serving Jehovah before Eli, and the word of Jehovah hath been precious in those days -- there is no vision broken forth.

Update Bible Version
And the lad Samuel ministered to Yahweh before Eli. And the word of Yahweh was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the child Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; [there was] no open vision.

World English Bible
The child Samuel ministered to Yahweh before Eli. The word of Yahweh was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision.

New King James Version
Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.

New Living Translation
Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.

New Life Bible
Now the boy Samuel was working for the Lord with Eli. There were few words from the Lord given in those days, and there were not many special dreams.

New Revised Standard
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, the boy Samuel, was ministering unto Yahweh, before Eli, - and, the word of Yahweh, had become rare in those days, there was no well-known vision.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Heli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, there was no manifest vision.

Revised Standard Version
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

THE MESSAGE
The boy Samuel was serving God under Eli's direction. This was at a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen. One night Eli was sound asleep (his eyesight was very bad—he could hardly see). It was well before dawn; the sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was still in bed in the Temple of God , where the Chest of God rested.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.

Contextual Overview

¹ And the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Heli the priest: and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, there was no distinct vision. ² And it came to pass at that time that Heli was sleeping in his place; and his eyes began to fail, and could not see. ³ And the lamp of God was burning before it was trimmed, and Samuel slept in the temple, where was the ark of God. ⁴ And the Lord called, Samuel, Samuel; and he said, Behold, here am I. ⁵ And he ran to Heli, and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me: and he said, I did not call thee; return, go to sleep; and he returned and went to sleep. ⁶ And the Lord called again, Samuel, Samuel: and he went to Heli the second time, and said, Behold here am I, for thou didst call me: and he said, I called thee not; return, go to sleep. ⁷ And it was before Samuel knew the Lord, and before the word of the Lord was revealed to him. ⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again for the third time: and he arose and went to Heli, and said, Behold, I am here, for thou didst call me: and Heli perceived that the Lord had called the child. ⁹ And he said, Return, child, go to sleep; and it shall come to pass if he shall call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak for thy servant hears: and Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰ And the Lord came, and stood, and called him as before: and Samuel said, Speak, for thy servant hears.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the child: 1 Samuel 3:15, 1 Samuel 2:11, 1 Samuel 2:18

the word: 1 Samuel 3:21, Psalms 74:9, Isaiah 13:12, Amos 8:11, Amos 8:12

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 1:22 - and there Proverbs 29:18 - there Isaiah 22:1 - of vision Matthew 20:2 - he sent Acts 3:24 - Samuel Hebrews 11:32 - Samuel

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
And Adam said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me—she gave me of the tree and I ate.

Genesis 3:15
And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all cattle and all the brutes of the earth, on thy breast and belly thou shalt go, and thou shalt eat earth all the days of thy life.

Ecclesiastes 4:10
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls, and there is not a second to lift him up.

Isaiah 27:1
In that day God shall bring his holy and great and strong sword upon the dragon, even the serpent that flees, upon the dragon, the crooked serpent: he shall destroy the dragon.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli,.... Under his direction and instruction; the Targum is, in the life of Eli, and in such parts of service, relating to the tabernacle of the Lord, as he was capable of, such as opening and shutting the doors of it, lighting the lamps, singing the praises of God, c. according to Josephus n, and others, he was now about twelve years of age:

and the word of the Lord was precious in those days that is, a word from the Lord in a dream or vision, directing, informing, instructing, or reproving, this was very rarely had; of late there had been but very few instances; and which accounts for it why not only the child Samuel knew not that it was the voice of the Lord that called to him, but Eli himself thought nothing of it until he had called a third time, so rare and scarce was any instance of this kind; for which reason these words are premised in the following narration: and as everything that is scarce and rare is generally precious, so the word of God in this way also was; and so it is as considered in every view of it; as the written word of God; when there was but little of it penned, as at this time, and few or none to teach and instruct in it, Eli being old, and his sons so vile; or when it is forbidden to be read, and the copies of it destroyed, and become scarce, as in the times of Dioclesian; or when there are but very few faithful evangelical ministers of the word; which, though it is always precious to them that have precious faith in it, the promises of it being exceeding great and precious, and the truths of it more precious than fine gold, and the grand subject of it a precious Saviour, who is so in his person, offices, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; yet is generally more precious when there is a scarcity of it, when God makes a man, a Gospel minister, more precious than fine gold, even than the golden wedge of Ophir, see

Isaiah 13:12 where the word is used in the same sense as here:

there was no open vision; or prophecy, as the Targum; no publicly known prophet raised up, to whom the people could apply for counsel, direction, and instruction in divine things; in all the times of the judges we read only of Deborah the prophetess, and one prophet more, Judges 4:14, excepting the man of God lately sent to Eli, 1 Samuel 2:27, and this want of prophecy served to set off with greater foil the glory of Samuel as a prophet of the Lord, when he was an established one; there having been none of that character in the memory of man, and therefore he is spoken of as at the head of the prophets, Acts 3:24, for though there might be some private visions to particular persons, or God might appear in vision to private persons for their own special use and instruction; yet there was no public vision, or what was for public good and general use: some render it, "no broken up vision" o; it lay hid, concealed out of sight, as if it was immured and shut up within walls, or like water pent up, that cannot break through its fences, and spread itself; or "not multiplied", as R. Isaiah, not frequent and repeated, the instances of it few and rare; the sense of this clause is much the same as the former.

n Antiqu. l. 5. c. 10. sect. 4. o נפרץ "perrupta", Piscator; "fracta vel rupta", Drusius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the margin reference note. Josephus says that Samuel’s call to the prophetic office happened when he had just completed his twelfth year (compare Luke 2:42).

Was precious - (or rare) The song of Hannah, and the prophecy of the “man of God” (1 Samuel 2:27 note), are the only instances of prophecy since Deborah. Samuel is mentioned as the first of the series of prophets Acts 3:24.

No open vision - Better rendered, “There was no vision promulgated or published.” (Compare 2 Chronicles 31:5.)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER III

Samuel ministers to the Lord before Eli, 1.

He is thrice called by the Lord; who informs him of the evils

which shall be brought on the house of Eli, 2-15.

Eli inquires of Samuel what the Lord had said, 16, 17.

He gives a faithful reunion of the whole, which Eli receives

with great submission, 18.

Samuel prospers; is established as a prophet in Israel; and the

Lord reveals himself to him to Shiloh, 19-21.

NOTES ON CHAP. III

Verse 1 Samuel 3:1. Samuel ministered unto the Lord — He performed minor services in the tabernacle, under the direction of Eli, such as opening the doors, c. See 1 Samuel 3:15.

The word of the Lord was precious — There were but few revelations from God and because the word was scarce, therefore it was valuable. The author of this book probably lived at a time when prophecy was frequent, See the preface.

There was no open vision. — There was no public accredited prophet; one with whom the secret of the Lord was known to dwell, and to whom all might have recourse in cases of doubt or public emergency.