1 Samuel 3:3

Brenton's Septuagint

And the lamp of God was burning before it was trimmed, and Samuel slept in the temple, where was the ark of God.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was located.

Hebrew Names Version
and the lamp of God hadn't yet gone out, and Shemu'el had laid down [to sleep], in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was;

King James Version
And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord , where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

Lexham English Bible
and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying in the temple of Yahweh where the ark of God was.

English Standard Version
The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord , where the ark of God was.

New Century Version
Samuel was also in bed in the Lord 's house, where the Ark of the Agreement was. God's lamp was still burning.

New English Translation
and the lamp of God had not yet been extinguished. Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord as well; the ark of God was also there.

Amplified Bible
and the [oil] lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was,

New American Standard Bible
and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was,

Geneva Bible (1587)
And yet the light of God went out, Samuel slept in the temple of the Lorde, where the Arke of God was.

Legacy Standard Bible
and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of Yahweh where the ark of God was,

Contemporary English Version
and Samuel was sleeping on a mat near the sacred chest in the Lord 's house. They had not been asleep very long

Complete Jewish Bible
The lamp of God had not yet gone out; and Sh'mu'el had lain down to sleep in the sanctuary of Adonai , where the ark of God was.

Darby Translation
and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel lay in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was,

Easy-to-Read Version
The special lamp in the Lord 's temple was still burning, so Samuel lay down in the temple near where the Holy Box was.

George Lamsa Translation
And the lamp of the LORD was not yet put out, and Samuel was lying down to sleep in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.

Good News Translation
Samuel was sleeping in the sanctuary, where the sacred Covenant Box was. Before dawn, while the lamp was still burning,

Literal Translation
And the lamp of God had not yet gone out. And Samuel was lying down in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God rested .

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Samuel had layed him downe in ye temple of the LORDE (where the Arke of God was) before ye lampe of God was put out.

American Standard Version
and the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was;

Bible in Basic English
And the light of God was still burning, while Samuel was sleeping in the Temple of the Lord where the ark of God was,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And yet the lampe of God went out, Samuel layde hym downe to sleepe in the temple of the Lord, where the arke of God was.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down to sleep in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was,

King James Version (1611)
And yer the lampe of God went out in the Temple of the Lord, where the Arke of God was, and Samuel was layd downe to sleepe;

English Revised Version
and the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down [to sleep], in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was;

Berean Standard Bible
Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe Samuel slepte in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

Young's Literal Translation
And the lamp of God is not yet extinguished, and Samuel is lying down in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God [is],

Update Bible Version
and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was laying down [to sleep], in the temple of Yahweh, where the ark of God was;

Webster's Bible Translation
And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God [was], and Samuel was laid down [to sleep];

World English Bible
and the lamp of God hadn't yet gone out, and Samuel had laid down [to sleep], in the temple of Yahweh, where the ark of God was;

New King James Version
and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle [fn] of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down,

New Living Translation
The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God.

New Life Bible
The lamp of God had not gone out yet. And Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord where the special box of God was.

New Revised Standard
the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord , where the ark of God was.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
though, the lamp of God, was not yet to be put out, and, Samuel, was lying down in the temple of Yahweh, where was the ark of God,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Before the lamp of God went out, Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

Revised Standard Version
the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down within the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was,

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

ere: Before sun-rise: for it is probable the lamps were extinguished before the rising of the sun; see the parallel passages.

the lamp: Exodus 27:20, Exodus 27:21, Exodus 30:7, Exodus 30:8, Leviticus 24:2-4, 2 Chronicles 13:11

the temple: 1 Samuel 1:6, Psalms 5:7, Psalms 27:4, Psalms 29:9

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 1:9 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 3:12
And God said to him, Who told thee that thou wast naked, unless thou hast eaten of the tree concerning which I charged thee of it alone not to eat?

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 3:16
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed, he shall watch against thy head, and thou shalt watch against his heel.

Genesis 3:17
And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pains and thy groanings; in pain thou shalt bring forth children, and thy submission shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Genesis 20:6
And God said to him in sleep, Yea, I knew that thou didst this with a pure heart, and I spared thee, so that thou shouldest not sin against me, therefore I suffered thee not to touch her.

1 Chronicles 16:22
saying, Touch not my anointed ones, and deal not wrongfully with my prophets.

Job 1:11
But put forth thine hand, and touch all that he has: verily he will bless thee to thy face.

Job 2:5
Nay, but put forth thine hand, and touch his bones and his flesh: verily he will bless thee to thy face.

Job 19:21
Pity me, pity me, O friends; for it is the hand of the Lord that has touched me.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord,.... The tabernacle so called; lamp is put for the lamps in the candlestick in the tabernacle, which were lighted every evening, and burnt till morning; by which time some of them at least usually went out, only it is said the western lamp never went out. Now the reason why this is observed is to show that it was in the night, before morning, that the following transaction was: some by this lamp understand the lamp of prophecy, that before that was quite extinct in Eli, only began to depart, as his eyes are said to begin to wax dim, the spirit of prophecy came to Samuel; so that, as the Jews express it, before one sun was set another arose; thus before the sun of Moses set, the sun of Joshua arose; and before the sun of Eli set, the sun of Samuel arose:

where the ark of God was; that is, in the temple or tabernacle; not in that part of it where the lamps were burning in the candlestick, that was in the holy place; but the ark was in the holy of holies, where the Lord dwelt, and was the symbol of his presence; and which is observed to point out the place from whence the voice came, after mentioned; and which the Targum expresses here,

"and a voice was heard out of the temple of the Lord, where the ark of the Lord was:''

and Samuel was laid down to sleep; after Eli was in bed, and Samuel had done all his business, he laid himself down to sleep in his place; in the court of the Levites, as the Targum, with which the Jewish commentators in general agree: it must be somewhere near to Eli, so that he could quickly come at him, when he needed his assistance; though, according to the Misnah p, the priests shut the doors of the court within, and the Levites slept without. It is highly probable that Samuel's apartment was near to Eli, or he could not have so readily come to him, as it is plain he did. This circumstance is also observed, to show that it was in the night, and before morning, that the following vision was; and, as Kimchi thinks, about cock crowing; and it may be from hence Strabo q had the notion, that Moses ordered such to sleep (in the temple) for themselves, and others, who were fit to receive good dreams, and who might expect from God a good gift, who lived soberly and righteously; and because the tabernacle was covered with skins, hence might spring the notion of others to sleep in temples, for the above reason, under the skins of the sacrifices,

:-, though they seem rather to have slept upon them, for the above purposes, namely, to converse with their deities, and get knowledge from them r.

p Middot, c. 1. sect. 8. q Geograph. l. 16. p. 523. r Vid. Virgil. Aeneid. 7. "huc dona Sacerdos", &c. ver. 86-95.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 3:3. Ere the lamp of God went out — Before sunrise; for it is likely that the lamps were extinguished before the rising of the sun. See Exodus 27:21; Leviticus 24:3.