1 Samuel 3:1

Contextual Overview

¹ And the lad Samuel ministered to Yahweh before Eli. And the word of Yahweh was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision. ¹ 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. ¹ 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. ¹ 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. ¹ 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. ¹ 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. ¹ The child Samuel ministered to Yahweh before Eli. The word of Yahweh was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision. ¹Now 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.¹ 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. ¹ 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.

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
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
And Yahweh God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "How could you have done such a thing?" She answered, "The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit."

Genesis 3:13
So the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman replied, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
And the LORD God said to the woman, What [is] this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.

Genesis 3:13
Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent beguiled and deceived me, and I ate [from the forbidden tree]."

Genesis 3:13
And the Lord seide to the womman, Whi didist thou this thing? Which answerde, The serpent disseyued me, and Y eet.

Genesis 3:13
And Jehovah God saith to the woman, `What [is] this thou hast done?' and the woman saith, `The serpent hath caused me to forget -- and I do eat.'

Genesis 3:13
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied, "and I ate."

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.