1 Samuel 2:18

Contextual Overview

¹¹ And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the lad was ministering to Yahweh before Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy served the Lord by assisting Eli the priest. ¹¹ And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy continued to serve the Lord under Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of Eli the priest. ¹¹ And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest. ¹¹ Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child did minister to Yahweh before Eli the priest. ¹¹Elkanah [and his wife Hannah] returned to Ramah to his house. But the child [Samuel] served the LORD under the guidance of Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest. ¹¹ And Helcana yede in to Ramatha, in to his hows; forsothe the child was seruaunt in the siyt of the Lord bifor the face of Ely the preest.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

ministered: 1 Samuel 2:11, 1 Samuel 3:1

a linen ephod: 1 Samuel 22:18, Exodus 28:4, Leviticus 8:7, 2 Samuel 6:14

Reciprocal: Judges 11:31 - shall surely Judges 11:39 - to his vow 1 Samuel 1:22 - and there 1 Kings 18:12 - from my youth 1 Chronicles 15:27 - a robe 2 Chronicles 34:1 - eight years Ecclesiastes 12:1 - Remember Hosea 3:4 - ephod Matthew 11:25 - and hast Matthew 19:14 - Suffer Matthew 20:2 - he sent Luke 1:66 - And the Luke 2:40 - the child Acts 3:24 - Samuel 2 Timothy 3:15 - from Hebrews 11:32 - Samuel

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and, look, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God looked at everything he had made, and it was very good. Evening passed, and morning came. This was the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God saw all that he had made—and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He validated it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God seiy alle thingis whiche he made, and tho weren ful goode. And the euentid and morwetid was maad, the sixte day.

Genesis 1:31
And God seeth all that He hath done, and lo, very good; and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day the sixth.

Genesis 1:31
And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning-the sixth day.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But Samuel ministered before the Lord,.... The ministration of Samuel, though a child, is observed both before and after the account of the ill behaviour and wickedness of Eli's sons; partly to the shame and disgrace of them, and as serving to aggravate their sin, and make it appear the more black and heinous; and partly to his honour and reputation, that he was not corrupted and turned aside from God by their evil practices. The phrase here used is different from that in 1 Samuel 2:11 there he is said to minister before Eli, under his direction and guidance, but here before the Lord; being now engaged in higher services, and which he could perform without the assistance of Eli, as in the presence of God more immediately; it seems to have respect to him when more grown in age, stature, knowledge, and experience, though here related: yet still being "a child"; not got out of his childhood, or arrived to manhood:

girded with a linen ephod; such as priests used to wear, but not Levites in common, nor extraordinary persons on extraordinary occasions, see 1 Samuel 22:18. This seems to be a peculiar favour, and a special honour which Eli granted to Samuel when so very young, on account of the grace of God bestowed on him in a wonderful manner; and because brought up in the tabernacle as a holy person, and a Nazarite; and because his birth was foretold, and he asked of God, as his name signified, as Procopius Gazaeus observes.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Girded with a linen ephod - This was the usual dress of the priests. It does not appear whether Levites wore an ephod properly. Possibly it was a mark of Samuel’s special dedication to the Lord’s service that he wore one. (See the marginal reference). The ephod was sometimes used as an idolatrous implement Judges 8:27.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 2:18. Girded with a linen ephod — This the Targum translates אסיר כרדוט דבוץ asir cardut debuts, "Girded with a cardit of byssus, or fine linen." The word cardut they seem to have borrowed from the Greek χειριδωτος, a tunic, having χειριδας, i.e., sleeves that came down to, or covered, the hands. This was esteemed an effeminate garment among the Romans. See Buxtorf's Talmudic Lexicon.