(KJV) 1 Samuel 31

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⥃The LORD Calls Samuel

[1] And the child2 Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word3 of the Lord was precious in those days; [there was] no open vision. [2] And it came to pass at that time, when Eli [was] laid down in his place, and his eyes4 began to wax dim, [that] he could not see; [3] And ere5 the lamp6 of God went out in the temple7 of the Lord, where the ark of God [was], and Samuel was laid down [to sleep]; [4] That the Lord called Samuel8: and he answered, Here [am] I. [5] And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here [am] I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. [6] And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here [am] I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.9 [7] Now Samuel10 did not yet11 know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. [8] And the Lord called Samuel again the third12 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. [9] Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak13, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. [10] And the Lord came14, and stood, and called as at other15 times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

[11] And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do16 a thing in Israel, at which both the ears17 of every one that heareth it shall tingle. [12] In that day I will perform18 against Eli all [things] which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin19, I will also make an end. [13] For I have told him20 that I will21 judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth22; because his sons23 made themselves vile24, and he restrained them not25. [14] And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity26 of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

⥃Samuel Shares the Vision

[15] [¶]And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened27 the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel28 feared29 to shew Eli the vision. [16] Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here [am] I. [17] And he said, What [is] the thing that [the Lord] hath said unto thee? I pray thee30 hide [it] not from me: God31 do so to thee, and more also32, if thou hide [any] thing33 from me of all the things that he said unto thee. [18] And Samuel told him every whit34, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It [is] the Lord35: let him do what seemeth him good.

[19] And Samuel grew36, and the Lord37 was with him, and did let none38 of his words fall to the ground. [20] And all Israel from Dan39 even to Beer–sheba knew that Samuel [was] established40 [to be] a prophet of the Lord. [21] And the Lord41 appeared42 again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word43 of the Lord.

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  1. 1Sam 3:1, How the word of the Lord was first revealed to Samuel; 1Sam 3:11, God tells Samuel the destruction of Eli’s house; 1Sam 3:15, Samuel, though loath, tells Eli the vision; 1Sam 3:19, Samuel grows in credit. ↩

  2. 1Sam 3:15, 1Sam 2:11, 1Sam 2:18 ↩

  3. 1Sam 3:21; Ps 74:9; Isa 13:12; Amos 8:11-12 ↩

  4. 1Sam 2:22, 1Sam 4:15; Gen 27:1, Gen 48:19; Ps 90:10; Eccl 12:3 ↩

  5. Before sun-rise. For it is probable the lamps were extinguished before the rising of the sun; see the parallel passages. ↩

  6. Exod 27:20-21, Exod 30:7-8; Lev 24:2-4; 2Chr 13:11 ↩

  7. 1Sam 1:6; Ps 5:7, Ps 27:4, Ps 29:9 ↩

  8. Gen 22:1; Exod 3:4; Ps 99:6; Acts 9:4; 1Cor 12:6-11, 1Cor 12:28; Gal 1:15-16 ↩

  9. 1Sam 4:16; Gen 43:29; 2Sam 18:22; Matt 9:2 ↩

  10. Or, Thus did Samuel before he knew the Lord, and before the word of the Lord was revealed unto him. ↩

  11. Samuel was not destitute of the knowledge of God, in that sense which implies the total absence of true piety, as Eli's sons were; for he knew and worshipped the God of Israel, but he did not know him as communicating special revelations of his will to him, in the manner in which he made it known to the prophets. Jer 9:24; Acts 19:2 ↩

  12. Job 33:14-15; Although Samuel did not apprehend the way in which God reveals himself to his servants the prophets - by the "still small voice" - yet when this direct communication from the Almighty was made the third time, in a way altogether new and strange to him, it seems astonishing that he did not immediately apprehend. Perhaps he would have been sooner aware of a divine revelation, had it come in a dream or a vision. Those who have the greatest knowledge of divine things, should remember the time when they were as babes, unskilful in the word of righteousness. 1Cor 13:11-12 ↩

  13. Exod 20:19; Ps 85:8; Isa 6:8; Dan 10:19; Acts 9:6 ↩

  14. This seems to imply a visible appearance, as well as an audible voice. ↩

  15. 1Sam 3:4-6, 1Sam 3:8; Samuel did not now rise and run as before, when thought he Eli called, but lay still and listened. All must be silent, when God speaks. Observe, however, Samuel in his reply left out one word. He did not say, Speak, Lord, but only Speak, for thy servant heareth; perhaps, as Bp. Patrick suggests, out of uncertainty, whether it was God that spake to him or not. However, by this answer way was made for the message he was now to receive, and Samuel was brought acquainted with the words of God and visions of the Almighty. ↩

  16. Isa 29:14; Amos 3:6-7; Hab 1:5; Acts 13:41 ↩

  17. 2Kgs 21:12; Isa 28:19; Jer 19:3; Luke 21:26 ↩

  18. 1Sam 2:27-36; Num 23:19; Josh 23:15; Zech 1:6; Luke 21:33 ↩

  19. etc. Heb. beginning and ending ↩

  20. or, And I will tell him, etc. 1Sam 2:27-30, 1Sam 2:31-36 ↩

  21. 2Chr 20:12; Ezek 7:3, Ezek 18:30; Joel 3:12 ↩

  22. 1Kgs 2:44; Eccl 7:22; 1John 3:20 ↩

  23. 1Sam 2:12, 1Sam 2:17, 1Sam 2:22, 1Sam 2:23-26 ↩

  24. or, accursed ↩

  25. Heb. frowned not upon them, 1Sam 2:23-25; 1Kgs 1:6; Prov 19:18, Prov 23:13-14, Prov 29:15; Matt 10:37 ↩

  26. 1Sam 2:25; Num 15:30-31; Ps 51:16; Isa 22:14; Jer 7:16, Jer 15:1; Ezek 24:13; Heb 10:4-10, Heb 10:26-31 ↩

  27. 1Sam 1:9; Mal 1:10 ↩

  28. Samuel reverenced Eli as a father, and feared to distress him by shewing what God had purposed to do. It does not appear that God commanded Samuel to deliver this message; he therefore did not attempt it till adjured by Eli. It might be supposed that Samuel would have been so full of ecstasy as to have forgotten his ordinary service, and run amongst his friends to tell them of the converse he had with God in the night, but he modestly keeps it to himself. Our secret communion with God is not to be proclaimed on the house-top. ↩

  29. Jer 1:6-8; 1Cor 16:10-11 ↩

  30. Ps 141:5; Dan 4:19; Mic 2:7 ↩

  31. 1Sam 20:13; Ruth 1:17; 2Sam 3:35, 2Sam 19:13; 1Kgs 22:16; Matt 26:63 ↩

  32. Heb. so add ↩

  33. or, word ↩

  34. Heb. all the things, or, words, Whit, or wid, comes from the Anglo-Saxon wiht, which signifies person, thing, etc.. Every whit is every thing: equivalent to every jot. ↩

  35. Gen 18:25; Judg 10:15; 2Sam 16:10-12; Job 1:21, Job 2:10; Ps 39:9; Isa 39:8; Lam 3:39; 1Pet 5:6 ↩

  36. 1Sam 2:21; Judg 13:24; Luke 1:80, Luke 2:40, Luke 2:52 ↩

  37. 1Sam 18:14; Gen 39:2, Gen 39:21-23; Isa 43:2; Matt 1:23; Luke 1:28; 2Cor 13:11, 2Cor 13:14; 2Tim 4:22 ↩

  38. 1Sam 9:6; 1Kgs 8:56; Isa 44:26 ↩

  39. Judg 20:1; 2Sam 3:10, 2Sam 17:11 ↩

  40. or, faithful, 1Tim 1:12 ↩

  41. Wyyoseph yehowah lehairaoh, "And Jehovah added to appear:" that is, He continued to reveal himself to Samuel at Shiloh. ↩

  42. Gen 12:7, Gen 15:1; Num 12:6; Amos 3:7; Heb 1:1 ↩

  43. 1Sam 3:1, 1Sam 3:4 ↩