1 Samuel 3:15

_AND SAMUEL LAY UNTIL THE MORNING, AND OPENED THE DOORS OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. AND SAMUEL FEARED TO SHEW ELI THE VISION._ Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord, х_ DALTOWT_ (H1817), doors]. At first the tabernacle was closed simply by [maacaak] a hanging drawn across (Exodus 36:37). But in the Holy Land it was furnished with doors. AND SAMUEL FEARED TO SHOW ELI THE VISION, х_ HAMAR'AAH_ (H4759)]. This word signifies a vision from God (Numbers 12:6; Ezekiel 1:1; Daniel 10:7) in th

11-18 What a great deal of guilt and corruption is there in us, concerning which we may say, It is the iniquity which our own heart knoweth; we are conscious to ourselves of it! Those who do not restrain the sins of others, when it is in their power to do it, make themselves partakers of the guilt, and will be charged as joining in it. In his remarkable answer to this awful sentence, Eli acknowledged that the Lord had a right to do as he saw good, being assured that he would do nothing wrong. The meekness, patience, and humility contained in those words, show that he was truly repentant; he accepted the punishment of his sin....

Verse 1 Samuel 3:15. _SAMUEL FEARED TO SHOW ELI_] He reverenced him as a father, and he feared to distress him by showing what the Lord had purposed to do. It does not appear that God had commanded Samuel to deliver this message: he, therefore, did not attempt it till adjured by Eli, 1 Samuel 3:17....

OPENED THE DOORS - We learn thus incidentally the nature of some of Samuel’s duties. This duty was quite Levitical in its character. In the interval between Josh and David, when the tabernacle was stationary for the most part, it may have lost something of its “tent” character, and among other changes have had doors instead of the hanging. SAMUEL FEARED TO SHOW ELI THE VISION - Here was Samuel’s first experience of the prophet’s cross: the having unwelcome truth to divulge to those he loved, honored, and feared. Compare the case of Jeremiah Jeremiah 15:10; Jeremiah 17:15; Jeremiah 20:7....

EXPOSITION THE CALL OF SAMUEL (1 Samuel 3:1). 1 SAMUEL 3:1 THE WORD OF THE LORD WAS PRECIOUS IN THOSE DAYS. Or rather _rare_;_ _it came but seldom, and there was no proper order of persons from whose ranks the "speakers for God" would naturally step forth. It was this which made the revelation of Jehovah's will to Samuel an event so memorable both for the Jewish nation and for the Church; for he was called by the providence of God to be the founder of prophecy as an established institution, and henceforward, side by side with the king and priest, the prophet took his place as one of the three factors in the preparation for the coming of him who is a king to rule, a Prie

AND SAMUEL LAY UNTIL THE MORNING,.... It is not said he slept; it can hardly be thought he should, when it is considered what a new, strange, and uncommon thing had befallen him; what honour had been conferred on him a child, that the Lord should vouchsafe to speak and communicate his mind to him, and what dreadful things were said of Eli's family; all which must greatly affect his mind, and keep him waking: however, he lay musing thereon until morning, and then arose, AND OPENED THE DOORS OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD; as he had used to do, and which was the business of the Levites; though he had been so highly honoured, he was not elated with it, nor thought himself above so low and mean an employment in the house of God; nor did he run to Eli or others, boasting of what he had met with that night, but modestly and carefully attended to what was his common and constant employment every mor...

4. SAMUEL'S CALL AND PROPHETIC MINISTRY CHAPTER 3 _ 1. Samuel's call (1 Samuel 3:1)_ 2. The message from Jehovah (1 Samuel 3:10) 3. Samuel the prophet (1 Samuel 3:19) After the priesthood had so completely failed and divine judgment had been pronounced, Samuel receives his call to the prophetic office. He continued his ministrations as a Levite during the time that the word of the Lord was precious (literally, rare); there was no vision. Up to this time Samuel had not known the Lord nor had the word of the Lord been revealed to him (verse 7). It must have been near the hour of dawn, for the tabernacle lamp was not yet gone out, when the voice of Jehovah called Samuel by name. He kn

IN OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMAND OF THE LORD, SAMUEL ANNOUNCES TO ELI THE DOOM OF HIS HOUSE. Parallel to the Deuteronomic section (1 Samuel 2:27). 1 SAMUEL 3:12. Probably an addition by the Deuteronomic writer to connect with 1 Samuel 2:27 ff. 1 Samuel 3:13. I have told: read, thou shalt tell. 1 Samuel 3:19 to 1 Samuel 4:1 A. ALL ISRAEL. SAMUEL ESTABLISHED AS PROPHET....

MORNING. The copyist's eye, in going back to this word, went to the word at the end of' the next sentence, and thus omitted "and rose early in the morning". These words are preserved in the Septuagint....

The Message delivered to Eli 15. _the doors of the house of the Lord_.] As the tabernacle was closed by a curtain only, we must suppose that the doors of the enclosure in which it stood are meant. See note on 1 Samuel 1:9. We here learn incidentally the nature of the service which Samuel performed at Shiloh. He acted as a subordinate Levite. Cp. 1 Chronicles 15:23; Psalms 84:10. _Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision_ He naturally shrank from delivering the fatal message to one whom he loved and revered....