1 Samuel 3:17

_AND HE SAID, WHAT IS THE THING THAT THE LORD HATH SAID UNTO THEE? I PRAY THEE HIDE IT NOT FROM ME: GOD DO SO TO THEE, AND MORE ALSO, IF THOU HIDE ANY THING FROM ME OF ALL THE THINGS THAT HE SAID UNTO THEE._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

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 3:17. _GOD DO SO TO THEE, AND MORE ALSO_] This was a very solemn adjuration: he suspected that God had threatened severe judgments, for he knew that his house was very criminal; and he wished to know what God had spoken. The words imply thus much: If thou do not tell me fully what God has threatened, may the same and greater curses fall on thyself....

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 HE SAID, WHAT IS THE THING THAT THE [LORD] HATH SAID UNTO THEE?.... The word "Lord" is not in the text, but it is "that it hath said"; the voice that had so often called him in the night, and which yet Eli knew was the voice of the Lord; and as it was, he was sensible there was something of importance said, and he had great reason to believe it respected him and his family; and the rather he might conclude this, by what the man of God had lately said to him, whose words perhaps he had too much slighted, questioning his authority; and therefore the Lord took this way and method to assure him that what was said came from him; for hereby Eli was fully convinced that this voice Samuel heard was of the Lord, and so what was said must be from him, and this he was impatient to know: I PRAY THEE, HIDE IT NOT FROM ME; and he not only beseeched and entreated him, but adjured him, as in the ne...

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....

THING- word....

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....

THEN ELI CALLED SAMUEL, AND SAID— Either that he might not afflict Eli, or displease God, Samuel _feared_ to tell this unhappy father what had been revealed to him. But Eli, naturally distressed and uneasy, presses him earnestly to conceal nothing from him: he adjures him by a solemn imprecation, _God do so to thee,_ &c. which obliged Samuel to satisfy his desire. The manner in which Eli received this terrible denunciation does great credit to his character. He acknowledged the greatness of his fault, and humbly resigned himself to the will of God....