1 Samuel 3:20

_AND ALL ISRAEL FROM DAN EVEN TO BEERSHEBA KNEW THAT SAMUEL WAS ESTABLISHED TO BE A PROPHET OF THE LORD._ All Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord, х_ NE'ªMAAN_ (H539)] - accredited, verified for a prophet of the Lord. х_ NAABIY'_ (H935), a prophet (see the note at 1 Samuel 9:9: cf. Genesis 20:7; Exodus 7:1; Numbers 11:25).]...

19-21 All increase in wisdom and grace, is owing to the presence of God with us. God will graciously repeat his visits to those who receive them aright. Early piety will be the greatest honour of young people. Those who honour God he will honour. Let young people consider the piety of Samuel, and from him they will learn to remember their Creator in the days of their youth. Young children are capable of religion. Samuel is a proof that their waiting upon the Lord will be pleasing to him. He is a pattern of all those amiable tempers, which are the brightest ornament of youth, and a sure source of happiness....

Verse 1 Samuel 3:20. _ALL ISRAEL FROM DAN EVEN TO BEER-SHEBA_] Through the whole extent of Palestine; Dan being at the _northern_, Beer-sheba at the _southern_ extremity. WAS _ESTABLISHED_ TO BE _A PROPHET_] The word נאמן _neeman_, which we translate _established_, signifies _faithful: The faithful_ _Samuel was a prophet of the Lord_....

FROM DAN ... - See Judges 20:1 note....

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 ALL ISRAEL, FROM DAN EVEN UNTO BEERSHEBA,.... That is, from the most northern border of the land of Israel, on which Dan lay, to the utmost border of it southward, where Beersheba was, the fame of Samuel for his piety, prudence, and prophecy, was spread abroad; so that all KNEW THAT SAMUEL WAS ESTABLISHED TO BE A PROPHET OF THE LORD; or that he was faithful z to God and man, to be credited in what he said; and so a fit man to be a prophet of the Lord, being eminently qualified with gifts by him for that office; the Targum is, "that Samuel was faithful in the words of the prophecy of the Lord,'' in relating them. z נאמן "fidelis", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version....

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

ESTABLISHED, &c. Samuel was the first of "the prophets "and last of the judges, preparing the way for the change of government....

_from Dan even to Beer-sheba_ The regular formula to denote the whole extent of the land of Israel. It is first found in Judges 20:1, and is common in the books of Samuel, but naturally disappears after the Division of the Kingdoms, occurring only once again, and that after the fall of the northern kingdom (2 Chronicles 30:5). _Dan_originally Leshem or Laish, a Sidonian colony was captured, colonized, and re-named by a band of Danites (Joshua 19:47; Judges 18). It was the northernmost town of the Holy Land, and stood upon a hill from the base of which springs one of the main sources of the Jordan, to flow through a rich and fertile pla

THE LORD WAS WITH HIM, AND DID LET NONE OF HIS WORDS FALL, &C.— None of the predictions of Samuel were unaccomplished; in the same manner as an arrow shot by a good archer fails not to arrive at its mark; for this is the metaphor. See Schultens's Orig. Heb. pars 2: page 143. Thus _the Lord_ shewed that he _was with him,_ or blessed him. Compare Genesis 31:2....