1 Samuel 3:4

_THAT THE LORD CALLED SAMUEL: AND HE ANSWERED, HERE AM I._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

1-10 The call which Divine grace designs shall be made effectual; will be repeated till it is so, till we come to the call. Eli, perceiving that it was the voice of God that Samuel heard, instructed him what to say. Though it was a disgrace to Eli, for God's call to be directed to Samuel, yet he told him how to meet it. Thus the elder should do their utmost to assist and improve the younger that are rising up. Let us never fail to teach those who are coming after us, even such as will soon be preferred before us, John 1:30. Good words should be put into children's mouths betimes, by which they may be prepared to learn Divine things, and be trained up to regard them....

Verse 1 Samuel 3:4. _THE LORD CALLED SAMUEL_] The voice probably came from the holy place, near to which Eli and Samuel were both lying....

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

THAT THE LORD CALLED SAMUEL,.... By a voice which came forth from the most holy place, from between the cherubim, the seat of the divine Majesty: AND HE ANSWERED, HERE AM I; which was not intended to declare the place where he was, but to express his readiness and cheerfulness to do any thing that was required of him....

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

1 SAMUEL 3:1 TO 1 SAMUEL 4:1 A... ALL ISRAEL. ANOTHER SECTION OF THE LIFE OF SAMUEL (see above, p. 273). 1 SAMUEL 3:1. CALL OF SAMUEL. 1 Samuel 3:1. child: _na-' ar,_ anything from a baby to a man of forty. PRECIOUS... open, rather rare. frequent (_mg.)._ 1 Samuel 3:2. IN THE TEMPLE, etc.: Samuel slept in the shrine where the Ark was, in order to protect it. Contrast this with the later arrangement which placed the Ark in the Holy of Holies, only entered by the high priest one day in the year. templ

HERE AM I. Behold me....

1 Samuel 3:1-10. The Call of Samuel 1. _the child Samuel_ According to Josephus, Samuel had just completed his twelfth year when the word of Jehovah came to him. In later times this age was a critical point in the life of a Jewish boy. He then became -a son of the Law," and was regarded as personally responsible for obedience to it. It was at the age of twelve that "the child Jesus" first went up to Jerusalem along with his parents (Luke 2:42). _ministered_ Cp. 1 Samuel 2:11; 1 Samuel 2:18. _was precious_ Rather, WAS RARE. In the general decay of religion, prophetic communications from God had almost

THE LORD CALLED SAMUEL— The voice came, most probably, out of the _most holy place._ So the Chaldee renders it; _a voice was heard out of the tabernacle of the Lord. Here am I,_ was a form of speech implying attention to what was said, and readiness to execute what was commanded....