Samuel’s First Encounter with Yahweh

¹ Now the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh ⌞in the presence⌟¹ of Eli. The word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

1. Literally “in the face of”

² ⌞And then⌟¹ one day when Eli was lying in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow weak so that he was not able to see)

1. Literally “And it happened”

³ and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying in the temple¹ of Yahweh where the ark of God was.

1. Although the Hebrew text reads “temple,” this is a reference to the tabernacle (see 1:3, 9)

⁴ Then Yahweh called out to Samuel and he said, “Here I am!”

⁵ And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” But he said, “I did not call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

⁶ And Yahweh called Samuel again, so Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” And he said, “I did not call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh, and the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸ Again Yahweh called Samuel a third time, so he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” Then Eli realized that Yahweh was calling the boy.

⁹ So Eli said to Samuel “Go lie down. ⌞If he calls⌟¹ to you, then you must say, ‘Speak Yahweh, because your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

1. Literally “And it will happen that if he calls”

¹⁰ Then Yahweh came and stood there and called out ⌞as before⌟,¹ “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, because your servant is listening.”

1. Literally “as an occurrence, in an occurrence”

¹¹ So Yahweh said to Samuel, “Look, I am doing something in Israel ⌞which will cause⌟¹ the two ears of everyone who hears it to tingle.

1. Literally “about which”

¹² On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his household, ⌞from beginning to end⌟.¹

1. Literally “begin and finish”

¹³ I will make him know that I am about to judge his household forever because of the iniquity that he knew, for his sons were bringing curses on themselves,¹ but he did not rebuke them.

1. LXX reads “were cursing God”

¹⁴ Therefore I swore to the house of Eli that the iniquity of the house of Eli would not be atoned for¹ by sacrifice or by offering forever.”

1. Or “be expiated”

¹⁵ So Samuel lay down until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, but Samuel was afraid of telling the vision to Eli.

¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” And he said, “Here I am.”

¹⁷ And he said, “What is the message¹ that he spoke to you? Please do not conceal it from me. May God ⌞punish you severely⌟² if you conceal anything from me of all the words that he told you.”

1. Or “word”
2. Literally “do to you and so may he add”

¹⁸ So Samuel told him all the words and did not conceal anything from him. And he¹ said, “He is Yahweh, he will do ⌞what is⌟² good in his ⌞sight⌟.”³

1. That is, Eli
2. Literally “the”
3. Literally “eyes”

¹⁹ And Samuel grew up, and Yahweh was with him. ⌞He did not allow any of his prophecies to go unfulfilled⌟.¹

1. Literally “He let none from all of his words fall to the ground.”

²⁰ All Israel from Dan to Beersheba realized that Samuel was faithful¹ as a prophet to Yahweh.

1. Or “reliable” or “trustworthy”

²¹ And Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh, for Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of Yahweh.