1 Samuel 3:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

NIV: So Eli told Samuel, 'Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'' So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

NASB: And Eli said to Samuel, 'Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’?' So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

CSB: He told Samuel, "Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' " So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

NLT: So he said to Samuel, 'Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’' So Samuel went back to bed.

KJV: Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

NKJV: Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

God had condemned Eli for putting his sons above God. Instead of removing them from the priesthood, the high priest of Israel had allowed them to stay in their positions and continue to scorn the sacrifices by taking the best cuts for themselves (1 Samuel 2:29).

When it came to Samuel, though, Eli seems to have been sensitive to the working of the Lord in the boy's life. His blessing of Hannah's request of the Lord has been used by God, in some part, to bring about Samuel's birth (1 Samuel 1:17). He had continued to offer blessings on behalf of Samuel's parents (1 Samuel 2:20–21), also used by God to bring them more children.

Now Eli has recognized that the voice Samuel keeps hearing call his name is the Lord Himself (1 Samuel 3:4–8). The old priest tells the boy what to do next time the Lord calls him. Samuel should ask God to speak, affirming that he, God's servant, is listening. Samuel returns to bed to wait.

First Samuel 3:1–14 finds both Samuel and Eli a bit older, though Samuel is still called a boy. Sometime before dawn, Samuel is sleeping in the temple and hears his name called. He runs to Eli, who tells him to go back to bed. When it happens a third time, Eli tells Samuel it is the Lord. The Lord reveals to Samuel that He is going to bring judgment on Eli and his household for Eli's failure to restrain the blasphemy of his sons against the Lord.

Samuel is just a boy when the Lord calls Him to serve as a prophet in Israel. Sleeping in the temple, Samuel hears his name and thinks Eli the priest is calling him. Eli finally tells Samuel it is the Lord. The Lord tells Samuel that He is going to fulfill His judgment against Eli and his household for the sins of Eli's sons and for Eli's failure to restrain them. Samuel delivers the entire message to Eli and begins his lifelong career as an official prophet of the Lord.

First Samuel 3 follows the prophecy of judgment against Eli and his household at the end of the previous chapter (1 Samuel 2:27–36) with a repeat of the prophecy through the words of young Samuel. Eli helps the boy to understand the Lord is speaking to him, and Samuel delivers the Lord's harsh message. Eli accepts Samuel's word, passively accepting whatever God will do. The next chapters explain Eli's death and Israel's renewed conflict with the Philistines.

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.