The Fallible Study Bible

The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

1 Samuel3:15–21

Samuel Shares the Vision

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1 Samuel 3:15–21 — Samuel Shares the Vision. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

15

Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

šə·mū·’êl way·yiš·kaḇ ‘aḏ- hab·bō·qer way·yip̄·taḥ ’eṯ- dal·ṯō·wṯ bêṯ- Yah·weh ū·šə·mū·’êl yā·rê mê·hag·gîḏ ’eṯ- ‘ê·lî ham·mar·’āh ’el-

Word by word16 · parsed
שְׁמוּאֵל֙šə·mū·’êlSamuelH8050
√ Shᵉmûwʼêl — Shemuel, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
וַיִּשְׁכַּ֤בway·yiš·kaḇlay downH7901
√ shâkab — to lie down (for rest, sexual connection, decease or any other purpose)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
shâkab — to lie down (Qal) A deliberately flat verb for a sleepless night. The consecutive imperfect simply advances the story from the terrifying word of vv. 11 to 14 to daybreak, with no interior report at all. Gill fills the gap with reverent conjecture (“he lay musing thereon until morning”), but the text itself refuses to say.
עַד־‘aḏ-untilH5704
√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition
הַבֹּ֔קֶרhab·bō·qerthe morningH1242
√ bôqer — properly, dawn (as the break of day)ArticleNounmasculine singular
bôqer — dawn, the break of day The article marks the appointed morning; his duty came at a fixed hour whatever had happened in the night.
וַיִּפְתַּ֖חway·yip̄·taḥthen he openedH6605
√ pâthach — to open wide (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
pâthach — to open wide The first thing Samuel does after receiving a word that will tear down a priestly house is his ordinary chore. Gill: he “was not elated with it,” he opened the doors as usual. Pulpit reads the same act as evidence of trust, since the keys of the enclosure were in his hand.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
דַּלְת֣וֹתdal·ṯō·wṯthe doorsH1817
√ deleth — something swinging, iNounfeminine plural construct
deleth — a door leaf, something swinging The plural construct “doors of the house of YHWH” is the load-bearing noun for the whole topographical debate. Barnes and Cambridge take them as doors of the enclosure or court rather than of the holy place; K&D reconstructs fixed buildings that had replaced the travelling curtains. The Verifier links this verse to Ezekiel 1:1 through the verb that opens them.
בֵּית־bêṯ-of the houseH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
יְהוָ֑הYah·wehof the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
וּשְׁמוּאֵ֣לū·šə·mū·’êlHeH8050
√ Shᵉmûwʼêl — Shemuel, the name of three IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
יָרֵ֔אyā·rêwas afraidH3372
√ yârêʼ — to fearVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
yârêʼ — to fear A stative Qal perfect: not a momentary flinch but a settled condition in which the boy stood. Ellicott, quoting the Speaker’s Commentary, calls it “Samuel’s first experience of the prophet’s cross,” and points to Jeremiah 15:10 and 20:7 to 18 for the same dread in a grown prophet.
מֵהַגִּ֥ידmê·hag·gîḏto tellH5046
√ nâgad — properly, to front, iPreposition-mVerbHifilInfinitive construct
nâgad — to place conspicuously before (Hifil) The infinitive of the very act he will perform in v. 18, where the same root returns as way·yag·geḏ. The unit is built on that reversal: feared-from-telling, then told. Poole argues he was not commanded to speak and so prudently waited; the narrative simply says he was afraid.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
עֵלִֽי׃‘ê·lîEliH5941
√ ʻÊlîy — Eli, an Israelite highpriestNounpropermasculine singular
הַמַּרְאָ֖הham·mar·’āhthe visionH4759
√ marʼâh — a visionArticleNounfeminine singular
marʼâh — a vision (11 verses) One of the rarest nouns in the unit, and the Verifier’s strongest cross-reference hook: it stands at Numbers 12:6, where YHWH defines how He deals with a prophet, and in Ezekiel 1:1, Ezekiel 8:3, Ezekiel 40:2, Daniel 10:7, Daniel 10:16 and Genesis 46:2. Samuel receives words, but the narrator calls them a seeing.
אֶל־’el-. . .H413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
16

but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” answered Samuel.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

‘ê·lî ’eṯ- way·yiq·rā šə·mū·’êl way·yō·mer šə·mū·’êl bə·nî hin·nê·nî way·yō·mer

Word by word9 · parsed
עֵלִי֙‘ê·lîbut EliH5941
√ ʻÊlîy — Eli, an Israelite highpriestNounpropermasculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
וַיִּקְרָ֤אway·yiq·rācalledH7121
√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
qârâʼ — to call out to The fourth call of the chapter, and the first from a man who knows who has been calling. Gill suggests Eli heard the doors and grew impatient. The verb ties Eli’s summons to the divine summons of vv. 4 to 10 without comment.
שְׁמוּאֵ֔לšə·mū·’êlto himH8050
√ Shᵉmûwʼêl — Shemuel, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרway·yō·merand saidH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
שְׁמוּאֵ֣לšə·mū·’êlSamuelH8050
√ Shᵉmûwʼêl — Shemuel, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
בְּנִ֑יbə·nîmy sonH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular
bên — a son, builder of the family name An address of tenderness from a man whose own house is under sentence. The Pulpit Commentary notes that he calls him “lovingly my son,” and that the affection ran both ways; K&D observes that Samuel venerated Eli “with filial affection.” The word is also the hinge of the judgment: a father who would not restrain sons is given a son who will not hide a word.
הִנֵּֽנִי׃hin·nê·nîHere I amH2005
√ hên — lo!Interjectionfirst person common singular
hên — lo! behold! The classic Hebrew answer of availability: Abraham at the binding (Genesis 22:1), Jacob in the night visions (Genesis 46:2), Isaiah in the temple (Isaiah 6:8). Samuel had already spent the night saying it. Here he says it to a man, and within one verse it will cost him.
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרway·yō·meranswered SamuelH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
17

“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

māh had·dā·ḇār ’ă·šer dib·ber ’ê·le·ḵā way·yō·mer ’al- nā ṯə·ḵa·ḥêḏ mim·men·nî ’ĕ·lō·hîm kōh ya·‘ă·śeh- lə·ḵā wə·ḵōh yō·w·sîp̄ ’im- tə·ḵa·ḥêḏ mim·men·nî dā·ḇār mik·kāl had·dā·ḇār ’ă·šer- dib·ber ’ê·le·ḵā

Word by word25 · parsed
מָ֤הmāhWhatH4100
√ mâh — properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?)Interrogative
הַדָּבָר֙had·dā·ḇārwas the messageH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordArticleNounmasculine singular
dâbâr — a word, a matter The governing noun of the whole unit: it appears seven times across vv. 17 to 21 (three times in this verse alone, then “all the words” in v. 18, “his words” in v. 19, and “the word of YHWH” in v. 21). Eli asks for the word; Israel will later measure Samuel by whether any of his words fall. That the divine name is absent here is exegetically significant, and Cambridge, Gill and Pulpit all say so.
אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
דִּבֶּ֣רdib·berHe gave youH1696
√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeVerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singular
אֵלֶ֔יךָ’ê·le·ḵā. . .H413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionsecond person masculine singular
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרway·yō·merEli askedH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
אַל־’al-Do notH408
√ ʼal — not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative)Adverb
נָ֥אnā. . .H4994
√ nâʼ — 'I pray', 'now', or 'then'Interjection
תְכַחֵ֖דṯə·ḵa·ḥêḏhideH3582
√ kâchad — to secrete, by act or wordVerbPielImperfectsecond person masculine singular
kâchad — to secrete, efface, conceal (Piel) The verb of the whole exchange, and the one Samuel will be praised for not doing. Cambridge traces Eli’s escalation: he “first simply asks for an account of what had passed, then demands a complete statement, and finally adjures.” The Piel is not passive silence but active suppression.
מִמֶּ֑נִּיmim·men·nîit from meH4480
√ min — properly, a part ofPrepositionfirst person common singular
אֱלֹהִים֙’ĕ·lō·hîmMay GodH430
√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural
ʼĕlôhîym — God, gods A plural noun taking the singular verb ya·‘ă·śeh. In an oath formula Israel swears by Elohim rather than by the covenant name; Eli will speak the covenant name himself one verse later, once he has heard the sentence.
כֹּ֣הkōhpunishH3541
√ kôh — properly, like this, iAdverb
kôh — thus, like this Not an intensifier but a demonstrative: “so may He do, and so may He add,” with a gesture where the curse should be. The unspoken content is the point, and it is the reason Poole calls the sentence an aposiopesis.
יַעֲשֶׂה־ya·‘ă·śeh-. . .H6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
לְּךָ֤lə·ḵāyou
Prepositionsecond person masculine singular
וְכֹ֣הwə·ḵōhand ever soH3541
√ kôh — properly, like this, iConjunctive wawAdverb
יוֹסִ֔יףyō·w·sîp̄severelyH3254
√ yâçaph — to add or augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing)VerbHifilImperfectthird person masculine singular
yâçaph — to add, to continue doing The hinge word of the unit. Invoked here as the verb of escalating curse, it reappears at v. 21 as the verb of repeated revelation. The Hebrew lets the same word carry the threat and the mercy.
אִם־’im-ifH518
√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction
תְּכַחֵ֤דtə·ḵa·ḥêḏyou hideH3582
√ kâchad — to secrete, by act or wordVerbPielImperfectsecond person masculine singular
kâchad — to conceal (Piel, repeated) Eli repeats the verb inside the oath clause, which is what turns a request into an adjuration. Gill records that Kimchi, Abarbanel, Josephus and Procopius all read it as a formal oath; the Pulpit Commentary concludes that concealment would then have been perjury.
מִמֶּ֙נִּי֙mim·men·nîfrom meH4480
√ min — properly, a part ofPrepositionfirst person common singular
דָּבָ֔רdā·ḇāranythingH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordNounmasculine singular
מִכָּל־mik·kāl. . .H3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
הַדָּבָ֖רhad·dā·ḇār. . .H1697
√ dâbâr — a wordArticleNounmasculine singular
dâbâr — word (with the article) “A word out of all the word” is awkward Hebrew rendered awkwardly on purpose: the singular collective with the article treats the whole night’s revelation as one indivisible utterance, from which not one item may be withheld.
אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
דִּבֶּ֥רdib·berHe saidH1696
√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeVerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singular
אֵלֶֽיךָ׃’ê·le·ḵāto youH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionsecond person masculine singular
18

So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him. “He is the LORD,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

šə·mū·’êl ’eṯ- way·yag·geḏ- lōw kāl- had·də·ḇā·rîm wə·lō ḵi·ḥêḏ mim·men·nū hū Yah·weh way·yō·mar ya·‘ă·śeh haṭ·ṭō·wḇ bə·ʿē·nå̄w

Word by word15 · parsed
שְׁמוּאֵל֙šə·mū·’êlSo SamuelH8050
√ Shᵉmûwʼêl — Shemuel, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
וַיַּגֶּד־way·yag·geḏ-toldH5046
√ nâgad — properly, to front, iConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
nâgad — to set conspicuously before (Hifil) The verb of v. 15 discharged. K&D draws the whole vocational conclusion from it: by this unreserved telling Samuel “proved himself to be a man possessing the courage and the power to proclaim the word of the Lord without fear.” The boy’s first prophetic act is not receiving a word but relaying an unwelcome one.
ל֤וֹlōwhim
Prepositionthird person masculine singular
כָּל־kāl-everythingH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
kôl — the whole, all “All the words,” which Cambridge glosses from the older English “every whit.” The totality is the point of the verse and the thing Eli demanded on oath.
הַדְּבָרִ֔יםhad·də·ḇā·rîm. . .H1697
√ dâbâr — a wordArticleNounmasculine plural
וְלֹ֥אwə·lōand did notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle
כִחֵ֖דḵi·ḥêḏhideH3582
√ kâchad — to secrete, by act or wordVerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singular
kâchad — to conceal (Piel, negated) The narrator’s verdict, using Eli’s own verb against the fear of v. 15. Gill draws the office from it: “the whole counsel of God is to be declared by his servants the prophets… nothing is to be concealed.”
מִמֶּ֑נּוּmim·men·nū[a thing] from himH4480
√ min — properly, a part ofPrepositionthird person masculine singular
ה֔וּאhūHeH1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular
hûwʼ — he, that one The pronoun that carries the confession. Placed after the divine name in a verbless clause, it is either identification (“it is YHWH who has spoken”) or acknowledgment (“YHWH is He”). Both readings are represented: Gill notes the Septuagint’s Dominus ipse, Cambridge sends the reader to Exodus 34:5 to 7 for the content of the name being confessed.
יְהוָ֣הYah·wehis the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
Yᵉhôvâh — the covenant name Eli names the covenant God rather than the Elohim of his own oath one verse earlier. Poole hears the whole logic in it: this is “from Israel’s God, who was known by this name of Jehovah… to whom it properly belongs to punish all mine offences.”
וַיֹּאמַ֕רway·yō·marreplied EliH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
יַעֲשֶֽׂה׃פya·‘ă·śehLet Him doH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
הַטּ֥וֹבhaṭ·ṭō·wḇwhat is goodH2896
√ ṭôwb — good (as an adjective) in the widest senseArticleAdjectivemasculine singular
ṭôwb — good, in the widest sense Not “whatever he pleases” but “the good”: Eli concedes in advance that the sentence on his house belongs to the category of good. Henry finds the repentance there; Benson calls the reply “pious and noble.” Cambridge, with equal honesty, calls it “the passive resignation of a weak character,” since the same man would not rouse himself to act. Both are in the text: the confession is true, and it is also too late.
בְּעֵינָ֖וbə·ʿē·nå̄win His eyesH5869
√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Preposition-bNouncdcthird person masculine singular
ʻayin — an eye The organ of evaluation. Every judgment in Judges and in 1 Samuel 2 has been made in somebody’s own eyes; here the eyes that decide are explicitly God’s.
19

And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

šə·mū·’êl way·yiḡ·dal Yah·weh hā·yāh ‘im·mōw wə·lō- mik·kāl də·ḇā·rāw hip·pîl ’ā·rə·ṣāh

Word by word10 · parsed
שְׁמוּאֵ֑לšə·mū·’êlAnd SamuelH8050
√ Shᵉmûwʼêl — Shemuel, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
וַיִּגְדַּ֖לway·yiḡ·dalgrewH1431
√ gâdal — to be (causatively make) large (in various senses, as in body, mind, estate or honor, also in pride)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
gâdal — to become great (body, mind, estate, honour) One verb doing the work of a whole adolescence. Set against Eli, whose house is shrinking, and against 2:26 where the boy grew in favour with YHWH and with men, it is the narrative’s way of announcing a succession without ever using the word.
וַֽיהוָה֙Yah·wehand the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
הָיָ֣הhā·yāhwasH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
hâyâh — to be, to exist A Qal perfect dropped into a chain of consecutive imperfects, which is how Hebrew stops narrating and starts describing: not “and then God was with him” as the next event, but “and YHWH had been, and remained, with him” underneath all of them. Cambridge assembles the roll of men who carry the clause, from Abraham to David. It is also the precise thing withdrawn from Eli's line in 2:31 to 33, so the grammar moves the divine presence from one house to another without ever narrating a transfer.
עִמּ֔וֹ‘im·mōwwith himH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionthird person masculine singular
ʻim — with The smallest word in the verse and the one Cambridge calls “the one source of strength for all the ‘heroes of Hebrew history.’” It is also the precise thing the preceding chapters denied to Eli’s house.
וְלֹֽא־wə·lō-and {He let} noneH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle
מִכָּל־mik·kālofH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
דְּבָרָ֖יוdə·ḇā·rāw[Samuel’s] wordsH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular
הִפִּ֥ילhip·pîlfallH5307
√ nâphal — to fall, in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative)VerbHifilPerfectthird person masculine singular
nâphal — to fall (Hifil, causative) The unit’s defining image. K&D cross-references Joshua 21:45, Joshua 23:14 and 1 Kings 8:56 for the same idiom of no word failing; Poole adds Esther 6:10. Cambridge notes that “falling” is the natural metaphor for “failing” in Greek and Latin as well, and that this fulfilment is precisely the test of a prophet set at Deuteronomy 18:21 to 22. Gill records Kimchi and Abarbanel extending it past the oracles to Samuel’s ordinary speech, then judges that it points first to the sentence on Eli’s house.
אָֽרְצָה׃’ā·rə·ṣāhto the groundH776
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Nounfeminine singularthird person feminine singular
ʼerets — earth, ground (with directional ending) “Groundward.” The word travels; nothing of Samuel’s reaches the dirt.
20

So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kāl- yiś·rā·’êl mid·dān wə·‘aḏ- bə·’êr šā·ḇa‘ way·yê·ḏa‘ kî šə·mū·’êl ne·’ĕ·mān lə·nā·ḇî Yah·weh

Word by word12 · parsed
כָּל־kāl-So allH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לyiś·rā·’êlIsraelH3478
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
מִדָּ֖ןmid·dānfrom DanH1835
√ Dân — Dan, one of the sons of JacobPreposition-mNounpropermasculine singular
Dân — Dan The northern limit. Cambridge records that the town was originally Leshem or Laish and was renamed by the Danites (Joshua 19:47; Judges 18), and that Dan means “judge.” ⚙ Cambridge also records what the northern marker later became: Jeroboam set one of the golden calves there (1 Kings 12:29 to 30). The formula that here measures the reach of a trustworthy prophet's reputation runs to a town that will be remembered for a counterfeit sanctuary.
וְעַד־wə·‘aḏ-toH5704
√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Conjunctive wawPreposition
בְּאֵ֣רbə·’êrvvvH884
√ Bᵉʼêr Shebaʻ — Beer-Sheba, a place in PalestinePreposition
שָׁ֑בַעšā·ḇa‘BeershebaH884
√ Bᵉʼêr Shebaʻ — Beer-Sheba, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular
Bᵉʼêr Shebaʻ — Beer-Sheba, “well of the oath” The southern limit, named for the covenant oath sworn between Abraham and Abimelech (Genesis 21:31). Cambridge gives both derivations, “well of the oath” and “well of seven.” That the merism runs from a place called Judge to a place called Oath is a resonance of the Hebrew names, not a claim of the text.
וַיֵּ֙דַע֙way·yê·ḏa‘knewH3045
√ yâdaʻ — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
yâdaʻ — to know, to ascertain by seeing Public, evidential knowledge. Poole says the nation knew it two ways, by Eli’s own testimony and by the later revelations; Gill speaks of Samuel’s fame spreading. The verb is the counterpart of the falling words of v. 19: the nation knows because nothing fell.
כִּ֚יkîthatH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
שְׁמוּאֵ֔לšə·mū·’êlSamuelH8050
√ Shᵉmûwʼêl — Shemuel, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
נֶאֱמָ֣ןne·’ĕ·mānwas confirmedH539
√ ʼâman — properly, to build up or supportVerbNifalParticiplemasculine singular
ʼâman — to build up, support; hence be faithful, be confirmed The theological centre of the verse and the strongest verbal tie in the unit. The same word stands at 1 Samuel 2:35 in the promise of “a faithful priest” and “a sure house,” which Cambridge takes as beginning its fulfilment here, and at Numbers 12:7, where Moses is “faithful in all my house,” which Pulpit and K&D both cite. From the same root comes the Hebrew amen: the word for a reliable man and the word for a ratified promise are one.
לְנָבִ֖יאlə·nā·ḇîas a prophetH5030
√ nâbîyʼ — a prophet or (generally) inspired manPreposition-lNounmasculine singular
nâbîyʼ — a prophet, an inspired spokesman The first time the title is applied to Samuel. Benson presses the point from Acts 3:24 that he heads the prophetic line after Moses; Ellicott notes the speed and universality of the recognition.
לַיהוָֽה׃Yah·wehof the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular
21

And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

Yah·weh way·yō·sep̄ lə·hê·rā·’ōh ḇə·ši·lōh kî- bə·ši·lōw Yah·weh niḡ·lāh ’el- šə·mū·’êl Yah·weh biḏ·ḇar

Word by word12 · parsed
יְהוָ֖הYah·wehAnd the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
וַיֹּ֥סֶףway·yō·sep̄continuedH3254
√ yâçaph — to add or augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
yâçaph — to add, to do again The unit’s last reversal. In v. 17 Eli swore “so may God do to thee and so may He add,” invoking multiplied punishment; here God multiplies appearances instead. The Hebrew makes the link with one shared root; no English translation can carry it, so we record it here.
לְהֵרָאֹ֣הlə·hê·rā·’ōhto appearH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Preposition-lVerbNifalInfinitive construct
râʼâh — to see (Nifal, to be seen) The passive of the verb behind marʼâh in v. 15. The vision Samuel was afraid to report becomes a pattern of divine self-showing. Cambridge connects the form to the old title Seer at 1 Samuel 9:9.
בְשִׁלֹ֑הḇə·ši·lōhat ShilohH7887
√ Shîylôh — Shiloh, a place in PalestinePreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular
כִּֽי־kî-becauseH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
בְּשִׁל֖וֹbə·ši·lōwthereH7887
√ Shîylôh — Shiloh, a place in PalestinePreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular
Shîylôh — Shiloh Named twice in one verse, a place that will be famous for losing this. Within a generation the ark leaves it (1 Samuel 4), and 1 Kings 2:27 dates the fall of Eli’s line at Shiloh as the fulfilment of the very word Samuel carried on this morning.
יְהוָ֧הYah·wehHeH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
נִגְלָ֨הniḡ·lāhrevealed HimselfH1540
√ gâlâh — to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense)VerbNifalPerfectthird person masculine singular
gâlâh — to denude, uncover, expose A violent root domesticated by usage. Its passive is the ordinary Hebrew word for revelation, and its active is the ordinary word for stripping and for exile. That God should be the subject of it, of His own accord, is the most loaded grammar in the unit.
אֶל־’el-toH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
שְׁמוּאֵ֛לšə·mū·’êlSamuelH8050
√ Shᵉmûwʼêl — Shemuel, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
יְהוָֽה׃פYah·wehby HisH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
בִּדְבַ֥רbiḏ·ḇarwordH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
dâbâr — word (construct) The final word of the chapter in the Hebrew order is the divine name; the final noun before it is word. K&D reads the phrase as revelation “through a prophetic announcement of His word.” Barnes states the structural point plainly: the condition of 3:7, where Samuel did not yet know YHWH and the word was not yet revealed to him, is now reversed.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The doors he opened before he opened his mouth — 3:15

⚙ The verse gives us two acts and one condition. Samuel lay down (וַיִּשְׁכַּב, H7901, a verb that says nothing about sleep, as Gill carefully observes), then he opened (וַיִּפְתַּח, H6605) the doors of the house of YHWH, then he feared from telling. Ellicott, Benson, Poole, Barnes, Cambridge, Pulpit and K&D all stop at the same noun, דַּלְתוֹת (deleth, H1817), because the wilderness tabernacle had curtains and this word means leaves of wood that swing. Benson and Poole reason that the sanctuary at Shiloh had by now been enclosed in a solid building; K&D reconstructs fixed houses built against the court, with folding doors “shut in the evening and opened again in the morning”; Barnes and Cambridge locate the doors in the enclosure rather than the holy place, and Cambridge adds that the duty was that of “a subordinate Levite.” Pulpit draws a different inference from the same fact: whoever held the keys was no longer a small child.

⚙ The theological weight, however, sits on the last clause. Ellicott, quoting the Speaker’s Commentary (and Barnes carries the identical sentence), calls this “Samuel’s first experience of the prophet’s cross,” and sends the reader to Jeremiah 15:10 and 20:7 to 18. Poole argues that the delay was prudence rather than cowardice, since Samuel had no command to speak and could reasonably wait; Gill argues that it was tenderness, sparing an old man two griefs at once. The Hebrew is quieter than any of them: יָרֵא מֵהַגִּיד, a stative perfect of fear governing the Hifil of nâgad (H5046), “to set a thing conspicuously before a man’s face.” He was not weighing strategy. He was afraid.

ii. The oath that forced the word out — 3:16–3:17

⚙ Eli called (וַיִּקְרָא, H7121), which is the verb that has driven this entire chapter, and Samuel answered הִנֵּנִי, the same self-offering he had carried back and forth in the dark. The Pulpit Commentary hears genuine warmth in the address “my son,” and K&D agrees that Samuel venerated Eli “with filial affection.” Then the tone changes. Cambridge maps the escalation precisely: Eli “first simply asks for an account of what had passed, then demands a complete statement, and finally adjures.” Cambridge and Gill both note that the divine name is absent from Eli’s question in the Hebrew; the Pulpit Commentary judges that the A.V.’s inserted “The Lord” weakens it, since the indefinite form says in effect, whoever your visitor was, tell me all.

⚙ The adjuration itself is a self-curse with the curse left out. Poole names the figure, “a kind of aposiopesis,” and sends us to Ruth 1:17; Cambridge notes the formula is a signature of Samuel and Kings, occurring eleven times there and elsewhere only in Ruth; the Geneva gloss reads it as “God punish you after this and that sort, unless you tell me the truth.” Gill reports that Kimchi, Abarbanel, Josephus and Procopius of Gaza all take it as a formal oath, and the Pulpit Commentary draws the legal consequence: concealment would then have been perjury. So the man under sentence puts the messenger under oath. ⚙ There is a hard mercy in it. Eli cannot make himself act, but he can make the boy speak, and by doing so he takes the last decision out of a frightened child’s hands.

iii. “YHWH, He” — and the honest quarrel about it — 3:18

⚙ The verse turns on two verbs and a verbless clause. וַיַּגֶּד is the very act feared in v. 15; וְלֹא כִחֵד negates the verb Eli had used twice. K&D takes this as the proof of vocation: by telling everything about a man he loved, Samuel “proved himself to be a man possessing the courage and the power to proclaim the word of the Lord without fear to the people of Israel.” Gill draws the office out of the same clause: nothing is to be concealed that God wills to be made known, whether it pleases the hearer or not.

⚙ Then יְהוָה הוּא, with no copula. Barnes sets it beside Aaron’s silence at Leviticus 10:3 and Hezekiah at 2 Kings 20:19, and then beside Gethsemane. Cambridge adds Job 1:21 and 2:10, and points to Exodus 34:5 to 7 for the content of the name being confessed. Benson calls the answer “pious and noble”; JFB calls it a spirit of “meek and unmurmuring submission,” while adding, in the same breath, that it is “impossible to approve or defend the weak and unfaithful course” that brought the judgment; Henry reads the meekness as proof that Eli “was truly repentant.” Cambridge refuses the consensus: “it is the passive resignation of a weak character. Though he submits himself patiently to the will of God, he would not rouse himself to do it.” Ellicott lands hardest of all, judging that reformation was probably now too late and that Eli “had sown the wind.” ⚙ We print the quarrel rather than resolving it, because the text sustains both halves: the confession is true, and the man who makes it will still not restrain his sons.

iv. Nothing fell to the ground — 3:19–3:21

⚙ Three verses of summary do the work of years. Samuel became great (וַיִּגְדַּל, H1431, a root spanning body, mind, estate and honour, as Poole and Gill both spread it out); YHWH was with him, which Cambridge identifies as the one formula shared by Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon and David; and YHWH did not let fall (הִפִּיל, Hifil of nâphal, H5307) any of his words groundward. Benson offers spilled liquor and a spent arrow as the image; Gill adds a weapon dropped in battle; Pulpit prefers nails fastened, borrowing Ecclesiastes 12:11, and insists that unlike the sound judgment of the wise, this was “a higher gift.” The Geneva gloss settles the grammatical ambiguity in one line: “The Lord accomplished whatever he had said.” Cambridge supplies the legal frame, Deuteronomy 18:21 to 22, where fulfilment is the statutory test of a true prophet; K&D supplies the idiom’s pedigree at Joshua 21:45, Joshua 23:14 and 1 Kings 8:56.

⚙ So Israel knew, from Dan to Beer-Sheba, that Samuel was נֶאֱמָן (H539) as a prophet. Pulpit calls the participle “pregnant”: faithful in the office, and therefore confirmed in it. Cambridge notices that it is the identical word as 2:35, the promised “faithful priest” and “sure house,” and concludes that the prophecy has begun to be fulfilled in this boy; K&D and Pulpit both cite Numbers 12:7, where Moses is faithful in all God’s house. Ellicott observes how fast and how total the recognition was, and quotes the remark that the people, for all their fragmentation, “yet formed religiously an unit.” Finally YHWH added to be seen at Shiloh, uncovering Himself by His word. Barnes states the reversal at its plainest: the condition of 3:7 is now undone. Cambridge extends it to 3:1, where the word of YHWH was rare and vision was not breaking through; now, he says, the word was no longer rare. ⚙ Note what the Hebrew does under all of this: the verb yâçaph, “to add,” which Eli invoked in v. 17 to summon extra punishment onto Samuel’s head, is the verb that closes the unit as God adds extra appearances to Israel’s famine of hearing.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool’s own fallible reading, offered to be tested against the text. The unit is organised around a single question: what does a word from God cost the one who has to carry it? Samuel’s first act as a prophet is not receiving revelation, which happened in the previous paragraph, but repeating it to a man he loves who will be destroyed by it. The chapter is careful to tell us he was afraid, and equally careful not to excuse him. Poole’s reading, that he was prudently waiting for a fit occasion, is a generous gloss on a text that says only יָרֵא.

⚙ What breaks the fear open is not courage but an oath. Eli, who could not discipline his own house, does one decisive thing in this chapter: he puts the boy under adjuration, and so removes concealment from the list of available options. The reader is entitled to hold both facts together, as Cambridge and JFB do in different ways, and as Henry and Benson largely do not: a man can genuinely confess that YHWH is God and genuinely refuse to act. Eli’s confession is not cheap, but it is late.

⚙ Then the summary paragraph does something the reader should notice. Every failure in the surrounding chapters is a failure of words. Eli’s sons treat the offering with contempt and their father’s words do not hold them (2:25). The word of YHWH is rare in those days (3:1). Against that background, “He let none of his words fall to the ground” is not a compliment to Samuel’s accuracy; it is God repairing the channel. The subject of the verb is YHWH. And the word that Israel measures him by, נֶאֱמָן, is the same word promised to the faithful priest of 2:35 and used of Moses in Numbers 12:7: it is built on the root that gives us amen, the root meaning to hold up, to support. A trustworthy prophet is not one who is impressive but one who can be leaned on without collapsing.

⚙ The last verse is the quiet reversal, and it is made of one Hebrew root. In v. 17 Eli swears, “so may God do to thee, and so may He add” (yâçaph), invoking multiplied harm. In v. 21, YHWH added to be seen. The same verb that carried the threat carries the mercy. Where the word had been rare, God now uncovers Himself, נִגְלָה, a verb whose plain sense is to strip bare. The line set beside this reading is ours and not Scripture’s, offered as commentary and not as a verse.

The word that would not fall to the ground had first to come out of a frightened boy’s mouth.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The word that was rare, and the word published abroad structural / thematic — confirmed

⚙ The unit is the far end of an arc that begins at 3:1: “the word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” The Verifier returns 1 Samuel 3:1 as a candidate on the shared proper names alone, but the substantive link is the vocabulary of the frame: dâbâr (H1697) and the seeing verbs. Barnes states the reversal for 3:7, Cambridge for 3:1: “The state of things described in 1 Samuel 3:1 was now reversed.” ⚙ This is an inner-chapter structural inclusio rather than a quotation, and we tier it accordingly.

1 Samuel 3:1 · 1 Samuel 3:6 · 1 Samuel 3:9

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H8050 Shᵉmûwʼêl (in 120 vv), H5941 ʻÊlîy (in 30 vv), H7901 shâkab (in 190 vv) across 3:1, 3:6, 3:9. All three are common or narrative-local, so the shared vocabulary alone cannot carry a verbal claim; the link recorded here is the frame reversal of 3:1 by 3:21, which Barnes and Cambridge both state explicitly.

מַרְאָה — the rare noun that defines what a prophet is verbal / quotation — confirmed

⚙ The narrator calls the night’s revelation הַמַּרְאָה (marʼâh, H4759), a noun that stands in only eleven verses of the Hebrew Bible. One of them is Numbers 12:6, where YHWH lays down the rule: “If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision (marʼâh), I speak with him in a dream.” The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme, and confirms that Numbers 12:6 also shares nâbîyʼ (H5030), the title Israel will give Samuel in v. 20. ⚙ So the chapter uses the technical vocabulary of Numbers 12 to certify Samuel twice over: he receives a marʼâh in v. 15 and is called a nâbîyʼ in v. 20. Separately, and not from the Verifier, both Pulpit and K&D point out that נֶאֱמָן in v. 20 is the word used of Moses at Numbers 12:7; that part of the link is commentator-attested rather than machine-computed, and we mark it as such.

Numbers 12:6 · Numbers 12:7

basis: Verifier: shared rare Hebrew lexeme H4759 marʼâh (in 11 vv only), plus H5030 nâbîyʼ (in 288 vv) and H4994 nâʼ (in 375 vv), at Numbers 12:6. The rarity of marʼâh carries the verbal tier. The further tie to Numbers 12:7 (H539 ne’eman, “faithful in all my house”) is NOT in the Verifier output for this unit; it is attested by Pulpit and K&D, who both cite Numbers 12:7 on 1 Samuel 3:20, and is recorded here on their authority.

The vision cluster: doors opened, heavens opened structural / thematic — confirmed

⚙ Samuel opens doors (pâthach, H6605) and then has a marʼâh he is afraid to report. The Verifier returns Ezekiel 1:1, which shares both lexemes: the heavens were opened and Ezekiel saw marʼôth of God. The same rare noun carries Daniel 10:7 and 10:16, Ezekiel 8:3 and 40:2, and Genesis 46:2, where God speaks to Israel in visions of the night and Jacob answers הִנֵּנִי, the identical word Samuel gives Eli in v. 16. ⚙ The hinnenî parallel with Genesis 46:2 is our own observation from the interlinear and is not part of the Verifier’s computed basis; the shared marʼâh is. We tier this structural rather than verbal because no text here quotes another: what is shared is a technical vocabulary for prophetic seeing, distributed across the prophets.

Ezekiel 1:1 · Daniel 10:7 · Genesis 46:2

basis: Verifier: Ezekiel 1:1 shares H6605 pâthach (in 133 vv) and the rare H4759 marʼâh (in 11 vv); Daniel 10:7 and Genesis 46:2 share H4759 marʼâh (in 11 vv). The rare lexeme is a real verbal tie, but there is no citation or quotation in either direction, so the badge stays structural.

Not one word fell: the idiom of the unfailing word structural / thematic — confirmed

⚙ הִפִּיל (Hifil of nâphal, H5307) with a word as object is a fixed Hebrew idiom for a promise that does not fail. K&D annotates it directly: “On הפּיל, see Joshua 21:45; Joshua 23:14; 1 Kings 8:56.” Poole cites Joshua 21:45 and Esther 6:10. Cambridge supplies the statutory background at Deuteronomy 18:21 to 22, where a word that does not come to pass is the mark of a prophet YHWH did not send, and notes that the opposite verb, “to raise up,” was used of this same word at 3:12. ⚙ The point is juridical: Israel has a published test, and this paragraph reports Samuel passing it.

Joshua 21:45 · Joshua 23:14 · 1 Kings 8:56 · Deuteronomy 18:21-22

basis: Basis is commentator-attested, not Verifier-computed: the Verifier returned no candidate pairing for these references in this unit. K&D names Joshua 21:45, Joshua 23:14 and 1 Kings 8:56 for the identical idiom הפּיל + word; Poole independently names Joshua 21:45; Cambridge names Deuteronomy 18:21-22 for the prophetic test. Recorded on their authority, and downgraded to structural because we have not machine-verified the shared lexeme.

Shiloh and the house of Eli: the word carried to its end structural / thematic — confirmed

⚙ The Verifier returns a tight cluster on the two proper names of this unit’s setting, ʻÊlîy (H5941) and Shîylôh (H7887): 1 Samuel 1:3, 1:9, 4:4, 14:3, and 1 Kings 2:27. The last is the payoff. When Solomon expels Abiathar from the priesthood, the narrator says it was done “to fulfil the word of the LORD which he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.” ⚙ That is the same word Samuel was afraid to repeat on this morning, landing three generations later, which is what v. 19 promised: none of it fell to the ground. 1 Samuel 14:3 keeps the doomed line visible one more time, in Ahijah son of Ahitub, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, still wearing the ephod at Shiloh's successor sanctuary. We tier this structural because 1 Kings 2:27 reports a fulfilment rather than quoting the oracle’s words.

1 Kings 2:27 · 1 Samuel 1:9 · 1 Samuel 4:4 · 1 Samuel 14:3

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H5941 ʻÊlîy (in 30 vv, twice) and H7887 Shîylôh (in 30 vv) at 1 Kings 2:27, 1 Samuel 1:3, 1:9, 4:4 and 14:3. Both are relatively infrequent proper names, but the link is narrative fulfilment rather than quotation, so it is tiered structural rather than verbal.

“The LORD was with him”: the formula of the called structural / thematic — confirmed

⚙ The clause וַיהוָה הָיָה עִמּוֹ in v. 19 is not description but induction. Cambridge assembles the roll: Abraham (Genesis 21:22), Jacob (Genesis 28:15), Joseph (Genesis 39:2), Moses (Exodus 3:12), Joshua (Joshua 1:5), Gideon (Judges 6:16), David (1 Samuel 16:18 and 18:14), and calls it “the one source of strength for all the ‘heroes of Hebrew history.’” Benson, on the same clause, points instead to God’s visible favour (Genesis 31:2). ⚙ Placed where it is, immediately after Eli’s house has been sentenced, the formula is a transfer notice.

Genesis 39:2 · Joshua 1:5 · Judges 6:16 · 1 Samuel 16:18

basis: Basis is commentator-attested: Cambridge, on 1 Samuel 3:19, lists these references as instances of the identical formula. The Verifier returned no candidate for them in this unit, so no shared-lexeme frequency is claimed; the tie is a recurring formulaic clause, not a quotation.

Cross-Testament: Samuel at the head of the prophets structural / thematic — confirmed

⚙ Benson, commenting on vv. 20 to 21, brings Peter forward: “And therefore St. Peter says, Acts 3:24, All the prophets from Samuel spake of these days.” Acts 3:24 names Samuel as the beginning of the line, which is exactly the claim 1 Samuel 3:20 makes when all Israel from Dan to Beer-Sheba acknowledges him as nâbîyʼ. ⚙ This link cannot be verbal: the texts are in different languages, so no shared Strong’s number exists between the Greek of Acts and the Hebrew of Samuel, and any claim of shared lexeme would be false. What is shared is the historical claim about where prophecy in Israel begins after Moses. Benson draws the further inference that Samuel was “the first eminent prophet” raised up after Moses.

Acts 3:24

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew): shared Strong's numbers are impossible by definition, so no verbal tier is available and none is claimed. The recorded basis is the explicit historical reference in Acts 3:24 to Samuel as the head of the prophetic succession, which Benson cites on this very passage, matched against the acknowledgment of Samuel as nâbîyʼ in 1 Samuel 3:20.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The faithful one in the house: from ne’eman to the Son over the house ancient/widely-held

⚙ The word Israel uses of Samuel in v. 20 is נֶאֱמָן (H539, Nifal participle), the same word that stood in the promise of 2:35: “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest… and I will build him a sure house.” Cambridge makes the connection explicitly and concludes that Samuel’s call is “the beginning of the fulfilment of that prophecy.” Pulpit and K&D both trace the same word to Numbers 12:7, where Moses is faithful in all God’s house. ⚙ The New Testament takes that Numbers text and presses it past Moses: Hebrews 3:2 to 6 says Christ was faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house, but counted worthy of more glory, “as a son over God’s house.” The chain is a chain of offices, not of quoted words from 1 Samuel: a boy confirmed as trustworthy, a promised priest whose house is made sure, and finally a Son who is Himself the house’s faithfulness. Cambridge’s own note (v. 20) supplies the first link, and the second is the plain argument of Hebrews.

1 Samuel 2:35 · Numbers 12:7 · Hebrews 3:2-6

“Let him do what seemeth him good” and “not my will” ancient/widely-held

⚙ Barnes himself makes this link and makes it carefully. Commenting on Eli’s answer he writes: compare the devout submission of Aaron at Leviticus 10:3 and of Hezekiah at 2 Kings 20:19, “and, for the highest conceivable submission to the will of God, compare Luke 22:42.” Cambridge adds Job to the same file. ⚙ The comparison is honest about the distance as well as the likeness. Eli submits to a sentence he has earned and that he still will not act to avert; in Gethsemane the one who says “not my will, but yours, be done” has earned nothing and submits to a judgment belonging to others. The grammar is the same surrender, the good in His eyes, let Him do; the moral situations are opposite, and reading the type without that difference would flatter Eli and diminish Christ.

Luke 22:42 · Leviticus 10:3 · Job 1:21

By the word of the LORD: the medium of revelation and the Word made flesh ancient/widely-held

⚙ The chapter closes with YHWH uncovering Himself בִּדְבַר יְהוָה, “by the word of the LORD,” a phrase Gill takes christologically: the revelation came “by Christ, the Word of the Lord,” which he supports from the Targum’s rendering at v. 19, “the Word of the Lord was his help.” ⚙ Honesty requires the counterweight, and the brief supplies it: the Pulpit Commentary records that “many of the old commentators refer this to the second person of the Holy Trinity,” agrees that the Word is Christ and that Christ is Jehovah, and yet holds that this Hebrew phrase “really means, by prophetic inspiration.” ⚙ Our reading: the phrase itself is an instrumental idiom and does not by itself name the Son, so the christological weight here is not lexical but canonical. What the verse does establish is the pattern that John’s prologue completes. Revelation at Shiloh is mediated by a word, God lets Himself be seen by speaking, and the boy who carries that word is the first of a line that runs, on Peter’s account in Acts 3:24, toward the days of Christ. The reading is ancient and widely held; the specific identification of this clause with the pre-incarnate Son is Gill’s inference, and we mark it as inference.

John 1:14 · John 1:18 · Hebrews 1:1-2

The messenger who hid nothing novel

⚙ Twice in two verses the text turns on kâchad (H3582), to conceal: Eli demands that nothing be hidden, and the narrator certifies that nothing was. Gill draws the ministerial rule from it, that the whole counsel of God is to be declared whether it pleases or displeases. ⚙ The same claim is made by Christ of Himself in John 15:15, “all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you,” and in John 17:8, “I have given them the words you gave me,” and by Paul at Acts 20:27, who says he did not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God (the phrase Gill is echoing). Samuel had to be put under oath to do it once; the greater Prophet does it without compulsion and at cost. ⚙ We mark this as a reading rather than a received type: the verbal chain runs through the English of Gill and the concept of non-concealment, not through a quotation of 1 Samuel 3 in any of those New Testament texts.

John 15:15 · John 17:8 · Acts 20:27

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. BSB (CC0) with the Berean interlinear and Strong's tagging. The interlinear word indices in this unit follow the English rendering order, not the Hebrew; in 3:15, for example, “the vision” (index 14) and the preposition ʼel (index 15) are listed after “Eli” (index 13), although in the Hebrew they precede it. Our literal renderings are built from the Hebrew order, so the sequence there will not match the index sequence. Index 13 of 3:17 (lᵉḵā) and index 3 of 3:18 (lōw) carry no Strong's number in the source data, and Beer-Sheba is split across indices 4 and 5 of 3:20 with both halves tagged H884.

Orthography. The consonantal text spells Shiloh two ways within 3:21, בְשִׁלֹה and בְּשִׁלוֹ, both H7887. We record the variant and draw nothing from it.

Versions. K&D reports that the Septuagint appends to 3:21 a general remark about Eli and his sons, and dismisses it as “utterly worthless” critically; Cambridge prints that Greek text and additionally argues that the opening clause of 4:1, “And the word of Samuel came to all Israel,” belongs at the end of chapter 3 rather than the start of chapter 4. Both are reported here as the commentators' judgments, not as decisions we have verified against manuscripts.

Absent words. The divine name does not stand in the Hebrew of Eli's question in 3:17; Cambridge, Gill and Pulpit all say so, and the BSB's “the message He gave you” supplies a subject the Hebrew withholds.

Sources and their disagreements. The Geneva entries for 3:15, 3:16, 3:18, 3:20 and 3:21 in this brief contain only the verse text with no gloss, so Geneva is quoted here only at 3:17 and 3:19, where genuine marginal notes exist. Barnes's and JFB's entries repeat verbatim across several verses of this unit in the source; excerpts are anchored to the verse under which the entry is printed. Commentators are divided in ways we have not resolved: on Eli's character (Henry, Benson and JFB read repentance; Cambridge reads weak passivity; Ellicott reads a man too late to reform), on the reason for Samuel's silence (Poole reads prudence, Gill reads tenderness, Ellicott and Barnes read the prophet's dread), and on whether “the word of the LORD” in 3:21 names the pre-incarnate Son (Gill affirms, Pulpit restricts the phrase to prophetic inspiration).

What is machine synthesis. Everything marked ⚙, including all literal renderings, divergences, notes, movements, the sola reading, the thread bodies and the christ readings, is fallible synthesis and may be wrong. Thread bases are labelled: those drawn from the Verifier's computed output carry shared Strong's lexemes with frequencies; those drawn from a commentator's citation are labelled commentator-attested and have not been machine-verified. The hinnenî parallel with Genesis 46:2 and the yâçaph reversal between 3:17 and 3:21 are our own observations from the interlinear, and no commentator in this brief states either.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)