1 Samuel 3
1 Samuel 3 is the third chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. In a section concerning the life of Samuel, this chapter focuses on the calling of Samuel. Gwilym Jones places this passage within "the genre of prophetic-call narratives".
Text
This chapter was originally written in Hebrew. It is divided into 21 verses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis. Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q51 with extant verses 1–4, 18–21.Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.
Old Testament references
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Period
The event in this chapter occurred at the end of the era of biblical judges in Israel, about 1100 BC. Verse 1 treats this time as a period when divine visions were infrequent.Analysis
Chapter 3 is tied in many ways to chapter 2, with some terms and themes in chapter 2 are repeated or recapitulated in chapter 3:| Topic | 1 Samuel 2 | 1 Samuel 3 |
| Samuel ministering before the Lord | 2:11, 18 | 3:1 |
| Did not know the Lord | 2:12 | 3:7 |
| Judgement on Eli's house | 2:10, 31 | 3:11 |
| Eli did not restrain his sons | 2:29 | 3:13 |
| No atonement or mediation | 2:25 | 3:14 |
| Sacrifice/offering | 2:13, 15, 19, 29 | 3:14 |
| God sent a messenger | 2:27–36 | 3:10–14 |
God calls Samuel (3:1–14)
This section on Samuel's calling is often classified as a "prophetic call narrative", within the tradition of the calling of major prophets. In a period when divine visions were infrequent, Samuel received his call-vision, which would remove the seat of power from Eli and his family. While Eli was still presiding for a short period, he instructed Samuel of the right words of response to God's calling, but after Samuel received God's oracle, Samuel became more powerful than Eli before the eyes of the people.Verse 1
- "The boy": from,, which refers to a "boy from the age of infancy to adolescence". According to Josephus, Samuel was twelve years old at this time.
Samuel shares his first vision (3:15–21)
Samuel's oracle of doom over Eli's house confirms the words of the man of God in 2:27-36: the house of Eli will fall because of the iniquity of his sons and his own inability to admonish them. Eli accepted God's verdict and that Samuel would become a 'powerful prophet whose words were fulfilled', not only in Shiloh, but throughout the land of Israel.Verse 19
Jones notes that this verse is indicative both of Samuel's own growth to maturity and his accession to power as a prophet.Verse 20
- "From Dan even to Beer-sheba" is a phrase regularly used to denote 'the whole land of Israel', first mentioned in, then becoming common in the books of Samuel and only appearing once more after the division of the Kingdoms, that is, after the fall of the northern kingdom.
- "Was established": can also be rendered as "was confirmed", "found faithful" or "approved"; from a Hebrew word which in 1 Samuel 2:35 is rendered as 'a faithful priest' and 'a sure house'.