Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 16 Aug. 2020
Well, the servant-boy Samuel was ministering to Yahweh under the supervision of Eli. Now, the word of Yahweh was prized during their days; there was no vision breaking through. Then it happened during that time, when Eli was lying down at his place (Now his eyes were beginning to be dim, {and} he was not able to see.), and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple where God’s ark was. Then Yahweh called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me!” But he said, “I didn’t call. Go back; lie down!” So he he went and lay down. Then Yahweh continued calling Samuel again, and Samuel {got up and} went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me?” And he said, “My son, I didn’t call you. Go back; lie down!” Now, Samuel didn’t yet know Yahweh, for the word of Yahweh hadn’t yet been revealed to him. So Yahweh continued calling Samuel for the third time, and he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me.” Then Eli realized that it was Yahweh calling to the servant-boy. So Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and if he happens to call to you, then you should say, ‘Speak, Yahweh, for your servant is listening.’ So Samuel went and laid down in his place. Then Yahweh came and stationed Himself and called as [He had done] time after time, “Samuel, Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening!” Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Look, I myself am doing something in Israel at which everyone who hears of it both of his ears will tingle! During that day, I will confirm to Eli all that I said concerning his household. I began, and I will finish it off. Indeed I declare to him that I am condemning his household for ever due to the iniquity which he knew about, for his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not put a damper on them. Now therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli [that I’ll be damned] if the iniquity of the house of Eli is covered by a sacrifice or by an offering for ever.” Well, Samuel laid down until the morning, then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, but Samuel was afraid to relate the vision to Eli. Eli, however, called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “What is the message that He spoke to you? Please don’t conceal it from me. May God do so to you and even more so if you conceal from me a word from the entirety of the message which He spoke to you.” So Samuel related to him all the words and did not conceal [anything] from him. Then {Eli} said, “It is Yahweh; let Him do what is good in His sight.” Well, Samuel grew, and Yahweh was with him and did not let any of his messages flop to the ground. So all of Israel knew – from Dan even to Beer Shebah – that Samuel was faithful as Yahweh’s prophet, and Yahweh kept on being seen in Shiloh because Yahweh revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh through the word of Yahweh.
Visions or revelations of God’s word were yakar = prized/precious because they were so scarce/rare/infrequent; there was no no chazon nifratz = breakthrough vision.
This is the first occurrence of this word for “vision” in the Hebrew Bible, the next one being many years later during David’s reign, so that underscores the rarity of it.
The Hebrew word describing this vision has to do with “breaking/cracking/opening” and I think it is describing breakthroughs between the spiritual world and the earthly world where God breaks in to every day life with a new revelation, although there are other venerable interpretations1.
The “word of God” is a phrase in the Bible which is used to describe a) a particular message given verbally by God, b) to describe the written book of scripture, and c) to describe the person of Jesus Christ. I would venture to say that all three senses of “the word of God” were true, inasmuch as the written scriptures were limited to the Torah (and perhaps the book of Job) and there were probably precious few copies of those, and, as 17th century Bible commentator Andrew Willet observed, “Christ Jesus the word of God, by whom the Lord spake to Samuel (v. 21)... did sparingly reveale and manifest himself to his servants the Prophets” at this time.
19th Century commentators Keil & Delitzsch wrote of the reason for this: “[R]evelation from God presupposed susceptibility [receptivity] on the part of men; the unbelief and disobedience of the people might restrain... this [revelation]... and God might even withdraw His word to punish the idolatrous nation.”
God is personal, and He operates relationally, so when we are disobedient, unresponsive to Him, and pay no attention to His word, why should God make Himself available and communicative with us? It’s only His grace that brings us any light of revelation and relationship with Him!
It seems to be a bit of dramatic irony that Eli’s physical sight was dim, parallelling his lack of spiritual insight, even though he was Israel’s high priest.
Matthew Henry commented that this “affliction... came justly upon him for winking at his sons’ faults.”
The time of day seems to be when it was dark outside, so Eli may not have been able to see anything whatsoever in the dusky wee hours of the morning, plus they didn’t have glasses and contacts to correct for loss of eyesight in those days, so Eli might have had a hard time seeing anything clearly even in the daytime.
The time was late night, not quite daybreak. This Hebrew word for “lamp” is used to refer to the 7 oil lamps on the menorah in the holy place that were lit every evening and kept burning all night, then put out in the morning when the sun came up.2
Samuel, whom Josephus in his Antiquities claimed was 12 years old at the time, is lying down, sleeping on a pallet in the holy place of the tabernacle or in a nearby courtyard or apartment3.
His job may have been to make sure the lamps don’t go out during the night, and he also may have had the role of gatekeeper or doorkeeper (v.15, cf. 1 Chron. 15:18 & 23).
There was a curtain between the holy place, where I think he was, and the most holy place where the ark of the covenant was.
Eli is also lying down and sleeping, but he is somewhere else, perhaps in priest’s quarters in another tent or building.
In the dusk of early morning Samuel hears a voice calling him from somewhere outside where he is, and he assumes it is Eli calling for him. There must not have been anyone else around – I guess Hophni and Phineas couldn’t get any women to sleep with them at the tabernacle that night, so they had taken off for home.
Samuel has a devoted servant’s heart, so he doesn’t groan and turn over in his bed; he immediately hollers back and literally runs over to Eli’s bedroom to see what he can do for Eli, saying, “I am here because you called me.” Eli, however, mumbles that he “hadn’t called; go back to bed.” So Samuel dutifully returns to his station and tries to get some more sleep.
The same thing happens again twice.
God doesn’t stop calling when His people don’t know how to respond, He just continues to call. Thank God that He doesn’t stop calling to us when we are slow on the uptake!
The addition of the words “my son” in Eli’s response could indicate he’s getting a little exasperated, but at least it’s getting him thinking, and the third time, it registers with Eli that God may be trying to speak to Samuel.
Yahweh is passing by the big-wigs4 and speaking to the “servant-boy.” Isn’t that just like God? There is no one too small and insignificant for Him. In fact, it’s typically the lowly – the “poor in heart” – with whom He delights to enter into relationship. It’s a whole lot easier to build a friendship with someone who is humble than with someone who is proud. (Jas. 4:6)
Now, God could have stopped Samuel from leaving the tabernacle the first time and just started talking and given Samuel the message. Why did He wait to come close and reveal His word until Eli had instructed Samuel in how to receive a message from the Lord? The Bible doesn’t say explicitly.
All we know is that Samuel didn’t know God personally and that Eli had to explain to Samuel that this was probably Yahweh speaking and that he needed to say, “Speak, Yahweh5, for your servant is listening.”
God wanted Samuel to know who it was that was talking to him, and God wanted Eli to be the one to tell it to him. Even in the midst of disgrace, God is giving Eli an important role in training the next prophet.
Others like Isaiah had responded to God before with the same words Samuel had greeted Eli with during the night: “הִנֵּנִי/Here I am,” but Eli sensed that God wasn’t waiting for Samuel to offer himself, but was rather waiting for this already-dedicated Nazarite servant to call upon the name of the Lord to “speak.”
It is God’s pattern to call to humans to initiate relationship with us
Rom. 8:30 “...whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
Gen. 3:9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
God is personal, and He calls by name: Gen. 22:11 “...the Angel of the LORD calledu from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ So he said, ‘Here I am.’”
Exodus 3:4 “...God called... from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’” (And God called many more times to Moses.)
We respond by “calling upon the name of the Lord”:
Joel 2:32 “And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.” (NKJ, cf. Gen. 4:26, 12:8, 13:4, 2Sa. 2:22, etc.)
1 Cor. 1:2 “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord...” (NAW)
But those who don’t respond to God’s call by calling upon Him in return, lose out on that positive relationship with God: Jeremiah 7:9-15 “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods...? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," says the LORD. "But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works," says the LORD, "and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren—the whole posterity of Ephraim...” (NKJV)
I’d like to note that when the Lord came and stationed Himself before Samuel, the Hebrew word for “stand” is not the usual one. This word yatsav has to do with taking up a position, facing off against someone, or going on duty at your station. Yahweh was coming to speak to His new messenger, and what a message!
God says He’s going to do a “thing in Israel.” It will be a very significant event.
The only other time God said that He was going to do a “thing in Israel” was when He killed 70,000 Israelites with a plague (in 2 Sam. 24:15 || 1 Chr. 21:14).
The other time God said that “ears would tingle” at the news was when He got so mad at King Manasseh’s idol-worship in Judah that He promised to send the Babylonian army to completely wipe out Jerusalem (2 Ki. 21:11-15 & Jer. 19:3ff).
It will be too horrible to hear without it affecting you physically, like when you blush and feel prickly all over, or when your ears won’t stop ringing after an explosion.
In verse 12, God speaks of the “beginning” and the “finishing off” of Eli’s house.
Although many contemporary English versions render those two words as nouns, the oldest-known Bible manuscripts and oldest English versions6 of this verse render them as verbs, “I begin and I will end,” and that’s the way I interpret it.
This may have to do with when the priesthood began to be associated with Eli’s family, even though he was not of the right priestly line, and now God is going to bring an end to the association between Eli’s household and the priesthood, eventually returning it to the right priestly line through Zadok.
The Midieval Jewish scholar Rashi suggested it was from the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy (with the death of Hophni and Phineas) to the completion of the fulfillment of the prophecy in the total removal of all Eli’s descendants from priesthood7.
God is the sovereign player in all of history. He does what He thinks is best. He is the prime mover who started everything to begin with, and He is the one who can end anything whenever He sees fit.
In Leviticus 26:44 this word for “finishing off” is connected with God disdaining someone and breaking off covenant relationship with them.
It is this all-powerful God with whom Eli and his sons were trifling, but He is not one to be trifled with!
Also in v.12 and following, God references the fact that He has already warned Eli at least once before, so Eli has no excuse for continuing carelessly in spiritual leadership. Remember in chapter 2 we read: 27 Now, a certain man of God went to Eli and said, "Thus says Yahweh, 'I fully revealed myself to the household of your forefather during their existence in Egypt {as slaves} for the household of Pharaoh, 28 choosing the {household of your forefather} out of all the tribes of Israel for myself to be a priest, to step up onto my altar, to send incense up in smoke, to bear an ephod, and I gave to the household of your ancestor all the burnt-offerings of the sons of Israel {for food}. 29 Why would you push back on my sacrificial-system and on my offering-system which I commanded on-location and honor your sons instead of me, to make yourselves fat off of the top of all the food-offerings of Israel for my people?' 30 Therefore, {thus} says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'I said that your household and the household of your forefather will conduct themselves before my face for time-out-of-mind, but now,' this is the declaration of Yahweh, 'Far be it from me, because those who glorify me I will glorify, but those who despise me will become insignificant. 31 Look, days are coming when I will chop off your arm and the arm of your forefather's house... and there will not be an elder of yours in my house all those days... 34 And this will be the sign for you which will come to both of your sons – to Hophni and Phinehas – on one day both of them will die. 35 Then I will cause to establish for myself a faithful priest {who} will do {all} that is in my heart and in my soul, and I will build for him a faithful house, and he will conduct himself before the face of my Anointed One all his days. 36 So it will come to pass that anyone left in your house will go to prostrate himself before him for the handfull of change and a loaf of bread and say, "Assign me to one of the priests to eat a serving of food, please."'"
Eli apparently made no changes after that warning. Sure, he gave his sons a scolding, but that was all, so God wasn’t going to extend any more grace. As v. 13 puts it, Eli “knew” that his sons were “committing iniquity,” but he “did not restrain/rebuke them.”
The Hebrew word for what Eli did not do is actually the same verb describing what had happened to Eli’s eyesight back in v.2 – to “fade/dim.” The implication is that, not only did he fail to stop their blasphemous behaviour, he didn’t even try to put any kind of damper on it to tone it down. (Some translate the word that he didn’t even “frown” at it.)
The description in v.13 of what his sons did is an interesting case of editing8, the oldest-known manuscripts read that the sons were “blaspheming/cursing God,” but Jewish scholars removed one Hebrew consonant from the phrase to keep any good Jew from having to say the words “curse/blaspheme God,” so, with the missing letter in Hebrew it reads instead, “they brought a curse on themselves/made themselves vile.” This editing was done carefully so that the story is not actually corrupted, but I prefer the ESV’s rendering at this point.
“Sin is a vile thing, and degrades men more than any thing… [and] Those that do not restrain the sins of others, when it is in the power of their hand to do it, make themselves partakers of the guilt, and will be charged as accessaries.” ~M. Henry, 1714AD
The message climaxes with God swearing out a formal oath that made it impossible for Him to forgive the sins of Eli and his sons ever again.
The “I’ll be damned” part of the oath is understood and was left unspoken in Hebrew, so the oath formula starts with an “if,” followed by the circumstances under which the oath-taker would consider himself disgraced and cursed9.
By taking this oath, God is saying that there is no way Hophni and Phineas can be forgiven – even if they were to offer sheep as sacrifices to atone for their sin. That’s because God is not a vending machine that mechanically dispenses what we want simply because we do certain things to trigger some automatic process. God is a person and you are a person, and both persons have to want the relationship for there to be a good relationship. In this case, neither party wants to be in a good relationship with each other. Simply running a knife blade across a sheep’s throat isn’t going to change that10.
Now, there is some question as to when God took this oath. The Hebrew wording is unclear since there is no difference in spelling between past and perfect tense in Hebrew verbs,
so some interpret the timing of this oath to have been back when God sent the first warning in chapter 2,
but I think there was still opportunity for Eli to repent and experience grace at that point and that this oath was in the more-recent past coinciding with the message in chapter 3, at which point it had been established that Eli was not going to repent and try to find mercy11.
It must have been a rough end-of-the-night for Samuel – as well as Eli, Samuel dreading having to break this terrible news to his mentor, and Eli dreading what God might have to say through Samuel!
Samuel wasn’t going to be the first to speak on this. Eli is the one who breaks the tension by calling him as soon as Samuel has gotten up and opened his door and emerged into the temple courtyard. “What did He say? Don’t hide anything from me!” And Samuel spills it all.
It does seem a little odd that Eli would threaten the same judgment upon Samuel if he were to conceal anything in the message, but the threat is probably a good thing for a prophet-intern to hear.
A prophet who is unfaithful in delivering a message from God is going to be just as cursed as a priest who is unfaithful in leading the worship of God.
It reminds me of God’s words to Ezekiel 33:7-9 "...son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked,`O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul." (NKJV)
Remember that we are carriers of God’s word too – both the bad news that we’ve all offended God and deserve hell, as well as the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus. Is there any part of that message that you’ve been hesitant to share with people?
Eli’s response is pitiful, “It is Yahweh; let Him do [or He will do] what is/seems good in His sight.”
In one sense, yeah, you can’t argue with God, so what He says goes, and His judgments are going to be just, no question about that. Eli may be simply bowing in submission to God’s revealed will, and most of the times that this phrase occurs in the Bible, “do what is good in someone’s eyes,” is basically a resignation to whatever they want to do12.
However, there is one instance (and perhaps a few more) where this phrase is a respectful plea for mercy, implying that “good” is not just whatever the authority wants to do, but rather is what is “good” for the supplicant. In Judges chapter 10, the people of Israel are being invaded by neighboring nations, and in their distress they cry out to the Lord. “[But] the LORD said to the children of Israel, ‘Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians... Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.’ [Then] the children of Israel said to the LORD, ‘We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.’ So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD…” (Jdg. 10:12-16, NKJV) and you know what God did? He raised up the judge Jepthah to fight and free Israel from all the invaders! Mercy is never out of the question for those with the faith to ask it from God.13
The last three verses of chapter 3 form a sort of epilogue to the story, affirming that Samuel:
“grew up” in this role as prophet,
that he was faithful/confirmed/attested/established/trustworthy throughout the whole country of Israel as Yahweh’s prophet. (The ancient Aramaic Bible paraphrase called the Targum explains, “that Samuel was faithful in [relating] the words of the prophecy of the Lord” ~Gill)
and God kept revealing messages to him, and none of those messages flopped/failed/fell to the ground – each prophecy proved true.
And all this was “because the LORD was with him” (v.19). Never forget that “All our increase in wisdom and grace is owing to the presence of God with us.” ~M. Henry
I want to conclude with three applications. The first I’ve already highlighted, and that is to respond to the callings of the Lord to you like Samuel did, by offering yourself promptly and willingly (Calvin) “Hineni/Here I am,” and by calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Secondly, we need to recognize and capitalize on the way God calls us into relationship with Him.
According to v.7 “Samuel didn’t yet know Yahweh, for the word of Yahweh hadn’t yet been revealed to him,” but v.21 ends with the assertion that Yahweh revealed Himself through words14 to Samuel.
We come to know the Lord through His words which are now written down in the whole of the Bible. This is how He revealed Himself to Samuel, and this is the standard way He reveals Himself to us today. When we fill our hearts and minds with Holy Scripture out of love and respect for God, we will know Him and be in relationship with Him.
Jesus said in the Gospel of John 8:31-32 “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (NKJV)
“When we come to read the word of God, and to attend on the preaching of it, we should come thus disposed, submitting ourselves to the commanding light and power of it: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” ~Matthew Henry
Thirdly, once we learn the ropes of relationship with the one true and personal God, we need to share the way of that relationship with disciples of our own.
Samuel needed instruction15, for although he "ministered unto the Lord" he "didn't "know the Lord." If a child as great as Samuel needed instruction, surely our children need it too!
Matthew Henry commented, “Good words should be put into children's mouths betimes, and apt expressions of pious and devout affections, by which they may be prepared for a better acquaintance with divine things, and trained up to a holy converse with them. Teach young people what they shall say, for they cannot order their speech by reason of darkness.”
Are you going to leave them in the dark, or are you going to train them how to hear God? We can't assume that just because we stick them in a pew at church that they will know Jesus; we need to personally instruct them in the ways of God and prepare them to hear from God themselves. Family devotions are a key in this process: reading the Bible and discussing it as a family teaches your children to read the Bible and understand it for themselves.
Eli's house would be cut off because of his sin of not obeying God in the rearing of his children. May God give us the strength and wisdom and self-discipline to train up our children in His ways, to love Him first and foremost!
LXX |
Brenton (LXX) |
DRB (Vulgate) |
KJV |
NAW |
Masoretic Txt |
1 Καὶ τὸ παιδάριον Σαμουηλ ἦν λειτουργῶν τῷ κυρίῳ ἐνώπιον Ηλι τοῦ ἱερέως· καὶ ῥῆμα κυρίου ἦν τίμιονB ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, οὐκ ἦν ὅρασις διαστέλλουσαC. |
1 And the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Heli the priest: and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, there was no distinct vision. |
1 Now the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Heli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, there was no manifest vision. |
1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD beforeD Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no openE vision. |
1 Well, the servant-boy Samuel was ministering to Yahweh under the supervision of Eli. Now, the word of Yahweh was prized during their days; there was no vision breaking through. |
א וְהַנַּעַר שְׁמוּאֵל מְשָׁרֵת אֶת יְהוָה לִפְנֵי עֵלִי וּדְבַר יְהוָה הָיָה יָקָר בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם אֵין חָזוֹן נִפְרָץF. |
2 καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ Ηλι ἐκάθευδεν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἤρξαντο βαρύνεσθαι, καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο βλέπειν, |
2 And it came to pass at that time that Heli was sleeping in his place; and his eyes began to fail, and could not see. |
2 And it came to pass one day when Heli lay in his place, and his eyes were grown dim, that he could not see: |
2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to [wax] dim, that he could not see; |
2 Then it happened during that time, when Eli was lying down at his place (Now his eyes were beginning to be dim, {and} he was not able to see.), |
ב וַיְהִי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וְעֵלִי שֹׁכֵב בִּמְקֹמוֹ וְעֵינָו הֵחֵלּוּ כֵהוֹת Gלֹא יוּכַל לִרְאוֹת. |
3 καὶ ὁ λύχνος τοῦ θεοῦ πρὶν ἐπισκευασθῆναιH, καὶ Σαμουηλ ἐκάθευδεν ἐν τῷ ναῷ X, οὗ ἡ κιβωτὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, |
3 And the lamp of God was burning before it was trimmed, and Samuel slept in the temple X, where was the ark of God/ |
3 Before the lamp of God went out, Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. |
3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; |
3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple where God’s ark was. |
ג וְנֵרI אֱלֹהִים טֶרֶם יִכְבֶּה וּשְׁמוּאֵל שֹׁכֵב בְּהֵיכַל Jיְהוָה אֲשֶׁר שָׁם אֲרוֹן אֱלֹהִים. |
4 καὶ ἐκάλεσεν κύριος X Σαμουηλ [ΣαμουηλK]· καὶ εἶπεν Ἰδοὺ ἐγώL. |
4 And the Lord called, Samuel [Samuel]; and he said, Behold, here am I. |
4
And the Lord called Samuel. And he |
4
That the LORD called Samuel: and he |
4 Then Yahweh called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” |
|
5
καὶ ἔδραμεν
πρὸς Ηλι καὶ
εἶπεν Ἰδοὺ
ἐγώ, ὅτι κέκληκάς
με· καὶ εἶπεν
Οὐ κέκληκά
[σε], ἀνάστρεφε
κάθευδε. καὶ
|
5
And he ran to Heli, and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me:
and he said, I did not call [thee]; return, go to sleep; and he
|
5 And he ran to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou didst call me. X He said: I did not call: go back and sleep. And he went and slept. |
5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. |
5 and he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me!” But he said, “I didn’t call. Go back; lie down!” So he he went and lay down. |
ה וַיָּרָץ אֶל עֵלִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנְנִי כִּי קָרָאתָ לִּי וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא קָרָאתִי שׁוּב שְׁכָב וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיִּשְׁכָּב. |
6
καὶ προσέθετο
κύριος καὶ
ἐκάλεσεν Σαμουηλ
X XN
Σαμουηλ· καὶ
ἐπορεύθη πρὸς
Ηλι [τὸ δεύτερον]
καὶ εἶπεν Ἰδοὺ
ἐγώ, ὅτι κέκληκάς
με· καὶ εἶπεν
Οὐ κέκληκά
|
6
And the Lord called again, Samuel, X X Samuel: and he went to Heli
[the second time], and said, Behold here am I, for thou didst call
me: and he said, I called |
6 And the Lord called Samuel again. And Samuel arose and went to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou calledst me. X He answered: I did not call [thee,] my son: return [and] sleep. |
6
And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went
to Eli, and said, Here am
I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son;
lie down |
6 Then Yahweh continued calling Samuel again, and Samuel {got up and} went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me?” And he said, “My son, I didn’t call you. Go back; lie down!” |
ו וַיֹּסֶף יְהוָה קְרֹא עוֹד שְׁמוּאֵל וַיָּקָם P שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל עֵלִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנְנִי כִּי קָרָאתָ לִי וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא קָרָאתִי בְנִי שׁוּב שְׁכָב. |
7 καὶ Σαμουηλ πρὶνQ ἢ γνῶναι θεὸν καὶ X ἀποκαλυφθῆναι αὐτῷ ῥῆμα κυρίου. |
7 And it was before Samuel knew the Lord, and before the word of the Lord was revealed to him. |
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither had the word of the Lord been revealed to him. |
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. |
7 Now, Samuel didn’t yet know Yahweh, for the word of Yahweh hadn’t yet been revealed to him. |
ז וּשְׁמוּאֵל טֶרֶם יָדַע אֶת יְהוָה וְטֶרֶם יִגָּלֶה אֵלָיו דְּבַר יְהוָה. |
8 καὶ προσέθετο κύριος καλέσαι Σαμουηλ ἐν τρίτῳ· καὶ ἀνέστη καὶ ἐπορεύθη πρὸς Ηλι καὶ εἶπεν Ἰδοὺ ἐγώ, ὅτι κέκληκάς με. καὶ ἐσοφίσατοR Ηλι ὅτι κύριος κέκληκεν τὸ παιδάριον, |
8 And the Lord called Samuel again for the third time: and he arose and went to Heli, and said, Behold, I am here, for thou didst call me: and Heli perceived that the Lord had called the child. |
8 And the Lord called Samuel again X the third time. And he arose up and went to Heli, 9 And said: Here am I: for thou didst call me. Then Heli understood that the Lord called the child, |
8 And the LORD called Samuel again X the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. |
8 So Yahweh continued calling Samuel for the third time, and he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me.” Then Eli realized that it was Yahweh calling to the servant-boy. |
ח וַיֹּסֶף יְהוָה קְרֹא שְׁמוּאֵל בַּשְּׁלִשִׁית וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל עֵלִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנְנִי כִּי קָרָאתָ לִי וַיָּבֶן עֵלִי כִּי יְהוָה קֹרֵא לַנָּעַר. |
9
καὶ εἶπεν X X
|
9
And |
and
|
9 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. |
9 So Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and if he happens to call to you, then you should say, ‘Speak, Yahweh, for your servant is listening.’ So Samuel went and laid down in his place. |
ט וַיֹּאמֶר עֵלִיS לִשְׁמוּאֵל לֵךְ שְׁכָב וְהָיָה אִם יִקְרָא אֵלֶיךָ וְאָמַרְתָּ דַּבֵּר יְהוָה כִּי שֹׁמֵעַ עַבְדֶּךָ וַיֵּלֶךְ שְׁמוּאֵל וַיִּשְׁכַּב בִּמְקוֹמוֹ. |
10 καὶ ἦλθεν κύριος καὶ κατέστη καὶ ἐκάλεσεν [αὐτὸν] ὡς ἅπαξ καὶ ἅπαξT, X X καὶ εἶπεν Σαμουηλ Λάλει, ὅτι ἀκούει ὁ δοῦλός σου. |
10 And the Lord came, and stood, and called [him] as before X X: and Samuel said, Speak, for thy servant hears. |
10 And the Lord came, and stood, and he called, as [he had called] X the [other] times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said: Speak, [Lord], for thy servant heareth. |
10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at [other] times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. |
10 Then Yahweh came and stationed Himself and called as [He had done] time after time, “Samuel, Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening!” |
י וַיָּבֹא יְהוָה וַיִּתְיַצַּב וַיִּקְרָא כְפַעַם בְּפַעַם שְׁמוּאֵל שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל דַּבֵּר כִּי שֹׁמֵעַ עַבְדֶּךָ. |
11
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος
πρὸς Σαμουηλ
Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ποιῶ
τ |
11
And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I execute [my] word[s] in
Israel X; whoever hears |
11
And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold I do a thing in Israel: |
11 And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. |
11 Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Look, I myself am doing something in Israel at which everyone who hears of it both of his ears will tingle! |
יא וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל שְׁמוּאֵל הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי עֹשֶׂה דָבָר בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר כָּל שֹׁמְעוֹ תְּצִלֶּינָה שְׁתֵּי אָזְנָיו. |
12 ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐπεγερῶ ἐπὶ Ηλι πάντα, ὅσα ἐλάλησα εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, ἄρξομαι καὶ ἐπιτελέσω. |
12 In that day I will raise up against Heli all things that I have said against his house; I will begin, and I will make an end. |
12 In that day I will raise up against Heli all the things I have spoken concerning his house: I will begin, and I will make an end. |
12 In that day I will performU against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. |
12 During that day, I will confirm to Eli all that I said concerning his household. I began, and I will finish it off. |
יב בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אָקִים אֶל עֵלִי אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֶל בֵּיתוֹ הָחֵל וְכַלֵּהV. |
13
καὶ ἀνήγγελκα
αὐτῷ ὅτι ἐκδικῶ
ἐγὼ τὸν οἶκον
αὐτοῦ ἕως αἰῶνος
ἐν ἀδικίαις
|
13
And I have told him that I will be avenged on his house
perpetually for the
iniquities |
13 For I have foretold unto him, that I will judge his house for ever, for iniquity, because he knew that his sons did wickedly, and did not chastise them. |
13 For I have toldAA him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vileBB, and he restrained X them not. |
13 Indeed I declare to him that I am condemning his household for ever due to the iniquity which he knew about, for his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not put a damper on them. |
יג וְהִגַּדְתִּי לוֹ כִּי שֹׁפֵט אֲנִי אֶת בֵּיתוֹ עַד עוֹלָם בַּעֲוֹן אֲשֶׁר יָדַעCC כִּי מְקַלְלִים לָהֶם בָּנָיו וְלֹא כִהָה בָּם. |
14
ὤμοσα τῷ οἴκῳ
Ηλι Εἰ ἐξιλασθήσεται
ἀδικία οἴκου
Ηλι ἐν θυμιάματι
καὶ ἐν θυσί |
I have sworn to the house of Eli, the iniquity of the house of Eli shall [not] be atoned for with incense or sacrifice[s] for ever. |
14
Therefore have I sworn to the house of Heli, that the iniquity of
|
14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall [not] be purgedDD with sacrifice nor offering for ever. |
14 Now therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli [that I’ll be damned] if the iniquity of the house of Eli is covered by a sacrifice or by an offering for ever.” |
יד וְלָכֵן נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לְבֵית עֵלִי אִם יִתְכַּפֵּרEE עֲוֹן בֵּית עֵלִי בְּזֶבַח וּבְמִנְחָה עַד עוֹלָם. |
15 καὶ κοιμᾶται Σαμουηλ ἕως πρωὶ [καὶ ὤρθρισεν τὸ πρωὶFF] καὶ ἤνοιξεν τὰς θύρας οἴκου κυρίου· καὶ Σαμουηλ ἐφοβήθη ἀπαγγεῖλαι τὴν ὅρασιν τῷ Ηλι. |
15 And Samuel slept till morning, [and rose early in the morning,] and opened the doors of the house of the Lord; and Samuel feared to tell Heli the vision. |
15 And Samuel slept till morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to tell the vision to Heli. |
15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. |
15 Well, Samuel laid down until the morning, then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, but Samuel was afraid to relate the vision to Eli. |
טו וַיִּשְׁכַּב שְׁמוּאֵל עַד הַבֹּקֶר וַיִּפְתַּח אֶת דַּלְתוֹת בֵּית יְהוָה וּשְׁמוּאֵל יָרֵא מֵהַגִּיד אֶת הַמַּרְאָה אֶל עֵלִי. |
16
καὶ |
16
And Heli |
16 Then Heli called Samuel, and said: Samuel, my son. And he answered: Here am I. |
16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. |
16 Eli, however, called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” |
טז וַיִּקְרָא עֵלִי אֶת שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל בְּנִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי. |
17
καὶ εἶπεν Τί
τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ λαληθὲν
πρὸς σέ; μὴ δὴ
κρύψῃς ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ·
τάδε ποιήσαι
σοι ὁ θεὸς καὶ
τάδε προσθείη,
ἐὰν κρύψῃς ἀπ᾿
ἐμοῦ ῥῆμα ἐκ
πάντων τῶν λόγ |
17 And he said, What was the word that was spoken to thee? [I] pray [thee] hide it not from me: may God do these things to thee, and more also, if thou hide from me any thing of all the word[s] that were spoken to thee [in thine ears]. |
17 And he asked [him]: What is the word that the Lord hath spoken to thee? I beseech thee hide it not from me. May God do so and so to thee, and add so and so, if thou hide from me one word of all that were said to thee. |
17 And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? [I] pray [thee] hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee. |
17 Then he said, “What is the message that He spoke to you? Please don’t conceal it from me. May God do so to you and even more so if you conceal from me a word from the entirety of the message which He spoke to you.” |
יז וַיֹּאמֶר מָה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֵלֶיךָ אַל נָא תְכַחֵד מִמֶּנִּי כֹּה יַעֲשֶׂה לְּךָ אֱלֹהִים וְכֹה יוֹסִיף אִם תְּכַחֵד מִמֶּנִּי דָּבָר מִכָּל הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֵלֶיךָ. |
18 καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν Σαμουηλ X X πάντας τοὺς λόγους καὶ οὐκ ἔκρυψεν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἶπεν Ηλι Κύριος αὐτός· τὸ ἀγαθὸνII ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ποιήσει. |
18 And Samuel reported X X all the words, and hid [them] not from him. And Heli said, He is the Lord, he shallJJ do that which is good in his sight. |
18 So Samuel told him all the words, and did not hide [them] from him. And he answered: It is the Lord: let him do what is good in his sight. |
18 And Samuel told him every whitX, and hid not[hing] from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good. |
18 So Samuel related to him all the words and did not conceal [anything] from him. Then {Eli} said, “It is Yahweh; let Him do what is good in His sight.” |
יח וַיַּגֶּד לוֹ שְׁמוּאֵל אֶת כָּל הַדְּבָרִים וְלֹא כִחֵד מִמֶּנּוּ וַיֹּאמַרKK יְהוָה הוּא הַטּוֹב בְּעֵינָו יַעֲשֶׂה. |
19 Καὶ ἐμεγαλύνθη Σαμουηλ, καὶ ἦν κύριος μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔπεσεν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. |
19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and there did not fall one of his words to the ground. |
19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and not one of his words fell to the ground. |
19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. |
19 Well, Samuel grew, and Yahweh was with him and did not let any of his messages flop to the ground. |
יט וַיִּגְדַּלLL שְׁמוּאֵל וַיהוָה הָיָה עִמּוֹ וְלֹא הִפִּיל מִכָּל דְּבָרָיו אָרְצָהMM. |
20 καὶ ἔγνωσαν πᾶς Ισραηλ ἀπὸ Δαν καὶ ἕως Βηρσαβεε ὅτι πιστὸς Σαμουηλ εἰς προφήτην τῷ κυρίῳ. |
20 And all Israel knew from Dan even to Bersabee, that Samuel was faithful as a prophet to the Lord. |
20 And all Israel, from Dan to Bersabee, knew that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord. |
20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was establishedNN to be a prophet of the LORD. |
20 So all of Israel knew – from Dan even to Beer Shebah – that Samuel was faithful as Yahweh’s prophet, |
כ וַיֵּדַע כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל מִדָּן וְעַד בְּאֵר שָׁבַע כִּי נֶאֱמָן שְׁמוּאֵל לְנָבִיא לַיהוָה. |
21 καὶ προσέθετο κύριος δηλωθῆναιOO ἐν Σηλωμ, ὅτι ἀπεκαλύφθη κύριος πρὸς Σαμουηλ· X X X X [καὶ ἐπιστεύθη Σαμουηλ προφήτης γενέσθαι τῷ κυρίῳ εἰς πάντα Ισραηλ ἀπ᾿ ἄκρων τῆς γῆς καὶ ἕως ἄκρων. καὶ Ηλι πρεσβύτης σφόδρα, καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ πορευόμενοι ἐπορεύοντο καὶ πονηρὰ ἡ ὁδὸς αὐτῶν ἐνώπιονPP] κυρίου. |
21 And the Lord manifested himself again in Selom, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel X X X X; [and Samuel was accredited to all Israel as a prophet to the Lord from one end of the land to the other: and Heli was very old, and his sons kept advancing in wickedness, and their way was evil before] the Lord. |
21 And the Lord again appeared in Silo, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Silo, accordingQQ to the word of the Lord. [And the word of Samuel came to pass to all Israel.] |
21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD. |
21 and Yahweh kept on being seen in Shiloh because Yahweh revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh through the word of Yahweh. |
כא וַיֹּסֶף יְהוָה לְהֵרָאֹה בְשִׁלֹה כִּי נִגְלָה יְהוָה אֶל שְׁמוּאֵל בְּשִׁלוֹ בִּדְבַר יְהוָהRR. |
1Some translated this as an attributive adjective, like the KJV “open,” NIV “many,” and McCarter “widespread.” Others translated this as a predicate adjective, including the NASB “were infrequent” and Tsumura (NICOT), who pointed to the “parallel structure, where ‘not frequent’ is in parallel with ‘rare’.” Henry interpreted this as the opposite of “private” writing, “none... were publicly known to have visions.” (Gill and JFB concurred with Henry on this.)
2Leviticus 24:1-4 “Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Command the children of Israel that they get clarified, pressed olive oil to you for the lamp, in order to offer up light continuously; Aaron must arrange it continuously before the face of Yahweh from evening until morning outside of the veil of the testimony in the Tent of Meeting. It is a lasting statute for y'all's generations – He must arrange the lamps upon the lamp-stand of purity continuously before the face of Yahweh.’” ~NAW)
3Willet followed the Chaldee Targums in saying that he was not in the tabernacle, but in the Levite’s court (a position also taken by Ralbag, Ibn Ezra, K&D and Gill, and supported by the Masoretic insertion of an atna punctuation separating “lay down” from “in the temple,” but I’m not convinced. Kimchi thought it was the tabernacle, and Goldman commented that this was accepted by “modern scholars.”
4cf. Henry: “This would be a mortification to him [Eli], and he would apprehend it to be a step towards his family's being degraded, that when God had something to say he should choose to say it to the child Samuel, his servant that waited on him, and not to him...”
5Gill: “he leaves out the word ‘Lord,’ which Eli bid him use; for he might be afraid as yet to make mention of the name of the Lord in the vision of prophecy, as Kimchi speaks; or lest it should be the voice of another, as Jarchi...”
6 Septuagint, Vulgate, Geneva Bible, KJV
7 cf. M. Henry “direful first-fruits of the execution would be certain earnests of the progress and full accomplishment...”
8 Known as Tikkun Sopherim. Another possible original reading “curse me” has also been suggested by Jewish scholars.
9Willet: “‘if the iniquitie’ &c. here must be understood with the other redditive part: as ‘let me not be God,’ or ‘let me not be true,’ or such like.”
10Tsumura, quoting R.P. Gordon: “Though normal or inadvertent sins of priest could be expiated by offering (Lev. 4:3-12), Eli’s sons had sinned defiantly, and their guilt could not be removed (Num. 15:30f; Heb. 10:26).”
11 Willet took this side as well.
12Gen. 16:6; 19:8; Jos. 9:25; Jdg. 19:24; 1Sa. 1:23; 11:10; 14:36,40; 2Sa. 10:12; 15:26; 19:18,27,37,38; 2Ki. 10:5; 1Ch. 19:13; 21:23; Jer. 26:14
13Hurowitz’s paper, “Eli’s Adjuration of Samuel” on JSTOR suggests, on the other hand, that Eli’s response is actually along the lines of a pagan witchdoctor protocol from the ancient Chaldean civilization of Mari.
14Gill noted also that “Christ, the Word of the Lord... appeared to him, it is probable, in an human form, as he was wont to do to the patriarchs and prophets… [as] the Angel of his presence, and the messenger of his covenant...”
15 Matthew Henry: “Those are fittest to rule who have learnt to obey.”
AMy
original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but their copyright
restrictions have forced me to remove them from the
publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in
footnotes when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB,
or NIV. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not
in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square
brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far
from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea
Scroll containing any part of 1 Samuel 2 is 4Q51 Samuela,
which contains fragments of vs. 1-4 and 18-21 (highlighted in
purple), and which has been dated between 50-25 B.C. Where the DSS
supports the LXX with text not in the MT, I have highlighted
with yellow the LXX
and its translation into English.
BSymmachus (Σ), a third or fourth century AD Jewish author who translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek rendered this word σπανιον (“spasmodic”?)
CAquila (Α), a first or second century AD Jewish translator of the Hebrew Bible into Greek rendered this word διακοπτομενη (“scattered”), Σ = προερχομενα (“forthcoming”)
D NIV= “under” ESV = “in the presence of”
ENASB and NIV moved further from the meaning of the MT word “breaking/cracking/opening” with their translations “frequent/many.”
FThis is the only occurrence – out of the 48 times this word appears as a verb in the Hebrew Bible – in the Niphal stem. It is also the only place where this root occurs in the same verse as the root for “vision.” Its participial spelling could make it either an adjective describing “vision” or a verb. It is also the first occurrence of the word for “vision,” the next one being many years later during David’s reign, underscoring the rarity of it.
GThe DSS is obliterated at this point, but there is enough extra space to support the plural of the word for “eye” (found in the LXX and the Qere, the Vulgate, KJV, and NIV – the NASB & ESV followed the MT with the singular “eyesight”) and a vav conjunction before the negative (also found in the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate). These do nothing to change the gist of the story, however.
H Later Greek translations by Aq. (σβεσθηναι) and Sym. (εσβεσθη) comport more with the MT idea of “fire extinguished.”
IThis word is found throughout Exodus concerning the 7 oil lamps on the menorah in the holy place and in Lev. 24, etc., but nowhere else as “lamp of God.” This word for “lamp” also refers to David’s soul in Psalm 18:28.
JAll but the first word of v.3 is obliterated in the DSS, but words at the beginning of v.4 are legible, and there is not enough space for the rest of the text in the MT of this verse to fit in the space allowed by the DSS. The LXX contains all of the rest of this verse except for the tetragrammaton. It would not change the story at all to lose these details, however.
Kv.10 in the MT implies that God spoke Samuel’s name twice in all three addresses, so, although the LXX and MT are not identical, they don’t contradict each other.
L cf. Σ = παρειμι - “I’m right here!” which is closer to the MT.
MThe DSS does not have this preposition (“to”), and all the standard English versions ignored it. Curiously, the LXX rendered it instead “Samuel,” thus repeating the boy’s name (to get this rendering would require adding three Hebrew letters to the beginning of this word in the MT). None of these variations change the story at all.
N Field noted several Greek manuscripts which include the MT phrase, including III, 247, 44, 74, and 106.
O Field noted about 9 Greek manuscripts with the MT phrase “child” or “my son.”
P Kittel noted that this phrase “and Samuel got up” is missing in two Hebrew manuscripts just as it is in the LXX.
Q cf. Sym. ουπω “not yet”
R cf. synonymns Σ = συνηκεν (“gathered”), Α = συνετισθη (“put it together”)
SNeither the LXX or the Vulgate have Eli’s name here. This entire paragraph is missing in the LXX, so it is not available for comparison.
T cf. Sym. Καθοδον εν καθοδω “according to [one] way with accordance to [another] way”
U NASB/NIV = “carry out” ESV = “fulfill”
VThe
LXX (followed by the Vulgate and KJV) interprets these words as
First person Future tense verbs, whereas the MT spells these words
as Infinitives. Unfortunately the DSS of this verse is not available
for comparison.
cf. BDB “accomplishing my full purpose,”
K&D “completely,” Lambdin “merismatic
expression,” Gesenius “hendiadys”
WI don’t see how these words “his sons” could be gotten from the Hebrew “which he knew,” so I suspect a genuine variant, but Field noted half a dozen Greek manuscripts which follow the MT with ας εγνω.
X The Hebrew Tiqqun Sopherim supports this variant.
Y cf. Aq. and Theodotian ημαυρωσεν εν (“lay into”? “dis-attenuate”?)
ZMy best guess is that this was an alternate translation of the final Hebrew phrase of this verse which didn’t get deleted before publication. It does not change the story, though.
AA I prefer the ESV “And I declare to him”
BBNASB = “brought a curse on themselves” NIV = “made themselves contemptible” ESV = “were blaspheming God” (It is curious that the ESV picked up the reading of the LXX with the insertion of “God”)
CCThe MT reads “which he knew… cursed them” (and the Vulgate follows the MT), but the LXX reads “of his sons… cursed God” There is no DSS of this verse, but if there were, I would expect it to side with the LXX. This is one of the passages where Jewish scholars admit to having emended the text, removing an aleph from the front of להם so that no good Jew reading the Bible would have to let the words “curse God” come out of his mouth. It doesn’t change the story or the doctrine, however.
DD NASB, NIV, and ESV univocally translated this word “atoned for”
EEThis is the only hitpael (reflexive) form of this verb in the Hebrew Bible, but God made practically the same statement concerning Shebna in Isaiah 22:14.
FFIt’s hard to guess whether this additional phrase is an ancient variant (there being no DSS to compare with this verse), or whether it is an expansion – or an alternate translation of – the first phrase of this verse. In any case, it does not change the story.
GGKittel noted that there are Hebrew manuscripts and Targums which read אל “to” (as the LXX does) instead of the untranslateable Hebrew direct object indicator את found in the MT. It makes no difference in the story, though.
HHPossibly the original Hebrew or a variant or possibly an editorial expansion, but does not change the meaning at all, so it’s hard to see why an editor would feel it necessary to add.
II Fields noted some Greek manuscripts which read the synonym areston (“pleasing”) here.
JJ The Hebrew imperfect verb can be rightly interpreted as future (as the LXX did) or as jussive (as English versions did).
KKThe LXX inserts “Eli” here as the subject (and the NIV followed suit). The DSS is obliterated at this point, but it has enough space before the last word of v.18 (which is legible) to include the extra word “Eli,” which is not in the MT.
LL Could refer to physical growth or to social greatness, cf. Judges 11:2, 13:24, Ruth 1:13, 1 Sam. 2:21 & 26, 2 Sam. 5:10.
MM2 Kings 10:10 is the only other verse in which words are spoken of as not falling to the ground, in that case Elijah’s prophecy was fulfilled by Jehu. Gill suggested, “in allusion either to water that falls to the ground and becomes useless, or to an arrow falling out of the bow and to the ground, before it reaches the mark, and so unsuccessful...”
NN NASB = “confirmed” NIV = “attested”
OO Later Greek versions (A, Sym., Theod.) read closer to the MT with οραθηναι/οφθηναι (“to be seen”).
PP Fields noted a couple of Greek manuscripts which comport with the MT.
QQKittel noted that there were Hebrew manuscripts with the preposition -כ (“like/according to”) instead of the MT -ב (“in/by/with”). The two Hebrew prepositions could easily be mistaken for each other due to their visual similarity too.
RRThere is no DSS containing the end of this verse, but it is curious that both the Vulgate and the LXX have addenda not found in the MT. These additional words, however, merely review what is stated elsewhere in 1 Samuel; they do not add new information.