Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 3:9
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.
Verse 9. Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth] This was the usual way in which the prophets spoke, when they had intimations that the Lord was about to make some especial revelation.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thy servant heareth, i.e. I am ready to hear what thou speakest, and to do what thou requirest.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, go, lie down,…. Once more;
and it shall be, if he call thee; the voice, or the Lord by it:
that thou shalt say, speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth; his meaning is, that he should not rise and come to him, as he had done, but continue on his bed, on hearing the voice again, but desire the Lord to speak to him what he had to say, to which he was ready to attend:
so Samuel went and lay down in his place; which, as commonly understood, was in the court of the Levites, [See comments on 1Sa 3:3].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9, 10) And the Lord came, and stood.Then before the boy, as he lay and waited for the voice, came something, and it stood before him. The question naturally occurs to us, What came and stood before the boys couch? As a rule, we find that generally, when the Lord was pleased to take some form, the form is specified. Now, as in Abrahams case at Mamre, it was a traveller; now, as in Joshuas, an armed warrior; very frequently, as to Manoah, the form was that of an angel; here nothing is specially described. Was it not that simply the glory on which Moses gazed when he met the Holy One on Sinaithe glory which seemed to rest at times in the lightless Holy of Holies on the golden mercy-seat of the Ark of the Covenant? Was it not this visible gloryShekinah. as the Hebrews termed itwhich filled the chamber of the child, and from out of this came the voice of the Eternal, and spoke to Samuel? See how God loves holiness in children. The child Samuel was preferred by Him to Eli, the aged high priest and judge.Theodoret, quoted by Bishop Wordsworth.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(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. (10) And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
Samuel thus instructed, is now prepared to make answer, to the call of God, when that call should be renewed. I would have the Reader remark with me, two things in these verses. One is, that the Lord now calls Samuel by name twice, Samuel, Samuel. As if, after the first discoveries of his love, his manifestations are fuller, and larger. And the other is, that though Eli commanded Samuel to say, Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth; Samuel omitted the word Lord: perhaps, Samuel hesitated to call the Person speaking Jehovah, until be was more fully convinced that it was Jehovah. This glorious incommunicable Name of Jehovah, all the seed of Israel were taught from their youth, to be very cautious in the use of: and never were allowed to use, but upon the most solemn occasions.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Sa 3:9 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.
Ver. 9. That thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. ] Eli, though his conscience told him that Samuel would shortly bespeak him, as afterwards Ahijah the prophet did Jeroboam’s wife, “I am sent to thee with heavy tidings,” 1Ki 14:6 yet he instructeth him when God called again, what answer he should make: and saith in effect, as that holy Dutch doctor did, Veniat, veniat verbum Dei et submittemus ei, sexcenta si nobis essent colla. Let the word of God be what it will, I will surely submit to it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Speak: Exo 20:19, Psa 85:8, Isa 6:8, Dan 10:19, Act 9:6
Reciprocal: Jos 5:14 – What saith