Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 2:18
But Samuel ministered before the LORD, [being] a child, girded with a linen ephod.
18 21. Samuel’s ministry in the tabernacle
18. Samuel ministered ] The writer dwells upon the contrast between Samuel and the sons of Eli. We see the child attending upon Eli in the sanctuary, growing before the Lord, in favour both with the Lord and with men, chosen to be God’s messenger to Eli, and finally re-establishing the broken intercourse between Jehovah and His people. On the other hand we see Hophni and Phinehas abusing their sacred office, sinking from rapacity and profanity to open profligacy, unchecked by rebuke or warning, and at last perishing miserably by the hands of the Philistines.
a linen ephod ] The ephod was a garment covering the shoulders, (Lat. superhumerale), and secured round the waist by a girdle. It was the distinctive dress of priests ( 1Sa 2:28, ch. 1Sa 22:18), but was occasionally worn by others engaged in religions ceremonies, e.g. David (2Sa 6:14). The High Priest wore a special ephod (Exo 28:6 ff.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Girded with a linen ephod – This was the usual dress of the priests. It does not appear whether Levites wore an ephod properly. Possibly it was a mark of Samuels special dedication to the Lords service that he wore one. (See the marginal reference). The ephod was sometimes used as an idolatrous implement Jdg 8:27.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Sa 2:18-19
But Samuel ministered before the Lord.
Early piety
I. the mothers devotion.
II. Samuels early piety.
1. It arose first from a mothers piety. It was the mothers act by means of which all his early impressions were of sacred things. It has been said that the secret of greatness is ordinarily to be traced to mothers. The influence of the mother is the most powerful upon the young life–it springs from purest love. We owe Augustine to Monicas prayers, and in modern times there are those who have bold us what was the source of their success–a mothers training.
2. But influence has its limits. Samuel, as a child, ministered before the Lord. He accepted his vocation, and rose to its demands.
3. Samuel ministered to God as a Levite. Some have thought he was a priest, because he offered sacrifices; but he offered sacrifice by a special commission from God, because of the degeneracy of the priesthood. In the same way, sacrifices were offered in different places, instead of one, not because the Levitical laws were unknown, but because it was not possible to keep to one spot until the ark was recovered and settled in its final resting place. God is not bound by His own laws or ordinary modes of acting, whether in the sphere of nature or of grace, and sometimes directly asserts His supremacy.
4. That Samuel was a Levite is seen from the fact that his father was a Levite (1Ch 6:27). He is described as an Ephrathite, because his family resided in Ephraim. Further, he was not of the sons of Aaron. And the linen ephod, according to some writers, was a Levitical vestment. This, however, seems doubtful. Both the ephod and the little coat, which was a long outer garment, were not exclusively sacerdotal vestments, so that it cannot be gathered from the mention of them that Samuel had an irregular priesthood. In the Psalms he is not included amongst priests: Moses and Aaron among His priests; but Samuel among them that call upon His Name (Psa 99:6).
5. Samuel, besides being a Levite and a Nazarite, was the first of a new order, the goodly fellowship of the Prophets. St. Peter puts him first (Act 3:20): all the prophets from Samuel. The stream of communication between God and man had almost dried up (1Sa 3:1).
III. Lessons.
1. Parents may learn from Hannahs devotion the blessedness of offering their children to God, and that in no grudging spirit, but as realizing with Hannah the nobleness of a life consecrated to God, and the blessings which were brought thereby to His people.
2. Children should learn from Samuel never to put off the service of God to later life, when it is more difficult and less enthusiastic. Samuel, when he was gray-headed, had the happiest reflection when he looked back upon early faithfulness (1Sa 12:1-25.)
3. Repentance after a youth misspent is a means of return to God, and may be the basis of future holiness; but preserved innocence has a beauty, and a greatness, and a buoyancy, and a likeness to Christ, the Holy Child, which the penitent prodigal knows not. (Canon Hutchings, M. A.)
The ministering child
One of our poets has beautifully remarked that the child is father to the man; and the remark is as true as it is beautiful. Just as youth is characterized, so will manhood be distinguished. Youth is the period of impressions, when the heart is tender, and the features begin to be developed. Like the tree which grows as it was influenced when a sapling, man is moulded by the bias of his childhood. The boyhood of great men illustrates this in a striking degree. In the days of his romping boyhood, it is said Cromwell had so little respect for dignity that he struck prince Charles while they were playing together at Hitchinbrook; at which hospitable mansion rested the royal caravan which conveyed James to the throne of England. And in after years no sanctity of royalty could restrain the triumphant Oliver from bringing Charles to the scaffold. When Nelson in his eager birds nesting had placed himself in a position of danger, near a river which he could not cross, and had caused much alarm to his relatives, his reply to an angry grandmamma, who expressed her wonder that fear had not driven him home, was, Fear, grandmamma! I never saw fear! who is he? And this is the most expressive character of that great Admiral, whose career was so brilliant, and whose death was so brave. Mozart, when a child of seven years, composed a concerto for the harpsichord, and died when only thirty-five, with immortality on his memory and his music. Though piety is not a birthright, and has been frequently ingrafted on a wild career, yet none will wonder that Samuels childhood, so beautiful in piety and promise, should result in a godly manhood, a blessing his parents, his country, and his Church. Let us, then, contemplate Samuel in this interesting period of his history, and mark how the good seed took root and evinced its verdure, and how parental godliness sought to bless and comfort a young man from home. It would be no small trial to Elkanah and Hannah to leave their cherished son in the tabernacle of Shiloh, where abandoned priests were ministering. God cared for Samuel, and kept him from the evil of his times. He was one of the cares of Providence, and never wanted any good thing. Resident in the sanctuary, he was to be trained for the ministry; and though a child, he was clad with a linen ephod. In the Levitical dispensation the ephod, which the priest wore, attested the same great truth. Whenever he drew near to consult the Lord and to offer sacrifice, he put on the linen ephod (1Sa 14:3; 1Sa 23:9.) Then he could plead on behalf of men, and act as mediator. It sanctified his person, and made him a type of Him who was to come. In the New Testament Church there is an ephod for all to wear who would approach God. It is the spotless robe of the Redeemers righteousness. This is the symbol of acceptance, and guarantees admission at all times to the presence chamber of Jehovah. Samuel was young in years. He could not know much of divine things; but he was capable of experiencing the divine blessing. He was more than a dedicated child He was born from above. An illustrious ancestry did not so much ennoble him as did this heavenly birth. It exalted him to a place in that family whose names are written in heaven. Samuel ministered before the Lord. He was occupied in the tabernacle service. Levites did not usually begin their service until they were twenty-five years of age, but Samuel was taken into active office in his very childhood. The son of his adoption seemed better than Elis sons by blood. It revived the hearts of all the godly throughout the land, when Samuel in his youthful beauty was seen in the holy place. It is ever interesting to see youth in the service of Christ. Perhaps, says Matthew Henry, he attended immediately on Elis person–was ready to him to fetch and bring as he had occasion; and that is called ministering to the Lord . . . He could light a candle, or hold a dish, or run on an errand, or shut a door; and because he did this with a pious disposition of mind, it is called ministering to the Lord, and great notice is taken of it. We have not now a tabernacle such as was in Shiloh, nor have we such services as Samuel was called upon to render; but in the Church of God there is a sphere wide enough for the most active energy, diversified enough for many workers, and simple enough for the youngest to undertake. The hearts of parents often beat anxiously for their absent children. Hannahs prayers would also often follow him, and her hands were busily occupied with providing for his wants. As a prudent wife, she sought wool and flax, and wrought willingly with her hands, and made a coat for her boy to wear at Shiloh. Her heart was with him in the tabernacle; and as she wrought with her distaff, or wove her web, or plied needle and thread, she thought of her absent son. You may have absent children who, amidst the business and sin of great cities, are much exposed. Have a care over them. Remember their case every day at your family altar. Write often to them words of truth and soberness. It is specially useful to see them often. Some who have been early from home and separated from friends may read these pages. You had in the beginning of youth days to rough lifes tempestuous sea. Think often of home. There is a charm in that little word. Think of a parents yearning heart on behalf of the absent. Letters are the electric wires of families; they bear in their bosoms some message of love, and make the heart thrill. Hannah was an industrious wife and mother. Among the many virtues of female character this is not the least. In the portrait of a virtuous woman sketched by King Lemuel in the last chapter of the Book of Proverbs, out of twenty-two verses descriptive of female excellence, eleven refer to industry; and of these eleven scarcely one points to labour that is net useful. Many fritter their time away in labours that bring no profit, but she whom the Bible delights to honour is industrious in well-doing. It is to be remembered, however, that the duties of a house and family have proved snares to many who, like Martha, have been cumbered with such serving, and distracted with many cares. Where there are habits of order and of prayer, these evils may be avoided, and while not slothful in business, the Christian matron may be also fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Hannah was not so occupied with domestic duties as to be absent from the sanctuary and the feast of the passoverse The loan which Elkanah and Hannah gave to the Lord when they left Samuel at Shiloh was not lost. It had its blessed recompense. God is never in debt to His people, and he has graciously promised a recompense. It may not be always realized in this life, but it shall be at the resurrection of the just. What an encouragement to well-doing, and to sacrifice for the Lords cause! (R. Steel.)
Childhood and service
A sweet picture! Here is a child who came into the world, as it were, through the very gate of prayer. So to speak, he was the direct creature of intercession. His mother went immediately to Gods house for him; actually went straight up to God, and asked Him for the child. Here, then, is a child-prophet, and that fact is pregnant with the deepest signification. That a child should have any place in Gods temple, and especially that a child should hold office in that temple, is a circumstance which should arrest our attention.
1. Gods interest in human life begins at the earliest possible period. When does Gods interest in human life begin? When does Christs heart begin to yearn in pity over all human creatures? Is it when they are five years old, or ten; does He shut up His love until they are twenty-one? The question may appear quaint, but I press it. When does Christs interest in human life begin? I contend that His interest relates to life, not to age; to birth, not to birthdays. As soon as a child is borne that great redeeming heart yearns with pitying love. I do then encourage all parents to bring their children early to the temple; to lend them unto the Lord before they can give themselves away; and what know we, but that the mothers loan may be confirmed by the mans own gift!
2. Moreover his mother made him a Little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Great rivers bays often Little sources. The river of a whole years joy came out of making this little coat. It seems a very simple circumstance to put down in the worlds great volume that Hannah made Samuel a little coat every year! Mark, then, how age must work for childhood, strength must toil lovingly and helpfully for weakness. The resources of life must be expended on the children of need. This is the way to obtain happiness; namely, by making those mound us happy. He who sends joy down to the roots of society, shall find that joy reproducing itself in the solaces and comforts of his own life. The making of this little coat caused the hours to fly speedily; and the gift of it, at the appointed time, enriched the giver more then it enriched the wearer. So it is that giving is getting, and that scattering may, be the truest consolidation of wealth.
3. Now let us advance a step, and see how this child proceeds. In the ensuing chapter he is still called a child–a ministering child. Experience has taught me to have more faith in children than in adults! Children are more like God than men and women are. Children are unsophisticated, straightforward, simple, trustful, joyous, loving; adults are often crooked, crafty, double-minded, selfish, moody, rancorous, and vile. I sympathise with the poet when he wishes that he could go back to God through his yesterdays. Alas, there is no way to heaven except through our tomorrows; and as we get older by travelling through these tomorrows, we often lose the simplicity and beauty of childhood, and engross ourselves with engagements which tend rather to degrade and unfit us for the high society of heaven.
4. According to the opening verse of the third chapter, the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. That which is rare is precious. The word of the Lord did not shine forth in noon-day glory; it was like a glimmer on the horizon. Gods kingdom on the earth begins with small demonstrations. It is small as a mustard seed. Oftentimes in the Gospel narrative it is likened to all minutest things. In our day there is open vision. The whole heaven is blazing with light. But who cares today, when England is flooded with the celestial glory? We, as a nation, being exalted to heaven with multitudinous privileges, are not unlikely to be cast down into hell, through our perversion and personal neglect. It is a beautiful picture this of Eli and Samuel engaged in temple service. Here we have extreme age and extreme youth united in the same labour. It is as if sunrise mud sunset had found a meeting point; here is all the brightness of the one and all the gorgeous colouring and solemn pomp of the other. What is the lesson? The lesson I see is that God has work for all classes.
I. Looking at this scene, we have, first of all, almighty God calling man at an unlikely time. The time is night: deep sleep has fallen upon man, and in the time of rest and unconsciousness the voice from heaven sounds. Why not in the temple, and why not in open day? This is like God, the darkness and the light are both alike unto Him.
II. In the next place we have almighty God calling an unlikely person. We should have thought that it would have been more probable that God would have called the aged prophet rather than the ministering child. But the first shall be last and the last first. (J. Parker, D. D.)
A childs ministry
Samuel was very, very young; but Samuels little efforts to minister to the Lord were precious; and are here recorded by God Himself. Is it only the grown up, strong children in a family, who are noticed, and approved of, by their parents? Do not your father and mother love the little infant that can but just creep about? and if it does but put forth its little arm, to show its affection for them, do they not notice it, and look very pleased? Oh, yes, you know they do; nay, you sometimes imagine that they think more of the little ones than of you great ones, and take more notice of any feeble effort that the youngest makes, than of all your great doings; and I could almost think that if our heavenly Father has Peculiar favourites in his family, it is his little infants, whom he has taught to stretch out the desires of their souls after him. It is his Samuel and his Timothy, who from childhood have known and loved the Scriptures and the God of the sacred Scriptures. But, perhaps you think, Samuel could not help being devoted to the Lord and serving him, when he was left so young at the temple, with good old Eli and good people around him. My dear child, if you were to get a bramble, and plant it in some very good ground, and put good trees all round it, would you expect your bramble to become a good tree likewise? You smile at the very idea. But does not God tell you in his word, that our hearts are like thorns and brambles, and that no power, short of his, can make a myrtle or a rose grow up instead of the thorn? Nay, does not daily experience teach us the same lesson? While we look at the holy child Samuel with delight and love, our hearts ache while looking at the two wicked sons of Eli; abusing the office of priest, and causing the way of truth to be evil spoken of. You are none of you fond of a thorn or thistle, I dare say; if they catch you when you are walking or running, they will prick or scratch you–and you get no fruit from them: but when they get in among your favourite fruit trees or flowers, and choke them up, and hinder their growth, they make you doubly angry with them. Now this was the state of things with the wicked sons of Eli: they were not only like worthless thorns, but, by growing up among the people of the Lord, and ministering in holy things, they stopped the growth of the faithful, and even caused the Lords people to transgress. We gladly turn awhile from so awful a subject to look at the dear child Samuel. Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. Moreover, his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband So offer the yearly sacrifice. We have here the tender affection of the mother pointed out, with the blessed firmness of the Christian. While she brings him his little coat of her own making, as a token of her love, she expresses no desire to take back the loan which she had lent unto the Lord–the loan of her only child–it, it cheerfully leaves him time after time, and returns to her home, where she had not a child to receive or to cheer her. But who was ever a loser by lending unto the Lord? look l whatsoever he layeth out in cheerful, humble confidence, it shall be restored a hundredfold into his bosom. (Helen Plumptre.)
Moreover his mother made him a little coat.
A talk to mothers
We have three separate statements of the nature of a little child. The first is that, in some way, it is utterly depraved and lost; not capable of conceiving one good thought, saying one good word, or doing one good thing. This statement, to my mind, is untrue. It clashes with the loftiest revelation ever made to our race about the child-nature. Jesus said, Suffer the little children to come auto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. If the child is utterly depraved, and of such is the kingdom of heaven, wherein does the kingdom of heaven differ from the kingdom of hell? The second theory is one that I have heard from some liberal Christians–that the heart and nature of a little child are like a fresh garden mould in the springtime. Nothing has sprung out of it: but the seeds of vice are already bedded down into it; and we must plant good seeds, and nurse them until there is a strong growth of the better promise–carefully, all the while, weeding out whatever is bad as it comes to the surface. At the first glance this seems to be about the truth. Still, I fear it has not come so much out of that true philosophy which is founded on a close observation of our nature, as it has come out of a desire not to differ so very far from those who denounce us heartily as unchristian. Such an idea of the child-nature is, after all, a moderate theory of infant depravity; and as such I reject it, so far as it gives any preoccupation and predominance to sin, and accept the third theory, as the true and pure gospel about the child-nature; namely, that the kingdom of heaven, in a child, is like unto a man that sowed good seed in his field; but afterward, while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away; and when the blade sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. The good seed is sown first. The good is primary, and purely good; the bad is secondary, and not totally bad. And every little child ministers before the Lord, and every mother makes his garments from year to year. I propose to speak briefly on the nature and possibilities of this mother influence, what it is, and what it may be.
1. And note, first of all, that while in afterlife the father may come to an equal or even stronger influence over the child–in the plastic morning of life, when the infant soul puts on its first robes of joy and love and faith and wonder, the hand of the mother alone is permitted to give them their rich quality and texture.
2. Then, secondly, while it is eminently true that the little child has such rich endowment, and you have such a wonderful preeminence, it is also true that the possibilities open out two ways–you may greatly blight his life, or you may greatly bless it. The garments that mothers fit on to the spirits of little children, like the garments that they fit to the outward form, only more certainly, have a great deal to do with that childs whole future life. Let me give you instances that are kept in the archives of the world. What would you judge to be the foremost thing in Washington? The obvious answer is, his perfect, spotless, radiant integrity. Now it is an instructive fact for mothers that of the few books that have come down to us with which the mother of Washington surrounded her boy in early life, the one most worn and well used is a book on morals, by that eminent pattern of the old English integrity, Sir Matthew Hale; and the place where that book opens easiest, where it is most dog eared and frail, is at a chapter on the great account which we must all give of the deeds done in the body. Before that boy went out of his home his mother took care to stamp the image and superscription of integrity deeply on his soul. What, after his great genius, would you mention as the most notable thing in William Ellery Channing? We answer at once, his constant loyalty to a broad, free, fearless examination of every question that could present itself to him; a frank confession of what he believed to be true about it, no matter what was said against it; and an active endeavour to make that truth a part of his life. Channing testified, with a proud affection, of his mother: She had the firmness to examine the truth, to speak it, and to act upon it, beyond all women I ever knew. And so it was that, when her frail boy must go out into the battle, she had armed him with the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation. And so one might go reciting instances almost endlessly, if it were needful, to show how true it is that the mother makes the man. What, then, positively, shall the mother do who will do her best? I will answer this question first by noting what she shall not do. And I cannot say one thing before this–that the spiritual garment she fashions for her little ones from year to year shall not be black. All mothers know how long before their children can utter a word they can read gladness or gloom in the mothers face. Let her smile, and the child will laugh; let her look sad, and it will weep. Now, some mothers, if they have had great troubles or are much tried in their daily life, get into a habit of sadness that is like a second nature. They talk with unction of who is dead, and how young they were, and how many are sick, and what grief is abroad altogether on the earth. And the child listens to all that is said. The mother may think he does not care; but, if my own earliest memories are at all true to the common childhood, he does care. These things chill him through and through. Then I would ask that the garment of spiritual influence, which you are ever fashioning, shall not be of the nature of a straight jacket. Has your boy a heavy foot, a loud voice, a great appetite, a defiant way, and a burly presence altogether? Then thank God for it, more than if your husband had a farm where corn grows twelve feet high; your child has in him the making of a great and good man. The only fear is that you will fail to meet the demand of this strong, grand nature and try to break where you ought to build. The question for you to solve, mother, is not how to subdue him, but how to direct him. Dr. Kane was a wonder of boisterous energy in childhood, climbing trees and roofs, projecting himself against all obstacles, until he got the name of being the worst boy in all Branch town; but time revealed the divinity of this rough life, when he bearded the ice king in his own domain, and made himself a name in Arctic exploration second to none. I shall not speak in any material sense; but, when the child begins to think, he at once begins to question. He is set here in a great universe of wonder and mystery, and he wants to know its meaning and the meaning of himself. But some mothers, when their children come to them with their questions in all good faith, either treat the question with levity, or get afraid, and reprove the little thing for asking. Mothers, this is all wrong. This is one of your rarest opportunities to clothe the spirit of your child in the fresh garments that will make him all beautiful, as he stands before the Lord. Then, as this primitive woman would be evermore careful to meet the enlarged form of her child, as she went to see him stand before the Lord from year to year, will you be careful to meet the enlarged spirit of your child? I do fear for the mother who will not note how her child demands and needs ever new and larger confidences. (R. Collyer.)
A coat for Samuel
1. Hannah stands before you, then, today, in the first place, as an industrious mother. There was no need for her to work. Elkanah, her husband, was far from poor. She is industrious from principle as well as from pleasure. God would not have a mother become a drudge or a slave; He would have her employ all the helps possible in this day in the rearing of her children. But Hannah ought never to be ashamed to be found making a coat for Samuel. Most mothers need no counsel in this direction. The wrinkles on their brow, the pallor on their cheek, attest that they are faithful in their maternal duties. Indolent and unfaithful mothers will make indolent and unfaithful children. You cannot expect neatness and order in any house where the daughters see nothing but slatterness and upside-downativeness in their parents. The mothers of Samuel Johnson, and of Alfred the Great, and of Isaac Newton, end of Saint Augustine, and of Richard Cecil, and of President Edwards, for the most part were industrious, hardworking mothers.
2. Again: Hannah stands before you today as an intelligent mother. From the way in which she talked in this chapter, and from the way she managed this boy, you know she was intelligent. There are no persons in a community who need to be so wise and well-informed as mothers. O, this work of culturing children for this world and the next. This child is timid, and it must be roused up and pushed out into activity.
3. Again: Hannah stands before you today as a Christian mother.
4. Again, and lastly: Hannah stands before you today the rewarded mother. For all the coats she made for Samuel; for all the prayers she offered for him; for the discipline she exerted over him, she got abundant compensation in the piety, and the usefulness, and the popularity of her son Samuel; and that is true in all ages. Every mother gets full pay for all the prayers and tears in behalf of her children. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The little coat
I. We have here–the sacred toil of a mother.
1. House labour consecrated by love and worship. Serve God, then, in toiling for your children. Offer to the Lord the sacrifice of your weariness for them and you will find that God will not be unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labour of love in your ministering to those whom you have tried to make His saints.
2. We have here not only labour blessed by love and worship, but also household love consecrated by religion. Love is of God; and that home affection is not worthy the name, of which the beginning, continuance, and end are not in God.
3. And now in a return of blessing we have religion beautified by loving labour. Religion and common labour are not only not incongruous, they give to one another added dignity, blessedness, and comeliness.
II. The dutiful, pious memorial of a son, I have already presumed what we have fair warrant for:–that we have this story either by Samuels own writing in this book, or through his communication of the story to others. Either positron implies on Samuels part a tender remembrance that must not be lightly passed by. Though you can think only of a lowly home and homely people as your lifes guides; yet, if like Samuel you can remember common work done lovingly for you, it is worth your remembering and honouring. The same truth is to be held by fathers and mothers. No man or woman can leave to children a more honourable memory than that of hard work, of faith, and diligent labour of love in or for the home, in and for the Lord. (G. B. Ryley.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. Girded with a linen ephod] This the Targum translates asir cardut debuts, “Girded with a cardit of byssus, or fine linen.” The word cardut they seem to have borrowed from the Greek , a tunic, having , i.e., sleeves that came down to, or covered, the hands. This was esteemed an effeminate garment among the Romans. See Buxtorf’s Talmudic Lexicon.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ministered, i.e. performed his ministration carefully and faithfully, not corrupting nor abusing it, as Elis sons did.
Before the Lord; in Gods tabernacle; or as in Gods presence, sincerely and regardarly, with Gods approbation.
Compare Gen 17:1; 2Ch 26:4.
A linen ephod; a garment used in Gods service, and allowed not only to the inferior priests and Levites, but also to eminent persons of the people, as 2Sa 6:11, and therefore to Samuel, who, though no Levite, was a Nazarite, and that from his birth.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. But Samuel ministered before theLord, being a childThis notice of his early services in theouter courts of the tabernacle was made to pave the way for theremarkable prophecy regarding the high priest’s family.
girded with a linen ephodAsmall shoulder-garment or apron, used in the sacred service by theinferior priests and Levites; sometimes also by judges or eminentpersons, and hence allowed to Samuel, who, though not a Levite, wasdevoted to God from his birth.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But Samuel ministered before the Lord,…. The ministration of Samuel, though a child, is observed both before and after the account of the ill behaviour and wickedness of Eli’s sons; partly to the shame and disgrace of them, and as serving to aggravate their sin, and make it appear the more black and heinous; and partly to his honour and reputation, that he was not corrupted and turned aside from God by their evil practices. The phrase here used is different from that in 1Sa 2:11 there he is said to minister before Eli, under his direction and guidance, but here before the Lord; being now engaged in higher services, and which he could perform without the assistance of Eli, as in the presence of God more immediately; it seems to have respect to him when more grown in age, stature, knowledge, and experience, though here related: yet still being “a child”; not got out of his childhood, or arrived to manhood:
girded with a linen ephod; such as priests used to wear, but not Levites in common, nor extraordinary persons on extraordinary occasions, see 1Sa 22:18. This seems to be a peculiar favour, and a special honour which Eli granted to Samuel when so very young, on account of the grace of God bestowed on him in a wonderful manner; and because brought up in the tabernacle as a holy person, and a Nazarite; and because his birth was foretold, and he asked of God, as his name signified, as Procopius Gazaeus observes.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Samuel’s service before the Lord. – 1Sa 2:18. Samuel served as a boy before the Lord by the side of the worthless sons of Eli, girt with an ephod of white material ( , see at Exo 28:42). The ephod was a shoulder-dress, no doubt resembling the high priest’s in shape (see Exo 28:6.), but altogether different in the material of which it was made, viz., simple white cloth, like the other articles of clothing that were worn by the priests. At that time, according to 1Sa 22:18, all the priests wore clothing of this kind; and, according to 2Sa 6:14, David did the same on the occasion of a religious festival. Samuel received a dress of this kind even when a boy, because he was set apart to a lifelong service before the Lord. is the technical expression for putting on the ephod, because the two pieces of which it was composed were girt round the body with a girdle.
1Sa 2:19 The small also ( Angl. “coat”), which Samuel’s mother made and brought him every year, when she came with her husband to Shiloh to the yearly sacrifice, was probably a coat resembling the mel of the high priest (Exo 28:31.), but was made of course of some simpler material, and without the symbolical ornaments attached to the lower hem, by which that official dress was distinguished.
1Sa 2:20 The priestly clothing of the youthful Samuel was in harmony with the spiritual relation in which he stood to the high priest and to Jehovah. Eli blessed his parents for having given up the boy to the Lord, and expressed this wish to the father: “ The Lord lend thee seed of this woman in the place of the one asked for ( ), whom they (one) asked for from the Lord.” The striking use of the third pers. masc. instead of the second singular or plural may be accounted for on the supposition that it is an indefinite form of speech, which the writer chose because, although it was Hannah who prayed to the Lord for Samuel in the sight of Eli, yet Eli might assume that the father, Elkanah, had shared the wishes of his pious wife. The apparent harshness disappears at once if we substitute the passive; whereas in Hebrew active constructions were always preferred to passive, wherever it was possible to employ them ( Ewald, 294, b.). The singular suffix attached to after the plural may be explained on the simple ground, that a dwelling-place is determined by the husband, or master of the house.
1Sa 2:21 The particle , “ for ” (Jehovah visited), does not mean if, as, or when, nor is it to be regarded as a copyist’s error. It is only necessary to supply the thought contained in the words, “ Eli blessed Elkanah,” viz., that Eli’s blessing was not an empty fruitless wish; and to understand the passage in some such way as this: Eli’s word was fulfilled, or still more simply, they went to their home blessed; for Jehovah visited Hannah, blessed her with “ three sons and two daughters; but the boy Samuel grew up with the Lord,” i.e., near to Him (at the sanctuary), and under His protection and blessing.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Samuel and Eli, vs. 18-26
In these verses the last glimpse of Elkanah and his family in the Scriptures is found. What kind of ministry the child Samuel had in the tabernacle is not known, but it appears that he was dressed as a miniature priest. He wore a linen ephod like the high priest. This piece of apparel was a beautiful, multicolored vest-like affair fastened at the shoulders. A long robe was made to wear with it, and this may have been the coat which Hannah brought to him each year when she came to the annual sacrifice. He needed this new coat each year, for he was constantly growing taller, and it should reach to his feet.
Eli must have become very fond of young Samuel, probably treating him as a favorite grandchild. He uttered his priestly blessing on EIkanah and Hannah for lending the child and prayed for them the blessing of other children. In time the couple became parents of three sons and two daughters, Samuel evidently being the oldest of the three sons.
Not only did Samuel grow physically, but also ‘grew before the Lord, evident reference to his gaining knowledge and wisdom in the law of God. Eli possibly exerted much effort in teaching him in a belated effort to make some amends for the poor reflection made on him by his own sons. Eli was a man of God, but he had failed with his sons, being too lax with them, as shall appear in the sequel.
People told Eli the awful way they were treating the sacrifices. But he also learned that they were committing fornication with the women who had dedicated their lives to the service of the tabernacle. This may not mean that the women were necessarily guilty also, for it has been seen how overbearing and imperative these evil priests were. No doubt many, perhaps all, of these were morally good women, compelled to undergo this sin by the priests.
Eli tried to reason with Hophni and Phinehas, but they were beyond listening. He warned them that a judge may judge between man and man, but it is fearful to be judged of the Lord, when there is none to entreat for you. They were lost sinners, and this is the condition of all sinners of any age. It is said they hearkened not “because the Lord would slay them.” This indicates that they were hardened in their sin, beyond the conviction that might lead them to repentance, with irrevocable judgment awaiting them (1Co 11:31-32).
While this condition continued in the priest family, Samuel was growing to adulthood and being favorably approved, by both God and men.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES
1Sa. 2:18. But. The Levite-child is contrasted with the grown-up priest (Wordsworth). Ephod. It does not appear whether the Levites wore the ephod properly. Micah wore one, but that may have been in his character as priest (Jdg. 18:4; Jdg. 18:6; Jdg. 18:14), and David when he danced before the ark (2Sa. 6:14). Possibly this was a mark of Samuels special dedication (Biblical Commentary).
1Sa. 2:19. Coat. Meil, rendered mantle in 1Sa. 15:27; 1Sa. 28:14, etc. It probably resembled the robe or Meil of the High-priest (Exo. 28:31), but was made of course of some simpler material, and without the symbolical ornaments attached to the lower hem, by which that official dress was distinguished (Keil). It is interesting to know that the garment which his mother made and brought to the infant prophet at her annual visit was a miniature of the official priestly tunic or robe; the same that the great prophet wore in mature years, and by which he was on one occasion actually identified. When the witch of Endor, in answer to Sauls inquiry, told him that an old man was come up covered with a meil, Saul perceived that it was Samuel1Sa. 28:14. (Smiths Biblical Dictionary).
1Sa. 2:22. Very old, consequently listless (Patrick). The women that assembled. The same phrase as that used in Exo. 38:8. Some commentators consider that these women were employed in spinning, etc., for the service of the tabernacle like those mentioned in Exo. 35:25. Others, as Hengstenberg, look upon their service as purely spiritual, as that of Anna (Luk. 2:36). Others again regard them as simply worshippers. Kitto says that if they were employed in service they would have been inside, not at the doors of the tabernacle.
1Sa. 2:25. If one man sin against another, etc. A man may intercede with God for remission of a penalty due to himself, but who shall venture to entreat for one who has outraged the majesty of God. (Wordsworth.)
1Sa. 2:26. In favour, etc. The same words as are used of Christ (Luk. 2:52).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Sa. 2:18-21; 1Sa. 2:26
TRUE MINISTRY
I. Qualification for the service of God is not always on the side of years. A child may have a more correct idea of how to serve God than a man. The son may possess knowledge on this matter of which his parents may be profoundly ignorant. This is true of other knowledge than spiritual. One who is very young in years may far surpass his elders in his aptitude for science or art. The youthful Watt had thoughts suggested to his mind by the phenomena of nature such as had never occurred to the ancients who had preceded him, and he was thus at a very early age more qualified to serve his generation in this department of knowledge than they were. So in spiritual service. Age and experience do not necessarily qualify men to minister acceptably before the Lord. Hophni and Phinehas were old enough to serve God acceptably in the priests office, but while they brought dishonour upon Him in the performance of the most sacred functions, the child Samuel so performed his more humble duties as to make them an acceptable service to Jehovah. It is not the office which is held, but the spirit in which its duties are performed, that constitutes the real service, and that depends not on years, but on character, and often those who have been long nominal or even real servants of God are outstripped in fervour and devotion by those who have entered the lists many years later. Many that are first shall be last, and the last first (Mat. 19:30). Many who take the lead in the first start of the race are left far behind when others have reached the goal. Some who enter a school long before others are overtaken and outstripped by the later comers. And it is so in the Church of God. The sons of Eli were in the priesthood before Samuel was in the world, yet he was far in advance of them in the possession of that reverence and godly fear, without which no service to God is acceptable (Heb. 12:28).
II. When regeneration has began in the young and degeneration has set in in those of mature years, the progress is commonly rapid in both. While Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord and also with men, Hophni and Phinehas hastened to fill up the measure of their iniquity. The sinful human nature which is the inheritance of all men was common both to Samuel and the sons of Eli, and they were both surrounded with influences favourable to the overcoming of evil tendencies and to the formation of a holy character. But Hophni and Phinehas strengthened every sinful natural disposition by giving themselves up to be ruled by their passions, by utterly disregarding the commandment of the Lord, the voice of conscience, or even their own reputation. Such an entire disregard of all the restraints which God had placed upon them made rapid degeneration inevitable, and they soon became as bad as it was possible for fallen men to become. But Samuels upward growth was as rapid as their descent. He had evidently already become a subject of the regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit, he had yielded himself up to that Divine guidance which is powerful enough to renew the human heart and to give a new birth unto holiness, and so to make the path of him who is willing to be moulded by it as the shining light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The child grew and so did the men. The one ripened for a noble and holy and useful life, the others for the condemnation and judgment of God.
III. The most godless and the holy may be found associated in the external service of God. Samuel and the sons of Eli were both engaged in the temple service. Samuel was girded with a linen ephod, and so, doubtless, were they. Wheat and tares grow together in the same field. John and Judas sat at meat together with the Lord. A saint of the highest type may be associated in external religious service with a most villanous man, they may worship in the same house of God, may sit together at the table of the Lord. It must and will be so until the harvest when the Lord of the field will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn (Mat. 13:30).
IV. Fulfilled obligations will not discharge us from obligations yet to be fulfilled. Hannah had taken her child and given him to Eli for the service of the Lord, but her loving care of him did not end there. Her heart was still with him, and her hands still busy for him. She made him a little coat, which she brought to him from year to year. The performance of past duties to God does not free us from the obligations of the present any more that debts discharged in the past will release us from those we may contract in the future. Not even a very special work done for God, or a great sacrifice made for His service in the past, will discharge us from the obligation to perform the commonest duties of to-day. When Hannah had performed her vow, and dedicated her first-born son to the Lord, and under the influence of the Holy Ghost had sung of the coming kingdom of righteousness and of the Lords Anointed, she still regarded it as her privilege and duty to care for her childs every-day bodily wants, and to make his garment with her own hands. She recognised the fact that if the spirit is to serve God in the present life the body must be cared for too, even as did the great Apostle of the Gentiles when, looking forward to being shortly crowned by his Lord in Paradise, he sent for his cloak which he left in Troas, that so long as he was in the flesh he might keep his body from cold and sickness, and so continue fit to serve His Master until the end should come (2Ti. 4:13). Those whose hearts are right will not despise the lowliest or the most ordinary work, or call anything that their hands find to do common or unworthy of their notice.
V. We have here a record of Divine compensation for human sacrifice. The Lord blessed Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. The kingdom of nature demands sacrifices of men. The husbandman must cast away some seed and give it up as it were to death, and he must do this without regard to the wind or the cold. But Nature is generous when she finds that her conditions are fulfilled, she gives an ear for a single grain, and the joy of harvest to compensate for the toil of the sowing-time. And as it is in Gods natural kingdom, so is it more abundantly in His spiritual kingdom. No service rendered to Him, not even a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, shall lose its reward. Hannah gave her firstborn son to the Lord in the service of the temple, and her home was gladdened by five more children. She found that God heaped into her bosom good measure and running over. In the more spiritual dispensation of the New Testament men must not look for, nor do spiritual men desire such a repayment in the same kind, but God will be no mans debtor, and the word of Christ is sure: And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my names sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life (Mat. 19:29).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1Sa. 2:18. Samuel did not merely worship and enjoy spiritual training; he ministered before the Lord, and did what he could to make himself useful. Perhaps, says Matthew Henry, he attended immediately on Elis personwas ready to him to fetch and bring as he had occasion; and that is called ministering to the Lord. He could light a candle, or hold a dish, or run on an errand, or shut a door; and because he did this with a pious disposition of mind, it is called ministering to the Lord, and great notice is taken of it. We have not now a tabernacle such as there was in Shiloh, nor have we such services as Samuel was called upon to render; but in the Church of God there is sphere wide enough for the most active energy, diversified enough for many workers, and simple enough for the youngest to undertake. Common obedience and everyday life, too, receive a consecration from the godly motive. Children, by their infant prayers, have ere now awakened a parents long silent heart. An infants hymn has awakened the hardened, and the example of a believing boy has occasioned an older mind to inquire, What must I do to be saved?Steel.
1Sa. 2:19. This was much in Samuels education. It nurtured the family feeling, the loss of which is a great deprivation. It kept his heart tender, when amidst strangers his feelings might be blunted. It provided for him that he might not be reproached.Steel.
Petty little histories! cries Unbelief. What matters it whether one knows that Samuel had a little coat or no? Holy Scripture is not written for the wise, but for child-souls, and a child-like soul does not doubt that even the little coat which Hannah prepared for her Samuel has its history. If I think of Hannah as every year sewing this coat at her home in Ramah, I know that at every stitch a prayer for her Samuel rose up to the throne of the Lord. The coat which she was sewing would remind her that she had given him to the Lord; and when the coat was ready, and she brought it to Shiloh, then every time with the coat she anew gave Samuel to her God, and said, I give him to the Lord again for his whole life, because he was obtained from the Lord by prayer.Daechsel.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Sa. 2:22-25
ELIS REPROOF OF HIS SONS
I. Impartiality is an essential qualification in a judge or ruler. Some sins against Divine laws are to be dealt with by human rulers. Magistracy is an ordination of God, and in proportion as the character of him who administers the law is good, and the law itself is just, human judges are reflections of God, and represent Him who will not acquit the guilty, and will defend the innocent. But, above all things, he who holds such an office must be impartial. Eli, as the judge of Israel, was bound to imitate God in this particular, as in all others. No man can be honoured by his fellow-creatures unless he deals out evenhanded justice to all to whom he administers law, and the man who will allow rank, or position, or relationship to influence his judgment is no representative of Him who will render to all their dues. A man should be specially guarded when called upon to pass sentence or administer justice to one who is connected with him by the ties of blood or friendship. Such a medium has a tendency to distort our sense of right and wrongto lead us to excuse the crime with which we should deal severely in a stranger. What we should look upon as pure villany in the one we may be disposed to regard as mere misfortune in the other. It needs a much higher standard of character than that possessed by Eli to deal out the rightful measure of punishment to those who are nearly connected with us. The goodness and integrity of God leads Him to adopt a course directly opposite to that which men generally pursue in such a case. He punishes with greater rigour in proportion as the offender has been hitherto favoured and brought into near relation to Him. We have reason to believe that few of the sons of God stood nearer the Eternal throne than Satan. And because it was so, his punishment has been severe in proportion, the hell into which he was banished was deep in proportion to the place in heaven from which he fell. No people of ancient days stood in such near and intimate relation to God as did the people of Israel. Yet for this very reason no nation has received such severe punishment for transgression. You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities (Amo. 3:2). God, being the perfectly righteous judge and governor, is the Being whose example should be followed by all human magistrates, and the prominent feature in Gods magistracy is His strict impartiality. If Eli had imitated God in this respect he would have dealt very differently with his abandoned sons. But he looked at their crimes through the medium of his fatherly relationship, and this medium so softened down the blood-red stains upon their characters that when, as the first magistrate of Israel, he ought to have sentenced them to death or at least to have excommunicated them from office, he contents himself with a very tame remonstrance. He touches them gently with the back of the sword, whereas if a Moses or such a man as the first Phinehas had been in his place, he would have thrust the blade into them up to the very hilt (Num. 25:6-11). His stern rebuke of Hannah for a fancied crime shows that he could be severe, in speech at least, upon occasions, and the contrast even in the words used to the unoffending woman and those in which he reproved his sons, makes him stand convicted of gross impartiality, and therefore as lacking the most essential qualification of a magistrate.
II. Men who are merely emotional are fit neither to govern men nor to train children. Honey is good for mans eating, and contains some nutriment and also healing properties. But honey alone would be a poor sustainer or nourisher of human life. Wax is a useful material for some purposes, but it would be poor material of which to build a house. To feed upon the first would be to make sickness certain; to build with the second would be to ensure the fall of the house. Emotions have their place in the human soul, and a man destitute of feeling is a monster; but feelings are not to be the guide of human conduct, and the judge or the father who is swayed entirely by his emotions will in time forfeit all respect and confidence. Tenderness and gentleness are blessed and Divine attributes of character, but mere softness and inertness must not be mistaken for them; and where they really exist there is no lack of capability for righteous indignation, no want of will to administer deserved rebuke. Elis failure in his duty as a judge leads us to infer that he had been a too indulgent fatherthat which unfitted him to deal justly with his grown sons would have unfitted him to train them in childhood. Contrast the tender and long-suffering Son of God with the soft-hearted Eli, and place the reproof of the high priest side by side with our Lords denunciations of similar characters holding a like position, and we see how the tenderest compassion is compatible with the most terrible denunciation of sin. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? etc.(Mat. 23:23-35).
III. There are sins beyond the power of human intercession. Even Eli allowed this (1Sa. 2:25). Men have committed and do commit certain sins, and other men have interceded and do intercede for them and obtain their pardon. This is the case where sins are committed against other men, and sometimes when sin is committed against God. God Himself has accepted human mediation, and has held back His judgments. This He did often in the case of Moses and the people of Israel. Many a time He spared the sinful nation because the voice of His servant pleaded for them. But sometimes no intercession of man can avert Divine displeasureno human creature can prevent the thunderbolt of Gods judgment from falling. Noah, Daniel, and Job were men who were highly esteemed by God, and whose prayers on behalf of others arein the case of two at leastknown to have been effectual (Job. 42:8; Dan. 9:20; Dan. 9:23). But, if they had all lived in the days of Ezekiel, their joint intercessions could not have saved the guilty Israelites from the chastisement which their sins had made inevitableThough these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God (Eze. 14:14). The sins of Hophni and Phinehas were so outrageously vile, and their position and office so aggravated their crimes that they were beyond the power of human intercession. No prayer of Eli, not even the prayers of a Noah, a Daniel, or a Job, could now have turned away the judgment of God from them. The father seems to feel that he cannot ask forgiveness for them in their present state of hearthe exhibits some conception of the enormity of their crimes when he says, If a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? It was his right and privilege to draw nigh to God on behalf of others, but the iniquity of his sons was so great, that his very position as high-priest forbade his pleading that God would pass over their sins.
IV. When sinners are beyond the reach of intercession and marked for Divine punishment, they will not repent. The people of Sodom were in such a condition. Intercession for them could not avail, because they were so hardened in sin that repentance had become a moral impossibility. Even after God had stricken them with blindness they persisted in endeavouring to perpetrate their enormous wickedness, thus proving that neither the persuasions of men, nor the judgments of God, could lead them to repentance. Elis sons were as great sinners, for if their crimes were not quite so black, they were committed against Divine light and holy influences such as were not possessed by the men of Sodom. Where could stronger inducements to repentance be found than those which they had set at nought? How could men be led to repentance who turned the very house of God into a house of shameless crime? Before the executioner brings the sharp steel to the neck, he blindfolds the culprit. These men had blindfolded themselves by their persistent iniquity, and nothing now could prevent Gods axe from falling.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1Sa. 2:23. Had these men but some little slackened their duty, or heedlessly omitted some rite of the sacrifice, this censure had not been unfit; but to punish the thefts, rapines, sacrileges, adulteries, incests of his sons with Why do ye so, was no other than to shave the head which had deserved cutting off. An easy rebuke doth but encourage wickedness, and makes it think itself so slight as that censure importeth. A vehement rebuke to a capital evil is but like a strong shower to a ripe field, which lays that corn which were worthy of a sickle. It is a breach of justice not to proportionate the punishment to the offence: to whip a man for murder, or to punish the purse for incest, or to burn treason in the hand, or to award the stocks to burglary, is to patronise evil instead of avenging it.Bp. Hall.
1Sa. 2:24. Too mild all along. He should have said as Isa. 57:3-4, Draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, etc., ye degenerate brood and sons of Belial and not of Eli. He should have said, Woe is me that I live to hear it; it had been better that I had died long since, or that you had been buried alive, than thus to live to stink above ground. But he saith only, I hear ill of you by all the people, as if he went only upon hearsay, and were put on by the people thus to check them.Trapp.
1Sa. 2:25. The duties which men are required to perform in society are two-fold, they owe duties to their brethren, they owe duties to God; or rather, considered in a Christian light, every one of our social duties, as it should be performed on a religious principle, so should it be considered of a religious character. Whatsoever we do, we should do all to the glory of God. The mind of man, however, is so gross that it is necessary for the sanctions of religion to be seconded by the authority of human laws in enforcing the observance of our social and moral duties. Not only, therefore, is the wrath of God denounced against the sinner for his offences, every one of which is a violation of Gods authority, but if a man sin against another, the judge also judges himhe is amenable also to that human authority which he has despised. Still, after all that can be done by mans interference, after all the severity of punishment which men can inflict upon the offender to deter others from a like offence, it is the anger of God which is most to be avoided, it is the punishment of God which is most to be dreaded. Comparatively trifling should be our fear of them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; for comparatively feeble is their vengeance, and comparatively light and transitory is the punishment which they can inflict; but our fear of the Divine wrath should, if possible, be great in proportion to the greatness of the power of Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.Bishop Mant.
I read not in the Scripture of a hypocrites conversion, and what wonder? For whereas after sin conversion is left as a means to cover all other sins, what means to recover him who hath converted conversion itself into a sin?Trapp.
The Lord would slay them! It is a dreadful sentence, and we would fain know of whom it was uttered. It is spoken of particular persons and not generally. of the sons of a priest, brought up amidst holy things from their childhood. What more could have been done unto the vineyard? What greater means of knowledge, what better opportunities of being impressed with a sense of Gods majesty and holiness could possibly have been granted them? But these means and opportunities had been neglected, till what was food at first was now their poison. They had gained such a habit of seeing and hearing holy things unmoved that nothing could possibly work on them. It is probable that every fresh service which they performed about the tabernacle did but harden them more and more. How, then, could they hearken to the voice of their father, a kind old man indeed, and a good one, but one with none of that vigour of character which commands respect, even from the evil. Were his words of gentle rebuke likely to move those hearts which for years had served every day in the presence of God, and had felt neither fear for Him nor love of Him. Vain was it to hope that such hearts should be so renewed to repentance. The seal of destruction was set on them but too plainly; the Lord would slay them; the laws of His providence, His unchanged and unchangable providence, had decreed that their case was hopeless; for they had hardened their hearts greedily all their lives, and their work was now set so sure that they could not undo it, because they could not now wish it to be undone.Dr. Arnold.
The purpose of God was not the cause of their disobedience, but their disobedience was a sign that they were now ripe for destruction, and that the righteous purposes of God in their case should now soon be executed.Starke.
They were in a state of inner hardening, which excluded the subjective condition of salvation from destruction, and so they had already incurred Gods unchangable condemnation. As hardened offenders they were already appointed by God to death; therefore the word of instruction had no moral effect upon them.Langes Commentary.
God is more honoured or dishonoured in our religious actions than in all the actions of our lives; in them we do directly pretend His honour and service, and therefore if we do not walk in them watchfully, and intend them seriously, the greater is our sin. For a trespass committed against holy things the Jews were to bring a ram, to be valued by the shekel, to the sanctuary; for a trespass against their brethren a ram was required, but no such valuation expressed; whence Origen infers: It is one thing to sin in holy things, another thing to sin beside them. When men are some way off in a kings eye they will be comely in their carriage; but when they come into his presence-chamber to speak with him they will be most careful. God is very curious how men carry themselves in His courts. Do but observe, under the law, how choice He was about all things relating to His worship: the tabernacle must be made of the best wood, the purest gold, the finest linen, etc. And what is the substance of all these shadows, but this, that God will be served by holy men, in the purest, holiest manner? Dost thou not know that He will be sanctified in them that draw nigh unto Him? (Lev. 10:3). Great persons are impatient of contempts and affronts, especially when they are offered them in their own houses; God will sooner overlook thy forgetfulness of Him in thy trade or travels than in His tabernacle. When thou drawest nigh to Him there, He will be sanctified, either in thee or upon thee. If thou refuse to give Him glory in His service, believe it, He will get Himself glory by thy suffering. His worship is His face, and look for His fury if thou darest Him to His face.Swinnock.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Samuels service in the Tabernacle. 1Sa. 2:18-26
18 But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.
19 Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The Lord gave thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord. And they went unto their own home.
21 And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.
22 Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
23 And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.
24 Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lords people to transgress.
25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.
26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men.
15.
What is a linen ephod? 1Sa. 2:18
A welcome change comes in the narrative as we read about the child Samuel ministering before the Lord. Earlier we read that he ministered unto the Lord (1Sa. 2:11 b). His ministry was before Eli the priest (1Sa. 2:11 b). Here we read that he ministered before the Lord. All of this would indicate that his real service was unto God and not unto men. At the same time he was under the direction of Eli the priest. Samuel must have ministered conscientiously as one who would minister before the Lord. The linen ephod which he wore was the distinctive garment worn by the priests. It was a part of the apparel as commanded by God through Moses for Aaron, the first priest and his sons (Exo. 28:4). The ephod was to be made of gold, of blue, of purple, of scarlet, and of fine twined linen with cunning work. It was joined with two shoulder pieces at the edges of it. A band went around it. On the shoulders of the garment were two onyx stones on which were engraved the names of the children of Israel. The names of six tribes were on one stone and the other six names on the other stone. This was the garment that the high priest was to wear (Exo. 28:6; Exo. 28:12). Eli probably wore this distinctive garment, but the other priests were given ephods to wear. These ephods were something similar to the garments which we call jumpers today. Samuel was given this distinctive garment to wear. It was the sign of the fact that he was ministering as a priest around the Tabernacle.
16.
What kind of a coat did Hannah make for Samuel? 1Sa. 2:18
The priests were also commanded to wear a coat. Moses was told to make coats for Aaron and his sons as well as girdles to bind them at the waist. In addition, they wore bonnets for glory and for beauty (Exo. 28:40). Since it is not said that Hannah made the ephod for Samuel, we presume that the coat she made was more of a token of her abiding love for him than an effort to equip him in the full regalia of a priest. Her motherly devotion is seen in the fact that she made him a new one each year. As he grew in stature, it would be necessary for him to have a new garment.
17.
What blessing did Eli pronounce upon Elkanah and Hannah? 1Sa. 2:20
Eli pronounced a blessing upon this devoted couple as they came to the Tabernacle. He prayed that the Lord would give them additional children in exchange for Samuel whom they had lent to the Lord (1Sa. 1:28). God visited Hannah as we read in the next verse. She conceived and had three sons and two daughters (1Sa. 2:21).
18.
In what way did Samuel grow? 1Sa. 2:21
In a later verse (1Sa. 2:26) we read that Samuel grew on and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. This is suggestive in the way in which John the Baptist grew. Of him we read the child grew and waxed strong in spirit (Luk. 1:80). Of Jesus it was said Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man (Luk. 2:52).
19.
Who were the women that assembled at the door of the Tabernacle? 1Sa. 2:22
When Moses built the Tabernacle, he made the laver of brass out of the looking glasses of the women which assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation (Exo. 38:8).
Jephthah may have devoted his daughter to perpetual service at the Tabernacle (Jdg. 11:29-40). If he did not actually sacrifice her on an altar as a burnt offering, he may have devoted her to service as long as she lived. Such a dedication to holy service would be reason for the daughters of Israel to go up yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah in a feast for four days in a year (Jdg. 11:40). When Jesus was born, Hannah the prophetess who gave her whole life to service around the Temple, came up to see the Messiah (Luk. 2:36-38). Evidently there were many of these women in the days of Eli. They probably did what they could in service around the Tabernacle. At least they spent their time in prayer and worship. The baseness of the sons of Eli is brought out in the mention of the fact that they committed adultery with these women.
20.
Did Eli rebuke his sons? 1Sa. 2:23-24
Eli rebuked his sons, but his rebuke was very weak. When the man of God came to him, he said that Eli honored his sons above God (1Sa. 2:29). When God told Samuel that Eli was to be punished, God said of Eli and his sons that he restrained them not (1Sa. 3:13).
21.
What did Eli mean by a sign against the Lord? 1Sa. 2:25
Eli is saying that when one man steals from another there is an earthly judge who renders the verdict. When our transgressions are against our fellowmen, we might expect that our fellowmen would judge us. If our transgression is against God, God has already pronounced judgment. It is inexcusable for us to sin against the Lord. It would not do for man to plead the case for another man before the Lord. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is our advocate (1Jn. 2:1). Those living under the Old Testament dispensation did not have the hope of the Christian for an advocate before God. They could expect only a certain fearful judgment.
22.
Did God want to slay Elis sons? 1Sa. 2:25 b
God is not willing that any should perish (2Pe. 3:9). He has laid down certain rules and laws of life. For example, it is written, correction is grievous unto them that forsaketh the way and he that hateth reproof shall die (Pro. 15:10). Since Elis sons would not listen to the correction of their father, they were doomed to destruction. God would slay them, for they could not be allowed to continue in their rebellion.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(18) Ministered . . . being a child.A striking contrast is intended to be drawn here between the covetous, self-seeking ministrations of the worldly priests and the quiet service of the boy devoted by his pious mother and father to the sanctuary service.
Girded with a linen ephod.The ephod was a priestly dress, which Samuel received in very early youth, because he had, with the high priests formal sanction, been set apart for a life-long service before the Lord. This ephod was an official garment, and consisted of two pieces, which rested on the shoulders in front and behind, and were joined at the top, and fastened about the body with a girdle.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Girded with a linen ephod The ephod of the high priest was a shoulder-dress of fine linen, cunningly wrought, having two parts, and girded around the body below the arms. See Exo 28:6-8. This ephod of Samuel was probably of the same shape, but of different material. He was permitted in his early childhood to wear a garment so nearly like that of the high priest because his was a special case, and he was to be in lifelong communication with Jehovah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Contrasting Behaviour Of Samuel and His Family ( 1Sa 2:18-21 ).
In total contrast the young Samuel, dressed similarly to a priest even though still a child, ministered before YHWH, and continued to grow in righteousness. He must have been both bewildered and grieved at what he saw. And no doubt he came in for some stick because of it. But in contrast with the house of Eli, Samuel’s family were greatly blessed. It demonstrated that there were still some who looked faithfully to YHWH.
1Sa 2:18
‘ But Samuel ministered before YHWH, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.’
“Samuel ministered before YHWH.” We are not told what Samuel’s duties consisted of, but he clearly carried them out faithfully. And there in the Tabernacle he diligently served YHWH, and wore a linen ephod, which distinguished him as a ‘holy’ child, a child set apart wholly to the worship of YHWH. An ephod was a garment which went over the head and covered the shoulders and was secured round the waist. It was mainly distinctive of the priests (1Sa 2:28; 1Sa 22:18), although it could be worn by others when engaged in sacred activities (2Sa 6:14). There was a special ephod for ‘the Priest’ (the High Priest) or whoever was standing in for him (Exo 28:6 ff). Thus the ephod demonstrated that Samuel was continually engaged in sacred duties. There is no suggestion, however, that he offered sacrifices at this stage.
1Sa 2:19
‘ Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and used to bring it to him from year to year (literally ‘from days to days’), when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice (the sacrifice of days’).’
The ‘little robe’ was similar to the garment that ‘the Priest’ wore under the ephod. A new one was brought by his mother every time that she attended the regular feasts, which she did regularly in order to offer a sacrifice through her husband. She never forgot her son, and she never neglected to worship YHWH.
1Sa 2:20
‘ And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, “YHWH give you seed of this woman for the petition which was asked of YHWH.” And they went to their own home.
It would seem that Eli watched out for Samuel’s parents and gave them his personal attention. No doubt Samuel had won his heart, and he was undoubtedly thankful to have him ministering in the Sanctuary. Thus when he offered sacrifice on their behalf he blessed Elkanah and his wife, and prayed that God would continue to answer her petition by giving her more children. And with that blessing they went to their own home.
1Sa 2:21
‘ And YHWH visited Hannah, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before YHWH.’
And so partly in response to her prayer, and we are no doubt intended to see partly due to the blessing of the Priest, YHWH again ‘visited’ Hannah, and the result was that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. God was giving her a family to fill the gap that Samuel’s departure had unquestionably left. God is no man’s debtor. Meanwhile her first child, Samuel, ‘grew before YHWH’. He grew in His presence both physically and spiritually, for he was separated totally to YHWH.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hannah Blessed by the Lord
v. 18. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod, v. 19. Moreover, his mother made him a little coat, v. 20. And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife and said, The Lord give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord, v. 21. And the Lord visited Hannah
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
1Sa 2:18. Girded with a linen ephod As the birth, appointment, and ministry of Samuel were extraordinary, he was therefore indulged with an extraordinary dress. Schachus conjectures, that from hence was derived the latin clavus among the Romans, which was a vestment peculiar to their senators and presidents. It was brought by Tullus Hostilius from the Etruscans when he conquered them, whose ancient language agrees so much with the Hebrew, that we may easily believe they derived many things from them. See Mirotheca, cap. 3: sect. 43.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(18) But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. (19) Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
As Rameh was not above ten or eleven miles from Shiloh, probably more frequent communication took place between Samuel and his pa rents. The Holy Ghost only takes occasion in this place to remark how Samuel was annually clothed from the attention of his mother. The linen ephod he wore was the distinction of the Levites.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Sa 2:18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, [being] a child, girded with a linen ephod.
Ver. 18. But Samuel ministered before the Lord. ] He did some small charges, as setting up lights, laying up vestments, learning music, or the like. See 1Sa 2:11 .
Girded with a linen ephod.
a Quest. 8.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
a linen ephod. Not the High Priest’s, but a simple linen robe of the ordinary priests and Levites and others. Samaritan Pentateuch 1Sa 22:18. 2Sa 6:14, Compare Exo 28:42. Lev 6:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
ministered: 1Sa 2:11, 1Sa 3:1
a linen ephod: 1Sa 22:18, Exo 28:4, Lev 8:7, 2Sa 6:14
Reciprocal: Jdg 11:31 – shall surely Jdg 11:39 – to his vow 1Sa 1:22 – and there 1Ki 18:12 – from my youth 1Ch 15:27 – a robe 2Ch 34:1 – eight years Ecc 12:1 – Remember Hos 3:4 – ephod Mat 11:25 – and hast Mat 19:14 – Suffer Mat 20:2 – he sent Luk 1:66 – And the Luk 2:40 – the child Act 3:24 – Samuel 2Ti 3:15 – from Heb 11:32 – Samuel
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 2:18. But Samuel ministered before the Lord Though he was very young, yet he carefully and faithfully performed such offices in Gods tabernacle as he was capable of discharging, and did not follow the bad example of others. Girded with a linen ephod A garment used in Gods service, and allowed, not only to the inferior priests and Levites, but also to eminent persons of the people, and therefore to Samuel, who, though not a priest, was both a Levite and a Nazarite from his birth.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 2:18-21. Samuels Ministry; his Mothers Yearly Gift; her Other Children.
1Sa 2:18. ephod: priestly garment (p. 101, Exo 25:7; cf. Exo 25:28).
1Sa 2:20. blessed . . . said . . . went: used to bless, etc., on each yearly visit.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
2. Hannah’s godly influence on Samuel and its effect 2:18-21
In the previous paragraphs two statements about the main characters described them and framed the paragraph: they did not regard the Lord, and they despised the Lord’s offerings (1Sa 2:12; 1Sa 2:17). Likewise in this one the writer described Samuel as "before the Lord" at the beginning and at the end (1Sa 2:18; 1Sa 2:21). Even though he was very young and his service was probably menial at this time (cf. 1Sa 3:15), Samuel lived sensitively before God. The writer did not stress this sensitive spirit here; he only hinted at it. However it comes out clearly later (e.g., ch. 4).
In the central part of this section (1Sa 2:18-19) the writer documented the support and encouragement to serve the Lord that Samuel received from his parents. The linen ephod was a priestly garment, as was the robe (cf. Exo 28:31; 2Sa 6:14). [Note: N. L. Tidwell, "The Linen Ephod: 1 Sam. II 18 and 2 Sam. VI 14," Vetus Testamentum 24:4 (October 1974):505-7.] Hannah dressed Samuel as a little priest showing that she respected this office and wanted her son to grow up valuing it. Similarly, today, sometimes parents buy things for their children that will give them a love for those things and encourage them to pursue interest in them (e.g., a football, a child’s cooking set, etc.).
Hannah’s obedience resulted in God blessing Elkanah and Hannah even more (1Sa 2:20-21). Among other blessings, God gave Hannah five additional children by overcoming her barrenness and making her fertile (cf. Exo 1:21; Psa 127:3). Furthermore, Samuel continued to develop in a promising manner (cf. Luk 2:40; Luk 2:52).