Looking for Samuel

[JLG]

1) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1:1,2

Biblehub 1 samuel 1:1

Biblehub 1 samuel 1:2

- It is exceptional because here we have information about the family of Samuel!

- His father has two wives: it is not according to what it was supposed to be at the beginning that is one man and one woman!

- As a consequence, it will bring troubles!

- It is all the time the same: God says one thing and man wants to take another way and it brings problems!

- It is so evident why humanity is a catastrophe!

 

[JLG]

2) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1:3

Biblehub 1 Samuel 1:3

Hebrew

Year after year
מִיָּמִ֣ים ׀ (mî·yā·mîm)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A day

[Elkanah]
הַה֤וּא (ha·hū)
Article | Pronoun - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

would go up
וְעָלָה֩ (wə·‘ā·lāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

from his city
מֵֽעִירוֹ֙ (mê·‘î·rōw)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5892: Excitement

to worship
לְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֧ת (lə·hiš·ta·ḥă·wōṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Hitpael - Infinitive construct
Strong's 7812: To depress, prostrate

and sacrifice
וְלִזְבֹּ֛חַ (wə·liz·bō·aḥ)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 2076: To slaughter for sacrifice

to the LORD
לַיהוָ֥ה (Yah·weh)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

of Hosts
צְבָא֖וֹת (ṣə·ḇā·’ō·wṯ)
Noun - common plural
Strong's 6635: A mass of persons, reg, organized for, war, a campaign

at Shiloh,
בְּשִׁלֹ֑ה (bə·ši·lōh)
Preposition-b | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 7887: Shiloh -- a city in Ephraim

where
וְשָׁ֞ם (wə·šām)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

Eli’s
עֵלִ֗י (‘ê·lî)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5941: Eli -- a priest at Shiloh

two
שְׁנֵ֣י (šə·nê)
Number - mdc
Strong's 8147: Two (a cardinal number)

sons,
בְנֵֽי־ (ḇə·nê-)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

Hophni
חָפְנִי֙ (ḥā·p̄ə·nî)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 2652: Hophni -- a son of Eli

and Phinehas,
וּפִ֣נְחָ֔ס (ū·p̄in·ḥās)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 6372: Phinehas -- three Israelites

were priests
כֹּהֲנִ֖ים (kō·hă·nîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3548: Priest

to the LORD.
לַיהוָֽה׃ (Yah·weh)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

- Right, here is a servant of God who goes to worship and to sacrifice to God as he is supposed to do!

- Nothing special, nothing wrong even if he has two wives!

- But that’s the Israelites: we know they didn’t know how to serve God in the right way even if they were told!

- In fact, they didn’t want to do it the proper way!

- They preferred to have a look at the other nations and copy them!

 

[JLG]

3) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1: 4,5

Biblehub 1 Samuel 1:4

Biblehub 1 Samuel 1:5

- Yeah, yeah, yeah: Elkannah loves Hannah so there is a competition or a fight between the two women: that’s not a good way to educate children!

- And Peninnah has children and Hannah doesn’t: it means more troubles!

- I should say endless troubles!

- Apparently, God has favored Peninnah and not Hannah to counterbalance the situation!

- It reminds us of many situations due to man’s behavior: he always wants more and it is never enough!

 

[Ferris Bueller]

1) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1:1,2

Biblehub 1 samuel 1:1

Biblehub 1 samuel 1:2

- It is exceptional because here we have information about the family of Samuel!

- His father has two wives: it is not according to what it was supposed to be at the beginning that is one man and one woman!

- As a consequence, it will bring troubles!

- It is all the time the same: God says one thing and man wants to take another way and it brings problems!

- It is so evident why humanity is a catastrophe!

Wives often represent covenants in the OT. It is the wife (the covenant) that produces a child sent as the result of a supernatural promise, against all natural hope and expectation that has the blessing of God. That wife foreshadows the New Covenant and the Son of promise it produces against all natural hope and expectation, and upon which the blessing of God rests.

 

[JLG]

What about Abraham’s wives ?

- Sarah

- Hagar

- Keturah

 

[JLG]

4) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1:7,8

Biblehub 1 Samuel 1:7

Biblehub 1 Samuel 1:8

- Poor man, he has no idea of what happens in his own family!

- Does it remind you something?

- It usually happens that way among many families!

- And parents don’t understand when something happens because they don’t know anything!

- Well, their children have friends to communicate with or they spend a lot of time in front of TV, the internet or playing video games!

- And the children have nothing to say when they eat with their parents!

- And they want to go outside with their friends or back to the TV, the internet or playing video games!

- How do you call that? Modern life!

- Is that progress?

 

[JLG]

5) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1:9-11

biblehub 1 Samuel 1:9
biblehub 1 Samuel 1:10
biblehub 1 Samuel 1:11

- Hannah prays God with all her heart!

- And she tells him about her bitterness and affliction!

- And she begs God to give her a child!

- And she will offer him to God to serve him!

- She really wants children and for this reason she is ready to lose the first one because he will be working at God’s service!

- So she will be able to see him only once a year!

 

[JLG]

6) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1: 12-14

biblehub 1 Samuel 1:12
biblehub 1 Samuel 1:13
biblehub 1 Samuel 1:14

- When Hannah speaks to God, she is sincere, it comes from her heart and she opens it to him!

- She doesn’t say anything in a hurry or mechanically!

- And Eli thinks she is drunk!

- That’s strange because he is old!

- So he must have seen many people praying!

- Judging by appearance is not good: it only leads to misunderstanding!

 

[JLG]

7) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1:15,16

Biblehub 1 Samuel 1:15
Biblehub 1 Samuel 1:16

- One word to summarize: HUMILITY!

- Samuel will have a really good mother!

- And she defends herself in front of Eli!

- When she speaks about her great anguish and distress, even if there is no comparison, it reminds me of Job expressing his great anguish and distress to God!

 

[JLG]

8) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1:17,18

Biblehub 1 Samuel 1:17

Biblehub 1 Samuel 1:18

- Hannah speaks with God!

- Then she speaks with Eli!

- And she finds relief!

- The prayer is supposed to be for that!

- But we must be used to praying with our hearts!

 

[JLG]

9) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1:24-28

biblehub 1 Samuel 1:24
biblehub 1 Samuel 1:25
biblehub 1 Samuel 1:26
biblehub 1 Samuel 1:27
biblehub 1 Samuel 1:28

- Hannah fulfills her promise by bringing Samuel to the house of God in due time!

- It was a good start for Samuel!

- As a matter of fact, Samuel is going to be faithful to God all his life!

 

[Space_Karen]

- His father has two wives: it is not according to what it was supposed to be at the beginning that is one man and one woman!

In Old Testament eras of war and conquest. It was normalized for nations of the world to invade rival nations. Kill all the men. Claim their women as spoils of war.

This practice caused the ratio of men to women to become lopsided. There were significantly more women than men.

Population growth was the super weapon of the ancient era. The larger a nation's population, the more soldiers they could field in war. It was vitally important to the survival and prosperity of nations for them to produce as many children as possible.

As a result of these circumstances and trends, it became normalized for men to take more than 1 wife.

In later eras when population growth wasn't as important and gender ratios weren't as lopsided, monogamy became the ideal standard.

I think its important to recognize cultural shifts occurring throughout history which greatly influence society and its real world application of the Word.

 

[JLG]

In Old Testament eras of war and conquest. It was normalized for nations of the world to invade rival nations. Kill all the men. Claim their women as spoils of war.

This practice caused the ratio of men to women to become lopsided. There were significantly more women than men.

Population growth was the super weapon of the ancient era. The larger a nation's population, the more soldiers they could field in war. It was vitally important to the survival and prosperity of nations for them to produce as many children as possible.

As a result of these circumstances and trends, it became normalized for men to take more than 1 wife.

In later eras when population growth wasn't as important and gender ratios weren't as lopsided, monogamy became the ideal standard.

I think its important to recognize cultural shifts occurring throughout history which greatly influence society and its real world application of the Word.

- And the winners influence the losers and vice versa!

- As you say monogamy became the ideal standard but polygamy the real standard!

- Men and women can have one legal partner and others...!

 

[Ferris Bueller]

- Men and women can have one legal partner and others...!

No, that's called adultery. And God does not overlook it anymore.

 

[JLG]

No, that's called adultery. And God does not overlook it anymore.

Yes exactly!

 

[JLG]

10) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Biblehub 1 Samuel 2:1
…
Biblehub 2:10

- What a beautiful prayer for God!

- It could be the prayer of faithful ones like Job, Daniel, Samuel, Moses, Abraham and others when they rejoice!

 

[JLG]

11) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 3:1

Biblehub 1 Samuel 3:1

Hebrew

And the boy
וְהַנַּ֧עַר (wə·han·na·‘ar)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5288: A boy, lad, youth, retainer

Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵ֛ל (šə·mū·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 8050: Samuel -- 'name of God', a prophet of Israel

ministered
מְשָׁרֵ֥ת (mə·šā·rêṯ)
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 8334: To attend as a, menial, worshipper, to contribute to

to
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

the LORD
יְהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

before
לִפְנֵ֣י (lip̄·nê)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

Eli.
עֵלִ֑י (‘ê·lî)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5941: Eli -- a priest at Shiloh

Now in those
הָהֵ֔ם (hā·hêm)
Article | Pronoun - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1992: They

days
בַּיָּמִ֣ים (bay·yā·mîm)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A day

the word
וּדְבַר־ (ū·ḏə·ḇar-)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

of the LORD
יְהוָ֗ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

was
הָיָ֤ה (hā·yāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

rare
יָקָר֙ (yā·qār)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 3368: Precious, rare, splendid, weighty

and visions
חָז֖וֹן (ḥā·zō·wn)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2377: A sight, a dream, revelation, oracle

were
אֵ֥ין (’ên)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

scarce.
נִפְרָֽץ׃ (nip̄·rāṣ)
Verb - Nifal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 6555: To break through

- Thus Samuel’s arrival is a good one or comes at the appropriate time!

- The situation in Israel is too bad so God is absent!

- Samuel will be required to put a new start in Israel to improve the situation in a certain way!

- But he will also have to do with such a bad situation!

 

[JLG]

12) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 3:2-9

Biblehub 1 Samuel 3:1
…
Biblehub 1 Samuel 3:9

- Here we have something exceptional!

- Samuel is sent to the House of God to serve him and this when he has just been weaned!

- In fact, he doesn’t know anything about God!

- But God will lead his path since the beginning!

- And he gets directly in contact with him since the beginning!

- What an incredible experience!

- Thus he will be taught directly by God from the beginning!

 

[JLG]

13) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 3:10-14

Biblehub 1 Samuel 3:10
…
Biblehub 1 Samuel 3:14

- Imagine the situation: God speaks directly with Samuel who is just a boy!

- We can imagine that he will remember this event during his whole life!

- Something impossible to forget!

- And he tells him personally about his judgment on the house of Eli that is Eli and his sons!

- And he can see how Eli’s sons behave!

- And he can see that Eli doesn’t do anything!

- And he can see that God is patient!

- But when the appropriate time comes, he acts!

- And there is no way to escape!

- Does it remind you something about Israel!

- Do you really understand what it means for the human society!

- And here we can see that God says that Eli’s sons ARE CURSING GOD!



- AND WHEN YOU CURSE GOD YOU CAN’T ESCAPE!

 

[JLG]

14) Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 3:15

Biblehub 3:15

Hebrew

Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵל֙ (šə·mū·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 8050: Samuel -- 'name of God', a prophet of Israel

lay down
וַיִּשְׁכַּ֤ב (way·yiš·kaḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7901: To lie down

until
עַד־ (‘aḏ-)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

the morning;
הַבֹּ֔קֶר (hab·bō·qer)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1242: Dawn, morning

then he opened
וַיִּפְתַּ֖ח (way·yip̄·taḥ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6605: To open wide, to loosen, begin, plough, carve

the doors
דַּלְת֣וֹת (dal·ṯō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 1817: Something swinging, the valve of a, door

of the LORD’s
יְהוָ֑ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

house.
בֵּית־ (bêṯ-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

He
וּשְׁמוּאֵ֣ל (ū·šə·mū·’êl)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 8050: Samuel -- 'name of God', a prophet of Israel

was afraid
יָרֵ֔א (yā·rê)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3372: To fear, to revere, caus, to frighten

to tell
מֵהַגִּ֥יד (mê·hag·gîḏ)
Preposition-m | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5046: To be conspicuous

Eli
עֵלִֽי׃ (‘ê·lî)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5941: Eli -- a priest at Shiloh

the vision,
הַמַּרְאָ֖ה (ham·mar·’āh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4759: A vision, a mirror

- That’s definitely interesting!

- Samuel understands perfectly God’s message!

- He knows it is a condemnation against Eli and his sons!

- But above all against Eli!

- And Eli is like a father to Samuel!

- And he is the one who teaches him about God’s service!