I Samuel 8, "Give Us a King!"

Samuel has now been judging Israel for some time.

I Samuel 8: 1-3, Samuel's sons are immoral

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

Considerable time has passed. Samuel now has the same problem Eli did -- his sons act corruptly.  Beersheba is some distance south of Samuel's home at Ramah.

One sign of a monarchy is that rule is inherited, passed on to sons.  We saw this in Judges 8: 29-31 when Gideon, asked to become king, declined the offer but then began, himself, to act like a king.

Later, his son Abimeleck ("my father is king") attempted to reign in Israel. Judges 9 describes the short and bloody reign of Abimelek. Here Samuel has appointed his own sons as "judges", even though they are corrupt. It should not be too surprising that the people want a more formal monarchy, with significant military power to protect them from the Philistines and Ammonites.

I Samuel 8: 4-6, Elders ask for a king

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." 

But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.

These elders are presumably older, respected men of the various tribes.  The Israelites want a king, just like the other nations have! 

This request displeases Samuel. There are certainly problems with the request (the desire to be like "all the other nations") but Samuel may also be unhappy that his own monarchy is being rejected.

I Samuel 8: 7-9, God gives permission

And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

YHWH says, "They have had me as king, if they wanted. It is not you they are rejecting." This answer is a surprise to Samuel. God seems to be allowing the people to work out a kingship, even if the people's desire is not reasonable.

I Samuel 8: 11-18, The problem with a king

Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 

He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

(NIV footnotes: in verse 16, the Septuagint has "young men" in place of "cattle".  A number of translators have pointed out that "young men" does not fit that sentence and may be a misplaced word.)

Samuel attempts to explain the difference between a monarchy and the relaxed system of government they have been using (a "theocracy" with judges?  a patriarchal tribal system?)  But the monarchy is the more "modern" way to go in the ancient Near Easts.

Some of this doesn't sound too bad -- I can imagine some of the elders thinking, "My son will be a commander of thousands," and not thinking about their sons simply being drafted into the ranks of the army. But Samuel does end with the mention of slavery.

Robert Alter, in his study of I and II Samuel, portrays a grumpy rejected Samuel attempting to slow down the march to a monarchy.  Youngblood, in his commentary, makes similar comments. The motives of our last judge are not necessarily pure.

I Samuel 8: 19-22, The people insist

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD.

The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." 

Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."

The people want a modern system of government!  This does make some sense -- it is difficult to compete with organized armies of invaders without a strong central structure.

The people seem to be content to let God and Samuel work out the details! When YHWH says, "give them a king", Samuel dismisses the people.  This process will take time and Samuel is not in a hurry.

An Introduction to I Samuel

At the end of the book of Genesis, Jacob and seventy members of his family migrate to Egypt.  Several centuries later, a nation led by Moses leave Egypt, guided by YHWH, the One God of Creation who has chosen this nation to represent Him. YHWH feeds the nation in the desert, implements a covenant and guides them into Canaan.  In Canaan, Joshua leads the nation to a mostly successful conquest but at the death of Joshua, the nation is still in conflict with various tribes of Canaanite. The book of Judges describes the chaos that follows. That book ends with a disorganized and decadent collection of tribes fighting with both outsiders and themselves.

The scroll of Samuel, in the Hebrew TaNaKh describes the passage from chaotic tribal disputes to the reign of King Saul and then the dramatic reign of the charismatic king David. 

Historians believe David's death occurred about 970 BC. (See this Wikipedia page on the Kings of Israel and Judah.) The scroll of Samuel (1 & 2 Samuel) then covers about a century (1070-970 BC) in the history of the young nation of Israel.

Eventually the scroll of Samuel was separated into two parts, First and Second Samuel.  First Samuel covers the transition from leadership by the judge-prophet Samuel to the first kingdom, the reign of King Saul. As Saul's reign decays, the shepherd-poet David rises in power and influence. The book of I Samuel ends with the death of Saul while David waits in the wings.

Outline

The first half of the scroll of Samuel naturally fits into three parts:

1. Chapters 1-7 introduce us to the last judge, Samuel
2. Chapters 8-15 describe the rise of the first king, Saul, and his coronation by Saul.
3. Chapters 16-31, describes the ascent of David and the decline of Saul.

Problems and Questions

Rabbinical tradition gives three authors for the scroll of Samuel, attributing to Samuel everything up to the account of his death and then the remainder to the prophets Gad and Nathan. (See I Chronicles 29: 29-30 for support for this hypothesis.)  It is likely that the final scroll was completed by a later editor.

As in previous books, there are some questions on the Old Testament use of large numbers.  (I summarize what I know of that in the Sunday essay, The Problem of Large Numbers in the Old Testament.)

The details described in the scroll of Samuel occurred over three thousand years ago. They were probably originally written down in paleo-Hebrew and then, after the Babylonian captivity, copied in what we now call biblical Hebrew.  The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint copies of the scroll differ significantly in various places. A notable example is the story of David's ascent into Saul's court. He enters Saul's court as a young harpist in I Samuel 16: 14-23 and then again when he kills Goliath in I Samuel 17.

Resources and References

My practice is to read through the text from the New International Version (NIV), copied into the blog and italicized in blue.  At the head of each blue paragraph of text I place a short title; after the text I place my thoughts or comments in black.  I begin this process with my own reactions and thoughts and then supplement these comments with gleanings from a commentary or two.

The real goal of this blog is to force me to read every verse thoughtfully.  My comments are part of that process, creating a certain accountability for me in this study.  I hope that you, too, read the passages thoughtfully!   Feel free to disagree -- or to react in other ways! (I place hyperlinks in pink, created so that one can click on a link and see the linked site open in another window... and go down a rabbit hole if you wish!)

For the book of I Samuel I have found two commentaries helpful. 

• Robert Alter has an excellent and enjoyable translation and commentary called The David Story.  
• I have also used a commentary by Ronald F. Youngblood found in the third volume of the Expositor's Bible Commentary.

Both of these sources cover both I and II Samuel. In addition, in the online commentaries provided by EasyEnglishBible, is an online commentary on 1 Samuel.  (The Easy English Bible commentaries are easy to read, with deliberately simple language intended for those for whom English is a second language. The Old Testament text is included in the commentary.) 

In addition to these resources, there is a Wikipedia article on the scroll of Samuel and an online article from the Jewish Encyclopedia. The Untidy Faith podcast started a study in 1 Samuel in January 2023, working through the book with a podcast every two weeks. The first podcast on 1 Samuel is here. And as always, there is a nice Bible Project video on I Samuel. 

The book of First Samuel is the first of four books on the kings of Israel, leading up to the conquest of the nation by countries to the east. The history is rich, with details of internal conflicts and, like Joshua-Judges, an on-again off-again relation with YHWH.

I Samuel 7, Ebenezer

The ark of Israel has been returned to Israel, to the town of Beth Shemesh. The presence of the ark in Beth Shemesh has killed numerous members of the town. The people of Beth Shemesh have appealed to Kiriath Jearim for help. (Beth Shemesh and Kiriath Jearim would have been a few miles west of Jerusalemn near the border of Judah and Benjamin.

I Samuel 7: 1-2, Return to Kiriath Jearim

So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They took it to Abinadab's house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD. It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD.

The ark is collected by the people of Kiriath Jearim. The people of Kiriath Jearim consecrate a priest to guard the ark but are otherwise afraid to move the ark. The ark then rests at Kiriath Jearim for twenty years.

The people "mourn" and "seek after YHWH". It is not clear if this is because the Philistines continue to oppress the Israelites or, possibly, because the ark is not in the tabernacle where it was to belong.

I Samuel 7: 3-6, Samuel as leader

And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."

So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.

Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the LORD for you."

When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the LORD." And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.

Samuel calls the people to renew their commitment to YHWH, giving up the fertility gods favored by the surrounding Canaanite cultures. The people agree to Samuel's request. They later assemble at Mizpah for a renewal meeting and "pour out" water before YHWH. (The act of pouring out water is clearly an act of contrition but apparently does not appear elsewhere in the Old Testament.)

I Samuel 7: 7-11, The Philistines invade

When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, "Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines."

 

Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel's behalf, and the LORD answered him. While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car.

The Philistines, upon hearing that Israel has gathered enmasse at Mizpah, fear an attack and bring their own army to attack the Israelites.  The people of Israel plead to Samuel to intervene with God and protect them. The plea to YHWH is answered. In a dramatic thunderstorm, the Philistines flee and the Israelites pursue them, destroying them in the chaos.

I Samuel 7: 12, Ebenezer

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."

As has happened in other times, a stone (or a pile of stones, see Joshua 4: 1-9) is set up as a visible memorial.  

"Ebenezer" means "stone of help." The old hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing has a stanza which begins "Here I raise my Ebenezer, here by Thy great help I've come...." That hymn remembers this memorable event in early Israel, a time where YHWH answered the pleas of the people and gave them victory. (I suspect that hymn has been sung by many who do not know what an Ebenezer is!  😉 )

I Samuel 7: 13-14, Peace

So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again. Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines. The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to her, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

The Israelites then begin to regain towns lost to the Philistines. A peace agreement with the Amorites and success over the Philistines gives some semblance of peace to the nation.

I Samuel 7: 15-17, Circuit rider

Samuel continued as judge over Israel all the days of his life. From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also judged Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.

Samuel judges Israel as a circuit rider, moving throughout the region and then returning home to Ramah.  Samuel's parents were from Ramathaim, probably the same region.

I Samuel 6, The Ark Returns

The Philistines have captured the ark of YHWH, God of Israel. It has not gone well for them.

I Samuel 6: 1-4a, Philistines make plans to return the ark

When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place."

They answered, "If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you."

The Philistines asked, "What guilt offering should we send to him?" 

The Philistines want to get rid of the ark, returning it to Israel. The Philistine priests urge them to return the ark with some gifts, as a sign of submission.

I Samuel 6: 4b-6, Golden images of the plagues

They replied, "Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and pay honor to Israel's god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When he treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

Here we first learn (in the Masoretic text) of the plague of rats. Rats, death and tumors (buboes) all describe bubonic plague.

The priests suggest that the gifts included gold items molded in the images of the plagues, a statement of the ills they hope will be abolished.

I Samuel 6: 7-9, Philistines make plans to return the ark

"Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance."

The ark is to be returned by wandering oxen. The cows, like the cart, are to be brand new to their work, never used before. (This is an indication of honor and respect.) The cows have calves (more on that in the next passage) and are to be hooked to the cart carrying the ark and then set free. The Philistines will then watch what happens.  

In modern terms, this is an experiment. If the cows, who have never left home, take the ark to Israel, it will mean that the God of the Israelites is in charge.

I Samuel 6: 10-12, The ark leaves Philistia

So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. They placed the ark of the LORD on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

The cows, with their calves penned up in Philistia, will desire to feed their newborns. But in this case, they aim straight for Beth Shemesh in Israel, lowing as they go.  The steady mooing of the cows may indicate their desire to return to their calves; one has an image of the cows being driven, unhappily, by an unseen force.

I Samuel 6: 13-16, The ark rests at Beth Shemesh

Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.

The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.

The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.

When the ark arrives in Beth Shemesh in Israel, the cows and cart that got is there are sacrificed to YHWH. The golden emblems are collected.  The five city overlords observe the process and go home.

I Samuel 6: 17-18, Golden items described

These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the LORD--one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers--the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock, on which they set the ark of the LORD, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

The narrator repeats the statements about five gold "tumors", one for each prominent city.  The number of gold images of rats is apparently more five, one for each of the smaller towns in Philistine.

The people of Beth Shemesh celebrate.  The narrator points out that (in his day) one could go visit the big rock that served as the pedestal for the ark.

I Samuel 6: 19-21, Death in Beth Shemesh

But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them,and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?"

Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your place."

Many of the people of Beth Shemesh are struck down for "looking into" the ark. The ark, whether in Philistia or Israel, is a very dangerous item.

Ancient Hebrew manuscripts have significant conflicts about the number, in verse 19, of people who died in Beth Shemesh.  Some Hebrew manuscripts give the number slain as 70 but most Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint give 50,070 slain instead of 70.Was it 70? Or 50,070?  The Jewish historian Josephus, in the first century AD, apparently had access to a manuscript that had the number as 70, so that number is quite old. The small town of Beth Shemesh might have had a population in the hundred; there could not have been 50,070 people in the town of Beth Shemesh!  This is one more example of conflict and confusion about these Old Testament numbers. (I've summarized the various opinions in a post on The Problem of Large Numbers in the Old Testament.)

I Samuel 5, YHWH vs. Dagon

The Philistines have defeated the Israelites in battle and captured the ark of the covenant. The news kills the priest Eli.  Now the ark lies in Philistine hands.

I Samuel 5: 1-5, Dagon face down

After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.  Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. 

When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.  

But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.

Dagon was probably a fertility god linked to grain harvests (say both Alter and Youngblood.)

The ark is carried as a trophy into the temple of Dagon.  But the presence of the ark in Dagon's temple means that the idol of Dagon keeps being knocked down and put in a subservient posture.  This makes a point that the priests of Dagon find hard to miss!  (The first time this occurs, the idol is just tipped over. But after being righted, the idol is then tipped over and its head and hands have been cut off!)

The phrase "to this day" presumably refers to the later time of the writer of I Samuel.

I Samuel 5: 6-8a, Devastation in the path of the ark

The LORD's hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors. When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god." 

So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, "What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?" 

They answered, "Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath." 

Devastation -- skin tumors, in particular -- hit the people of Ashdod. The people of Ashdod don't want the ark and so have it moved.

NIV Footnotes: In verse 6, the Septuagint and Vulgate add a phase about rats appearing in the land.  We will see in the next chapter that there was also a plague of rats.

I Samuel 5: 8b-12, Devastation in the path of the ark

So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.  But after they had moved it, the LORD's hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors. 

The people of Gath experience the same plague(s).

I Samuel 5: 10-12, Devastation in the path of the ark

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, "They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people."  

So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, "Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people." For death had filled the city with panic; God's hand was very heavy upon it. Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

And now the people of Ekron are inflicted.  (Some manuscripts imply that the tumors may have been in the groin.)  The solution is to send the ark back to Israel.

Both Robert Alter and Ronald Youngblood, in their commentaries, suggest that a plague that involves rats, is deadly, and creates "tumors", describes the bubonic plague.

I Samuel 4, Ichabod

Samuel has been recognized as a young prophet.  As a child, his first conversations with YHWH foretold the death of Eli's sons.

I Samuel 4: 1a, Battle against the Philistines

And Samuel's word came to all Israel. 

This sentence really concludes the paragraph about Samuel from the previous chapter, 

I Samuel 4: 1b-3, Battle against the Philistines

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek.  The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield.  

When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies."

Ebenezer means "stone of help". There are apparently a number of sites with this name as we will see another camp named Ebenezer in chapter 7, by Samuel (1 Samuel 7:12.)

The Israelite soldiers look for the reason for their defeat, and hope to use the ark as a talisman against the Philistines.

I Samuel 4: 4-5, The ark arrives

So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. When the ark of the LORD's covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.

There is enthusiasm and a renewal of morale in the Israelite camp.  Eli's degenerate sons travel with the ark. The ark is being viewed as an amulet, a totem, something with magical powers. It is the ark of the "covenant of YHWH", described as the "Lord of hosts, who sits above the cherabim" (NASB.) Tagging along with the ark are the sons of Eli, two priests who have not been following the covenant.  The Israelites are about to learn a lesson. 

I Samuel 4: 6-9, The Philistines rally

Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?" 

When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid. "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert. Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!"

The Philistines will not be intimidated.  But they are desperate and are aware of YHWH's past work in Egypt and the Exodus.

I Samuel 4: 10-11, Israel defeated

So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.  

The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

What a large number of casualties!  30,000! (Or 30 eleph -- this is one more example of unusually large numbers in the Old Testament stories.)

God will not be a talisman.

I Samuel 4: 12-18, Eli's death

That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head.  When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry. 

Eli heard the outcry and asked, "What is the meaning of this uproar?"

The man hurried over to Eli, who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes were set so that he could not see. He told Eli, "I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day."

Eli asked, "What happened, my son?"  

The man who brought the news replied, "Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured."

When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years.

Eli reacts more to the capture of the ark than to the death of his sons. We read a sad ending to a man of God.  It gets worse.

I Samuel 4: 19-22, Ichabod 

His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains.  As she was dying, the women attending her said, "Don't despair; you have given birth to a son." But she did not respond or pay any attention.

She named the boy Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel"--because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured."

This woman, who is unnamed, had endured the infidelity of Phinehas, then his death and the defeat of Israel. Now she is dying just as a son is born.  Such sadness.

(NIV Footnotes: Ichabod means "no glory.")

I Samuel 3, God Speaks to Samuel

The young boy, Samuel, is serving the priest, Eli, at Shiloh.

I Samuel 3: 1-5, God calls Samuel

The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.   

One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.  The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.

Then the LORD called Samuel.   

Samuel answered, "Here I am."  And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."

But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."

So he went and lay down. Again the LORD called, "Samuel!"

And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."

"My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."

Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."

Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy.  So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, `Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'"  

So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The narrator tells us that the "word of the Lord" was rare in that time and so Eli and Samuel are unprepared for this visitation. (It is possible that this is a statement about the apostasy of Eli's ministry.)

Samuel is lying in the inner room of the temporary temple at Shiloh while Eli lies in an outer room. During the night, possibly close to dawn, Samuel is repeatedly called by name. At first he believes Eli is calling him but that is not true.  After twice hurrying to Eli's side, Eli eventually realizes that it is YHWH that is calling Samuel and so gives Samuel instructions about the next time the call occurs.

I Samuel 3: 10-14, YHWH's instructions to Samuel

The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!"

Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." 

And the LORD said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family--from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them.  Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, `The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'"

The message that God has for Samuel is not a happy one.  Eli's house will be buried by their sins.

I Samuel 3: 15-18, Morning

Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, "Samuel, my son." 

Samuel answered, "Here I am."   

"What was it he said to you?" Eli asked. "Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you."  

So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. 

Then Eli said, "He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes." 

Eli insists that Samuel pass on the message from YHWH and Samuel reluctantly agrees. Eli takes this all quietly.  He has apparently been resigned to this for some time.  His main legacy now will be Samuel.

I Samuel 3: 19-21, Samuel recognized as prophet 

The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.  And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD.  The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

YHWH protects and strengthens Samuel. Samuel's words do not "fall to the ground", that is, they take fruit and have good effect.  From the tribe of Dan, now in the far north of Israel, to Beersheba in the south, Samuel is recognized as a prophet.  

The chapter begins by saying that the "word of YHWH" was rare; the chapter ends with YHWH continuing to appear to Samuel at Shiloh.

I Samuel 2, A Young Boy Dedicated in the Temple

God has given Hannah a child.  At the tabernacle in Shiloh, she dedicates him to YHWH as a Nazirite.

I Samuel 2: 1-2, Horn lifted high

Then Hannah prayed and said:

`"My heart rejoices in the LORD; 

in the LORD my horn is lifted high. 

My mouth boasts over my enemies, 

for I delight in your deliverance. 

"There is no one holy like the LORD; 

there is no one besides you; 

there is no Rock like our God.  

This song is a song of triumph. It appears early in the scroll of Samuel while David's song of triumph occurs at the end of the scroll, in 2 Samuel 22. These two songs of praise form majestic bookends to the scroll of Samuel.

The "horn" of an animal represents its strength; Hanna's "horn" is lifted up in victory by YHWH.

I Samuel 2: 3, Don't be so arrogant

"Do not keep talking so proudly 

or let your mouth speak such arrogance, 

for the LORD is a God who knows,

 and by him deeds are weighed.  

God rewards the humble and brings down the arrogant. In a song of triumph, one acknowledges God's  defeat of one's enemies.  It is possible that Hannah's enemies in this song are just the travails of life -- but maybe these verses are aimed at Peninnah?

I Samuel 2: 4-8a, Broken/unbroken

"The bows of the warriors are broken, 

but those who stumbled are armed with strength.  

Those who were full hire themselves out for food, 

but those who were hungry hunger no more. 

She who was barren has borne seven children, 

but she who has had many sons pines away.  

"The LORD brings death and makes alive; 

he brings down to the grave and raises up.  

The LORD sends poverty and wealth; 

he humbles and he exalts.  

He raises the poor from the dust 

and lifts the needy from the ash heap; 

he seats them with princes 

and has them inherit a throne of honor. 

In rapid fire, Hannah praises God in seven stanzas.  All of these are examples of parallelism, in which a second phrases echoes the thoughts of the first.  The first three stanzas are examples of antithetical parallelism, that is, two parallel statements, positive/negative reflections of each other: broken/strong, impoverished/not hungry, barren/many children. Several more stanzas continue the +/- effect, within each line: death/alive, poverty/wealth, poor/raised up.

I Samuel 2: 8b-10, YHWH's strength

"For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's; 

upon them he has set the world.  

He will guard the feet of his saints, 

but the wicked will be silenced in darkness.

 "It is not by strength that one prevails;  

those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. 

He will thunder against them from heaven; 

the LORD will judge the ends of the earth. 

"He will give strength to his king 

and exalt the horn of his anointed."

What is the theme of this song? God does the unexpected; he reverses roles -- he lifts up the humble and puts down the proud.  Hannah's praise will be echoed by Mary, mother of Jesus, in Luke 1: 46-55.

I Samuel 2: 11-17, Eli's sons

Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the LORD under Eli the priest. 

Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD.  Now it was the practice of the priests with the people that whenever anyone offered a sacrifice and while the meat was being boiled, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand. He would plunge it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot, and the priest would take for himself whatever the fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.  

But even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest some meat to roast; he won't accept boiled meat from you, but only raw."  If the man said to him, "Let the fat be burned up first, and then take whatever you want," the servant would then answer, "No, hand it over now; if you don't, I'll take it by force."  This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD's sight, for they were treating the LORD's offering with contempt.

Samuel probably lived with Eli from when he, Samuel, was 3-5 years old.

The tabernacle at this time is at Shiloh. The sons of Eli are taking more than their share of the sacrifice. Even in those ancient days, people used the ministry for greed and gain. (The narrator alerted us to upcoming issues with Eli's sons when they are named earlier in 1 Samuel 1: 3.)

We get an interesting description of the cooking: "pan or kettle or cauldron or pot" -- what a curious phrase -- and the author also describes a "three-pronged fork."  Alter suggests that the hurried pan/kettle/cauldron/pot  phrase paints a scene of greedy priests' frenetically stabbing their forks into every pot and pan.

I Samuel 2: 18-21, Hannah visits her son

But Samuel was ministering before the LORD--a boy wearing a linen ephod.  Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.  Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "May the LORD give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the LORD." Then they would go home.  

And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. 

Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

The visits from Hannah and Elkanah occurred every year. Notice the token of love, a robe, that Hannah worked on in Samuel's absence. The woman who wept before YHWH at Shiloh, begging to be given a son, surely now cries quietly at home as she sews the small robe, her tears a mixture of joy and longing for the son she misses.

After the birth of Samuel, Hannah has five more children. And Samuel grows up at the tabernacle in Shiloh.

I Samuel 2: 22-26, Eli chastises his sons

Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the LORD's people.  If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" 

His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the LORD's will to put them to death.

In contrast to Samuel, Eli's sons are scoundrels, taking advantage of their position to have sex with the women who serve at the Tent of Meeting. Eli chastises his sons but does nothing about it.

The explanation for the stubbornness of Eli's sons echoes that of the Pharaoh in Exodus (eg. Exodus 7: 3-4), that is, YHWH affects their reactions for a particular purpose.

I Samuel 2: 27-29, Eli chastised by God

Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "This is what the LORD says: `Did I not clearly reveal myself to your father's house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh?  I chose your father out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your father's house all the offerings made with fire by the Israelites.  Why do you  scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?'

A "man of God", that is an unnamed prophet, chastises Eli and warns him of the punishment to come. Eli is reminded of the decision, long ago back in Egypt, to honor Eli's ancestors and to reward them. Yet Eli honors his sons more than YHWH.

I Samuel 2: 30-36, Judgement

"Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: `I promised that your house and your father's house would minister before me forever.' But now the LORD declares: `Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.  

"'The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, in your family line there will never be an old man. Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.  

"`And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you--they will both die on the same day. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always. Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a crust of bread and plead, "Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat."'"

Eli's son, Phinehas, is named after a grandson of high priest Aaron, a priest in the days of the exodus (Exodus 6:25.)

Eli chastises his sons but does nothing.  God chastises Eli and promises to take action. Eli's family are descendants of Aaron. Although Aaron's family is to minister before YHWH for many generations (Exodus 40: 12-15), Eli's family line will end. Eli's last descendant, Abiathar, will be dismissed from the priesthood by Solomon in 1 Kings 2: 26-27.

Youngblood, in his commentary on First and Second Samuel, argues for an elegant chiastic structure in this chapter. The concentric circles begin and end with praise for the Lord's "anointed one' (verse 10 and 35) on the outer circle and then, moving inward, Samuel ministering before YHWH (verses 11 and 26), the sins of Eli's sons (verses 12-17 and 22-25), Samuel before YHWH (verses 18 and 21b) with the central verse being the blessing of Eli's parents in verse 21a. The chiastic structure, common throughout the Old Testament writings, might be diagrammed like this:

    A. The Lord's anointed one (2:10)

        B. Samuel ministering before YHWH (2:11)

            C. The sins of Eli's sons (2:12-17)

                D. Samuel in the Lord's presence (2: 18)

                    E. The blessing of Elkanah and Hannah (2: 21a)

                D'. Samuel in the Lord's presence (2: 21b)

            C'. The sins of Eli's sons (2: 22-25)

        B'. Samuel ministering before YHWH (2: 26)

    A'. The Lord's anointed one (2: 35)