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Eli questions Samuel after one of
the boy’s visions in this 19th-century
illustration. Most depictions of the two
highlight Samuel’s youth and vision in
contrast to the blind and elderly Eli.grief,” Eli blesses her: “Go in peace,
and may the God of Israel grant
you what you have asked of him”
(1 Samuel 1). God does respond to
Hannah’s prayer, and when she
gives birth to a son, she calls him
Samuel —“heard of God.”
When Samuel is around the age
of 4, Hannah takes him back
to the priest Eli at Shiloh and
dedicates him to God’s service as
she has promised. She leaves him
to be educated and trained by Eli.Samuel and Eli
The early verses of Samuel’s story
describe how he grows both in
stature and favor with God and
His people. Samuel’s exemplary
behavior is in marked contrast
to that of Eli’s own sons, who
steal the offerings worshippers
bring to God at Shiloh.
God plans to use Samuel to
bring the old leadership of Eli and
his sons to an end and establish a
new period of devotion to God. One
night, while Samuel is asleep in the
Tabernacle, he is woken by a voice
calling his name. Thinking it musthave been Eli, Samuel runs to Eli’s
bedside, ready to serve his master,
but Eli says he has not called out.
Back in bed, Samuel hears his name
called again, so once again runs to
Eli. A second time, Eli sends him
back to bed; he had not called.
After a third call summons
Samuel to Eli’s bedside, Eli realizes
that the voice Samuel is hearing
must be God’s. He instructs Samuel
to respond with the words “Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening”
if the voice calls again. Samuel’s life
had begun by God responding to
Hannah calling out to him for a
child; now God is calling that child
to become a prophet. When God
calls again, Samuel answers exactly
as Eli has advised.Eli’s rule ends
God tells Samuel that the time for
Eli and his sons to lead is coming
to a close. Sure enough, during
the next clash with the Philistines,
Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas are
killed, and the Ark of the Covenant,
which the Israelites had taken with
them to the battlefield as a symbolSee also: David and Goliath 116–17 ■ The Wisdom of Solomon 120–23 ■ The Suffering Servant 154–55 ■
The Prophet Jeremiah 156–59 ■ The Prophet Ezekiel 162–63 ■ The Prophet Micah 168–71THE HISTORICAL BOOKS
of God’s presence and protection,
is captured by the Philistines.
On hearing of these calamities,
the aging Eli falls off his chair,
breaks his neck, and dies.
By this time, the Israelites
recognize Samuel not merely as
Eli’s successor, but as someone
even more important—a prophet,
through whom God spoke to ❯❯History of the Books of Samuel
Telling the Israelites’ story from
the end of the era of the judges
to the final days of King David’s
reign, Samuel is split into two
books. Although Samuel 1 and 2
both bear his name, the prophet
only appears as a key character
in the first 16 chapters of
1 Samuel. After Samuel anoints
Saul as king, Saul’s story takes
up the rest of 1 Samuel. The only
subsequent mentions of Samuel
are before his death in 1 Samuel
25:1 and as a ghost summoned
by a medium on behalf of KingSaul in 1 Samuel 28. David’s
reign takes up all of 2 Samuel
and continues in 1 Kings.
In the original Hebrew Bible,
1 and 2 Samuel were one book,
but this was split into two in
Greek and Latin versions due
to the book’s length. It is likely
that the account was compiled
from a variety of sources in the
time of Israel’s later kings, after
around 600 bce, to remind
Israel’s rulers that they must
remain faithful to God if they
want to rule well.The Lord was with
Samuel as he grew up ...
all Israel from Dan to
Beersheba recognized that
Samuel was attested as
a prophet of the Lord.
1 Samuel 3:19–20US_110-115_The_prophet_samuel.indd 113 26/09/17 2:13 pm