Chapter 3 of Sefer Shmuel is the chapter of transition: the setting of Eli's sun and the rising of Shmuel's. The verse places the youth Shmuel opposite the sons of Eli whom we saw in the previous chapter, and immediately continues to relate that the first prophecy in Shmuel's life concerns specifically the house of Eli, and for this reason this passage was placed next to the one before it.
וְהַנַּעַר שְׁמוּאֵל מְשָׁרֵת אֶת־יְהֹוָה לִפְנֵי עֵלִי וּדְבַר־יְהֹוָה הָיָה יָקָר בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם אֵין חָזוֹן נִפְרָץ׃ - And the youth Shmuel served Hashem before Eli, and the word of Hashem was precious in those days; there was no widespread vision.
The youth Shmuel was righteous by every measure, and against the sons of Eli the verse sets him as a complete contrast. Note the graduated wording: at first it was said that he served Hashem in the presence of Eli, meaning that Eli taught him and he was his student. Afterward it was said that he served Hashem without mentioning Eli at all, a sign that he had already strengthened himself on his own to be a man of Torah, a God fearing and righteous person by his own powers. And here: "before Eli." The Metzudat David explains that he was diligent in the service of Hashem, performing it before Eli and ahead of him, that is, spiritually he already stood on a level higher than Eli's, until he merited prophecy in his own right.
And this is no small matter: "and the word of Hashem was precious in those days; there was no widespread vision." Chazon is prophecy, and its prophets did not find vision from Hashem. Prophecy was not something common and widespread, and the one who actually broke through the dam was Shmuel, and in his wake the prophets multiplied as we will see further on.
The Malbim writes: the Divine abundance by its nature yearns to descend upon those who are prepared for it, upon those fit for prophecy, as it says "for I will pour water upon the thirsty and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit." And when no man is found ready to receive this abundance, the matter is likened to a stream full to all its banks that has no place to release its waters. But the moment a small breach is found, the stream will burst forth with a mighty flow and powerful force, and fill all its channels around it, valleys and fields.
And this is "there was no widespread vision": the abundance of the Divine vision found no breach through which to release all the flowing stream that wished to come forth and pour out abundance from the holy. And when it found a small breach, namely Shmuel, who was prepared for the abundance, it came to him suddenly in great abundance, until it flowed also to those around him. And this is what is said at the end of the chapter, "and Hashem continued to appear in Shiloh, for Hashem was revealed to Shmuel": once the abundance came forth, even people who did not stand at Shmuel's high level of preparedness merited prophecy. And so we see further on: Shaul comes into Shmuel's proximity and begins to prophesy, and even the messengers he sends begin to prophesy, not on their own account, but because they reached the place of the abundance.
וַיְהִי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וְעֵלִי שֹׁכֵב בִּמְקוֹמוֹ וְעֵינָו הֵחֵלּוּ כֵהוֹת לֹא יוּכַל לִרְאוֹת׃ - And it was on that day, and Eli was lying in his place, and his eyes had begun to grow dim; he could not see.
According to the plain meaning of the verses this detail seems superfluous: what do I care whether Eli was lying in his place or not in his place? But Chazal come and hint: this is not merely a physical lying down, but rather that he was not lying in the Sanctuary of Hashem. Regarding Shmuel it is said below that he was lying in the Sanctuary of Hashem, and although it does not mean this literally, as we will explain, it certainly comes to hint that all his thoughts and ideas were in the Sanctuary of Hashem. Eli, however, was no longer on this level: his thoughts were not on matters of the holy, on the Sanctuary and the Ark, but rather he was lying in his physical place and went to sleep. Says the Malbim: the work of the Kohen is to guard the Sanctuary, so that even at night all his thoughts should be upon the Sanctuary, and with Eli it was not so.
And one must understand: all that we are saying is stated solely in the language of Chazal. Heaven forbid that we should criticize the great ones of Israel; Eli was among the greatest of the great, and everything is measured according to the levels of those righteous ones. According to Eli's level, this was considered as if he was "lying in his place."
The verse also tells us about his physical state: "His eyes had begun to grow dim, he could not see." The Malbim explains that this is an introduction: come and see what happened with Eli, how his sun began to set, and through this you will see how the sun of Shmuel of Ramah began to rise.
וְנֵר אֱלֹהִים טֶרֶם יִכְבֶּה וּשְׁמוּאֵל שֹׁכֵב בְּהֵיכַל יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר־שָׁם אֲרוֹן אֱלֹהִים׃ - And the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Shmuel was lying in the Sanctuary of Hashem, where the Ark of God was.
The plain meaning of the verse: it was toward morning, at the time when the Menorah, which burned from evening until morning, had not yet gone out. And as is known, the hour before dawn is the most spiritually auspicious time. As the holy books write, that is when the light of kindness begins to sparkle in the world; the beginning of the night until midnight is the time of judgments, and afterward, with the light of morning, the light of kindness begins to sparkle.
For this reason it is taught that the true dream is a dream of the hours before morning, for then the light of kindness sparkles and it is possible that the dreamer will see a dream through an angel. Before that it is a time when the external forces hold sway, "in which all the beasts of the forest creep about" - the night is the time of demons and forces of impurity, and therefore the true divine dream is rarer at those hours. It is further written that at the beginning of the night a person's stomach is still full of food, and the smoky vapors rise to the brain and confuse it, so a person is not clear. But after the food is digested in the stomach, dreams are less affected by those vapors.
Chazal say on the verse "The sun rises and the sun sets": before the Holy One, blessed be He, causes the sun of one tzaddik to set, He raises up the sun of another tzaddik, so that there should never be a generation without any great person. And here too, by way of hint: "And the lamp of God had not yet gone out" - the lamp of Eli, which had not yet gone out, "and Shmuel was lying in the Sanctuary of Hashem where the Ark of God was" - for the Holy One, blessed be He, had already prepared the sun of Shmuel of Ramah to be ready to rise.
And Chazal ask: how is it possible that Shmuel was lying in the Sanctuary of Hashem where the Ark of God was? In the place where the Ark stood, even a Kohen is forbidden to lie down, for this is the Holy of Holies, and there is no sitting in the Courtyard except for the kings of the House of David, and all the more so lying down. Rather, the verse comes to hint that the word of God went forth from between the Keruvim, leaped over Eli, and came to Shmuel. And so it is brought in the Midrash: "God thunders wondrously with His voice" - the voice skipped, the voice leaped over; the Kohen was high up inside, and the Levite who belonged to him was outside. The voice, as it were, passed and leaped over Eli, did not speak with him, but turned directly to Shmuel.
וַיִּקְרָא יְהֹוָה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי׃ - And Hashem called to Shmuel, and he said, "Here I am."
וַיָּרׇץ אֶל־עֵלִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנְנִי כִּי־קָרָאתָ לִּי וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא־קָרָאתִי שׁוּב שְׁכָב וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיִּשְׁכָּב׃ - And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me," and he said, "I did not call, go back and lie down," and he went and lay down.
The voice of Hashem calls him, but this is Shmuel's first prophecy, and he does not yet know what the nature of prophecy is. He hears someone calling "Shmuel, Shmuel" and is certain it is Eli, so he gets up and turns to him. The commentators say that the Holy One, blessed be He, called him in the voice of Eli, so that he would not be frightened, for this was the first time Hashem revealed Himself to him. Eli said to him: I did not call, go back and lie down - you must have imagined it.
וַיֹּסֶף יְהֹוָה קְרֹא עוֹד שְׁמוּאֵל וַיָּקׇם שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל־עֵלִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנְנִי כִּי קָרָאתָ לִי וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא־קָרָאתִי בְנִי שׁוּב שְׁכָב׃ - And Hashem called Shmuel again, and Shmuel arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." And he said, "I did not call, my son; go back and lie down."
This time Eli added the word "my son." The Malbim explains: at this point Eli began to suspect that perhaps this really was prophecy. As is well known, one of the things that most prevents prophecy is sadness, and the path to attaining prophecy is only through joy. Eli was concerned that the boy's distress at not knowing who was calling him might cause him to lose the prophecy, and therefore he spoke to him with affection, "my son, go back and lie down," so that he would not become saddened. And he wished to check whether he would be called again.
וּשְׁמוּאֵל טֶרֶם יָדַע אֶת־יְהֹוָה וְטֶרֶם יִגָּלֶה אֵלָיו דְּבַר־יְהֹוָה׃ - Now Shmuel did not yet know Hashem, and the word of Hashem had not yet been revealed to him.
"He did not yet know Hashem" means he had no knowledge from his teacher's house in matters of the Divine, and he did not know how prophecy is received. "And the word of Hashem had not yet been revealed to him" means he certainly did not know it from his own experience. For this reason he did not understand who was calling him.
וַיֹּסֶף יְהֹוָה קְרֹא־שְׁמוּאֵל בַּשְּׁלִישִׁת וַיָּקׇם וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל־עֵלִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנְנִי כִּי קָרָאתָ לִי וַיָּבֶן עֵלִי כִּי יְהֹוָה קֹרֵא לַנָּעַר׃ - And Hashem called Shmuel again a third time, and he arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." And Eli understood that Hashem was calling the boy.
See Shmuel's fine character: twice it had already become clear to him that it was not Eli, and yet he did not grow lazy, and he arose a third time, thinking that perhaps this time it truly was he who called. And Eli understands that Hashem is calling the boy.
וַיֹּאמֶר עֵלִי לִשְׁמוּאֵל לֵךְ שְׁכָב וְהָיָה אִם־יִקְרָא אֵלֶיךָ וְאָמַרְתָּ דַּבֵּר יְהֹוָה כִּי שֹׁמֵעַ עַבְדֶּךָ וַיֵּלֶךְ שְׁמוּאֵל וַיִּשְׁכַּב בִּמְקוֹמוֹ׃ - And Eli said to Shmuel, "Go lie down, and if He calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, Hashem, for Your servant is listening.'" And Shmuel went and lay down in his place.
What is meant by "lay down in his place"? The Malbim says: in the same place of thought in which he had lain at first. "And Shmuel was lying in the Sanctuary of Hashem" refers to his thoughts being in the Sanctuary of Hashem; he went back and concentrated on those same lofty thoughts of the Sanctuary of Hashem, thinking only about matters of holiness.
וַיָּבֹא יְהֹוָה וַיִּתְיַצַּב וַיִּקְרָא כְפַעַם־בְּפַעַם שְׁמוּאֵל שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל דַּבֵּר כִּי שֹׁמֵעַ עַבְדֶּךָ׃ - And Hashem came and stood, and called as at the other times, "Shmuel, Shmuel." And Shmuel said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening."
Here He calls him twice, "Shmuel, Shmuel," and so we find with all the righteous who are dear to Hashem: "Avraham, Avraham," and the like.
Notice the difference: Eli told him "and you shall say, Speak, Hashem, for Your servant hears," whereas Shmuel said "Speak, for Your servant hears," without mentioning the name of Heaven. Why? Because he still feared that perhaps this was not Hashem, and if so he would be uttering Hashem's name in vain. Therefore he refrained from mentioning the name.
On "And Hashem came and stood," the Malbim asks: what is the difference between standing (amidah) and stationing oneself (hityatzvut)? Standing can be even a temporary standing, whereas stationing oneself is when a person is firmly established in his place, standing steadfast. And here the language of stationing is used. Chazal say, "The righteous - their God rests upon them," and the stationing means that this was not merely a temporary revelation, but a high level of prophecy that remained attached to him all the days of his life: he was in the category of a prophet of Hashem, and Hashem stationed Himself upon him.
One might ask: why was this whole complicated process and the lengthy verses needed? Could Hashem not have simply revealed Himself to Shmuel and placed in his heart the understanding that the voice was from Hashem? Why should he go out and run to Eli three times? Surely it is not difficult at all before Him, may He be blessed, that the one receiving prophecy should immediately know that Hashem is speaking with him.
The answer, however, is revealed in what follows: Eli calls Shmuel and demands that he reveal what Hashem said to him. Shmuel did not receive prophecy in order to convey it to Eli - he received prophecy for himself, and he conveyed it to Eli only because Eli placed him under oath. And how did the Holy One ensure that the matter would reach Eli's ears? By ensuring that Eli would know that Shmuel was receiving prophecy, so that the matter would be aroused in him and he would understand that there was a message here. For the day before, a man of God had come to him and delivered the prophecy about what would happen to his sons, and so he understood that now another message was about to reach him.
And from here there is a further proof: had Hashem told Shmuel "Go, tell Eli," is it conceivable that Shmuel would not have gone and told him? There is an explicit and absolute prohibition in the Torah against a prophet who suppresses his prophecy. Necessarily, then, he was not commanded to convey it, and only because Eli placed him under oath did he reveal it to him. And indeed he was afraid to speak: how could a student go and tell his teacher that Hashem had revealed Himself to him and had announced woe and calamity about what would befall him? And Eli was an old man - this was no simple matter at all.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי עֹשֶׂה דָבָר בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר כׇּל־שֹׁמְעוֹ תְּצִלֶּינָה שְׁתֵּי אׇזְנָיו׃ - And Hashem said to Shmuel: Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel, at which the two ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle.
What is meant by "do a thing"? The Radak says: this is the exile of the Ark. "The two ears of everyone shall tingle" - his ears will ring from the great fear, and this expression appears several times throughout Tanach.
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אָקִים אֶל־עֵלִי אֵת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֶל־בֵּיתוֹ הָחֵל וְכַלֵּה׃ - On that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.
On that very day when the Ark is captured, the prophecy spoken to Elkanah will begin to be fulfilled. "From beginning to end" - everything will begin then: the death of Chofni and Pinchas, and "all the increase of your house shall die as men."
וְהִגַּדְתִּי לוֹ כִּי־שֹׁפֵט אֲנִי אֶת־בֵּיתוֹ עַד־עוֹלָם בַּעֲוֺן אֲשֶׁר־יָדַע כִּי־מְקַלְלִים לָהֶם בָּנָיו וְלֹא כִהָה בָּם׃ - And I will tell him that I am judging his house forever for the iniquity that he knew, that his sons were bringing a curse upon themselves, and he did not restrain them.
"I judge his house forever" - meaning that they will be disgraced and their days shortened forever. And on account of what? "Because his sons brought a curse upon themselves." The word "mekallelim" comes from the language of disgrace (kalon), as in "and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed." It really should have been written "because his sons brought a curse upon Hashem" - but this is one of the tikkun soferim: they did not wish to use degrading language toward Heaven, so a clean expression was written instead. Similar to "Bless God and die" said by Iyov's wife, which really meant blaspheme God; and to "we came and it went up out of the land" instead of "we went up."
"And he did not rebuke them" - he did not restrain them. True, we saw a defense that he was already old and they did not listen to him so much, but the essence of the matter is that this was indeed the sin that was in him.
The Malbim asks: this seems astonishing, for this prophecy had already been conveyed to Eli through Elkanah in the previous chapter, and the entire punishment was told to him there. Why repeat and say it again, and moreover through Shmuel? This seems superfluous and only causes distress, since the harsh and terrible matter had already been conveyed.
וְלָכֵן נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לְבֵית עֵלִי אִם־יִתְכַּפֵּר עֲוֺן בֵּית־עֵלִי בְּזֶבַח וּבְמִנְחָה עַד־עוֹלָם׃ - Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the sin of the house of Eli shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.
Here is the addition: this time there is an oath, whereas the first time, with Elkanah, there was no oath. Had Eli rebuked his sons in the meantime, the Holy One, blessed be He, would have retracted part of what He had said. But since he did not rebuke them and they did not repent, and no change took place at all - now it is already under oath. And a decree that comes with an oath can no longer be rectified, it can no longer be healed through repentance, and they will have to receive the punishment until the word of Hashem is fulfilled. This is what is meant by "for the sin which he knew, that his sons brought a curse upon themselves and he did not rebuke them" - I gave him time to rebuke them, and he did not rebuke, and therefore now it is already a matter of an oath.
Chazal expound: "whether the sin of the house of Eli shall be atoned for by sacrifice or offering" - by sacrifice and offering it is not atoned, but it is atoned through Torah study and acts of kindness. And some of them said: it is atoned even through prayer. Torah study, acts of kindness and prayer can indeed help and cause their days to be lengthened. And so the Gemara says about Abaye and Rava, who descended from the house of Eli: Rava, who engaged in Torah without acts of kindness, did not merit length of days; and Abaye, who engaged in Torah and in acts of kindness, was granted length of days.
And why indeed can their sin not be atoned through sacrifice and offering? Because the prosecutor cannot become the defender. One who degrades the garments does not benefit from the garments, and one who degrades the sacrifice and the offering will not be atoned through sacrifice and offering. Therefore the only path is Torah, repentance, acts of kindness and prayer, but sacrifice and offering can no longer help them.
וַיִּשְׁכַּב שְׁמוּאֵל עַד־הַבֹּקֶר וַיִּפְתַּח אֶת־דַּלְתוֹת בֵּית־יְהֹוָה וּשְׁמוּאֵל יָרֵא מֵהַגִּיד אֶת־הַמַּרְאָה אֶל־עֵלִי׃ - And Shmuel lay until the morning, and he opened the doors of the house of Hashem, and Shmuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
Shmuel did not tell him the matter immediately during the night, for he lay until the morning, nor even when he arose and opened the doors of the house of Hashem. And why is he the one who opens the doors? Because he was a Levi, and the role of the Leviim is as singers and gatekeepers - and he was among the gatekeepers, and opening the doors of the house of Hashem is his service.
וַיִּקְרָא עֵלִי אֶת־שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל בְּנִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי׃ - And Eli called Shmuel and said, "Shmuel, my son," and he said, "Here I am."
Eli understood that a vision had taken place that concerned him. "And the heart knows the bitterness of its own soul," says the Malbim. Many times when a person has a feeling, that feeling transmits something real that the soul perceives from above, as the Gemara says, "Even though he himself did not see, his mazal saw." We once explained that "mazal" is from the root nozel (flowing), for the abundance flows down and streams from the part of the soul to the spirit, and through it to the lower soul. And so Eli already sensed that something was here.
וַיֹּאמֶר מָה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֵלֶיךָ אַל־נָא תְכַחֵד מִמֶּנִּי כֹּה יַעֲשֶׂה־לְּךָ אֱלֹהִים וְכֹה יוֹסִיף אִם־תְּכַחֵד מִמֶּנִּי דָּבָר מִכׇּל־הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר אֵלֶיךָ׃ - And he said, "What is the thing that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. So may God do to you and more, if you hide from me a single thing of all that He spoke to you."
What is meant by "So may God do to you and more"? Rashi says: he told him, that very same curse - that you shall not have worthy sons - so may God do to you if you do not tell me. Not that he intended, God forbid, for the matter to fall upon Shmuel, but only conditionally: if you do not reveal it to me, may that very same thing happen to you. Yet the curse of a sage comes to pass even when made conditionally, and therefore Shmuel too had two sons who did not follow in his ways.
וַיַּגֶּד־לוֹ שְׁמוּאֵל אֶת־כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִים וְלֹא כִחֵד מִמֶּנּוּ וַיֹּאמַר יְהֹוָה הוּא הַטּוֹב בְּעֵינָו יַעֲשֶׂה׃ - And Shmuel told him all the words, and he did not hide anything from him. And he said, "It is Hashem; let Him do what is good in His eyes."
"Vayaged" (and he told) is a term of harsh speech, hard like sinews (gidim); he spoke harsh words to him, and did not conceal or hide anything. And to this Eli responds, "It is Hashem; let Him do what is good in His eyes," accepting upon himself the judgment of Heaven. He understood that there was an oath here, and once he understood that nothing could be done, all that remained was to accept the judgment. Like "And Aharon was silent."
וַיִּגְדַּל שְׁמוּאֵל וַיהֹוָה הָיָה עִמּוֹ וְלֹא־הִפִּיל מִכׇּל־דְּבָרָיו אָרְצָה׃ - And Shmuel grew, and Hashem was with him, and He let none of his words fall to the ground.
וַיֵּדַע כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל מִדָּן וְעַד־בְּאֵר שָׁבַע כִּי נֶאֱמָן שְׁמוּאֵל לְנָבִיא לַיהֹוָה׃ - And all Israel from Dan to Beer Sheva knew that Shmuel was faithful as a prophet to Hashem.
Hashem was with him, and Shmuel was a prophet: he never said a thing that did not come to pass. And as a result, all Israel from Dan to Beer Sheva knew that Shmuel was faithful as a prophet to Hashem. For a prophet would not be accepted until they tested him: they would tell him, say what will happen in two days, what will happen in three days, and they would check whether it came about, and so a second and a third time, until they knew that this man was truly worthy of prophecy. And if even once he erred or said something inexact, they would disqualify him. Here the verse tells you that He let none of his words fall to the ground, and this was known from Dan to Beer Sheva, and no one tested him any longer: it was clear that his words were true to Hashem.
וַיֹּסֶף יְהֹוָה לְהֵרָאֹה בְשִׁלֹה כִּי־נִגְלָה יְהֹוָה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל בְּשִׁלוֹ בִּדְבַר יְהֹוָה׃ - And Hashem continued to appear in Shiloh, for Hashem revealed Himself to Shmuel in Shiloh through the word of Hashem.
As we explained at the outset: since the river had overflowed its banks and found itself a breach, Hashem continued to appear in Shiloh. The river had already begun to flow, the vision had begun to burst forth, and even people who did not stand at the lofty level of receiving prophecy were now granted prophecy as well.
Chapter 3 is the chapter of Shmuel's sunrise. Eli's sun is setting: his eyes are growing dim, his thoughts are no longer in the Sanctuary of Hashem, and at that very moment the Holy One, blessed be He, is preparing Shmuel's sun, whose every thought is in the Sanctuary of Hashem. The divine abundance, which had been like a full river with no breach, at last finds an opening in Shmuel, and from there it flows and floods all of Shiloh. The repeated calls and Eli's responses were not superfluous: through them the Holy One, blessed be He, ensured that Eli would understand there was prophecy, and would place Shmuel under oath to reveal it. The content of the prophecy repeats the verdict that had been conveyed through Elkanah, except that now the element of the oath is added, an oath after which there is no atonement through sacrifice and offering, and only Torah, acts of kindness and prayer are of avail, as we saw with Abaye and Rava. Eli accepts the judgment with submission: "Hashem, let Him do what is good in His eyes," and Shmuel is revealed to all of Israel, from Dan to Beer Sheva, as a prophet faithful to Hashem.