1 The child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 1. Since we were diligently seeking how the meaning of the sacred history might correspond to the conduct of the elect, we deferred revisiting the order of allegory by exposition.
Bede · AD 735 But the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli, etc. The boy who was born to us in the flesh, in the sight of the Jewish priests, was ministering his gifts to the early Church both personally and through his evangelizing disciples.
2 It happened at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see),
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 6. For the boy Samuel is called by the Lord whenever the secrets of divine counsel are revealed to humble subjects, and they acquire by the merit of their humility the light of contemplation, which proud preachers lose as the recompense of their pride.
Bede · AD 735 It happened on a certain day, Eli was lying in his place, etc. He designates the lamp of God according to the dignity of Eli's rank. But by signification, we correctly take the lamp to mean the old priesthood, necessary indeed in the night under the shadow of the serving people, but to be removed with the approach of the day of new grace.
3 and the lamp of God hadn't yet gone out, and Samuel had lain down in the Lord 's temple, where the ark of God was;
Theodore of Mopsuestia · AD 428 It says "The Lord is in his holy temple," as if it had been appropriate to say "The Lord is his help." For the Lord's name alone is commonly inserted as an indication of assistance. But here the psalmist intends to indicate that there is one who lives in the temple and is used for defense and protection, in whom it is able to stand firm securely in hope against all treachery.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 8. Now rightly the reprobate prelate is said not to sleep but to lie down, while the boy, a subject and one of the elect, is said not to lie down but to sleep, because "to sleep" is sometimes taken in a good sense, while "to lie down" is almost always taken in a bad sense. Hence also the Bride in the Song of Songs says: 'I sleep, and my heart watches' (Song 5:2).
Bede · AD 735 But Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord, etc. The Lord, while instructing and ministering spiritual matters to mortals, would suspend the external vision of the mind to fix it in the contemplation of the supreme and innermost light.
4 that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, "Here I am."
John Cassian · AD 435 And therefore by no means let the ignorance or shallowness of one old man or of a few deter you and cut you off from that salutary path about which we have spoken and from the traditions of our forebears. The clever enemy misuses their gray hairs to deceive the young.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 (Verses 4, 5.) Who answering, said: "Here I am." And he ran to Eli and said: "For you called me." Who said: "I did not call you, my son; return and sleep." 8. Why did the one who heard the Lord calling him run to Eli, unless because he thought he had been called by Eli?
Bede · AD 735 And the Lord called Samuel, etc. It's a challenging mode of speaking, how from time to time a father calls his son to know the secrets of his judgment; and he responds that he is present, who was born before time from the Father and speaks: All things have been delivered to me by my Father (Matthew XI). And: All that the Father has is mine (John XVI).
5 He ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." He said, "I did not call; lie down again." He went and lay down.
Bede · AD 735 And he ran to Eli, etc. Christ, called by the Father, who was always in him, to contemplate the miracles of his eternal majesty, responds that he will remain eternally with the Father by divine presence; and among these, suddenly appearing in human flesh, he speaks to the teachers of the Jews: And he himself, whom you sought for so long, and desired to come in the flesh, who wa…
6 The Lord called yet again, "Samuel!" Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." He answered, "I did not call, my son; lie down again."
Bede · AD 735 And the Lord added to call Samuel again, etc. Let us not tire of repeating in our discussions what neither the Lord tired of saying, nor the historian of repeating in writing.
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 11. What is it that Eli commands the boy who was called to return to sleep, except that he shows preachers to prepare themselves through quietness of mind for receiving the gift of interior grace? And it should be noted that it says: "Return." For Samuel returns when the chosen preacher goes back from meditation on sacred Scripture to the secret of interior contemplation.
Bede · AD 735 Moreover, Samuel did not yet know the Lord, etc. Moreover, the Savior, whose name is God, was not yet recognized by the carnal as always knowing all the secrets of the Father, nor before He was baptized did John see and bear witness that the heavens were opened to Him, and that the voice of the Father was made upon Him from above.
8 The Lord called Samuel again the third time. He arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.
Philoxenus of Mabbug · AD 523 Now when Eli understood that it was the Lord Who had called him, he commanded him to make answer as unto the Lord, and not to run towards him; for "Eli understood that the Lord had called the boy." And old age sent youth to the Lord to learn His will, and cunning had need of simplicity that by means of it it might learn the Divine Will; for Eli entreated Samuel and begged him t…
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 15. For if he had not understood, he would by no means have ministered to him the counsels of salvation through the sacred Scriptures. For he understood, because he foresaw. For whatever almighty God arranged to do in the building of the future Church, this He revealed to the ancient Fathers through the holy spirit of prophecy.
Bede · AD 735 Eli understood that the Lord had called the boy, etc. Finally, after many great deeds and words done and spoken by the Lord, after John the Baptist's proclamations were fulfilled, the priests, scribes, and Pharisees understand that Jesus, who in the reality of the flesh was born as a boy to us, is the true contemplator of the highest mysteries of the eternal deity of the father…
9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, 'Speak, Lord; for your servant hears.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 But to him whom he understood was to be called, he also supplied counsel, saying: (Verse 9.) "Go and sleep, and if he calls you again, you shall say: Speak, Lord, for your servant hears." 16. Enough has already been shown, I believe, that the sleep of Samuel signifies the quiet of interior meditation.
10 The Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak; for your servant hears."
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 16. And it should be noted that the Lord rouses the boy while he is resting, without Eli knowing, yet once roused, He by no means reveals the reason for his calling unless that same Eli instructs him, because He raises chosen subjects through hidden inspiration toward the desire for the heavenly homeland, yet through their rest He does not permit them to be called to the homela…
11 The Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle.
Philoxenus of Mabbug · AD 523 The Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle," because Eli had heard of the iniquity which his sons were doing in the tabernacle, and had rebuked them not.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 19. For among sublime gifts, the elect mind is restrained from pride all the more cautiously, the more it perceives through the justice of almighty God that even those who seemed to be supported by more sublime gifts have been cast away. For this reason also, concerning the word which the Lord threatens He will accomplish, the ears of those who hear are declared to ring.
Bede · AD 735 And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I am doing a work in Israel, etc. What the prophet previously foretold to Eli about the judgment of his house, meaning its rejection and the substitution of Samuel in the priesthood, the same Samuel now understands through the oracle of God about himself, and he announces it to Eli; because what the prophets heralded by defining the old and…
12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end.
13 For I have told him that I will judge his house forever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he did not restrain them.
Basil of Caesarea · AD 379 Benevolence to such persons is like that mistaken kindness of Eli which he was accused of showing his sons, contrary to the good pleasure of God. A feigned kindness to the wicked is a betrayal of the truth, an act of treachery to the community and a means of habituating oneself to indifference to evil.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 And opening up this same word, He says: (Verses 13 and 14.) For I have foretold to him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity, because he knew that his sons were acting unworthily, and he did not correct them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of his house shall not be expiated by sacrifices and offerings forever. 21.
Isaac of Nineveh · AD 700 For what reason did wrath and death come upon the house of the priest Eli, the righteous elder who was eminent for forty years in his priesthood? Was it not because of the iniquity of his sons [Hophni] and [Phinehas]?
14 Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be removed with sacrifice nor offering forever."
Bede · AD 735 Therefore, I have sworn to the house of Eli, etc. The house of Eli according to the letter could not be cleansed by the blood of victims, which the iniquity of his sons polluted, but nevertheless, it was cleansed by the blood of martyrdom when so many priests of his lineage were innocently destroyed in the city of Nob for the sake of the grace of paternal hospitality (1 Kings 2…
15 Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel feared to show Eli the vision.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 21. For he sleeps until morning who rests in the conduct of a good work begun until the splendor of the coming Redeemer appears. He sleeps until morning who throughout the whole night of the present life waits through the purpose of justice begun, so that the brightness of the promised Redeemer may shine forth for him unto the joy of a merited reward.
Bede · AD 735 Samuel slept until morning, etc. The Lord remained in secret rest with the Father, with whom he ceaselessly arranged and governed all things invisibly, waiting for when, with the night of vices dispelled by the host of virtues, the lights of evangelical truth would reveal themselves, when the shadow of the law departed.
16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, "Samuel, my son!" He said, "Here I am."
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 24. For he who is said to have been compelled to speak by such great urgency of entreaty is shown to have been bound by a great strictness of silence.
17 He said, "What is the thing that he has spoken to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you."
18 Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, "It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him."
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 And he indeed responded, saying: (Verse 18) "It is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes." 26. By these words, indeed, what else is more clearly recognized than the faithlessness of the Jewish people? For he who calls the almighty God Lord still considers himself to be serving Him.
19 Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 27. What does it mean that after Eli explained the vision, Samuel is said to have grown, except that the order of our teachers, after it repelled the sons of the Synagogue by the word, found a glory of greater reverence among the Gentiles?
Bede · AD 735 And not a word from Him fell to the ground. You will find nothing earthly in the words of the Lord, nor will any of those who think earthly things understand His spiritual sayings.
20 All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 30. For what is designated by Dan except the simple, and what by Beersheba except the wise? From Dan even to Beersheba Samuel is acknowledged as the faithful prophet of the Lord, when the life of a chosen preacher is set forth to the simple as an example of salvation, and to the wise the mysteries of Holy Scripture are revealed through his teaching.
Bede · AD 735 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized, etc. And the Catholic, that is, the universal Church, the spiritual Israel, which has been gathered from the beginnings of renouncing the devil to the font of baptism, knows that Jesus Christ, who is called "God with Us," is the preacher of faith.
21 The Lord appeared again in Shiloh; for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 31. Above, concerning the time of the reprobate pastor, it is said: "In those days there was no open vision." When therefore the best preacher is shown forth from sacred Scripture, the Lord is said to appear again, because indeed the knowledge of the divine counsel, which is hidden from the reprobate, is revealed to the elect by the merit of purity.