1 Samuel 3:8 Explained in Context

Selected verse

Verse 8. And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

Brings the third call and Eli's recognition that the LORD is calling the child.

Read It With

1 Samuel 3:1–3:10

1 Samuel 3:1–3:10 supplies the necessary frame for verse 3:8. Here the narrator brings the third call and Eli's recognition that the LORD is calling the child, within this larger movement: In a time when revelation is rare, Samuel repeatedly mistakes the LORD's call for Eli until Eli understands and instructs him to listen.

Why This Verse Appears Here

At verse 3:8, the scene brings the third call and Eli's recognition that the LORD is calling the child. That movement matters to “Samuel learns to recognize the calling voice” while the unit's uncertainty and ethical boundary continue to govern application.

What Remains True

Brings the third call and Eli's recognition that the LORD is calling the child. Within 1 Samuel 3:1–3:10, this contribution supports the unit's enduring claim: The durable responsibility is to protect people from detached uses of this scene while retaining its warranted claim: In a time when revelation is rare, Samuel repeatedly mistakes the LORD's call for Eli until Eli understands and instructs him to listen.

How It Can Shape Life

Brings the third call and Eli's recognition that the LORD is calling the child. The proportionate response is therefore the one traced from the complete unit: Test spiritual and providential claims patiently through the available evidence, trusted accountability, and their effects on people; do not turn impressions, signs, or religious language into unquestionable authority. The call story does not teach that every inner impression is divine speech, shame people who need guidance, or make spiritual authority depend on dramatic experiences.

Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read 1 Samuel 3:1–3:10 — Samuel learns to recognize the calling voice

Sources used for this Verse Lens

How certain is this explanation? strong

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.

Exact location: 1 Samuel 3:1–3:10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Samuel

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology, with the two KJV-Hebrew versification shifts stated rather than silently offset.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Sam.xml, OSIS 3:1–3:10; KJV 20:42 spans Hebrew 20:42–21:1, KJV 21:1–15 maps to Hebrew 21:2–16, KJV 23:29 maps to Hebrew 24:1, and KJV 24:1–22 maps to Hebrew 24:2–23

Open source ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible First Edition Notes: 1 Samuel

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2006

Supports: Only the translator notes actually printed for these verses, used for lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and older-English controls.

Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Notes, 1 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 504–543, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 3:1–3:10

Open source ↗

Open the complete thought-unit research record