What Does 1 Samuel 3:2 Mean?
And it came to pass at that time, when Eli lay down in his place, and his eyes began to dim, so that he could not see.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;THE KEY
Eli’s failing eyesight is named with a Hebrew verb that can also mean perceiving, letting bodily sight and understanding dim in one word.
THE MEANING
Eyesight can grow dull by degrees before sight is lost; this is a bodily change, not a verdict on a person. The Hebrew verb for seeing can also mean perceiving, so physical sight and apprehension touch in the same word. The verse gives the reader language for that narrowing without turning it into blame.
THE ROOT
לִרְאוֹת
lir’ot
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see, look, or perceive.
“see” in this verse is lir’ot. The Hebrew verb ראה (ra’ah) can name both seeing with the eyes and perceiving. The line still speaks of Eli’s literal eyesight, while the shared word lets its dimming touch the wider capacity to apprehend.
ALSO GROWS
ro’eh: One who sees; a seer.
רֹאֶה
The same root names the one who sees, connecting sight to the person’s capacity to perceive.
mar’eh: An appearance or vision.
מַרְאֶה
The root also names what comes into view, linking seeing to what can be recognized.
THE PATTERN
Scripture uses seeing for both bodily sight and the capacity to recognize or perceive.
And Elisha prayed and said, LORD, I pray you, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and look, the mountain was filled with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?And Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see might see, and that those who see might become blind.THE THREAD
And she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You are El Roi, the God who sees me. For she said, Have I also here looked after the one who sees me?The Hebrew verb behind “seest” and “seeth” is ראה (ra’ah), the same root as Eli’s “see.” This connects a failing eye to the wider field of seeing: perception can falter, and a person can also be seen.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us