What Does 1 Samuel 3:8 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The repeated call is heard before its source is recognized; discernment reveals who is speaking.
THE MEANING
A familiar explanation can hold the mind even when the call comes from elsewhere. Here, discernment begins when the pattern is seen and the source is named. Honest response and growing recognition meet in the same moment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the assumption that repeated experience makes its source obvious: Samuel hears the call again and still thinks Eli called him.
THE ROOT
וַיָּבֶן
wayyāḇen
GROWS FROM
ב־י־ן
b-y-n
to understand, discern, or distinguish
“perceived” in this verse is wayyāḇen. The Hebrew word for Eli’s perception comes from bin, a root associated with discerning distinctions. Its branch bein means “between”: perception here is more than hearing a sound; it is recognizing the difference between the familiar voice Samuel assumes and the source Eli sees.
ALSO GROWS
bên: between; in the space or distinction separating things
בֵּין
It gives a concrete image for discernment: recognizing what lies between the sound and its true source.
tevunah: understanding or the capacity to discern
תְּבוּנָה
This branch names the kind of perception Eli shows when he interprets the repeated call.
וַיִּקְרָא
wayyiqra
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־א
q-r-ʾ
to call, summon, or proclaim
“called” in this verse is wayyiqra. The call is not merely a sound: this root also gives Hebrew words for reading aloud and for a convocation. The same word-family carries the sense of calling attention and gathering people around what is spoken.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: a gathering called together; also a reading or proclamation
מִקְרָא
The call that Samuel mistakes is a summons that gathers his attention, even before he knows who summons him.
qeri'ah: a call or the act of reading aloud
קְרִיאָה
It keeps calling and voiced reading within one root-family, showing how a spoken summons makes itself heard.
THE PATTERN
A call can be heard before its source is discerned; recognition comes when repetition is interpreted.
And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.THE THREAD
And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.The same Hebrew verb קָרָא (qārāʾ, “call”) appears when God calls Moses by name, and Moses answers, “Here am I.” Samuel’s repeated visits to Eli show that hearing a call and discerning its source are distinct moments.
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