1 Samuel 2:18

Contextual Overview

¹¹Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the Lord in the presence of the priest Eli. ¹¹ Elkana went to Ramah to his house. The child did minister to the LORD before `Eli the Kohen. ¹¹ And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house. Now the boy was serving Yahweh in the presence of Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy continued to serve the Lord under Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of Eli the priest. ¹¹Elkanah [and his wife Hannah] returned to Ramah to his house. But the child [Samuel] served the LORD under the guidance of Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the boy continued to attend to the service of the LORD before Eli the priest. ¹¹ And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house, and the childe did minister vnto the Lord before Eli the Priest.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

ministered: 1 Samuel 2:11, 1 Samuel 3:1

a linen ephod: 1 Samuel 22:18, Exodus 28:4, Leviticus 8:7, 2 Samuel 6:14

Reciprocal: Judges 11:31 - shall surely Judges 11:39 - to his vow 1 Samuel 1:22 - and there 1 Kings 18:12 - from my youth 1 Chronicles 15:27 - a robe 2 Chronicles 34:1 - eight years Ecclesiastes 12:1 - Remember Hosea 3:4 - ephod Matthew 11:25 - and hast Matthew 19:14 - Suffer Matthew 20:2 - he sent Luke 1:66 - And the Luke 2:40 - the child Acts 3:24 - Samuel 2 Timothy 3:15 - from Hebrews 11:32 - Samuel

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God looked at everything he had made, and it was very good. Evening passed, and morning came. This was the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God saw all that he had made—and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He validated it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God sawe all that he had made, and loe, it was very good. So the euening and the morning were the sixt day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came and then morning—that was the sixth day.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But Samuel ministered before the Lord,.... The ministration of Samuel, though a child, is observed both before and after the account of the ill behaviour and wickedness of Eli's sons; partly to the shame and disgrace of them, and as serving to aggravate their sin, and make it appear the more black and heinous; and partly to his honour and reputation, that he was not corrupted and turned aside from God by their evil practices. The phrase here used is different from that in 1 Samuel 2:11 there he is said to minister before Eli, under his direction and guidance, but here before the Lord; being now engaged in higher services, and which he could perform without the assistance of Eli, as in the presence of God more immediately; it seems to have respect to him when more grown in age, stature, knowledge, and experience, though here related: yet still being "a child"; not got out of his childhood, or arrived to manhood:

girded with a linen ephod; such as priests used to wear, but not Levites in common, nor extraordinary persons on extraordinary occasions, see 1 Samuel 22:18. This seems to be a peculiar favour, and a special honour which Eli granted to Samuel when so very young, on account of the grace of God bestowed on him in a wonderful manner; and because brought up in the tabernacle as a holy person, and a Nazarite; and because his birth was foretold, and he asked of God, as his name signified, as Procopius Gazaeus observes.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Girded with a linen ephod - This was the usual dress of the priests. It does not appear whether Levites wore an ephod properly. Possibly it was a mark of Samuel’s special dedication to the Lord’s service that he wore one. (See the marginal reference). The ephod was sometimes used as an idolatrous implement Judges 8:27.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 2:18. Girded with a linen ephod — This the Targum translates אסיר כרדוט דבוץ asir cardut debuts, "Girded with a cardit of byssus, or fine linen." The word cardut they seem to have borrowed from the Greek χειριδωτος, a tunic, having χειριδας, i.e., sleeves that came down to, or covered, the hands. This was esteemed an effeminate garment among the Romans. See Buxtorf's Talmudic Lexicon.