1 Samuel 3: 1 4 The Call Of Samuel

Target year level: Year Six

Scripture text

Introduction

Many questions have arisen pertaining to the literary character, authorship and date of 1 & 2 Samuel. Certain features of the book suggest that it was compiled with the use of a number of originally independent sources, which the author may have incorporated into his own composition as much as possible in their original, unedited form.

Who the author was cannot be known since the book itself gives no indication of his identity. Whoever he was, he doubtless had access to records of the life and times of Samuel, Saul and David.

For further information, see the The New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), Introduction to 1 Samuel

World behind the text

When was 1 Samuel written?

Read the first page of 1 Samuel in The Catholic Youth Bible (or check the Bible you are using to see if it also provides accurate information about each book on the first page of each book).

Important historical information to know to understand the text:

1 Samuel was written around one thousand years before the birth of Jesus. There are two books of Samuel (the authorship is unknown), and these books tell the story of Israel from the time of being ruled by Judges to the establishment of the Monarchy (being ruled by Kings).

What was happening historically at this time? In the Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 BCE) there had been an ongoing struggle between major political powers seeking control of Palestine. Around 1200 BCE, the Sea Peoples arrived and all of the major powers were either wiped out (e.g., the Hittites) or neutralized (Egypt). Moving into the Iron Age, there were no longer major groups holding power, so control of the region allowed for the smaller states to test their strength, develop and build regional “empires.” The Philistines were able to take advantage of this early on. The Philistines are mentioned throughout the books of Judges and 1 and 2 Samuel, and they came into the Palestine area when the Sea Peoples were no longer allowed in Egypt. The tribe that came to be known as the Philistines settled on the southern coast of Palestine. There they established their five capital cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron (Tell Miqne), Gath (Tell es-Safi) and Gaza.

Activity: Look up a map of ancient Israel and find where the Philistines settled. What is this country called today? What are some cities and towns today that are close to where the Philistines settled?

Important cultural and social information to know to understand the text:

There are clues already in 1 Samuel 3:1 about what was happening at the time this text was written, and what a major theme of this story is going to be. “The word of the Lord was rare in those days” (remember all the power struggles going on at this time – an indication in the text that not many people were listening to God and people were doing what they wanted to without any communication with God); “visions were not widespread”. Already we need to know something about what the community at this time understood by “visions”. In the ancient world it was believed that anyone sleeping in a temple (or in the grounds of the temple) may receive important messages from God. However, it is clear from the text that Samuel was not expecting this to happen to him. What happens to Samuel comes as a complete surprise to him.

A cultural phrase in the text: 3:3 “The lamp of God” refers to the menorah in the tabernacle, which was to remain lit all night (Ex 27:21; Lev 24:1–4). Writers also used the phrase ‘the lamp of God’ to indicate that this was a story of hope.

World of the text

Read the text. Identify any cultural, historical or geographical words or concepts in the text. (Explain to students that a clue for finding cultural information in a text is to look for things that don’t make sense to us today, but probably made perfect sense to the people that the author was writing for thousands of years ago.)

Activity: Find a picture of a menorah used by Jewish people today. What do you think? Did the author use the phrase ‘the lamp of God’ to tell readers about what Eli and Samuel were doing, or did the author use this phrase to tell readers that this is going to be a story of hope? (Use the clues about what you know was going on in the time – were the people really happy with life or were they struggling with what was happening around them?)

In the ancient world, people would have understood the story of what happened to Samuel as a dream experience where God directly communicated with Samuel. When authors wanted to show readers that the message was really important and it was true they used a technique where the message to the person is repeated a number of times.

Activity: Check the text – what message is repeated to Samuel a number of times? What is the important message that the author wants readers to understand? (Why do you think the author wrote this text?)

World in front of the text

Activity: 1. Thinking time: Christians believe that all people are created by God, and science tells us that all people are created uniquely, even identical twins. Would God have any dreams for what each person could become or would God not care what choices people make with their lives? What might the world look like if each person listened to the voice of God in their heart and made choices that enabled them to reach their full potential for all that God created them to be?

2. Recording time: Record your thoughts (write / draw / use a digital learning tool…).

3. Debating time: Share your thoughts and opinions and listen to what others think. What evidence do you have to support your point of view?

4. Journaling time: Imagine that you could hear God’s voice calling you. What would it be that God might call you to do? What might God call you to speak out against? What might God’s dream for your class be? How might God need you to help ensure that people around you live the way that God might dream all people can live today? What if God needed you to be a prophet for justice in your class today? What if God needed you to be a prophet for justice in our world today? What might you say to God in response? Record what responses come into your heart.