Verse 16:[1] Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.
[He called Samuel, אֶת־שְׁמוּאֵל] In verse 4, it is אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל, to Samuel. I noted on Psalm 2 that sometimes אֶל/to is put in the place of אֶת[2] (Drusius).
Verse 17:[3] And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: (Ruth 1:17) God do so to thee, and more also (Heb. so add[4]), if thou hide any thing (or, word[5]) from me of all the things that he said unto thee.
[What is the word that the Lord has spoken? דִּבֶּר] He hath spoken, understanding, either, the Lord (Syriac, Arabic, Piscator), or, He that called thee this night (Vatablus).
[God do these things to thee, etc.] Hebrew: God do so to thee,[6] etc. (Pagnine, Vatablus). It is a formula of adjuration and swearing among the Hebrews; that is to say, May God deal with thee as He was going to deal with me; indeed, may He punish thee more grievously, if thou hide anything from me (Vatablus out of Munster). Ἐξορκισμὸς, the administration of an oath, or, obsecratio, public entreaty, in the sense of the Latins. See Judges 17:2; Ruth 1:17[7] (Grotius).
God do so to thee, etc.:God inflict the same evils upon thee, which I suspect he hath pronounced against me, and greater evils too. Or, God do so, that is, let God deal with thee so severely, as I cannot, or am loth to express. So it is a kind of aposiopesis, usual in oaths and in adjurations. The same phrase is in Ruth 1:17. Thus he adjures him to utter the whole truth, as was usual among the Hebrews, as 1 Kings 22:16; Matthew 26:63.
[1] Hebrew: וַיִּקְרָ֤א עֵלִי֙ אֶת־שְׁמוּאֵ֔ל וַיֹּ֖אמֶר שְׁמוּאֵ֣ל בְּנִ֑י וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי׃ [2] The Direct Object marker. Psalm 2:7: “I will declare the decree (אֲסַפְּרָ֗ה אֶֽ֫ל חֹ֥ק): the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” [3] Hebrew: וַיֹּ֗אמֶר מָ֤ה הַדָּבָר֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבֶּ֣ר אֵלֶ֔יךָ אַל־נָ֥א תְכַחֵ֖ד מִמֶּ֑נִּי כֹּ֣ה יַעֲשֶׂה־לְּךָ֤ אֱלֹהִים֙ וְכֹ֣ה יוֹסִ֔יף אִם־תְּכַחֵ֤ד מִמֶּ֙נִּי֙ דָּבָ֔ר מִכָּל־הַדָּבָ֖ר אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר אֵלֶֽיךָ׃ [4] Hebrew: וְכֹ֣ה יוֹסִ֔יף. [5] Hebrew: דָּבָר. [6] Hebrew: כֹּ֣ה יַעֲשֶׂה־לְּךָ֤ אֱלֹהִים֙. [7] Ruth 1:17: “Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also (כֹּה֩ יַעֲשֶׂ֙ה יְהוָ֥ה לִי֙ וְכֹ֣ה יֹסִ֔יף), if ought but death part thee and me.”
Matthew Henry: 'Eli's careful enquiry into it, 1 Samuel 3:16-17. As soon as ever he heard Samuel stirring he called for him, probably to his bedside; and, having before perceived that God had spoken to him, he obliged him, not only by importunity (I pray thee, hide it not from me), but, finding him timorous and backward, by an adjuration likewise—God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me! He had reason enough to fear that the message prophesied no good concerning him, but evil; and yet, because it was a message from God, he could not contentedly be ignorant of it. A good man desires to be acquainted with all the will o…
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