The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Samuel — Section 57

Ver. 11. (SBILOH.)-Samuel's 'cliildhood and growtli. "And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest." "And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favom both with tl!e Lord, and also with men" (ver. 26). (Ch. i. 24; ii. 18, 19, 21 ; iii. I.) "Gi"eat is the reverence due to children." It is said of an eccentric schoolmaster in Germany, who lived ·about 300 years ago, John Trebonius, that he never· appeared before his boys without taking off his bat and bowing very humbly before them. "Who ·can tell," said he, "what may not rise up amid these youths? There may be among them those who shall be learned doctors, sage legislators, nay, princes of the empire." Even then there was among them" the solitary monk that shook the world." But a much greater than Luther (with whom he has been compared- Ewala) wa,s the little Nazarite, who with unshorn locks ministered in the taber- nacle at •Shiloh ; and at a very early age he gave signs of his future eminence. "Even a child is known by his doings" (Prov. xx. 11). "The child is father to the man." But what he will be depends greatly on his early training; for "the new vessel takes a lasting tincture from the liquor which is first r,oured in" (Horace); "the soft clay is easily fashioned into what form you please ' (Persius); and "the young plant may be bent witµ a g·entle hand, and the characters engraved on the tender bark grow deeper with tl10 advancing tree" (Quinctilian). Consider- I. His EDUCATION, or the irifluences to which he was subject, consisting of-1. Impressions under tlie parental roof He did not leave his home at an age too early to prevent his receiving deep and permanent impressions from the example, prayers, and instructions of his parents. His destination would be explained to him by his mother, and made attractive and desirable ; so that when the time came for the fulfilment of ,her vow he might readil,}' make it his own. The memory of those early days 1nust have been always pleasant to him ; and the sacred bond of filial affection would be renewed anq strengthened by the annual visit of bis parents, and by the yearly present 'which his mother ·brought to him (ver. 19). The making of the "little coat" was a work of lo.ve, .and served to keep her absent boy in mind, whilst the possession of it was. to him a constant 'memorial of her pure affection. The first impressions which he thus received were a powerful means of preserving him from evil, and inciting· hirp. to good. "Every first thing continues for ever with the child; the first colour, the first music, the first flower paint the foreground of life ; every new edu.cator a:ffe9ts. less than its predecessor, until at last, if we regard all life as an educational institution, the circumnavigator of the world is less influ- enced by all nations he l1as seen than by his nurse" (Locke). 2 . .Association witlt holy things. Everything in the tabernacle was to his childish view beautiful and mpressive, and overshadowed by the mysterious presence of the Lord of hosts. "Heaven lies about us in our infancy." And the veil which separates the invisible from the visible. is then very attenuated. When he afterwards saw how much beneath the outward form was hollow and corrupt, he was strong enough to endure the shock, and distinguished between "the precious nnd the vile." Association with sacred things either mali;es men better than others, or else very much worse. 3. Occupation in lowly services. Even when very young he could perform many little services in such a place as the tabernacle, and in personal attendance on Eli, who was very old arid partially blind. A part of his occupation we know was to open tha doors (eh. iii. 15). By means of such things he was trained for a higher ministry. 4. Instruction in sacred trutli, given by his kind-hearted guardian .in explanation of tho various objects and services in the tabernacle, and, still more, gained by the perusal of the religious records stored up therein (eh. x. 25). 5 . .Familiarity with public life. "There at the centre of government, he must early have become conversant with the weightiest concerns of the people." 6. Observa- tion of the odious pract·ices of many, especially Hophni and Phinelrns. For this also i;1uat be mentioned among the influences that went to form his character. It is E 2  52 THE FinST BOOK OF SAMUEL. [rn. II. 11-26.