God spoke at night to Samuel when he was a small boy, telling him that he would punish Eli's family. As Samuel grew up, God gave him many messages. People came from all over Israel to find out what God had to say.
#### Important figures of speech in this chapter ####
In order to show respect when talking to God, Samuel calls himself "your servant" when referring to himself. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])
##### Idioms #####
One characteristic of prophecy is the use of figures of speech. In this passage there are two idioms: "ears will shake," meaning "will shock everyone who hears" and "carry out," meaning "do." (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/prophet]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom]])
In order to be sure Samuel would tell him the whole truth, Eli used the standard formula for a curse: "may God do to you, and even more, if," meaning "God will punish severely if the person does what the curse says he will do." (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/curse]])
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