1 Samuel 3:17 (ASV)

Passage

And he said, What is the thing that [Jehovah] hath spoken unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he spake unto thee.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 3:15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of Jehovah. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision.

1 Samuel 3:16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Here am I.

1 Samuel 3:17 And he said, What is the thing that [Jehovah] hath spoken unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he spake unto thee.

1 Samuel 3:18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is Jehovah: let him do what seemeth him good.

1 Samuel 3:19 And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "jehovah", "hath", "spoken", "thee", "pray", and "hide". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "jehovah", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "Then Eli called Samuel and said Samuel..." into verse 18's "And Samuel told him every whit and...", so "said" and "jehovah" belong inside that flow. In 1 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "jehovah" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.