1 Samuel 3:5 (ASV)

Passage

And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 3:3 and the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down [to sleep], in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was;

1 Samuel 3:4 that Jehovah called Samuel; and he said, Here am I.

1 Samuel 3:5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

1 Samuel 3:6 And Jehovah called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.

1 Samuel 3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, neither was the word of Jehovah yet revealed unto him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "called", "said", "here", "thou", "calledst", "down", and "again". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "called" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "that Jehovah called Samuel and he said..." into verse 6's "And Jehovah called yet again Samuel And...", so "called" and "said" 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 "called" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.