1 Samuel 3:3 (DBY)

Passage

and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel lay in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was,

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 3:1 And the boy Samuel ministered to Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was rare in those days; a vision was not frequent.

1 Samuel 3:2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli lay in his place (now his eyes began to grow dim, he could not see),

1 Samuel 3:3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel lay in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was,

1 Samuel 3:4 that Jehovah called to Samuel. And he said, Here am I.

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lamp", "gone", "samuel", "temple", "jehovah", and "where". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lamp" and "gone", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "And it came to pass at that..." into verse 4's "that Jehovah called to Samuel And he...", so "lamp" and "gone" 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 "lamp" and "gone" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.