And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord, х daltowt (H1817), doors]. At first the tabernacle was closed simply by [maacaak] a hanging drawn across (Exodus 36:37). But in the Holy Land it was furnished with doors.
And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision, х hamar'aah (H4759)]. This word signifies a vision from God (Numbers 12:6; Ezekiel 1:1; Daniel 10:7) in the night season (Genesis 46:2). 'It is always used,' says Hengstenberg, 'of internal visions; sights. When the indirect and incidental references to the subjective character of the incident cannot come into notice, then it is certain that the author, without further observation, narrates internal incidents in the series of the external;' and the sacred historian does so in this context by representing 'the Lord as coming, and standing, and calling' (1 Samuel 3:10).