Eli died at 98 (ch. 4:15; see on ch. 2:22), when Samuel was old enough to be recognized as a prophet and as Eli’s probable successor as judge (ch. 3:19-21). Inasmuch as some time would naturally elapse between the two solemn warnings mentioned in chs. 2 and 3, it seems probable that this visit by the unnamed prophet took place soon after Samuel’s dedication. Otherwise, there is no apparent reason why Samuel might not have borne both messages from the Lord.

How long-suffering God is! Saul, for example, received warning after warning, and was given many years in which to think matters through, before he finally chose to take things into his own hands.

 But Eli surrendered to the claims of kinship rather than perform his duty to God in behalf of the people. Virtue is not inherited, but acquired. The sons of Eli inherited a sacred responsibility and an honorable name, yet through selfishness they had so become the servants of Satan as to merit the universal complaints of the people. When their father failed to exercise his authority, he was warned that even as reverence and honor produce a harvest of character and usefulness, so the sowing of irreverence and dishonor results in sorrow and disappointment (v. 32). “The law of self-serving is the law of self-destruction” (DA [1940 ed.] 624).