The word translated “open” is from the verb paraṣ, which means “to break forth,” or “to burst forth.” The expression therefore reads literally, “there was no vision being broken forth,” or “there was no vision bursting forth.” The preceding statement, to the effect that the word of the Lord was “precious” or “rare,” is descriptive of the contemporary situation—inspired messages seldom came to God’s people. Now, more specifically, the narrator explains why this situation existed—God did not appear to men in vision as often as in other times. Emphasis is not so much on the manner of revelation as on its frequency.

 This is the first use in Scripture of the word chazon, “vision,” and the only instance of its use in the two books of Samuel. A comparison of chazon with mar’ah, also translated “vision,” clarifies God’s method of revealing His plans for the salvation of mankind. The word chazon is from a verb meaning “to perceive with inner vision,” whereas mar’ah is derived from a verb meaning “to see visually.” Both are used interchangeably with chalom, “dream.” The word mar’ah is commonly used in the earlier books of the Bible to describe messages from God to men, either in dreams or by the personal visit of heavenly messengers. As Jacob started on his journey to Egypt (Gen. 46:2), God spoke to him “in the visions [mar’ah] of the night.” Jacob felt himself in the divine presence, and the revelation was as real as that received by Abraham when the three angels visited him before the destruction of Sodom (Gen. 18:2-22). This same kind of divine revelation is also called a dream, chalom, as when God warned Abimelech regarding Abraham’s wife (Gen. 20:3-13). At the time of the sedition of Aaron and Miriam, God said, “If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision [mar’ah], and will speak unto him in a dream [chalom].”

 Daniel makes frequent use of all three words. When he relates the vision of the four beasts he uses chazon (Dan. 7:1, 2, 7, 13, 15) to describe the dream, chalom (ch. 7:1), in which future events were pictured symbolically. He uses the same word, chazon, in ch. 8:1 also. But when Daniel is troubled as to the meaning of the vision, he goes down by the riverside, where the angel Gabriel, who appears to him, is told to “make this man to understand the vision [mar’ah].” But Gabriel, after strengthening the prophet, says, “Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision [chazon]” (Dan. 8:16, 17).

 The impression made upon Samuel by his heavenly visitant was so real that he referred to it in 1 Sam. 3:15 as a mar’ah. Therefore the statement in v. 1 does not imply that the Lord was unwilling to guide His people. The thought is stressed, however, that the spiritual and intellectual perceptions of Israel had now reached low ebb.