Verse 7 explains why Samuel made the mistake of thinking that it was Eli who had called his name and why he therefore went to Eli. Good News Translation restructures these two verses in order to place the explanation prior to the action. The wording of verse 6 is very similar to that of the two previous verses, but there is an additional verb in the Hebrew (“added to call,” translated called again in Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation) that shows this is a repeated action. A literal rendering of the first part of the verse is “And the LORD added to call.”

This time in his response Eli adds the words my son, indicating tenderness and fondness in his relationship with the young Samuel. If, however, there is a danger that this will be understood literally, another form of address must be found. In some cases this may be simply the word “child” without the possessive pronoun. In other cases it may be something like “my dear one” or “beloved.” (See also comments on my father at 24.11.)

That Samuel did not yet know the LORD must be understood in its context. These words do not mean that Samuel did not know who God was or did not know anything about God. Nor do they mean simply that Samuel “did not know that it was the LORD” who was calling to him, as Good News Translation states. Rather, Samuel had not yet had a personal experience of receiving a revelation from God. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh correctly says “Samuel had not yet experienced the LORD.” While this may be somewhat awkward English, it does reflect a correct understanding of the text. Translators therefore should pay special attention to the transition word between this statement and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. The latter statement is not a separate matter but is rather very closely related to Samuel’s not yet knowing the LORD. So the conjunction and may be misleading in many languages. In many cases a simple comma may be the best way to join the two clauses, but the model provided by New American Bible will be helpful to some: “At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .