At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place.
To make way for the account of God's revealing himself first to Samuel, we are here told, 1. How industrious Samuel was in serving God, according as his place and capacity were (Sa1 3:1): The child Samuel, though but a child, ministered unto the Lord before Eli. It was an aggravation of the wickedness of Eli's sons that the child Samuel shamed them.
Commenting on 1 Samuel 3:1-10
And it came to pass at that time,.... When the word of the Lord was scarce and precious, and there was no open vision; or, as Ben Gersom, the same day the man of God came to Eli at night, the following affair happened: when Eli was laid down in his place; on his bed to sleep, in one of the chambers or apartments of...
And it came to pass at that time, when Eli [was] laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, [that] he could not see; (c) In the court next to the tabernacle.