The child Samuel ministered to Yahweh before Eli. The word of Yahweh was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision.
"The boy Samuel." "The term `boy' as used here is applied to an infant  (1 Samuel 4:21) or to a man forty years old  (2 Chronicles 13:7)."[6]  Samuel was probably about twelve years of age at the time of this episode, as was stated by Josephus.[7]  That was traditionally among the Jews the age at which bar-mitsvah services were held for boys entering their thirteenth year, indicating that the boy, like all Jewish males, was a "son of the law," that he was personally responsible for his behavior, and that morally and ethically he was considered an adult.  That service is still conducted for Jewish boys.  And in it, the lad carries a copy of the Torah as he marches around the synagogue, followed by distinguished members of the Jewish priestly community.  Many believe that it was upon just such an occasion that Jesus Christ at that age was unintentionally left by his parents in Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-51).