Did Samuel act as a priest on top of being a prophet?

Question

Thinking about the life of Samuel, you can see that in some ways lived like a priest on top of being a prophet, despite being from the half-tribe of Ephraim.

One, he was brought up in the temple by Eli and thus lived out his life in priestly service together with the sons of Eli.

Two, he performed some duties that were traditionally assumed to be for priests. For example, by appointing leaders and offering sacrifices. In Numbers 27, it is Eleazar the high priest who commissioned Joshua. However, it was Samuel who anointed both Saul and David. In regards to offerings, in 1 Samuel 13 we see Saul waiting for Samuel to offer the burnt offering and peace offering. According to Leviticus 1, priests and the offerer were the only ones involved in making the sacrifice.

So in regards to this info, did Samuel act as a priest?

Answer 1

Pay close attention to the words and what they are referring to here:

1 Samuel 1:1

There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite.

Samuel, and even his father, were not Ephrathites, for Ephrathites were generally Judahites. Zuph was the Ephrathite. Samuel is neither Ephrathite nor Ephraimite, though he did live in the hill country of Ephraim.

Samuel was a Levite.

1 Chronicles 6:27,28

27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. 28 The sons of Samuel: Joel his firstborn, the second Abijah

Being a Levite explains why he was in Ephraim since the Levites lived throughout Israel. Also, if we read further back in Samuel's heritage we see he is a Kohathite. Which ties it all together:

Joshua 21:5

5 And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

So we see that Samuel is a Kohathite, of the tribe of Levi, living in a Levite city in the hill country of Ephraim.

But what is an Ephrathite?

Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, had a son who apparently settled Ephratha.

1 Chronicles 2:50

50 These were the descendants of Caleb. The sonsfn of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim,

Ephratha is also synonymous with Bethlehem, though it is usually used more in the sense of the region around Bethlehem.

Micah 5:2

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah

It is probably in this sense that Zuph was an Ephrathite, that is, he simply lived in that region. Like one who lives in New York is a New Yorker even if they are African American or Italian.

So was Samuel a priest?

Absolutely yes, or at least, he could have been. He was to be a priest first, trained by Eli. But when God spoke to him and delivered a prophecy against Eli and his family, then Samuel became a prophet.

He could not be the high priest at the Tabernacle or the Ark of the Covenant, which was at Shiloh, since he was not of Aaronic lineage, but he could be a lesser priest.

However, the Ark was taken at the same time that Eli and his sons died and when it was returned it was put under the control of the descendants of Eleazar. So Samuel never was put in that role.

It is possible he was seen as adopted by Eli. This, combined with his Levite heritage, would have settled any questions regarding offering sacrifices.

Samuel took the role of Judge after the return of the Ark as well. So while he was qualified to sacrifice and was given prophecies at times, his other role was as a Judge.

1 Samuel 7:17

17 Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the LORD.

Ramah is in the hill country of Ephraim.

There are many cases of non-priests making sacrifices and offerings on altars. They are usually at least prophets, such as Elijah, or Judges, such as Gideon. But some are neither, such as Samson's parents, though they did it at the behest of an angel.

The rules for only Aaronic priests were specific to the Sanctuary and the Ark

Numbers 18:1,2

1 So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood.

2 And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

This chart and the site it is from has a lot of great info on the Levites:

Answer 2

Yes, Samuel took over as high priest of the Shiloh sanctuary after the previous high priest Eli and his two sons Hophni and Phineas all died on the same day (1 Samuel 4:11-18), even though his father was an Ephraimite (1:1). One example of his priestly activities is described in 7:5-10.

How could this be since he wasn't a descendant of Aaron? The most obvious answer is that he was adopted by Eli as his son, and so became part of the priestly line that way.

And bear in mind that Samuel was an unusual individual in his own right:

1. He had a miraculous birth (1:19-20);
2. He was dedicated to the LORD's service before birth (1:22-28), i.e., he was not "redeemed" from the LORD (e.g., Exodus 13:13), making him a 'de facto' priest all his life;
3. After death, he was described, in an unusual turn of phrase, as "a god" coming up from the earth, by the witch of Endor, implying his extraordinary nature (1 Samuel 28:13) (only Moses [Exodus 7:1], the Davidic king [Psalm 45:6], and great judges/rulers [Exodus 21:6, 22:7-8; Psalm 82:1, 6] have elsewhere been described in the Bible as 'gods').

Given this, all it is more understandable that he be one of the few (only?) non-Levite people to be accepted into the priesthood.

P.S. - it was the half-tribe of Manasseh, not Ephraim.

Answer 3

1 Chronicles 6:16-30

Samuel was a Levite.

He just wasn't a descendant of Aaron but of Korah, so he could be a prophet and a judge because he was a levite. 1 Samuel is stating the territory where they lived. He obviously did priest-like roles but the Ark was taken the day Eli and his sons died. It didn't get returned until after Samuel died. There wasn't a need for high priest if the Ark wasn't there anyway.

Answer 4

Samuel’s lineage is not the point. He became as an adopted son of Eli with all the priviledges Eli had. It was an era when all did as they seem fit. Although, the word adoption is not mentioned Samuel was lawfully Eli’s son as is implicated by his carrying of Ephod. Talmud is teaching about the adoption and here we have a beautiful story how all this happened to Samuel. Eli taught to Samuel the one and only job that he knew well which was the job of The High Priest. This is also in accordance with the jewish traditions. Furthermore, Eli’s decision of adoption was truly a blessed one as we see in this story.

Answer 5

Samuel was a descendant of Kohath, therefore a Koathite: the priestly order of the Levites.

1 Samuel 1:1

There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite

1 Chronicles 6:16-30

The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. These are the names of the sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites listed according to their fathers: Of Gershon: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son and Jeatherai his son. The descendants of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son, Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son and Shaul his son. The descendants of Elkanah: Amasai, Ahimoth, Elkanah his son, Zophai his son, Nahath his son, Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son and Samuel his son. The sons of Samuel: Joel the firstborn and Abijah the second son. The descendants of Merari: 
> Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, 
> Shimea his son, Haggiah his son and Asaiah his son.

Both of the above verses are correct. Eli took Samuel into the temple as an apprentice (1 Sam. 2:11; 1 Sam. 3:1; cf. 1 Sam. 1:11, 27-28). Samuel later carried out the functions of the priesthood as only those belonging to the tribe of Levi could serve as assistants in the temple (Num. 8:5-26; 1 Chron. 23:28-32). Elkanah was from the tribe of Levi. Additionally, Elkanah lived in the mountains of Ephraim (1 Chron. 6:16-30, 33-37); the tribe of Levi was assigned to dwell in certain cities that were scattered throughout the tribes of Israel (Gen. 49:6-7; Num. 35:6).

So, "Ephraimite" refers to Elkanah's tribal descent, not his tribal ancestry.