The Truth Passed Him By
“When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with [G-d], he heard the voice speaking to him from atop the cover that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim” (Numbers 7:89).
On this verse, the Rabbis comment, “Moses heard but the Jewish people did not hear” (Yoma 4b).
The Radak points out that we find the same phenomenon – that G-d’s voice is heard by the person to whom it is directed, but not by others – regarding Samuel and Eli. As Rashi writes on I Samuel 3:4, “G-d’s voice emerged from the sanctuary, from the Holy of Holies. Eli was a priest standing guard inside [the sanctuary] while Samuel was a Levite lying outside. The voice skipped over Eli and directed itself to Samuel.”
From this episode we should learn that one need not fear when the majority opinion runs counter to one’s own. For sometimes the minority hears what the majority doesn’t. At times, truth lies with the minority.
And this is even the case when great men are on the side of the majority. After all, Eli was the greatest scholar in his generation – the judge of all Israel – while Samuel was a mere lad at the time. And yet, the truth passed Eli by. He didn’t hear. Samuel did.
Peirush HaMaccabee