Experiencing divine revelation for the first time can be a deeply confusing event. When the young Samuel hears a voice calling him in his sleep, he mistakenly assumes it is his teacher, Eli the Priest. The narrative pauses at this moment to clarify Samuel's spiritual and cognitive state, explaining that he had simply not yet reached the level of understanding required to recognize God's call [רש"י, מצודת ציון]. This lack of understanding is presented in two complementary stages. First, as a youth, Samuel had not yet learned the deeper wisdom of divinity or fully grasped the fear of God [רד"ק, מצודת דוד]. He lacked the theoretical knowledge from his teacher regarding how prophecy actually works and how a divine vision is transmitted [מלבי"ם]. Because he did not recognize a prophetic voice, he naturally assumed a human being was calling him [רד"ק]. This misunderstanding was compounded by the fact that he was trying to sleep, was not completely awake, and lived in an era when no one even considered the possibility of prophecy [ביאור שטיינזלץ].
Beyond his lack of theoretical knowledge, Samuel also lacked practical experience. Although some commentators view the narrative's further explanation as a simple repetition for emphasis [רד"ק], the primary approach among commentators is that it introduces a second, crucial layer: God had never revealed Himself to Samuel before. Without any past personal experience, Samuel had no way to identify the word of God. The timing of this explanation, occurring right after the second time Samuel is called, serves to draw a sharp contrast between the young student and his teacher. While Samuel failed to sense anything prophetic even after the second and third calls, Eli began to piece together what was happening after the second call because he had experienced prophecy in his own past. This contrast illustrates why Samuel needed Eli's guidance to understand the meaning of the mysterious voice [אברבנאל].
The exact nature of this mysterious voice is a matter of discussion. While some suggest that a prophetic voice is only heard within a spiritual vision and not as a tangible sound while awake, an opposing view argues that the voice Samuel heard was a literal, physical sound. Created through a miracle, it reached his ears much like the divine voice heard at Mount Sinai [אברבנאל]. Because this sound was so intensely physical and real, Samuel was entirely unable to distinguish it from the normal, human voice of Eli, nor could he figure out the exact direction from which the sound was originating [ביאור שטיינזלץ].