Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.
Treasury of Scripture
Now Samuel. or, Thus did Samuel before he knew the Lord, and before the word of the Lord was revealed unto him.
did not yet Samuel was not destitute of the knowledge of God, in that sense which implies the total absence of true piety, as Eli's sons were; for he knew and worshipped the God of Israel: but he did not know him as communicating special revelations of his will to him, in the manner in which he made it known to the prophets.