1 Samuel 1
1
Hannah’s Vow
1There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim#1Sm 1:19 in#1:1 Or from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim.#Jos 17:14–18; Jdg 17:1 His name was Elkanah#1Ch 6:22–28,33–38 son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2He had two wives,#Dt 21:15–17 the first named Hannah#Lk 2:36 and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless. 3This man would go up from his town every year#Ex 34:23; Dt 16:16; Lk 2:41 to worship and to sacrifice#Ex 23:14–17 to the Lord of Armies at Shiloh,#Jos 18:1 where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests.
4Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat#Dt 12:17–18 to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters. 5But he gave a double#1:5 Or gave only one; Hb obscure portion#Gn 43:34; 48:22 to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving. 6Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving. 7Year after year, when she went up to the Lord’s house,#Jos 18:1 her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat. 8“Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband, Elkanah, would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” #Ru 4:15
9On one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh.#1:9 LXX adds and presented herself before the Lord The priest Eli was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.#1Sm 3:3 10Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears.#1Sm 30:6; 2Kg 4:27 11Making a vow,#Nm 30:6–11 she pleaded, “Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction,#Gn 29:32 remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”#1:11 Lit and no razor will go up on his head#Nm 6:5; Jdg 13:5; 16:7
12While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her mouth. 13Hannah was praying silently,#Gn 24:42–45 and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14and said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk?#Ac 2:4,13 Get rid of your wine!”
15“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord.#Ps 62:8 16Don’t think of me as a wicked woman;#1Sm 2:12 I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”#Lk 6:45
17Eli responded, “Go in peace,#1Sm 25:35; 2Kg 5:19; Mk 5:34 and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.”#Ru 2:13
18“May your servant find favor with you,”#Ru 2:13 she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.#1:18 Lit and her face was not to her again#Rm 15:13
Samuel’s Birth and Dedication
19The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to worship before the Lord. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah.#1Sm 1:1; 2:11 Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.#Gn 8:1; 30:22; 1Sm 1:11 20After some time,#1:20 Lit In the turning of the days Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,#1:20 In Hb, the name Samuel sounds like the phrase “requested from God.” because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.”
21When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice#Dt 12:11; 1Sm 1:3 and his vow offering to the Lord, 22Hannah did not go and explained to her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in the Lord’s presence#Lk 2:22 and to stay there permanently.”#1Sm 1:11,28
23Her husband, Elkanah, replied, “Do what you think is best,#Nm 30:10–11 and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May the Lord confirm your#1:23 DSS, LXX, Syr; MT reads his word.”#Nm 30:13 So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull,#1:24 DSS, LXX, Syr; MT reads Shiloh with three bulls half a bushel#1:24 Lit bull and an ephah of flour, and a clay jar of wine.#Nm 15:9–10 Though the boy was still young,#1:24 Lit And the youth was a youth she took him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh.#Jos 18:1; 1Sm 4:3–4 25Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the boy to Eli.
26“Please, my lord,” she said, “as surely as you live,#2Kg 2:2,4,6 my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27I prayed for this boy,#1Sm 1:11–13 and since the Lord gave me what I asked him for,#1Sm 1:17,20 28I now give the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.”#1Sm 1:11 Then he#1:28 DSS read she; some Hb mss, Syr, Vg read they worshiped the Lord there.#1:28 LXX reads Then she left him there before the Lord
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1 Samuel 1: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
1 Kings 1
1
1There was a man of Ramathaimsophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elcana, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliu, the son of Thohu, the son of Suph, an Ephraimite.
2And he had two wives, the name of one was Anna, and the name of the other Phenenna. Phenenna had children: but Anna had no children.
3And this man went up out of his city upon the appointed days, to adore and to offer sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Silo. And the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were there priests of the Lord.
4Now the day came, and Elcana offered sacrifice, and gave to Phenenna his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, portions.
5But to Anna he gave one portion with sorrow, because he loved Anna. And the Lord had shut up her womb.
6Her rival also afflicted her, and troubled her exceedingly, insomuch that she upbraided her, that the Lord had shut up her womb.
7And thus she did every year, when the time returned that they went up to the temple of the Lord; and thus she provoked her. But Anna wept, and did not eat.
8Then Elcana her husband said to her: Anna, why weepest thou? And why dost thou not eat? And why dost thou afflict thy heart? Am not I better to thee than ten children?
9So Anna arose after she had eaten and drunk in Silo. And, Heli the priest sitting upon a stool before the door of the temple of the Lord,
10As Anna had her heart full of grief, she prayed to the Lord, shedding many tears.
11And she made a vow, saying: O Lord, of hosts if thou wilt look down on the affliction of thy servant, and wilt be mindful of me, and not forget thy handmaid, and wilt give to thy servant a man child: I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.
12And it came to pass, as she multiplied prayers before the Lord, that Heli observed her mouth.
13Now Anna spoke in her heart, and only her lips moved: but her voice was not heard at all. Heli therefore thought her to be drunk,
14And said to her: How long wilt thou be drunk? Digest a little the wine, of which thou hast taken too much.
15Anna answering, said: Not so, my lord: for I am an exceeding unhappy woman, and have drunk neither wine nor any strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.
16Count not thy handmaid for one of the daughters of Belial: for out of the abundance of my sorrow and grief have I spoken till now.
17Then Heli said to her: Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition, which thou hast asked of him.
18And she said: Would to God thy handmaid may find grace in thy eyes. So the woman went on her way, and ate, and her countenance was no more changed.
19And they rose in the morning, and worshipped before the Lord: and they returned, and came into their house at Ramatha. And Elcana knew Anna his wife: and the Lord remembered her.
20And it came to pass when the time was come about, Anna conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel: because she had asked him of the Lord.
21And Elcana her husband went up, and all his house, to offer to the Lord the solemn sacrifice, and his vow.
22But Anna went not up. For she said to her husband: I will not go till the child be weaned, and till I may carry him, that he may appear before the Lord, and may abide always there.
23And Elcana her husband said to her: Do what seemeth good to thee, and stay till thou wean him; and I pray that the Lord may fulfil his word. So the woman stayed at home, and gave her son suck, till she weaned him.
24And after she had weaned him, she carried him with her, with three calves, and three bushels of flour, and a bottle of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord in Silo. Now the child was as yet very young.
25And they immolated a calf, and offered the child to Heli.
26And Anna said: I beseech thee, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord: I am that woman who stood before thee here praying to the Lord.
27For this child did I pray, and the Lord hath granted me my petition, which I asked of him.
28Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord. All the days of his life he shall be lent to the Lord. And they adored the Lord there. And Anna prayed, and said:
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.