1 Samuel 1
1
The Birth of Samuel
1There was a certain man of #[ver. 19] Ramathaim-zophim of #See Josh. 24:33 the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, #[1 Kgs. 11:26]an Ephrathite. 2He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3Now this man used to go up #ver. 21; Ex. 23:14; Deut. 16:16; [Luke 2:41] year by year from his city #See Deut. 12:5-7 to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts #[Josh. 18:1]at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, #Deut. 12:17, 18; 16:11; [Neh. 8:10, 12]he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.#1:5 Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. Septuagint And, although he loved Hannah, he would give Hannah only one portion, because the Lord had closed her womb 6And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? #Ruth 4:15Am I not more to you than ten sons?”
9After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of #ch. 3:3the temple of the Lord. 10She was #Job 7:11; 10:1deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11And she #Gen. 28:20; Judg. 11:30 vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed #Gen. 29:32 look on the affliction of your servant and #ver. 19; [Gen. 30:22] remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, #Judg. 13:5; [Num. 6:5]and no razor shall touch his head.”
12As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 15But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but #Job 30:16; Ps. 42:4; Lam. 2:19; [Ps. 62:8]I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16Do not regard your servant as #ch. 2:12; Judg. 19:22a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17Then Eli answered, #ch. 20:42; Judg. 18:6; 2 Kgs. 5:19; Mark 5:34 “Go in peace, and the God of Israel #Ps. 20:4, 5grant your petition that you have made to him.” 18And she said, #Gen. 33:15; Ruth 2:13 “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman #[Eccles. 9:7]went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
19They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at #ch. 2:11; [ver. 1] Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord #ver. 11remembered her. 20And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”#1:20 Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for heard of God
Samuel Given to the Lord
21The man Elkanah and all his house #ver. 3went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. 22But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord #ver. 11, 28; [ch. 2:11, 18; 3:1]and dwell there forever.” 23#[Num. 30:7] Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; #2 Sam. 7:25only, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24And when she had weaned him, #Deut. 12:5, 6, 11 she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,#1:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac; Masoretic Text three bulls an ephah#1:24 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to #ver. 3, 9; [Josh. 18:1]the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. 25Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26And she said, “Oh, my lord! #ch. 17:55; 20:3; 2 Sam. 11:11; 2 Kgs. 2:2, 4, 6; 4:30As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27For this child I prayed, #ver. 17; [Ps. 6:9]and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”
#
Gen. 24:26, 52 And he worshiped the Lord there.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 1
1
Elkanah and His Family at Shiloh. 1There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.#1 Chr 6:19–20. 2He had two wives, one named Hannah, the other Peninnah; Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3Each year this man went up from his city to worship and offer sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were ministering as priests of the Lord.#Ex 23:14–17; 34:23; Dt 16:16; Jgs 21:19. 4When the day came for Elkanah to offer sacrifice, he used to give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters, 5but he would give a double portion to Hannah because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.#Dt 21:15–17. 6Her rival,#Her rival: Hebrew sara, “rival wife, co-wife”; in the Talmud, a technical term for a second or co-wife. to upset her, would torment her constantly, since the Lord had closed her womb.#Gn 16:4–5; 29:31; Jgs 13:2; Lk 1:7. 7Year after year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah would provoke her, and Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.#In biblical narrative, the social status gained by producing children, especially males, often set woman against woman; cf. e.g., Gn 16, 21, 30. Peninnah’s provocations may be the arrogant boasting mentioned in 2:3. 8Elkanah, her husband, would say to her: “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why are you not eating? Why are you so miserable? Am I not better for you than ten sons?”#Ru 4:15.
Hannah’s Prayer. 9Hannah rose after one such meal at Shiloh, and presented herself before the Lord; at the time Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. 10In her bitterness she prayed to the Lord, weeping freely, 11and made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if you look with pity on the hardship of your servant, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life. No razor shall ever touch his head.”#No razor… : the Septuagint adds “he shall drink neither wine nor liquor.” This addition is a further suggestion that Samuel is dedicated to God under a nazirite vow (Nm 6:4–5); see note on v. 22. #Nm 6:1–5; Jgs 13:2–5; 16:17; Lk 1:15. 12As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli watched her mouth, 13for Hannah was praying silently; though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli, thinking she was drunk, 14said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Sober up from your wine!” 15“No, my lord!” Hannah answered. “I am an unhappy woman. I have had neither wine nor liquor; I was only pouring out my heart to the Lord. 16Do not think your servant a worthless woman; my prayer has been prompted by my deep sorrow and misery.” 17Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have requested.” 18She replied, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes,” and left. She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and no longer appeared downhearted. 19Early the next morning they worshiped before the Lord, and then returned to their home in Ramah. When they returned Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.
Hannah Bears a Son. 20She conceived and, at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel.#Samuel: Hannah’s explanation associates her son’s name with the narrative’s wordplay on the Hebrew verbs s’l (“ask,” vv. 17, 27), his’il (“hand over, dedicate,” v. 28), sa’ul (“dedicated,” v. 28), and the noun se’elah (“request,” vv. 17, 27). The name, however, is related to the Hebrew root s’l only through assonance. It means “his name is El/God,” not “the one requested of or dedicated (sa’ul) to God” (v. 28), which is the meaning of the name Saul. The author may have lifted the s’l wordplay from a narrative about Saul to portray Samuel as God’s gracious answer to Hannah’s request. “Because I asked the Lord for him.” 21The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to offer the customary sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vows, 22Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband, “Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the Lord and leave him there forever.”#Leave him there forever: a Qumran manuscript adds “I will give him as a nazirite forever”; it interprets v. 11 to mean that Hannah dedicates Samuel under a nazirite vow (cf. Nm 6:4–5). 23Her husband Elkanah answered her: “Do what you think best; wait until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord fulfill his word!” And so she remained at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.#Dt 9:5; 2 Sm 7:25; 1 Kgs 2:4.
Hannah Presents Samuel to the Lord. 24Once he was weaned, she brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah#Ephah: see note on Is 5:10. of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the house of the Lord in Shiloh. 25After they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the child to Eli. 26Then Hannah spoke up: “Excuse me, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here near you, praying to the Lord. 27I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. 28Now I, in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.” Then they worshiped there before the Lord.
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