1 Samuel

There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramathaim-zophim, in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, and he belonged to the tribe of Ephraim.

1Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:

NoteRamathaim-zophim is probably the same town called Ramah later in the chapter; it lay in the hills north of Jerusalem in territory belonging to the tribe of Ephraim. The word the King James spells "Ephrathite" is ambiguous in Hebrew: it can mean a man of the Ephraim region, which is how the rendering takes it, or a man of Ephrath, the old name for the area around Bethlehem. A separate family record in 1 Chronicles lists this same line of ancestors as Levites, a clan set apart for sanctuary duty, who lived among the Ephraimites.

2Elkanah had two wives. One was named Hannah and the other was named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

2And he 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.

NoteA man taking a second wife when the first bore no children was a recognized, if unhappy, arrangement in this society. Children, especially sons, were a household's labor force, its inheritance line, and its only support in old age, so a childless woman had no standing and no security; that is the weight behind the flat statement "Hannah had none."

3Every year this man went up from his town to worship and to offer sacrifices to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh. Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served there as priests of the LORD.

3And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.

NoteWhere the King James prints LORD in capitals it stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants that later Jewish practice did not pronounce aloud. Shiloh was the town, about twenty miles north of Jerusalem, that housed the national shrine and the ark in the centuries before the Jerusalem temple existed; "went up" is the standard phrase for traveling to it, partly because it sat in high country. Ordinary Israelites made this journey once a year for a festival, not weekly. "The LORD of Hosts" is a title for God as commander of the armies of heaven.

4Whenever the day came for Elkanah to offer his sacrifice, he handed out shares of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.

4And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:

NoteMost sacrifices were not burned whole. The animal was killed at the shrine, a portion went to God and to the priests, and the rest was cooked and eaten on the spot by the family who brought it. Handing out the shares was the head of the household carving up a festival dinner.

5But to Hannah he gave a special share, a double portion, because he loved her. Even so, the LORD had kept her from having children.

5But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.

NoteThe Hebrew phrase behind "a worthy portion" is one of the most difficult in the book and the ancient translations disagree. It may mean a double share, as the rendering has it, or a single choice share, or even "only one portion, although he loved her." The picture of Elkanah's favoritism holds either way.

6Peninnah, her rival, kept picking at her and taunting her cruelly to upset her, because the LORD had kept Hannah from having children.

6And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.

Note"Her adversary" translates a Hebrew word used specifically for the other wife in a shared marriage, a rival, not an enemy in general. The taunting happens at the annual feast because that is where the two households' shares of meat were counted out in public, Peninnah's for a row of children and Hannah's for herself alone.

7This went on year after year. Every time Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, Peninnah taunted her, so Hannah cried and would not eat.

7And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

8Then her husband Elkanah said to her, "Hannah, why are you crying? Why won't you eat? Why are you so sad inside? Am I not worth more to you than ten sons?"

8Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?

NoteTen is a round number meaning a full and enviable set of sons, not a count. Elkanah is measuring himself against everything sons were supposed to provide a woman: status, protection, and care in old age.

9So after they had finished eating and drinking at Shiloh, Hannah got up. Eli the priest was sitting on his seat beside the doorpost of the LORD's house.

9So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.

Note"Temple" here does not mean the Jerusalem temple, which was not built for another century. The Hebrew word means a large or permanent building, and it indicates that the shrine at Shiloh, though it housed the old portable tent and its ark, had by now acquired a fixed structure with doorposts and a seat for the presiding priest.

10Hannah was deeply upset and bitter. She prayed to the LORD and cried hard.

10And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.

11She made a promise to God. She said, "LORD of Hosts, if you will really look at how much I am suffering, and remember me, and not forget me, your servant, but give me a son, then I will give him to the LORD for his whole life, and no razor will ever touch his head."

11And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

NoteA vow was a conditional promise: if God acts, the person pays. Never cutting the hair marked a person as a Nazirite, someone set apart to God by a special vow described in Numbers 6, which also forbade wine and contact with corpses. Hannah is promising away in advance the very child she is asking for. She calls herself "your servant" throughout as a set formula of humility when addressing a superior, not as a description of her job.

12As Hannah kept on praying in front of the LORD, Eli was watching her mouth.

12And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.

13Hannah was speaking in her heart. Only her lips were moving, and no sound came out. So Eli thought she was drunk.

13Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

NotePrayer in this world was normally said aloud, so a woman whose lips moved with no sound was doing something odd. Combined with a festival where wine was drunk freely, that is why Eli reaches for the obvious explanation.

14Eli said to her, "How long are you going to stay drunk? Get rid of your wine."

14And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

15Hannah answered, "No, sir. I am a woman with a heavy, hurting spirit. I have not been drinking wine or any strong drink. I have been pouring out my heart to the LORD."

15And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

Note"Strong drink" renders a Hebrew word for fermented drink other than grape wine, beer made from barley, or liquor from dates or honey. Hannah is denying she has touched anything intoxicating at all.

16"Do not think of me, your servant, as a worthless woman. I have been speaking all this time because I have so much worry and grief."

16Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.

NoteThe King James "daughter of Belial" is a Hebrew idiom. Belial is not a name here but a word meaning worthlessness or ruin, and "son" or "daughter of" it is a standard way of saying a good-for-nothing or a scoundrel.

17Then Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for."

17Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

Note"Go in peace" was the ordinary formula for dismissing someone, but the second half of Eli's answer turns it into a priestly blessing. Hannah's change of mood in the next verse follows from having been believed, and from a priest's word backing her request.

18She said, "May you think kindly of me, your servant." Then she went on her way. She ate something, and her face was not sad anymore.

18And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.

19Early the next morning they got up and worshiped before the LORD. Then they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.

19And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.

Note"The LORD remembered her" does not mean he had forgotten. In Hebrew, remembering someone means turning attention to them and acting on their behalf; it describes a deed, not a state of mind.

20In time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."

20Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

NoteThe explanation is a play on sound rather than a strict etymology. The Hebrew verb for "asked" is sha'al, which echoes through the name Samuel; the name itself most likely means "his name is God" or "God has heard." The same verb reappears at the end of the chapter when Hannah hands the boy over.

21Elkanah and his whole household went up again to offer the yearly sacrifice to the LORD and to keep the promise he had made.

21And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

22But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, "I will not go up until the boy is old enough to stop nursing. Then I will bring him to be presented to the LORD, and he will stay there for good."

22But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.

NoteChildren in this world were nursed far longer than is usual now, commonly until about three years old. Hannah is proposing to keep the boy at home for those years and then surrender him permanently. "For good" translates a phrase meaning for the whole of his life, not for eternity.

23Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Do whatever you think is best. Stay here until he is done nursing. Only may the LORD make his word come true." So Hannah stayed home and nursed her son until she weaned him.

23And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.

NoteIt is not clear whose word Elkanah wants confirmed. The standard Hebrew text says "his word," meaning God's; some ancient copies, including a scroll found at Qumran, read "the word of your mouth," meaning Hannah's vow. The rendering follows the first.

24Once he was weaned, she took the boy with her, along with three bulls, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh, and the boy was still very young.

24And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young.

NoteThe standard Hebrew text and the King James say three bulls. The Dead Sea scroll and the ancient Greek translation read one three-year-old bull instead, which fits the single animal killed in the next verse. An ephah was a dry measure of roughly half a bushel, about twenty liters, or something like forty pounds of flour, an unusually large offering. Wine was carried and stored in whole animal hides sewn shut, not in bottles.

25They killed the bull as a sacrifice, and then they brought the boy to Eli.

25And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.

26Hannah said, "Please, sir, as surely as you are alive, sir, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD."

26And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.

Note"As surely as you are alive" was a standard oath formula, the spoken equivalent of swearing something is true. Hannah uses it because she is asking Eli to accept an identification he has no way of checking: she is the woman he accused of being drunk, years earlier.

27"I prayed for this boy, and the LORD has given me what I asked him for."

27For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

28"So now I hand him over to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he belongs to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.

28Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.

NoteThe Hebrew verb translated "lent" and "dedicated" is the same root as "asked" in verse 20: she asked him from God, and now she gives him back on request. The word does not mean a loan to be recalled; the handing over is permanent. Who does the worshiping at the end is uncertain: the Hebrew verb is singular and could mean Elkanah, or the boy, while some ancient copies read "they worshipped."