1 Samuel 1:19

1:19 They got up early the next morning and after worshiping the Lord, they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with ¹  his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered ²  her.

1 Samuel 9:9

9:9 (Now it used to be in Israel that whenever someone went to inquire of God he would say, “Come on, let’s go to the seer.” For today’s prophet used to be called a seer.)

1 Samuel 28:3

28:3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown. ³  In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums ⁴  and magicians ⁵  from the land.

[1:19]  ¹ tn Heb “Elkanah knew his wife.” The Hebrew expression is a euphemism for sexual relations.

[1:19]  ² sn The Lord “remembered” her in the sense of granting her earlier request for a child. The Hebrew verb is often used in the OT for considering the needs or desires of people with favor and kindness.

[28:3]  ³ tn Heb “in Ramah, even in his city.”

[28:3]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “mediums” actually refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits (see 2 Kgs 21:6). In v. 7 the witch of Endor is called the owner of a ritual pit. See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401. Here the term refers by metonymy to the owner of such a pit (see H. A. Hoffner, TDOT 1:133).

[28:3]  ⁵ sn See Isa 8:19 for another reference to magicians who attempted to conjure up underworld spirits.