1 Samuel 1:10-27
Konteks1:10 She was very upset 1 as she prayed to the Lord, and she was weeping uncontrollably. 2 1:11 She made a vow saying, “O Lord of hosts, if you will look with compassion 3 on the suffering of your female servant, 4 remembering me and not forgetting your servant, and give a male child 5 to your servant, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.” 6
1:12 As she continued praying to 7 the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth. 1:13 Now Hannah was speaking from her heart. Although her lips were moving, her voice was inaudible. Eli therefore thought she was drunk. 1:14 So he 8 said to her, “How often do you intend to get drunk? Put away your wine!”
1:15 But Hannah replied, “That’s not the way it is, 9 my lord! I am under a great deal of stress. 10 I have drunk neither wine nor beer. Rather, I have poured out my soul to 11 the Lord. 1:16 Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman, 12 for until now I have spoken from my deep pain and anguish.”
1:17 Eli replied, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request that you have asked of him.” 1:18 She said, “May I, your servant, find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and got something to eat. 13 Her face no longer looked sad.
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 14 his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered 15 her. 1:20 After some time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, thinking, “I asked the Lord for him. 16
1:21 This man Elkanah went up with all his family to make the yearly sacrifice to the Lord and to keep his vow, 1:22 but Hannah did not go up with them. 17 Instead she told her husband, “Once the boy is weaned, I will bring him and appear before the Lord, and he will remain there from then on.”
1:23 So her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what you think best. 18 Stay until you have weaned him. May the Lord fulfill his promise.” 19
So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 1:24 Once she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with three bulls, an ephah 20 of flour, and a container 21 of wine. She brought him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh, even though he was young. 22 1:25 Once the bull had been slaughtered, they brought the boy to Eli. 1:26 She said, “Just as surely as you are alive, my lord, I am the woman who previously stood here with you in order to pray to the Lord. 1:27 I prayed for this boy, and the Lord has given me the request that I asked of him.
[1:10] 1 tn Heb “she [was in] bitterness of soul.”
[1:10] 2 tn Heb “and weeping, she was weeping.” The infinitive absolute emphasizes the extent of her sorrow. The imperfect verbal form emphasizes the continuation of the action in past time.
[1:11] 3 tn Heb “if looking you look.” The expression can refer, as here, to looking favorably upon another, in this case with compassion.
[1:11] 4 tn Heb “handmaid.” The use of this term (translated two more times in this verse and once each in vv. 16, 17 simply as “servant” for stylistic reasons) is an expression of humility.
[1:11] 5 tn Heb “seed of men.”
[1:11] 6 tn Heb “a razor will not go up upon his head.”
[1:12] 7 tc Heb “before.” Many medieval Hebrew manuscripts read “to.”
[1:14] 8 tn Heb “Eli.” The pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.
[1:15] 10 tn Heb “I am a woman difficult of spirit.” The LXX has “for whom the day is difficult,” apparently mistaking the Hebrew word for “spirit” רוּחַ (ruakh) to be the word for “day” יוֹם (yom).
[1:16] 12 tn Heb “daughter of worthlessness.”
[1:18] 13 tc Several medieval Hebrew
[1:19] 14 tn Heb “Elkanah knew his wife.” The Hebrew expression is a euphemism for sexual relations.
[1:19] 15 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.
[1:20] 16 tn Heb “because from the
[1:22] 17 tn The disjunctive clause is contrastive here. The words “with them” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[1:23] 18 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
[1:23] 19 tn Heb “establish his word.” This apparently refers to the promise inherent in Eli’s priestly blessing (see v. 17).
[1:24] 20 sn The ephah was a standard dry measure in OT times; it was the equivalent of one-tenth of the OT measure known as a homer. The ephah was equal to approximately one-half to two-thirds of a bushel.
[1:24] 21 tn The Hebrew term translated “container” may denote either a clay storage jar (cf. CEV “a clay jar full of wine”) or a leather container (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “a skin of wine”; NCV “a leather bag filled with (full of TEV) wine.”
[1:24] 22 tc Heb “and the boy was a boy.” If the MT is correct the meaning apparently is that the boy was quite young at the time of these events. On the other hand, some scholars have suspected a textual problem, emending the text to read either “and the boy was with them” (so LXX) or “and the boy was with her” (a conjectural emendation). In spite of the difficulty it seems best to stay with the MT here.
