1 Samuel 1 Study Notes

1:1 The exact location of Ramathaim-zophim is not known, but it is distinct from Ramah, located in the tribal territory of Benjamin (v. 19). It probably designates Elkanah’s ancestral home. The name Elkanah means “God has acquired.” Ephraimite denotes Elkanah’s place of residence, not his tribal background, which was that of Levi (1Ch 6:25-28).

1:2 The name Hannah means “grace.” She was childless, a condition often viewed with disfavor or even anguish (Gn 16:4-5; 30:1; Lk 1:24-25).

1:3 Shiloh was centrally located about thirty miles north of Jerusalem. There Joshua divided the land among the tribes (Jos 18:1-10).

1:4-5 The double portion was the amount of the inheritance the firstborn received (Dt 21:17). Here it probably denotes Elkanah’s special love for Hannah. The words the Lord had kept her from conceiving is literally, “the Lord had closed her womb” (cp. v. 6).

1:6 The rivalry between Hannah and Peninnah finds parallels in the accounts of Sarah and Hagar (Gn 16:4-5) and Leah and Rachel (Gn 30:14-16).

1:7-8 In the ancient Near East “a woman’s one great avenue to fulfillment in life was through the bearing of sons” (Robert Alter). Alter also notes that Hannah does not respond to her husband. When she does respond, it is to God.

1:9-10 The words deeply hurt can be more literally rendered “bitter of soul,” using the same Hebrew word that Naomi used (mara, Ru 1:20).

1:11 If God would give Hannah a son, she vowed to give him back to God according to the law of the Nazirite (Nm 6:1-21).

1:12-14 Eli misread Hannah’s anguish as drunkenness and scolded her for her apparent disregard of the holy place.

1:15-16 Hannah immediately clarified the situation with Eli. The depth (lit “abundance”) of Hannah’s anguish and resentment over her situation had come to the surface.

1:17 D. J. Wiseman says, “The expression Go in peace marks a successful conclusion of negotiation or assurance that the request for a desired state of relationships has been granted.” R. P. Gordon notes that this is the only place in the Old Testament that a priest blesses someone.

1:18 The Hebrew word for favor with which Hannah replied was a shortened form of her own name.

1:19 Ramah lay along the major north-south highway five miles north of Jerusalem in the territory of Benjamin. The tender words the Lord remembered her remind the reader that ultimately it is God who brings new life within the womb. In the OT, to “remember” means not simply to think about someone but to act on their behalf (see note at Gn 8:1).

1:20 The name Samuel may be a wordplay meaning “Requested from God.” A second possibility is the meaning “Heard by God.”

1:21 The expression annual sacrifice literally means “sacrifice of the days” and probably designates one of the three required festivals—Passover, the Festival of Weeks, or the Festival of Shelters (Dt 16:16). The word vow may denote a separate vow that Elkanah had made, or perhaps it designates Hannah’s vow that Elkanah then shared with her when he heard of it (Nm 30:10-15).

1:22 The apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees (7:27) suggests Israelite children were weaned at around age three, a custom not unusual in societies where homes lacked running water and where the purity of drinking water was difficult to maintain.

1:23 The Hebrew verb translated confirm literally means “cause to stand.” Elkanah wanted God’s blessing to remain on the young boy Samuel.

1:24 The Masoretic Text, overall the most reliable Hebrew manuscript tradition, reads “three bulls.” The CSB adopted three-year-old bull because of the reference to a single bull in v. 25 and because of the testimony of other early manuscripts. If the Masoretic Text is correct, however, it may be that the one bull constituted Elkanah’s sacrifice of thanksgiving for Samuel’s birth, while the other two were part of his usual sacrifice, and hence were not mentioned in v. 25.

1:25 On bull, see note at v. 24.

1:26-27 Hannah thought it important to testify to Eli, Israel’s high priest, how God had answered her prayer.

1:28 The Hebrew words translated give and given are related to the Hebrew word for “requested,” which also has to do with the meaning of Samuel’s name (v. 20). They literally mean “to give over” or “to grant” what was requested. Hannah had received the son she requested; she now grants him to the Lord for his service.