1 Samuel 1:20

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. ¹ 

1 Samuel 9:2

9:2 He had a son named Saul, a handsome young man. There was no one among the Israelites more handsome than he was; he stood head and shoulders above all the people.

1 Samuel 12:22

12:22 The Lord will not abandon his people because he wants to uphold his great reputation. ²  The Lord was pleased to make you his own people.

1 Samuel 17:23

17:23 As he was speaking with them, the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines. He spoke the way he usually did, ³  and David heard it.

1 Samuel 18:30

18:30 ⁴  Then the leaders of the Philistines would march out, and as often as they did so, David achieved more success than all of Saul’s servants. His name was held in high esteem.

1 Samuel 21:7

21:7 (One of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of Saul’s shepherds.)

1 Samuel 24:21

24:21 So now swear to me in the Lord’s name ⁵  that you will not kill ⁶  my descendants after me or destroy my name from the house of my father.”

1 Samuel 25:5

25:5 he ⁷  sent ten servants, ⁸  saying to them, ⁹  “Go up to Carmel to see Nabal and give him greetings in my name. ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “because from the Lord I asked him.” The name “Samuel” sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “asked.” The explanation of the meaning of the name “Samuel” that is provided in v. 20 is not a strict etymology. It seems to suggest that the first part of the name is derived from the Hebrew root שׁאל (sh’l, “to ask”), but the consonants do not support this. Nor is it likely that the name comes from the root שׁמא (shm’, “to hear”), for the same reason. It more probably derives from שֶׁם (shem, “name”), so that “Samuel” means “name of God.” Verse 20 therefore does not set forth a linguistic explanation of the meaning of the name, but rather draws a parallel between similar sounds. This figure of speech is known as paronomasia.

² tn Heb “on account of his great name.”

³ tn Heb “according to these words.”

⁴ tc Verse 30 is absent in most LXX mss.

⁵ tn Heb “by the Lord.”

⁶ tn Heb “cut off.”

⁶ tn Heb “David”; for stylistic reasons the pronoun has been used in the translation.

⁷ tn Or “young men.”

⁸ tn Heb “and David said to the young men.”

⁹ tn Heb “and inquire concerning him in my name in regard to peace.”