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 15:16

15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait a minute! ²  Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” Saul ³  said to him, “Tell me.”

1 Samuel 20:26

20:26 However, Saul said nothing about it ⁴  that day, for he thought, ⁵  “Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean.”

1 Samuel 23:2

23:2 So David asked the Lord, “Should I go and strike down these Philistines?” The Lord said to David, “Go, strike down the Philistines and deliver Keilah.”

1 Samuel 25:14

25:14 But one of the servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet ⁶  our lord, but he screamed at them.

[1:20]  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.

[15:16]  ² tn Or perhaps “be quiet.”

[15:16]  ³ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the singular (“he said”) rather than the plural (“they said”) of the Kethib.

[20:26]  ³ tn The words “about it” are not present in the Hebrew text, although they are implied.

[20:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself.

[25:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “bless.”