1 Samuel 1:4-5

1:4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he used to give meat portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 1:5 But he would give a double ¹  portion to Hannah, because he especially loved her. ²  Now the Lord had not enabled her to have children. ³ 

1 Samuel 1:27

1:27 I prayed for this boy, and the Lord has given me the request that I asked of him.

1 Samuel 8:14

8:14 He will take your best fields and vineyards and give them to his own servants.

1 Samuel 10:4

10:4 They will ask you how you’re doing and will give you two loaves of bread. You will accept them.

1 Samuel 11:12

Saul Is Established as King

11:12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who were the ones asking, ‘Will Saul reign over us?’ Hand over those men so we may execute them!”

1 Samuel 12:13

12:13 Now look! Here is the king you have chosen – the one that you asked for! Look, the Lord has given you a king!

1 Samuel 18:2

18:2 Saul retained David ⁴  on that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house.

1 Samuel 21:3

21:3 Now what do you have at your disposal? ⁵  Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”

1 Samuel 25:27

25:27 Now let this present ⁶  that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the servants who follow ⁷  my lord.

1 Samuel 25:44

25:44 (Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was from Gallim.)

[1:5]  ¹ tn The exact sense of the Hebrew word אַפָּיִם (’appayim, “two faces”) is not certain here. It is most likely used with the preceding expression (“one portion of two faces”) to mean a portion double than normally received. Although evidence for this use of the word derives primarily from Aramaic rather than from Hebrew usage, it provides an understanding that fits the context here better than other suggestions for the word do. The meaning “double” is therefore adopted in the present translation. Other possibilities for the meaning of the word include the following: “heavily” (cf. Vulg., tristis) and “worthy” or “choice” (cf. KJV and Targum). Some scholars have followed the LXX here, emending the word to אֶפֶס (’efes) and translating it as “but” or “however.” This seems unnecessary. The translators of the LXX may simply have been struggling to make sense of the word rather than following a Hebrew text that was different from the MT here.

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “for Hannah he loved.” Repetition of the proper name would seem redundant in contemporary English, so the pronoun (“her”) has been used here for clarity. The translation also adds the adverb “especially” to clarify the meaning of the text. Without this addition one might get the impression that only Hannah, not Peninnah, was loved by her husband. But the point of the text is that Hannah was his favorite.

[1:5]  ³ tn Heb “and the Lord had closed her womb.” So also in v. 6. The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is pertinent to the story.

[18:2]  ¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:3]  ¹ tn Heb “under your hand.”

[25:27]  ¹ tn Heb “blessing.”

[25:27]  ² tn Heb “are walking at the feet of.”