1 Samuel 1:5

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 1:2

1:2 He had two wives; the name of the first was Hannah and the name of the second was Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.

1 Samuel 1:9

1:9 On one occasion in Shiloh, after they had finished eating and drinking, Hannah got up. ⁴  (Now at the time Eli the priest was sitting in his chair ⁵  by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.)

1 Samuel 1:15

1:15 But Hannah replied, “That’s not the way it is, ⁶  my lord! I am under a great deal of stress. ⁷  I have drunk neither wine nor beer. Rather, I have poured out my soul to ⁸  the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:19-20

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 ⁹  his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered ¹⁰  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. ¹¹ 

1 Samuel 2:1

Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer

2:1 Hannah prayed, ¹² 

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

my horn ¹³  is exalted high because of the Lord.

I loudly denounce ¹⁴  my enemies,

for I am happy that you delivered me. ¹⁵ 

1 Samuel 2:21

2:21 So the Lord graciously attended to Hannah, and she was able to conceive and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. The boy Samuel grew up at the Lord’s sanctuary. ¹⁶ 

1 Samuel 1:8

1:8 Finally her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and not eat? Why are you so sad? ¹⁷  Am I not better to you than ten ¹⁸  sons?”

1 Samuel 26:5

26:5 So David set out and went to the place where Saul was camped. David saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the general in command of his army, were sleeping. Now Saul was lying in the entrenchment, and the army was camped all around him.

[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.

[1:9]  ⁴ tc The LXX adds “and stood before the Lord,” but this is probably a textual expansion due to the terseness of the statement in the Hebrew text.

[1:9]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, “on his throne.” See Joüon 2:506-7 §137.f.

[1:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “No.”

[1:15]  ⁸ 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).

[1:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “before.”

[1:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Elkanah knew his wife.” The Hebrew expression is a euphemism for sexual relations.

[1:19]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹³ 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.

[2:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “prayed and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[2:1]  ¹⁷ sn Horns of animals have always functioned as both offensive and defensive weapons for them. As a figure of speech the horn is therefore often used in the Bible as a symbol of human strength (see also in v. 10). The allusion in v. 1 to the horn being lifted high suggests a picture of an animal elevating its head in a display of strength or virility.

[2:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “my mouth opens wide against.”

[2:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for I rejoice in your deliverance.”

[2:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “with the Lord.” Cf. NAB, TEV “in the service of the Lord”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “in the presence of the Lord”; CEV “at the Lord’s house in Shiloh.”

[1:8]  ²² tn Heb “why is your heart displeased?”

[1:8]  ²³ sn Like the number seven, the number ten is sometimes used in the OT as an ideal number (see, for example, Dan 1:20, Zech 8:23).