1 Samuel 1:23-25

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 1 Samuel 1:23 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”sn A similar phrase is a negative characterization in Judges, that “each would do what was right in his [own] eyes” (Judg 17:6; 21:25, cf. Prov 12:15; 21:2). However the phrase “in one’s own eyes” does not have to have a negative connotation (1 Chron 13:4; 30:4). As Hannah had done, Elkanah affirms the long term commitment to the vow.
2. 1 Samuel 1:23 tc LXX and Qumran “establish what is coming out of your mouth.” MT “establish his word.”sn By reading “his word” (i.e., his promise) the MT is consistent with other passages that deal with establishing God’s word. But what it refers to is unclear. If Eli’s earlier response (v. 17) implies a promise, it has already been fulfilled in the birth. Other have suggested a connection to Deut 18:15, 18 and the promise to raise up a prophet like Moses. The reading preserved in the Greek text and at Qumran may well be the original. In this case Elkanah is affirming the conclusion of Hannah’s vow. Perhaps there is even an underlying admonition in the affirmation. Auld suggests it is possible that readers should discern in Elkanah an affirmation of the prophetic word through Hannah (Graeme Auld, I & II Samuel [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011] 33).
3. 1 Samuel 1:24 tc LXX “she went up with him to Shiloh.”
4. 1 Samuel 1:24 tc LXX “with a three year old bull and loaves.”
5. 1 Samuel 1:24 sn The ephah was a standard dry measure in OT times; it was the equivalent of one-tenth of the OT measure known as a homer. The ephah was equal to approximately one-half to two-thirds of a bushel.
6. 1 Samuel 1:24 tn The Hebrew term translated “container” may denote either a clay storage jar (cf. CEV “a clay jar full of wine”) or a leather container (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “a skin of wine”; NCV “a leather bag filled with [full of TEV] wine”).
7. 1 Samuel 1:24 tc The translation follows the LXX. Although “with her” can be conjectured instead of “with them,” the context of the LXX assumes the presence of Elkanah as well as Hannah. The MT has the unusual structure “and the boy was a boy,” possibly the result of dittography. If the MT is correct, perhaps we are to understand two different meanings of the same noun, e.g. “the boy was a servant.” The noun נַעַר (naʿar) is commonly understood to refer to a young man or a servant (HALOT s.v. נַעַר), however, it refers to the infant Moses (Exod 2:6) and to Benjamin when he may be well past adolescence (Gen 43:8). Further those called נַעַר (naʿar) may not simply be servants, but someone in line to receive a position of rank. Samuel does become a servant, or apprentice, and turns out to be in line to replace Eli. Yet since he has not yet been given to Eli, this seems like an odd place to remark on his being an apprentice.
8. 1 Samuel 1:25 tc The LXX is longer, reading: “They brought [him] before the Lord and his father slaughtered the sacrifice which he would bring to the Lord from time to time. And he brought the child and slaughtered the calf. And Hannah, the child’s mother, brought him to Eli.”