1 Samuel 1:1–1:28
Sources
Reformed ConsensusReformation Study BibleGeneva Bible Notes (1599)John Trapp (1647)Matthew Poole (1685)John Gill (1748)Matthew Henry (1714)Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBarnes (1832)Cross-References (TSK)Reformed Consensus
The opening of 1 Samuel introduces Hannah as a woman caught in the crucible of covenant trial — her barrenness, compounded by Peninnah's provocation, is not accidental suffering but the providential instrument by which God humbles and prepares a vessel for extraordinary grace. Hannah's prayer at Shiloh (v. 10–11) models the Reformed understanding of petitionary prayer: she pleads not on the merit of her own worthiness but casts herself wholly upon the sovereign God of hosts, vowing to return the gift if granted, thereby acknowledging that children are a divine loan rather than a personal possession. Eli's initial misreading of her silent intercession (vv. 12–16) exposes the spiritual dullness that had settled over the priestly house — a dullness 1 Samuel will shortly judge — yet God's purposes are not hindered by human failure, and He opens her womb in His own time (v. 20). Samuel's birth and the name Hannah assigns him ("asked of the LORD") encodes the entire theological grammar of the narrative: what is given by sovereign grace is owed back to sovereign grace. Hannah's fulfillment of her vow in presenting Samuel to Shiloh (vv. 24–28) is a profound act of faith — she had asked for a son, received him, and willingly relinquished him, demonstrating that true worship is the return of every gift to the Giver.
Reformation Study Bible
God rules and delivers His people before the time of the monarchy. He does so by raising up Samuel (chs. 1-3), intervening directly against the Philistines (4:1-7:1), and giving Samuel victory over the Philistines (7:2-17). | a certain man. This expression and the accompanying genealogy suggest that Elkanah was a man of standing. The reference to a barren wife (v. 2) resembles the introduction to the birth of Samson (Judg. 13:2). Ramathaim-zophim. Possibly meaning “twin heights,’ the name occurs only here in the Old Testament. It may be the same as the New Testament Arimathea (northwest of Bethel). Samuel's hometown is usually called Ramah, about five miles north of Jerusalem (1:19; 2:11; 7:17; 8:4; 15:34; 19:18; 25:1). of Zuph. “Zuph” is both a personal name (1 Chr. 6:35) and a territory (9:5). Ephrathite. Ephraim was the place he was from, not necessarily the tribe of his ancestry (1 Chr. 6:16-30, 33-37). | two wives. Polygamy is first mentioned in Gen. 4:19, It is recognized and regulated, though not endorsed, in Deut. 21:15-17. no children. Hannah was childless and was provoked by her prolific rival (vv. 6, 7). A barren though favored wife who receives a special offspring from Yahweh is not uncommon in the Old Testament. See Gen. 18:1-15 (Sarah-Isaac); 25:21-26 (Rebekah-Esau and Jacob); 30:22-24 (Rachel- Joseph); Judg. 13:2-5 (Manoah’s wife-Samson). In the New Testament see Luke 1:5-25 (Elizabeth-John). | This man used to go up. Perhaps he was observing “the yearly feast of the Loro at Shiloh” (Judg. 21:19), or perhaps he went for a family cere- mony (20:6). In the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses, ‘or Torah) refer- ence is made to three annual pilgrim-feasts (Ex. 23:14-17; 34:18-23; Deut. 16:1-17). Lord of hosts. This title occurs here for the first time in the Old Testament. “LorD" represents "Yahweh" in Hebrew, the personal name of the God of Israel, as distinct from the general designation “God” “Hosts” or “armies” is the traditional translation of the other word. Depending on the context, it could include the hosts of Israel (17:45), the cosmic hosts or celestial bodies (Deut. 4:19), and the angelic hosts (Josh. 5:14). As a whole the title expresses the Lord's sovereignty over all earthly and heavenly powers. Shiloh. Halfway between Shechem and Bethel, Shiloh (modern Seilun) was an important Israelite religious center in the period before the monar- chy (Josh. 18:1; Judg. 21:19). At least the sanctuary there (Jer. 7:12) may have been destroyed by the Philistines after the battle of Aphek (4:1-11). Eli. As with some other well-known people in the Old Testament (Joshua, Ex. 17:9; and Jonathan, 1 Sam. 13:2), Eli is first introduced by name only. | double portion. The Hebrew is difficult but has usually been inter- preted as an especially honorable portion. Elkanah‘s attempts to lessen Hannah's sorrow by expressing his love for her (v. 8) were ineffective. the Lorp had closed her womb. Hannah's barrenness came not by chance nor as a form of punishment:(2 Sam. 6:23), but was under the Lord’s sovereign control, | her rival. See note 1:2. | would not eat. Hannah refused to eat until the Lord answered her prayer; compare David's actions in 2 Sam. 12:16-20, and contrast Saul's in 1 Sam. 28:23-25. In the New Testament, fasting often accompanies serious dealings with the Lord (Acts 13:2-3; 14:23). | temple. The mention of a “doorpost” here and “doors” in 3:15, as well as sleeping quarters in 3:2, 3, may suggest a more permanent structure than the tent of Moses’ time. Other designations for the structure in Samuel are “the house of the Loro” (v. 7; 3:15) and “the tent of meeting” (2:22). From 2 Sam. 7:6 it is clear that before the time of David the taber- nacle or temple was a tent and not a permanent structure. | vow. On the making of vows by married women, and the husbands’ responsibility to confirm or nullify, see Num. 30:6-15. remember me. Hannah asks not simply for the Lord to keep her in mind but for Him to do something special to help her. no razor. Hannah's vow reflects elements of the Nazirite vow (Num. 6:1-21). Specifically, these are: abstaining from grapes or anything made from grapes, not cutting the hair, and avoiding all contact with anything dead. While such vows were generally made for a limited period of time, Hannah's was for “all the days” of her son’ life (see Judg. 13:5 note). | drunken, Eli’s conclusion that Hannah was drunk is an unsettling element in the narrative because it suggests that he was unfamiliar with fervency in prayer. | worthless, See 2:12. | her face was no longer sad. Hannah's actions in response to the benediction of v. 17 give evidence of her belief. | Samuel. Various meanings of the name “Samuel” have been sug- gested, including “heard by God,” “he who is from God,’ “name of God,’ and even “son of God” (as one “given” or “promised” by God). “Saul” is also from the Hebrew verb “to ask,’ (8:10 note). | vow. See Lev. 7:16 and note. | weaned. In the ancient Near East a child was weaned later than is often customary today (2 Macc. 7:27; “I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years”). Weaning may also have been celebrated with a feast (Gen. 21:8). | his word. “Your word” is probably to be preferred here. Elkanah, as Hannah’s husband (1:11 note), invokes the Lord's assistance in Hannah's fulfillment of her vow. | three-year-old bull... skin of wine. According to Num. 15:8-10, the fulfillment of a vow was to be accompanied by an offering of a young bull, fine flour, and wine. Hannah brings all three, but in larger measure than required.
Geneva Bible Notes (1599)
Now there was a certain man of {a} Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: The Argument - As God had ordained in De 17:14, that when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, he would appoint a king for them: so here in the first book of Samuel the state of the people under their first king Saul is declared. Not content with the order that God had temporarily appointed for the government of his Church, they demanded a king, so that they might be as other nations. As well they thought they would be better off, not because they could serve God better by it, but because they would be under the safeguard of him who represented Jesus Christ the true deliverer. Therefore God gave them a tyrant and a hypocrite to rule over them, so that they might learn that a king is not sufficient to defend them, unless God by his power preserves and keeps them. Therefore he punishes the ingratitude of his people, and sends them continual wars both at home and abroad. Also, because Saul, whom God had given to the honour of a king out of nothing, did not acknowledge God's mercy to him, but rather disobeyed the word of God and was not zealous of his glory, he was removed from his estate by God, and David the true figure of Messiah was placed in his stead. His patience, modesty, constancy, persecution by open enemies, feigned friends, and deceitful flatterers, is left to the Church and to every member of it, as a pattern and example of their state and calling. (a) There were two Ramatus, so that in this city in mount Ephraim were Zophim, that is, the learned men and prophets.
John Trapp (1647)
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name [was] Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: Samuel was in the number of those few in Scripture, that lived and died with glory. His birth, life, and acts take up a great part of this book, which seemeth to have been written by some disciple of his, who, in honour of his master, called it by his name. Like Anna Comnena, daughter of Alexius Comnenus the Emperor, wrote the history of her father’s deeds and called it Alexias. Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim. — Called also Ramah, and Arimathaea. The Hebrews Chald. Paraph., Kimchi, Ben-Gerson. say it was a school of prophets, who are frequently in Scripture called Zophim, that is, watchmen, and that Elkanah himself was a prophet, as being of the sons of Korah, who are called prophets. See 1 Chronicles 6:22 ; 1 Chronicles 6:27 ; 1 Chronicles 6:33 , compared with those titles of Psalms "to" or "of the soils of Korah." Of that gainsaying "sinner against his own soul," came Samuel, Homo ille virtute simillimus. An Ephrathite. — So called, because he dwelt in the tribe of Ephraim, as Judges 12:5 ; likeas those Jews are called Cretes and Arabians, Elamites and Parthians, …, Acts 2:9-10 because they sojourned in those countries.
Matthew Poole (1685)
1 SAMUEL CHAPTER 1 . Elkanah goeth yearly up to the feast at Shiloh with his two wives: Hannah is barren; Peninnah upbraideth her, 1Sa 1:1-6 . Hannah prayeth fervently to the Lord for a son; promising to separate him a Nazarite unto God, 1Sa 1:7-12 . Eli thinking her drunk rebuketh her; upon her answer, blesseth her, 1Sa 1:13-18 . She returneth home with Elkanah, and conceiveth; beareth Samuel; offereth her sacrifice; performs her promise concerning him, 1Sa 1:19-28 . Ramathaim-zophirn, called Ramah , 1Sa 1:19 , and here is the dual number Ramathaim , i.e. double Ramah , probably because it consisted of two parts, whereof the one might be called the old city, the other the new, both being united into one; and the additional title of Zophim , which signifies watch-towers , or watchmen , may note either the height of its situation, which made it fit for that use; or that the prophets, who are called watchmen, as Eze 3:17 , had a school or college there. An Ephrathite, i.e. one of Bethlehem-judah, Rth 1:2 , to wit, by his birth and habitation, though by his original a Levite. Thus divers Jews by nation are called Medes, Elamites, Cretians , &c., Act 2:9-11 , because they were born and bred there.
John Gill (1748)
Now there was a man of Ramathaimzophim, of Mount Ephraim,.... Ramathaim is a word of the dual number, and signifies two Ramahs; the city consisted of two parts, being built perhaps on two hills, and were called Zophim; because, as the Rabbins say, they looked one to another; or rather, because situated on eminences, there were watchtowers in them, where watchmen were placed; or because they were inhabited by prophets, who were sometimes called watchmen, Ezekiel 3:17 and here is thought to be a school of the prophets, see 1 Samuel 19:19 and which seems to be countenanced by the Targum, in which the words are paraphrased thus, "and there was one" man of Ramatha, of the disciples of the prophets; or, as others think, the sense is this, this man was one of the Ramathites, the inhabitants of Ramah, and of the family of Zuph, or the Zuphites, which gave the name to the land of Zuph, and the grand ancestor of Elkanah is in this verse called Zuph, see 1 Samuel 9:5 . According to Jerom (e), this is the same with Arimathaea, of which Joseph was, Matthew 27:57 for thus he writes,"Armatha Sophim, the city of Helcanah and Samuel, in the Thamnitic region near Diospolis (or Lydda), from whence was Joseph, who in the Gospels is said to be of Arimathaea;''but Reland (f) thinks it cannot be the same that was about Lydda, which was all a champaign country; whereas this was in the mountains of Ephraim, which must be sought to the north of Jerusalem, and not the west, and so it follows: of Mount Ephraim: which is added to distinguish it from other Ramahs in several tribes, as in Benjamin, Naphtali, &c. though this may refer not to the situation of Ramathaim, but to the country of this man, who was originally of Mount Ephraim, as was the Levite in Judges 19:1 who was the cause of much evil to Israel, as this was of great good, as Kimchi observes: and his name was Elkanah; which signifies "God hath possessed"; that is, possessed him, or he was in possession of God; he had an ancestor of the same name, 1 Chronicles 6:23 . This man was a Levite, one of the Kohathites, and a descendant of Korah; so that the famous prophet Samuel was of the sons of Korah: the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph; the three last of these names are somewhat differently read in 1 Chronicles 6:26 , where they are Eliab, Nahath, Zophai; and in 1 Chronicles 6:34 . Eliel, Toah, Zuph: an Ephrathite; which appellation is to be connected, according to Kimchi, not with Elkanah, but with Zuph; though neither of them were so called from Bethlehemjudah, the inhabitants of which were indeed called Ephrathites from Ephratah, another name of it; so Elimelech, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion, being of that city, were so called, Ruth 1:2 not from their being of the tribe of Ephraim, as Jeroboam of that tribe is called an Ephrathite, 1 Kings 11:26 , see Judges 12:5 for these were Levites, the descendants of Kohath, in the line of Korah; but because they sojourned in Mount Ephraim, or dwelt there, as Elkanah did; and it is well known that the Kohathites had cities given them in the tribe of Ephraim, Joshua 21:5 . (e) De loc. Heb. fol. 88. K. (f) Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 2. p. 581.
Matthew Henry (1714)
Elkanah kept up his attendance at God's altar, notwithstanding the unhappy differences in his family. If the devotions of a family prevail not to put an end to its divisions, yet let not the divisions put a stop to the devotions. To abate our just love to any relation for the sake of any infirmity which they cannot help, and which is their affliction, is to make God's providence quarrel with his precept, and very unkindly to add affliction to the afflicted. It is evidence of a base disposition, to delight in grieving those who are of a sorrowful spirit, and in putting those out of humour who are apt to fret and be uneasy. We ought to bear one another's burdens, not add to them. Hannah could not bear the provocation. Those who are of a fretful spirit, and are apt to lay provocations too much to heart, are enemies to themselves, and strip themselves of many comforts both of life and godliness. We ought to notice comforts, to keep us from grieving for crosses. We should look at that which is for us, as well as what is against us.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL, OTHERWISE CALLED THE FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS. Commentary by Robert Jamieson CHAPTER 1 1Sa 1:1-8. Of Elkanah and His Two Wives. 1, 2. a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim—The first word being in the dual number, signifies the double city—the old and new town of Ramah (1Sa 1:19). There were five cities of this name, all on high ground. This city had the addition of Zophim attached to it, because it was founded by Zuph, "an Ephrathite," that is a native of Ephratha. Beth-lehem, and the expression "of Ramathaim-zophim" must, therefore, be understood as Ramah in the land of Zuph in the hill country of Ephratha. Others, considering "mount Ephraim" as pointing to the locality in Joseph's territory, regard "Zophim" not as a proper but a common noun, signifying watchtowers, or watchmen, with reference either to the height of its situation, or its being the residence of prophets who were watchmen (Eze 3:17). Though a native of Ephratha or Beth-lehem-judah (Ru 1:2), Elkanah was a Levite (1Ch 6:33, 34). Though of this order, and a good man, he practised polygamy. This was contrary to the original law, but it seems to have been prevalent among the Hebrews in those days, when there was no king in Israel, and every man did what seemed right in his own eyes [Jud 21:25].
Barnes (1832)
Ramathaim-zophim may signify "the two hills 1 Samuel 9:11-13 of the watchmen," so called from its being a post from which the watchmen looked out. But since Zuph is the name of the head of the family, it is more probable that Zophin means the Zuphites, the sons of Zuph (see Zophai, 1 Chronicles 6:26 ), from whom the land about Ramah was called "the land of Zuph," 1 Samuel 9:5 . There is reason to believe that Elkanah - an Ephrathite, or inhabitant of Bethlehem 1 Samuel 17:12 ; Ruth 1:2 and of the territory of the tribe of Ephraim 1 Kings 11:26 - the father of Samuel, represents the fifth generation of settlers in Canaan, and therefore that Samuel was born about 130 years after the entrance into Canaan - four complete generations, or 132 years - and about 40 years before David.
Cross-References (TSK)
Ruth 4:22; 1Samuel 1:2; 1Samuel 1:1; 1Samuel 1:4; 1Samuel 1:9; 1Samuel 1:12; 1Samuel 1:19; 1Samuel 1:24; Matthew 27:57; Judges 17:1; Judges 19:1; 1Chronicles 6:25; 1Samuel 9:5; 1Samuel 17:12; Judges 12:5; Ruth 1:2; 1Kings 11:26; Ruth 4:3; Job 36:1; Exodus 6:24; Judges 19:18; Nehemiah 11:12; Numbers 23:14; 1Chronicles 6:35; 1Samuel 5:6; 1Chronicles 12:20; 1Samuel 9:4; 1Samuel 7:1; 1Chronicles 6:27