1 Samuel 1

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

1:1 Elkanah was a Levite (1 Chr 6:22-27). After the conquest of the Promised Land, the Levites were given towns in the territories of the other Israelite tribes, including Ephraim (Josh 21:20). • Elkanah’s hometown was Ramah (1 Sam 2:11). This location should not be confused with the Ramah in the tribal area of Benjamin (see Josh 18:25; Judg 19:13; Matt 2:18). • The region of Zuph was named after one of Elkanah’s ancestors, a Levite of the clan of Kohath (1 Chr 6:35). Saul first met Samuel in Zuph while searching for his father’s donkeys (1 Sam 9:5). • Elkanah’s lengthy genealogy suggests he was socially prominent.

Verse 2

1:2 Hardly an instance exists in Scripture where a man’s simultaneous marriage to two wives did not produce serious friction (1:6-7; Gen 16; 21; 29).

Verse 3

1:3 Elkanah made this trip each year; the law required that people attend three annual festivals (Exod 23:14-17). • According to God’s law, Israelites were to sacrifice at God’s chosen sanctuary (Deut 12:1-28). From the days of Joshua (Josh 18:1) through Samuel’s era, God’s sanctuary—the Tabernacle—was at Shiloh, a town in Ephraim some 8.5 miles north of Bethel en route to Shechem. King David eventually moved it to Jerusalem (2 Sam 6). • the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: Throughout the Hebrew Old Testament, God is often referred to as Yahweh Tseba’oth or ’Elohim Tseba’oth. Traditionally, these titles have been translated “Lord of hosts” and “God of hosts.” The term “hosts” (Hebrew tseba’oth, traditionally “sabaoth”) usually means “armies.” It can refer to human armies, such as the armies of Israel (e.g., 1 Sam 17:45), or foreign armies sent to fulfill the Lord’s purposes (e.g., Isa 9:11-13). However, most often it refers to God’s angelic armies sent from heaven to do his bidding and wage war on earth (e.g., 2 Kgs 6:17). This designation anticipates God’s role as a mighty warrior in the episode involving the Ark of the Covenant and the Philistines (1 Sam 4–6).

Verse 4

1:4 sacrifice . . . portions of the meat: Certain sacrifices involved sharing part of the sacrificial animal in a communal meal (see Lev 7:11-34).

Verse 7

1:7 the Tabernacle: Also called “the Temple of the Lord” in 1:9. These designations reflect that the Tabernacle, a portable structure, served as the central sanctuary at Shiloh.

Verse 9

1:9 the Tabernacle: Literally the Temple of the Lord. Solomon’s Temple had not yet been constructed, so the word Temple here means the Lord’s sanctuary.

Verse 11

1:11 Hannah’s vow was a promise to give the child back to the Lord as a Nazirite (see Num 6:1-21). Hannah might have hoped that her child would be another Samson (cp. Judg 13), a deliverer of God’s people.

Verse 13

1:13-14 Some people might have used the feast times at Shiloh as an occasion to get drunk rather than to worship. Eli mistakenly assumed Hannah was another drunken reveler (cp. Acts 2:13-15).

Verse 16

1:16 wicked woman (Hebrew a daughter of Belial): An expression used to describe a worthless person. Belial (“worthlessness”) is later used as a name for Satan (2 Cor 6:15). In Hebrew, a son of or daughter of a quality is a person who exemplifies that quality.

Verse 17

1:17-18 A blessing was more than mere wishful thinking. It was often God’s means of conferring a real benefit (see, e.g., Gen 27:1-40; 28:1-4; 32:22-32; 48:1–49:28). Because this blessing from God’s high priest provided assurance that Hannah’s prayer would be answered, she was no longer sad.

Verse 22

1:22 until the boy is weaned: Hannah would have nursed Samuel two to four years.

Verse 23

1:23 Elkanah could have overridden Hannah’s promise (Num 30:12-14), but instead he affirmed and supported it.