1 Samuel 1:26

_AND SHE SAID, OH MY LORD, AS THY SOUL LIVETH, MY LORD, I AM THE WOMAN THAT STOOD BY THEE HERE, PRAYING UNTO THE LORD._ AND SHE SAID, OH MY LORD, х_ 'ªDONIY_ (H113); Septuagint, _ KURIE_ (G2962), sir], AS THY SOUL LIVETH - a strong asseveration in familiar use among the Hebrews (1 Samuel 17:55; 1 Samuel 20:3: cf. Genesis 42:15), and employed by Hannah on this occasion to recall to the remembrance of the aged priest an incident of some years before, in which she was the principal actor....

19-28 Elkanah and his family had a journey before them, and a family of children to take with them, yet they would not move till they had worshipped God together. Prayer and provender do not hinder a journey. When men are in such haste to set out upon journeys, or to engage in business, that they have not time to worship God, they are likely to proceed without his presence and blessing. Hannah, though she felt a warm regard for the courts of God's house, begged to stay at home. God will have mercy, and not sacrifice. Those who are detained from public ordinances, by the nursing and tending of little children, may take comfort from this instance, and believe, that if they do that duty in a right spirit, God will graciously accept them therein. Hannah presented her child to the Lord with a grateful acknowledgment of his goodness in answer to prayer. Whatever we give to God, it is what we...

Verse 1 Samuel 1:26. _AS THY SOUL LIVETH_] As sure as thou art a living soul, so surely am I the person who stood by thee here praying....

AS THY SOUL LIVETH - This oath is unique to the Books of Samuel, in which it occurs six times, and to the Books of Kings, in which however, it is found only once. See the note to 1 Samuel 1:11....

AND SHE SAID, O MY LORD,.... According to the Targum, it is a supplication or request, I beseech thee, my lord; that is, to look upon her son, and take him under his care as his disciple or scholar, to instruct him in the law of God, and enter him into his service; to which Eli might be very backward and indifferent, and even treat it with some degree of contempt, that such a young Levite should be brought to him, when the soonest the Levites were admitted was at twenty five years of age: AS THY SOUL LIVETH, MY LORD; which Ben Gersom takes for the form of an oath, as if she swore to the truth of what follows by the life of the high priest; but as it was forbidden to swear by any but by the living God, by his life, it cannot be thought so good a woman as Hannah would be guilty of such a sinful and Heathenish practice; this rather is a wish or prayer for his life and health, and the conti...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. SAMUEL THE PROPHET AND JUDGE 1. The Birth and Childhood of Samuel CHAPTER 1 _ 1. Elkanah and his wives (1 Samuel 1:1)_ 2. Hannah's prayer and vow (1 Samuel 1:9) 3. The prayer answered and Samuel born (1 Samuel 1:19) 4. The child weaned and presented unto the Lord (1 Samuel 1:21) The descent of Samuel opens the book. The names are of striking significance. Elkanah means “acquired of God.” He was the son of Jeroham (tenderly loved), the son of Elihu (my God is He), the son of Tohu (prostration), the son of Zuph (honeycomb). They were pious generations f

SAMUEL IS BORN AND DEDICATED TO YAHWEH. The family went home and in due time a son was born to Hannah, whom she called Shemuel (Samuel), possibly, His name is God. His Name = Yahweh, _i.e._ Yahweh is God; _cf._ Elijah and Joel, which have a similar meaning. When Samuel was weaned, _i.e._ after two years at least, perhaps longer, as he is said to have ministered apparently at once, Hannah took him to Shiloh, made an offering of a bullock (LXX of 1 Samuel 1:24; _cf._ 1 Samuel 1:25); and devoted the boy to the service of Yahweh as an attendant at the Temple. Note that he was not a Levite (_cf._ 1 Samuel 1:1). Samuel has nothing to do with Sha-' al, asked; possibly the etymology because I have asked, etc.

THY SOUL. thyself. Hebrew. _nephesh._ App-13....

Samuel's infancy and dedication to Jehovah 21. _his vow_ This assumes that Elkanah as well as Hannah had made a vow. The Sept. reads "his vows and all the tithes of his land." Cp. Deuteronomy 12:11....

_Samuel presented to the Lord._ 1 Samuel 1:24-28 24 And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child _was_ young. 25 And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, Oh my lord, _as_ thy soul liveth, my lord, I _am_ the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28 Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. _31._ Why did they take a bottle of wine? 1 Samuel 1:24 The size of the offering given by E