THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL, OTHERWISE CALLED THE FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS. (1 Samuel 1:1) The Home Life of the Family of the future Prophet-judge of Israel. (1 Samuel 1:9) Interview of Hannah with Eli — Birth and Dedication of Samuel. Somewhere about the year 1140 B.C. (or, as some suppose, thirty ye... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THERE WAS A CERTAIN MAN. — Literally, _And there was, &c._ These introductory words do not signify that this history is the continuation of the Book of Judges or of any preceding writing. It is a common historical introductory formula. We find it at the commencement of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Ki... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE HAD TWO WIVES. — The primeval Divine ordination, we know, gave its sanction alone to monogamy. The first who seems to have violated God’s original ordinance appears to have been Lamech, of the family of Cain (Genesis 4:19). The practice apparently had become general throughout the East when t... [ Continue Reading ]
WENT UP OUT OF HIS CITY YEARLY. — The He brew expression rendered yearly, is found in Exodus 13:10, and there refers to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Passover. There is little doubt but that this great national festival is here referred to. It was the Passover that the whole family were accusto... [ Continue Reading ]
A WORTHY PORTION. — Literally, _one portion for two persons: i.e.,_ a double portion. It was an expression of his deep love for her. As Von Gerlach puts it, “Thou art as dear to me as if thou hadst borne me a child.” Some scholars would translate the difficult Hebrew expression here by, “But to Hann... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HER ADVERSARY ALSO PROVOKED HER SORE. — Jealousy, grief, anger, malice, the many bitter fruits of this way of living, so different to God’s original appointment, here show themselves. The one sin of polygamy poisons the whole home life of the family, in all other respects apparently a quiet, God... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS HE DID SO YEAR BY YEAR. — That is, Elkanah, on the occasion of every yearly visit to the national sanctuary, was in the habit of publicly giving the childless Hannah the double gift, to show his undiminished love; while the happier mother of his children, jealous of her rival, every year chos... [ Continue Reading ]
THAN TEN SONS. — Merely a round number to express many. The simple narration evidently came from Hannah, who, no doubt, in after years loved to dwell on her past sorrowful life, contrasted with her present strange blessedness as mother of the Restorer of the people.... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THEY HAD EATEN IN SHILOH, AND AFTER THEY HAD DRUNK. — This was the solemn sacrificial meal, at which the whole family were present. NOW ELI THE PRIEST SAT UPON A SEAT. — Eli, the high priest of Israel at this time, was a descendant of Ithamar, the younger son of Aaron (see 1 Chronicles 24:3,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SHE VOWED A VOW. — The vow of Hannah contained two solemn promises — the one pledged the son she prayed for to the service of the Eternal all the days of his life. The mother looked on to a life-long service in the ritual of the Tabernacle for him, but the Being who heard her prayer destined her... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW HANNAH, SHE SPAKE IN HER HEART. — Eli was watching the worshippers, and, as Bunsen well remarks, was struck with dismay at her silent earnestness, such heartfelt prayer being apparently not usual at that time, and remembering the condition of the moral life in the precincts of the sanctuary over... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ELI SAID UNTO HER. — The LXX. or Septuagint attempts to soften the harshness of the high priest to Hannah by inserting before Eli the word “servant,” or “young man,” thus suggesting that the hard, unjust words were spoken by an attendant. But it is clear that the English Version represents the t... [ Continue Reading ]
NO, MY LORD, I AM A WOMAN OF A SORROWFUL SPIRIT... — Calvin, quoted by Erdmann, well remarks here: — “Consider the modesty of Hannah, who, though she had received injury from the high priest, yet answers with reverence and humility.” On these words of Hannah the Talmud says: — “Some think that Hann... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOD OF ISRAEL GRANT THEE THY PETITION. — The character of Eli is a deeply interesting one. Weak and over-indulgent to his headstrong, wicked sons, probably too self-indulgent, and a lover of ease, yet in the brief record we possess we catch eight of not a few noble thoughts and wishes: flashes o... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THINE HANDMAID FIND GRACE. — In other words, Hannah’s reply to his loving farewell asked the old man to think kindly of her, and to pray for her with his mighty power of prayer. DID EAT, AND HER COUNTENANCE WAS NO MORE SAD. — A beautiful example of the composing influence of prayer. “Hannah had... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY ROSE UP. — Another notice of the pious customs of the house of Elkanah. This is a striking picture of one of the many holy homes in Israel, even in the wild, disorderly days of the Judges, and of the deep degradation of the priests of the sanctuary. “The house at Ramah,” the usual short na... [ Continue Reading ]
AND CALLED HIS NAME SAMUEL. — The words translated “because I have asked him of the Lord,” do not explain the meaning of the name “Samuel·” they simply give the reason for his mother so calling him. The name Sh’muel (Samuel) is formed from the Hebrew words _Sh’mua El_ (_a Deo exauditus_)_,_ “heard o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS VOW. — Elkanah too had vowed a vow unto the Lord, in case his wife Hannah should have a son. It has been remarked that vows are characteristic of that particular age of the Judges; for instance, we have detailed accounts of Samson and Jephthan’s vows, the oath in the Benjamite vow, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTIL THE CHILD BE WEANED. — Weaning, we know, took place very late among the Hebrews. From 2Ma. 7:27, it appears that Hebrew mothers were in the habit of suckling their children for three years. The mother proposed, when the weaning had taken place, to leave her son as a servant of the sanctuary, t... [ Continue Reading ]
ONLY THE LORD ESTABLISH HIS WORD. — No special word or promise of the Eternal in the case of the infant Samuel is recorded in this history; but there was an ancient Rabbinical tradition that a direct revelation respecting the future destiny of Samuel was made. “The Bath-kol (Daughter of the Voice) w... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH THREE BULLOCKS... AND THEY SLEW A BULLOCK. — There at first sight seems a discrepancy here, and the LXX. translators seem to have felt it, for they read, instead of “three bullocks,” “a bullock of three years old.” The true explanation, however, is that the one bullock alluded to in 1 Samuel 1:... [ Continue Reading ]
O MY LORD, AS THY SOUL LIVETH. — “This oath is peculiar 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. The similar oath, _as Pharaoh liveth_ (by the life of Pharaoh), occurs in Genesis 42:15; and _as the Lord liveth_ is foun... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE LENT HIM TO THE LORD. — The rendering of the Hebrew here, “I have lent,” and in Exodus 12:36, is false. The translation should run: _“_Therefore I also make him one asked of the Lord; all the days that he liveth he is asked of the Lord.” The sense is: “The Lord gave him to me, and now I have... [ Continue Reading ]