THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL -Year from the Creation, 2833. -Year before the Incarnation, 1171. -Year before the first Olympiad, 395. -Year before the building of Rome, 418. -Year of the Julian Period, 3543. -Year of the Dionysian Period, 351. -Cycle of the Sun, 15. -Cycle of the Moon, 9. CHAPT... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:2. _HE HAD TWO WIVES_] The custom of those times permitted polygamy; but wherever there was more than _one wife_, we find the peace of the family greatly disturbed by it. _THE NAME OF THE ONE WAS HANNAH_] חנה _Channah_, which signifies _fixed_ or _settled_, and _the other_ פננה Pen... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:3. _WENT UP OUT OF HIS CITY YEARLY TO WORSHIP_] As the ark was at Shiloh, _there_ was the temple of God, and thither all the males were bound by the law to go once a year, on each of the great national festivals: viz., the _passover, pentecost_, and _feast_ _of tabernacles_. _THE... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:4. _HE GAVE - PORTIONS_] The sacrifices which were made were probably _peace-offerings_, of which the _blood_ was poured out at the foot of the altar; the _fat_ was burnt on the fire; the _breast_ and _right shoulder_ were the portion of the priest, and the _rest_ belonged to him wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:5. _UNTO HANNAH HE GAVE A WORTHY PORTION_] The Hebrew here is very obscure, יתן מנה אחת אפים _yitten manah achath appayim; he_ _gave her one portion of two faces_; which the _Syriac_ renders, _he_ _gave her one DOUBLE PART_; and the _Chaldee, he gave her one CHOSEN_ _part_; the _Ar... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:6. _AND HER ADVERSARY_] That is, Peninnah. _PROVOKED HER SORE_] Was constantly striving to irritate and vex her, _to make her fret _- to make her discontented with her lot, because the Lord had denied her children.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:7. _AND AS HE DID SO YEAR BY YEAR_] As the whole family went up to Shiloh to the annual festivals, Peninnah had both _sons_ and _daughters_ to accompany her, 1 Samuel 1:4, but Hannah had none; and Peninnah took this opportunity particularly to twit Hannah with her barrenness, by mak... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:8. _AM NOT I BETTER TO THEE THAN TEN SONS?_] TEN, a certain for an uncertain number. Is not my especial affection to thee better than all the comfort thou couldst gain, even from a numerous family?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:9. _ELI - SAT UPON A SEAT_] על הכסא al hakkisse, upon the throne, i.e., of judgment; for he was then _judge_ of Israel. _BY A POST OF THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD._] I think this is the first place where היכל יהוה _heychal Yehovah_, "temple of Jehovah," is mentioned. This gives room for... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:11. _I WILL GIVE HIM UNTO THE LORD_] Samuel, as a descendant of the house of _Levi_, was the Lord's property from _twenty-five_ years of age till _fifty_; but the vow here implies that he should be consecrated to the Lord from his infancy to his death, and that he should not only ac... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:13. _SPAKE IN HER HEART; ONLY HER LIPS MOVED_] She prayed; her whole heart was engaged: and though she spake not with an audible voice, yet her lips formed themselves according to the pronunciation of the words which her _heart_ uttered.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:15. _I HAVE DRUNK NEITHER WINE NOR STRONG DRINK_] Neither wine nor inebriating drink has been _poured out unto me_; but I have _poured out my soul unto the Lord_. There is a great deal of delicacy and point in this vindication.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:16. _COUNT NOT THINE HANDMAID FOR A DAUGHTER OF BELIAL_] אל תתן את אמתך לפני בת בליעל _al titten eth amathecha liphney_ _bath Beliyael_; 'Put not thy handmaiden before the faces of a daughter of Belial." "If I am a drunkard, and strive by the most execrable hypocrisy (praying in the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:17. _GRANT_ THEE _THY PETITION_] He was satisfied he had formed a wrong judgment, and by it had added to the distress of one already sufficiently distressed. The fact that Eli supposed her to be _drunken_, and the other of the conduct of Eli's sons already mentioned, prove that rel... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:18. _LET THINE HANDMAID FIND GRACE_] Continue to think favourably of me, and to pray for me.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:20. _CALLED HIS NAME SAMUEL_] As she gave this name to her son because she had asked him of the Lord, the word שמואל _Shemuel_ must be here considerably contracted; if it express this sentiment, the component parts of it are the following: שאול מאל _shaul meEl_, "asked of God.' This... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:21. _THE MAN ELKANAH AND ALL HIS HOUSE_] He and the whole of his family, Hannah and her child excepted, who purposed not to go up to Shiloh till her son was old enough to be employed in the Divine service. _AND HIS VOW_] Probably he had also made some vow to the Lord on the occasio... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:23. _UNTIL THOU HAVE WEANED HIM_] On the nature of this _weaning_, and the time in which it was usually done, the reader will be pleased to refer to _Clarke's note on "_Genesis 21:8_"_. _THE LORD ESTABLISH HIS WORD._] Or, _may the Lord establish his_ _word_-preserve the child, caus... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:24. _WITH THREE BULLOCKS_] The _Septuagint_, the _Syriac_, and the _Arabic_, read, _a bullock of three years old_; and this is probably correct, because we read, 1 Samuel 1:25, that they slew _eth happar, THE bullock_. We hear of no more, and we know that a _bullock_ or _heifer_ of... [ Continue Reading ]
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.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 1:28. _THEREFORE ALSO I HAVE LENT HIM TO THE LORD_] There is here a continual reference to her _vow_, and to the _words_ which she used in making that vow. The word _Samuel_, as we have already seen, is a contraction of the words שאול מאל _Shaul meEl_, that is, _asked_ or _lent of G... [ Continue Reading ]