1 Samuel 1

1 And there was a certain man, of Ramathaim-zuphi, of the hill country of Ephraim, —whose name, was Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite;

There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah [town] in the hilly area where [the tribe of] Ephraim lived. His father was Jeroham, his grandfather was Elihu, and his great-grandfather was Tohu. He belonged to the Zuph clan.

2 and, he, had two wives, the name of the one, Hannah, and, the name of the other, Peninnah, —and Peninnah had children, but, Hannah, had no children.

He had two wives: Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had several children, but Hannah had no children.

3 So then that man went up, out of his city, from time to time, to worship and to sacrifice unto Yahweh of hosts, in Shiloh, —and, there, were the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests unto Yahweh.

Once every year Elkanah went up [with his family] from Ramah to Shiloh [city]. He went there to worship Yahweh, [the commander] of the armies [of angels], and to offer sacrifices to him. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, [helped their father to do the work as] priests of Yahweh there.

4 And, when the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he used to give, to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions;

Each time Elkanah offered sacrifices there, he gave some of the meat to Peninnah and some to each of her sons and daughters.

5 and, unto Hannah, used he to give one portion, —howbeit, Hannah, he loved, although, Yahweh, had restrained her from having children.

But even though he loved Hannah very much, he gave her only one special amount of meat because Yahweh had not permitted her to give birth to any children.

6 And her rival used even to cause her great vexation, for the sake of provoking her, —because Yahweh had restrained her from having children.

And his other wife, Peninnah, would ridicule Hannah to make her feel miserable, because Yahweh had not allowed her to bear children.

7 And, thus, used she to do, year by year, whenever she went up to the house of Yahweh, thus, used she to vex her, —and she wept, and would not eat.

This happened every year. When they went up to the temple of Yahweh [at Shiloh], Peninnah ridiculed Hannah so much that Hannah cried and would not eat.

8 So Elkanah her husband said to her—Hannah! wherefore shouldst thou weep? and wherefore wilt thou not eat? and wherefore should thy heart be sad? Am, I, not better to thee, than ten sons?

Then Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, (why are you crying?/please quit crying!) [RHQ] (Why are you not eating?/Please eat something!) [RHQ] Why are you so upset/sad? You have me; is that not more important to you than if you had ten sons? (OR, I [love you] more than your sons [would love you], even if you had ten sons.)”

9 And Hannah rose up, after she had eaten in Shiloh, and after she had drunk, —and, Eli the priest, was sitting upon his chair, by the door-post of the temple of Yahweh;

One year, after they had finished eating and drinking at Shiloh, Hannah stood up [to pray]. Eli the priest was nearby, sitting on a chair by the doorway of the sacred tent of Yahweh.

10 and, she being in bitterness of soul, prayed unto Yahweh, and, wept sore.

Hannah was very distressed, and she cried very sorrowfully as she prayed to Yahweh.

11 And she vowed a vow, and said—Yahweh of hosts! If thou wilt, look, upon the humiliation of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man-child, then will I give him unto Yahweh, all the days of his life, and no, razor, shall come upon his head.

She made a vow saying, “O Almighty Commander of the armies of angels, if you will look at me and see how miserable I am, and think about me and allow me to give birth to a son, then I will dedicate him to you [to serve you] for the rest of his life. And [to show that he is dedicated to you], (no one will ever [be allowed to] cut his hair/his hair will never be cut).”

12 And so it was, as she continued praying before Yahweh, that Eli was watching her mouth.

As she was praying like that to Yahweh, Eli the priest saw Hannah’s lips [moving as she was praying].

13 But as for, Hannah, she, was speaking in her heart, only her lips, were moving, but, her voice, could not be heard, —so Eli thought she had been drunken.

But Hannah was only praying silently; she was not making any sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk.

14 And Eli said unto her, How long, wilt thou be, drunken? Put away thy wine from thee.

He said to her, “How long will you continue to get drunk [RHQ]? (Throw away your wine/Quit drinking wine)!”

15 And Hannah responded and said—Nay! my lord; A woman depressed in spirit, am I: neither wine nor strong drink, have I drunk, —but I poured out my soul, before Yahweh.

Hannah replied, “Sir, I am not drunk! I have not been drinking wine or any other alcoholic drink. I feel very distressed and I have been telling Yahweh about how I feel.

16 Do not count thy handmaid for an abandoned woman, —for, out of the abundance of my grief and my vexation, have I spoken, hitherto.

Do not think that I am a worthless/wicked woman! I have been praying like this because I am very distressed [DOU].”

17 Then responded Eli, and said—Go and prosper! And the, God of Israel, grant thy petition which thou hast asked of him!

Eli replied, “I wish/desire that things will go well for you. I desire that God, the one we Israeli people [worship], will give you what you requested from him.”

18 And she said: Let thy serving-woman find favour, in thine eyes. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and, her countenance, was sad no longer.

She replied, “I want you to think highly/well about me.” Then she returned [to her family] and after she ate something, her face no longer looked sad.

19 And they rose up early in the morning, and worshipped before Yahweh, and returned, and entered their own house, in Ramah, —and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and Yahweh remembered her.

Early the next morning, Elkanah and his family got up and worshiped Yahweh [again], and then they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah (slept with/had sex with) Hannah. Then Yahweh answered her prayer,

20 And so it was, when the days had come round during which Hannah was with child, that she bare a son, —and called his name Samuel ["Heard of God"], Because, of Yahweh, I asked him.

and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, [which sounds like the words in the Hebrew language that mean ‘heard by God’], because she said “Yahweh [heard me when] I requested from him [a son].”

21 And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up, to offer unto Yahweh the yearly sacrifice, and [each] his own vow.

The following year, Elkanah again went up [to Shiloh] with his family to make the kind of sacrifice he made each year, and also to give a special offering to God that he had promised [to give him previously].

22 But, Hannah, went not up, —for she said to her husband—[Not] till the boy is weaned, then will I take him, and he shall appear before Yahweh, and abide there evermore.

But Hannah did not go [with them]. She said to her husband, “After I have weaned the baby, I will take him [to Shiloh and present him] to Yahweh, and he will stay there for the rest of his life.”

23 And Elkanah her husband said to her—Do what is good in thine own eyes, tarry until thou have weaned him, only may Yahweh establish his word! So the woman tarried, and nursed her son, until she weaned him.

Elkanah said, “Do what seems the best to you. Stay here until you have weaned him. What I desire is that Yahweh will [enable you to] do what you have promised.” So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her son until she weaned him.

24 Then took she him up with her, when she had weaned him, with a bullock of three years old, and one ephah of meal, and a skin of wine, and took him to the house of Yahweh, at Shiloh, —the boy yet being young.

After she weaned him, even though Samuel was very young, she took him to the temple/house of Yahweh at Shiloh. [To offer as a sacrifice], she took along a three-year-old bull, [a sack containing] (20 pounds/9 kg.) of flour, and a container of wine.

25 So they slew the bullock, —and took the boy in, unto Eli.

After the priest had slaughtered the bull [and offered it to Yahweh on the altar], Hannah and Elkanah brought the boy to Eli.

26 And she said—Pardon, my lord! By the life of thy soul, my lord, —I, am the woman who was standing near thee here, praying unto Yahweh:

Then Hannah said to him, “Sir, (Do you remember me?/I solemnly affirm), I am the woman who prayed as I stood here beside you [several years ago].

27 For this boy, I prayed, —And Yahweh hath given me my petition which I asked of him.

I prayed that Yahweh would enable me to give birth to a child, and this is the child whom I requested Yahweh to give me.

28 Hence, I also, have loaned him unto Yahweh, all the days that he liveth. He, is lent unto Yahweh. And he bowed down there, unto Yahweh.

So now I am presenting him to Yahweh. He will belong to Yahweh as long as he lives.” Then Elkanah [and his family] worshiped Yahweh there.