1 Samuel 1:20
1:20 After some time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, thinking, “I asked the Lord for him. 1
1 Samuel 10:12
10:12 A man who was from there replied, “And who is their father?” Therefore this became a proverb: “Is even Saul among the prophets?”
1 Samuel 18:1
Saul Comes to Fear David
18:1 When David 2 had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. 3 Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life. 4
1 Samuel 25:42
25:42 Then Abigail quickly went and mounted her donkey, with five of her female servants accompanying her. 5 She followed David’s messengers and became his wife.
1 tn Heb “because from the Lord I asked him.” The name “Samuel” sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “asked.” The explanation of the meaning of the name “Samuel” that is provided in v. 20 is not a strict etymology. It seems to suggest that the first part of the name is derived from the Hebrew root שׁאל (sh’l, “to ask”), but the consonants do not support this. Nor is it likely that the name comes from the root שׁמא (shm’, “to hear”), for the same reason. It more probably derives from שֶׁם (shem, “name”), so that “Samuel” means “name of God.” Verse 20 therefore does not set forth a linguistic explanation of the meaning of the name, but rather draws a parallel between similar sounds. This figure of speech is known as paronomasia.
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”
4 tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”
sn On the nature of Jonathan’s love for David, see J. A. Thompson, “The Significance of the Verb Love in the David-Jonathan Narratives in 1 Samuel,” VT 24 (1974): 334-38.
5 tn Heb “going at her feet.”