1 Samuel 1:23

1:23 So her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what you think best.¹ Stay until you have weaned him. May the Lord fulfill his promise.”²

So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

1 Samuel 2:5

2:5 Those who are well-fed hire themselves out to earn food,

but the hungry no longer lack.

Even³ the barren woman gives birth to seven,⁴

but the one with many children withers away.⁵

1 Samuel 2:20

2:20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, “May the Lord raise up for you descendants⁶ from this woman to replace the one that she⁷ dedicated to the Lord.” Then they would go to their⁸ home.

1 Samuel 15:3

15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare⁹ them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”

1 Samuel 27:9

27:9 When David would attack a district,¹⁰ he would leave neither man nor woman alive. He would take sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and would then go back to Achish.

1 Samuel 28:8-9

28:8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing and left, accompanied by two of his men. They came to the woman at night and said, “Use your ritual pit to conjure up for me the one I tell you.”¹¹

28:9 But the woman said to him, “Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed¹² the mediums and magicians¹³ from the land! Why are you trapping me¹⁴ so you can put me to death?”

1 Samuel 28:13

28:13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen one like a god¹⁵ coming up from the ground!”

1 Samuel 28:21

28:21 When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him, “Your servant has done what you asked.¹⁶ I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me.¹⁷

1 Samuel 28:23

28:23 But he refused, saying, “I won’t eat!” Both his servants and the woman urged¹⁸ him to eat, so he gave in.¹⁹ He got up from the ground and sat down on the bed.

¹tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”

²tn Heb “establish his word.” This apparently refers to the promise inherent in Eli’s priestly blessing (see v. 17).

³tc Against BHS but with the MT, the preposition (עַד, ’ad) should be taken with what follows rather than with what precedes. For this sense of the preposition see Job 25:5.

⁴sn The number seven is used here in an ideal sense. Elsewhere in the OT having seven children is evidence of fertility as a result of God’s blessing on the family. See, for example, Jer 15:9, Ruth 4:15.

⁵tn Or “languishes.”

⁶tn Heb “seed.”

⁷tn The MT has a masculine verb here, but in light of the context the reference must be to Hannah. It is possible that the text of the MT is incorrect here (cf. the ancient versions), in which case the text should be changed to read either a passive participle or better, the third feminine singular of the verb. If the MT is correct here, perhaps the masculine is to be understood in a nonspecific and impersonal way, allowing for a feminine antecedent. In any case, the syntax of the MT is unusual here.

⁸tn Heb “his.”

⁹tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).

¹⁰tn Heb “the land.”

¹¹tn Heb “Use divination for me with the ritual pit and bring up for me the one whom I say to you.”

¹²tn Heb “how he has cut off.”

¹³tn See the note at v. 3.

¹⁴tn Heb “my life.”

¹⁵tn Heb “gods.” The modifying participle (translated “coming up”) is plural, suggesting that underworld spirits are the referent. But in the following verse Saul understands the plural word to refer to a singular being. The reference is to the spirit of Samuel.

¹⁶tn Heb “listened to your voice.”

¹⁷tn Heb “listened to your words that you spoke to me.”

¹⁸tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַיִּפְצְרוּ (vayyiftseru, “and they pressed”; from the root פצר, psr) rather than the MT’s וַיִּפְרְצוּ (vayyifretsu, “and they broke forth”; from the root פרצ, prs).

¹⁹tn Heb “he listened to their voice.”