1:1 There was a man from Ramathaim Zophim, 1 from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
1:19 They got up early the next morning and after worshiping the Lord, they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with 4 his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered 5 her.
1:21 This man Elkanah went up with all his family to make the yearly sacrifice to the Lord and to keep his vow,
1:23 So her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what you think best. 6 Stay until you have weaned him. May the Lord fulfill his promise.” 7
So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
1 tc The translation follows the MT. The LXX reads “a man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite”; this is followed by a number of recent English translations. It is possible the MT reading צוֹפִים (tsofim) arose from dittography of the mem (מ) at the beginning of the following word.
2 tn Heb “why is your heart displeased?”
3 sn Like the number seven, the number ten is sometimes used in the OT as an ideal number (see, for example, Dan 1:20, Zech 8:23).
4 tn Heb “Elkanah knew his wife.” The Hebrew expression is a euphemism for sexual relations.
5 sn The Lord “remembered” her in the sense of granting her earlier request for a child. The Hebrew verb is often used in the OT for considering the needs or desires of people with favor and kindness.
6 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
7 tn Heb “establish his word.” This apparently refers to the promise inherent in Eli’s priestly blessing (see v. 17).