1:12 As she continued praying to 1 the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth. 1:13 Now Hannah was speaking from her heart. Although her lips were moving, her voice was inaudible. Eli therefore thought she was drunk. 1:14 So he 2 said to her, “How often do you intend to get drunk? Put away your wine!”
1:15 But Hannah replied, “That’s not the way it is, 3 my lord! I am under a great deal of stress. 4 I have drunk neither wine nor beer. Rather, I have poured out my soul to 5 the Lord. 1:16 Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman, 6 for until now I have spoken from my deep pain and anguish.”
1 tc Heb “before.” Many medieval Hebrew manuscripts read “to.”
2 tn Heb “Eli.” The pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.
3 tn Heb “No.”
4 tn Heb “I am a woman difficult of spirit.” The LXX has “for whom the day is difficult,” apparently mistaking the Hebrew word for “spirit” רוּחַ (ruakh) to be the word for “day” יוֹם (yom).
5 tn Heb “before.”
6 tn Heb “daughter of worthlessness.”