Discovery Box1 Samuel 1:23 
Context1:23 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
Context2:5 Those who are well-fed hire themselves out to earn food,
but the hungry no longer lack.
Even 3 the barren woman gives birth to seven, 4
but the one with many children withers away. 5
1 Samuel 2:20
Context2:20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, “May the Lord raise up for you descendants 6 from this woman to replace the one that she 7 dedicated to the Lord.” Then they would go to their 8 home.
1 Samuel 15:3
Context15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare 9 them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”
1 Samuel 27:9
Context27:9 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
Context28:8 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 removed 12 the mediums and magicians 13 from the land! Why are you trapping me 14 so you can put me to death?”
1 Samuel 28:13
Context28:13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen one like a god 15 coming up from the ground!”
1 Samuel 28:21
Context28:21 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
Context28:23 But he refused, saying, “I won’t eat!” Both his servants and the woman urged 18 him to eat, so he gave in. 19 He got up from the ground and sat down on the bed.
1 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
2 tn Heb “establish his word.” This apparently refers to the promise inherent in Eli’s priestly blessing (see v. 17).
3 tc 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.
4 sn 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.
5 tn Or “languishes.”
6 tn Heb “seed.”
7 tn 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.
8 tn Heb “his.”
9 tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).
10 tn Heb “the land.”
11 tn Heb “Use divination for me with the ritual pit and bring up for me the one whom I say to you.”
12 tn Heb “how he has cut off.”
14 tn Heb “my life.”
15 tn 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.
16 tn Heb “listened to your voice.”
17 tn Heb “listened to your words that you spoke to me.”
18 tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew
19 tn Heb “he listened to their voice.”
