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18 She replied, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes,” and left. She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and no longer appeared downhearted. 19 Early the next morning they worshiped before the Lord, and then returned to their home in Ramah. When they returned Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.

Hannah Bears a Son. 20 She conceived and, at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel.[a] “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1:20 Samuel: Hannah’s explanation associates her son’s name with the narrative’s wordplay on the Hebrew verbs s’l (“ask,” vv. 17, 27), his’il (“hand over, dedicate,” v. 28), sa’ul (“dedicated,” v. 28), and the noun se’elah (“request,” vv. 17, 27). The name, however, is related to the Hebrew root s’l only through assonance. It means “his name is El/God,” not “the one requested of or dedicated (sa’ul) to God” (v. 28), which is the meaning of the name Saul. The author may have lifted the s’l wordplay from a narrative about Saul to portray Samuel as God’s gracious answer to Hannah’s request.

18 She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.(A)” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.(B)

19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah.(C) Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered(D) her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.(E) She named(F) him Samuel,[a](G) saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 1:20 Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for heard by God.