1 Samuel 1:16

16 Don't count your handmaid for a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto.

1 Samuel 1:16 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 1:16

Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial
A yokeless, a lawless, impudent, and abandoned creature; one of the most wicked, vilest, and most profligate wretches; as she must be to come drunk into the sanctuary of God; see ( 1 Samuel 25:17 1 Samuel 25:25 ) . Drunkenness in man is au abominable crime, but much more in a woman. The Romans F1 forbad wine to women, and drunkenness in them was a capital crime, as adultery, or any other; and indeed a drunken woman is liable to all manner of sin:

for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken
hitherto;
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak, whether it is matter of trouble or of joy; the heart of Hannah was full of grief, and her mouth full of complaints, on which she long dwelt, in order to give vent thereunto, and ease herself.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 14. c. 13.

1 Samuel 1:16 In-Context

14 `Eli said to her, How long will you be drunken? put away your wine from you.
15 Hannah answered, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the LORD.
16 Don't count your handmaid for a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto.
17 Then `Eli answered, Go in shalom; and the God of Yisra'el grant your petition that you have asked of him.
18 She said, Let your handmaid find favor in your sight. So the woman went her way, and ate; and her facial expression wasn't sad any more.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.