1 Samuel 1:20

20 Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, "I asked God for him."

1 Samuel 1:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 1:20

Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about, after
Hannah had conceived
Or, "at the revolutions of days" F2; at the end of a year, of a complete year, as Ben Melech, from their return from Shiloh; for it might be some time after their return that she conceived; or rather the sense is, that at nine months' end, the usual time of a woman's going with child from her conception, which is the date here given:

that she bare a son:
was brought to bed of a son:

and called his name Samuel, [saying], because I have asked him of the
Lord;
one would think rather his name should have been Saul, for the reason given; but, as Ben Gersom observes, givers of names are not always grammatically strict and critical in them, or in the etymology of them, as in the names of Reuben and Noah, in which he instances; and this may be the rather overlooked in a woman, than in a man of learning. According to Kimchi, it is as if it was Saulmeel; that is, "asked of God", and by contraction Samuel; but Hillerus F3 gives a better account of this name, and takes it to be composed of Saul-mul-el, "asked before God", "in the sight of God", "before the ark of God". This name Hannah gave her son (for sometimes the father, and sometimes the mother, gave the name) in memory of the wonderful favour and goodness of God in granting her request; and to impress her own mind with a sense of the obligation she lay under, to perform her vow, and to engage her son the more readily to give up himself to the service of God, when he reflected on his name, and the reason of it.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 (Mymyh twpqtl) "in revolutionibus dierum", Montanus; so Piscator.
F3 Onomastic. Sacr. p. 418, 419, 487.

1 Samuel 1:20 In-Context

18 "Think well of me - and pray for me!" she said, and went her way. Then she ate heartily, her face radiant.
19 Up before dawn, they worshiped God and returned home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with Hannah his wife, and God began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had asked. Dedicating the Child to God
20 Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, "I asked God for him."
21 When Elkanah next took his family on their annual trip to Shiloh to worship God, offering sacrifices and keeping his vow,
22 Hannah didn't go. She told her husband, "After the child is weaned, I'll bring him myself and present him before God - and that's where he'll stay, for good."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.