1 Samuel 1:16

16 "Do not [a]consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and [b]provocation."

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 Then Eli said to her, "How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you."
15 But Hannah replied, "No, my lord , I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD .
16 "Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation."
17 Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him."
18 She said, "Let your maidservant find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Footnotes 2

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