1 Samuele 1:14

14 e le disse: "Quanto durerà cotesta tua ebbrezza? Va’ a smaltire il tuo vino!"

1 Samuele 1:14 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 1:14

And Eli said unto her, how long wilt thou be drunken?
&c.] What, every day drunk? what, continually in this wicked practice? when will it be stopped? for Eli might have observed on other days, and at other times, odd looks, and a strange behaviour in her, which he took for the effects of drinking too much wine: or how long will this drunken fit last? she had been a considerable time as he thought in it, and it was not gone off yet: the Targum is,

``how long wilt thou behave like a fool, or a mad woman?''

as drunken people generally do act, as if they were fools, or mad:

put away thy wine from thee;
not as if she had any with her there to drink of, but he advises her, since it had such an effect upon her, to abstain from it, and wholly disuse it, and so break off such an habit and custom she had got into; or he would have her go home and sleep it out, and wait till she had digested it, and the strength of it was gone off, before she came to such a place of devotion and worship; from hence the Jews say ^F23 it may be learnt, that a drunken person ought not to pray.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 31. 1.

1 Samuele 1:14 In-Context

12 E, com’ella prolungava la sua preghiera dinanzi all’Eterno, Eli stava osservando la bocca di lei.

13 Anna parlava in cuor suo; e si movevano soltanto le sue labbra ma non si sentiva la sua voce; onde Eli credette ch’ella fosse ubriaca;

14 e le disse: "Quanto durerà cotesta tua ebbrezza? Va’ a smaltire il tuo vino!"

15 Ma Anna, rispondendo, disse: "No, signor mio, io sono una donna tribolata nello spirito, e non ho bevuto né vino né bevanda alcoolica, ma stavo spandendo l’anima mia dinanzi all’Eterno.

16 Non prender la tua serva per una donna da nulla; perché l’eccesso del mio dolore e della tristezza mia m’ha fatto parlare fino adesso".