1 Samuel 1:16

16 ne reputes ancillam tuam quasi unam de filiabus Belial quia ex multitudine doloris et maeroris mei locuta sum usque in praesens

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

1 Samuel 1:16 In-Context

14 dixitque ei usquequo ebria eris digere paulisper vinum quo mades

15 respondens Anna nequaquam inquit domine mi nam mulier infelix nimis ego sum vinumque et omne quod inebriare potest non bibi sed effudi animam meam in conspectu Domini

16 ne reputes ancillam tuam quasi unam de filiabus Belial quia ex multitudine doloris et maeroris mei locuta sum usque in praesens

17 tunc Heli ait ei vade in pace et Deus Israhel det tibi petitionem quam rogasti eum

18 et illa dixit utinam inveniat ancilla tua gratiam in oculis tuis et abiit mulier in viam suam et comedit vultusque eius non sunt amplius in diversa mutati