1 Samuel 1:11

11 And she made a vow, saying, “LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

1 Samuel 1:11 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
English Standard Version (ESV)
11 And she vowed a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head."
New Living Translation (NLT)
11 And she made this vow: “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the LORD, his hair will never be cut. ”
The Message Bible (MSG)
11 Then she made a vow: Oh, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, If you'll take a good, hard look at my pain, If you'll quit neglecting me and go into action for me By giving me a son, I'll give him completely, unreservedly to you. I'll set him apart for a life of holy discipline.
American Standard Version (ASV)
11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
11 She made this vow, "LORD of Armies, if you will look at my misery, remember me, and give me a boy, then I will give him to you for as long as he lives. A razor will never be used on his head."
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
11 Making a vow, she pleaded, "Lord of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut."
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
11 She made a promise to him. She said, "Lord, you rule over all. Please see how I'm suffering! Show concern for me! Don't forget about me! Please give me a son! If you do, I'll give him back to you. Then he will serve you all the days of his life. He'll never use a razor on his head. He'll never cut his hair."

1 Samuel 1:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 1:11

And she vowed a vow
Which might be confirmed by her husband; otherwise the vow of a woman, if disapproved of by her husband, was not valid, ( Numbers 30:8 ) and Elkanah might make the same vow his wife did, and so it stood; for as this was a vow of Nazariteship, it is a tradition of the Jews F18, that a man may vow his son to be a Nazarite, but a woman may not; but as this instance contradicts the tradition, they endeavour to explain away this vow, as it may respect a Nazarite, as will be observed hereafter:

and said, O Lord of hosts;
this is properly the first time this title was used by any that we know of; for though it is expressed in ( 1 Samuel 1:3 ) there it is used as the words of the writer of this history, and so long after this prayer was put up; (See Gill on 1 Samuel 1:3); and it is an observation in the Talmud F19, that from the day God created the world, no man called him the Lord of hosts till Hannah came and called him so:

if thou wilt indeed look upon the affliction of thine handmaid
the sorrow of heart she had, the reproach she met with, on account of her having no children:

and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid;
which petitions are the same in other words, and are repeated to denote her vehemence and importunity in prayer, and may allude to usages among men, that will look upon a person in distress, and turn away and forget them, and never think of them more; which she deprecates may not be her case with God:

but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child;
or, "a seed of men" F20; a son in the midst of men, as the Targum; such as is desirable by men, as a male child for the most part is; though some Jewish writers interpret it of the seed of righteous, wise, and understanding men, such as be fit to serve the Lord, which seems to be a sense foreign to the text; a man child she asks, because no other could serve the Lord in the temple; and that she meant by this phrase such an one is clear, because she vowed that a razor should not come on its head, which is never said of females, as Kimchi observes:

then will I give him unto the Lord all the days of his life;
to serve him, and minister unto him in the sanctuary; being born a Levite, it was incumbent on him to serve the Lord, and he had a right to his service; but then a common Levite did not enter on it until twenty five or thirty years of age, and was not always serving, but was dismissed from it at fifty ( Numbers 8:24 Numbers 8:25 ) ; but the child she vows, if the Lord would give her such an one, should be trained up in his service from his infancy, and continue it all the days of his life; and was to be also a perpetual Nazarite, as Samson was, as follows:

and there shall no razor come upon his head;
as was not to come upon a Nazarite, during his Nazariteship, ( Numbers 6:5 ) and as such a vow made by a woman contradicts the tradition of the Jews before mentioned, they give another sense of this clause; as the Targum, which paraphrases it,

``and the fear of man shall not be upon him;''

but about this there is a division F21; but that Samuel was Nazarite, and a perpetual one, is the sense of their best interpreters.


FOOTNOTES:

F18 Misn. Sotah. c. 3. sect. 8.
F19 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 31. 2.
F20 (Myvna erz) "semen virorum", Montanus.
F21 Misn. Nazir, c. 9. sect. 5.

1 Samuel 1:11 In-Context

9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the LORD’s house.
10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly.
11 And she made a vow, saying, “LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
12 As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.
13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk

Cross References 5

  • 1. S Judges 11:30
  • 2. S Genesis 17:1; Psalms 24:10; Psalms 46:7; Isaiah 1:9
  • 3. S Genesis 8:1; Genesis 28:20; Genesis 29:32
  • 4. S Judges 13:7
  • 5. Numbers 6:1-21; Judges 13:5; Luke 1:15
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