1 Samuel 1:16

16 Don't think of your servant as a worthless woman; because I have been speaking from the depth of my distress and anger."

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 'Eli said to her, "How long are you going to stay drunk? Stop drinking your wine!"

15 But Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a very unhappy woman. I have not drunk either wine or other strong liquor; rather, I've been pouring out my soul before ADONAI.

16 Don't think of your servant as a worthless woman; because I have been speaking from the depth of my distress and anger."

17 Then 'Eli replied, "Go in peace. May the God of Isra'el grant what you have asked of him."

18 She replied, "May your servant find favor in your sight." So the woman went on her way, and she ate, and her face was no longer sad.