1 Samuel 1:16

16 Don't think I am an evil woman. I have been praying because I have many troubles and am very sad."

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 and said to her, "Stop getting drunk! Throw away your wine!"

15 Hannah answered, "No, sir, I have not drunk any wine or beer. I am a deeply troubled woman, and I was telling the Lord about all my problems.

16 Don't think I am an evil woman. I have been praying because I have many troubles and am very sad."

17 Eli answered, "Go! I wish you well. May the God of Israel give you what you asked of him."

18 Hannah said, "May I always please you." When she left and ate something, she was not sad anymore.