1 Samuel 1:16

16 Don't think of me as an evil woman. I've been praying here because I'm very sad. My pain is so great."

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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

1 Samuel 1:16 In-Context

14 He said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine."
15 "That's not true, sir," Hannah replied. "I'm a woman who is deeply troubled. I haven't been drinking wine or beer. I was telling the LORD all of my troubles.
16 Don't think of me as an evil woman. I've been praying here because I'm very sad. My pain is so great."
17 Eli answered, "Go in peace. May the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for."
18 She said, "May you be pleased with me." Then she left and had something to eat. Her face wasn't sad anymore.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica.   All rights reserved worldwide.