1 Samuel 2:20

20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to^[a] the LORD.” Then they would go home.

1 Samuel 2:20 in Other Translations

20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home.

20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "May the LORD give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the LORD." So then they would return to their home.

20 Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the LORD give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the LORD . ”

20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "God give you children to replace this child you have dedicated to God." Then they would go home.

20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: "May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she has given to the Lord." Then they would go home.

1 Samuel 2:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 2:20

And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife
Not only the first time they brought Samuel to him, and left him with him; but every year they came to worship, as the Jewish commentators mostly interpret it:

and said, the Lord give thee seed of this woman;
children by her, year after year:

for the loan which is lent to the Lord;
instead of Samuel, who was asked of the Lord and given to him again; and as they were thereby in some measure deprived of him, and could not always enjoy him, and be delighted with him, Eli prayed for them, and gave them his benediction as a priest, that they might be favoured with other children, who might be of delight and service to them when in old age:

and they went unto their own home;
at Ramah, as in ( 1 Samuel 2:11 ) or to his place ^F18, Elkanah's; hence Kimchi concludes that Hannah was of another city originally; but the Targum is,

``to their place;''

and indeed, what was now the place or home of the one, was of the other.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (wmwqml) "in locum suum", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius

1 Samuel 2:20 In-Context

18 But Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod.

19 Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the LORD.” Then they would go home.

21 And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

22 Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Cross References

• 1. S 1 Samuel 1:27; 1Sa 1:11,27-28; Luke 2:34

Footnotes

• [a]. Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text "and asked from"