성경 주석서

THE

FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL,

OTHERWISE CALLED,

THE FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS

Ch. 1 Samuel 1:1-8. Elkanah’s household and devotion

1. Now] And. The conjunction implies that the book of Samuel is a continuation of the history contained in the book of Judges which it immediately follows in the order of the Hebrew Bible, Ruth being placed among the Hagiographa.

Ramathaim-zophim] The name Ramathaim (= “the two heights”) is found here only, and is no doubt another name for Ramah (= “the height”) the birthplace (1 Samuel 1:19), residence (1 Samuel 7:17), and burial-place (1 Samuel 25:1) of the prophet Samuel. Its site “is the most disputed problem of sacred topography.” Probably it is to be placed either (a) at Er-Ram, a conical hill about 5 miles due north of Jerusalem, in which case it will be identical with Ramah of Benjamin (Joshua 18:25): or (b) at Neby Samwil (= “the prophet Samuel”) a conspicuous eminence 5 miles N. W. of Jerusalem, on which is still shewn the traditional tomb of Samuel: or (c) at Ram Allah, east of Beth-horon on the western slopes of Mount Ephraim.

The epithet Zophim distinguishes the town from others of similar name, as Ramathaim in Zuph (1 Samuel 9:5), a district probably named after Elkanah’s ancestor, Zuph or Zophai (1 Chronicles 6:26).

Ramathaim is possibly the same as Arimathaea in the N. T. The form Armathaim in which it appears in the LXX. gives the link of connexion between the names.

of mount Ephraim] The central mountainous district of Palestine, in which the tribe of Ephraim settled (Joshua 17:15), was “a good land.” The limestone hills are intersected by fertile valleys, watered by innumerable fountains, and still remarkable for their fertility. See Stanley’s Sinai and Palestine, p. 229, ff. The name extended southwards to the territory of Benjamin in which Ramah lay. Thus Deborah’s palm tree was “between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim” (Jdg 4:5).

Elkanah] In 1 Chronicles 6:22-28; 1 Chronicles 6:33-38, Samuel’s descent from Kohath the son of Levi is given at length. Shemuel in 1 Chronicles 6:33 is the Hebrew form of the name for which the E. V. usually substitutes the Latinized form Samuel. The discrepancies in these genealogies may be partly due to corruptions of the text, partly to the same individuals bearing different, though in some cases synonymous, names.

an Ephrathite] The Levite Elkanah is called an Ephrathite, i.e. Ephraimite, because his family had originally belonged to the Kohathite settlements in the territory of Ephraim (Joshua 21:20). It is suggested in the Speaker’s Commentary, that as Salmon, the 7th from Judah, entered Canaan with Joshua, Zuph, who was the 7th from Levi, according to the genealogy in 1 Chr., may very probably have lived at the time of the settlement of the land. The genealogy would naturally stop with the first settler in Canaan, who gave his name to “the land of Zuph” (1 Samuel 9:5). If so, we must suppose that he at once migrated from the residence assigned him in the tribe of Ephraim.

2. two wives] Polygamy, though at variance with the original institution of marriage (Genesis 2:24), was tolerated by the Mosaic law as an existing custom (Deuteronomy 21:15-17), and the fact that Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, David and Solomon were all polygamists, shews that no moral blame attached to the practice in this period. It gradually became less frequent, and no case is on record in the Biblical history after the Captivity, but it was reserved for Christianity to re-establish the primeval ideal.

Hannah] i.e. “Grace.” The same name is borne in the N.T. by “Anna, a prophetess” (Luke 2:36): and according to tradition the wife of Joachim and mother of the Virgin Mary was named Anna. In the Phoenician colony of Carthage, where a language closely akin to Hebrew was spoken, the sister of the queen Dido was named Anna (Verg. Aen. iv. 9).

Peninnah] i.e. “Coral,” or “Pearl.” The name may be compared with our Margaret, which means pearl.

3. yearly] The Law required every male to present himself “before Jehovah” at the central sanctuary of the nation at each of the three great Feasts (Exodus 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16), but there is no evidence that this command was ever strictly observed, and Elkanah’s practice was probably that of a pious Israelite of the time. “All his household” (1 Samuel 1:21) went with him, in obedience to the injunctions of Deuteronomy 12:10-12. To which of the Feasts he went up must remain a matter of conjecture. Our Lord’s parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover (Luke 2:41).

the Lord of hosts] See Note I. p. 235, for a discussion of the meaning of this title.

in Shiloh] The position of Shiloh is defined with remarkable exactness in Jdg 21:19. It was in Ephraim, “on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.” This agrees perfectly with the situation of the modern Seilûn, which is about ten miles north of Bethel, and east of the main road. It is thus described by Lieut. Conder (Tent Work in Palestine, I. 82): “The ruins of a modern village occupy a sort of tell or mound. On the east and north the site is shut in by bare and lofty hills of grey limestone, dotted over with a few fig trees; on the south the plateau looks down on the plain just crossed. A deep valley runs behind the town on the north. Below the top of the hill there is a sort of irregular quadrangle. The rock has here been rudely hewn in two parallel scarps for over 400 feet, with a court between, 77 feet wide, and sunk 5 feet below the outer surface. Thus there would be sufficient room for the court of the Tabernacle in this area.”

Here in the territory of the most powerful tribe, in the heart of the promised land, the whole congregation of Israel met and set up the Tabernacle of the congregation, the last relic of their wanderings in the desert (Joshua 18:1). The name is appropriate. Shiloh signifies “Rest.” Shiloh continued (with temporary exceptions, see e.g. Jdg 20:27) to be the religious centre of the nation, “the place which Jehovah had chosen to put his name there,” until after the loss of the Ark in the disastrous battle of Ebenezer. Possibly it was destroyed or occupied by the Philistines: at any rate it ceased to be the national sanctuary. Samuel sacrificed at Mizpeh, at Ramah, at Gilgal, never, so far as we read, at Shiloh. The tabernacle was removed to Nob (1 Samuel 21), and the once holy place was utterly desecrated. Jeremiah points to its desolation as the standing witness of God’s judgments. “Go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel” (Jeremiah 7:12).

And the two sons] Better, And Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas were there priests to Jehovah. They are mentioned rather than their father because in his old age he had resigned the active duties of his office to them. The name Hophni occurs nowhere else in the O. T.: for Phinehas it was reserved to sully the honour of one of the most illustrious names in Israel, borne by him whose bold act of judgment “was counted unto him for righteousness” (Psalm 106:30-31).

4. offered] sacrificed, as in 1 Samuel 1:3. His sacrifice was a thank-offering, for it was only of the thank-offerings that the worshippers partook (Leviticus 7:11-18).

he gave] The tenses in 1 Samuel 1:4-7 express repeated action: “he used to give: her adversary used to provoke her.”

portions] Of the victims sacrificed. Cp. 1 Samuel 9:23.

5. a worthy portion] Lit., one portion for two persons: a double portion. If the text is sound, this seems to be the best explanation of an obscure expression. Elkanah marked his love for Hannah by giving her a double portion. Similarly Joseph distinguished Benjamin by sending him a fivefold portion (Genesis 43:34). But the Sept. points to a different reading which would give the following sense: “And to Hannah he gave a single portion, because she had no child: nevertheless Elkanah loved Hannah most: but the Lord had shut up her womb.”

had shut up her womb] Hannah’s faith might have been strengthened by the recollection that Sarah (Genesis 16:1), Rachel (Genesis 30:1), Manoah’s wife (Jdg 13:2), all had to bear the reproach of childlessness for a time, and all eventually bore illustrious sons.

6. her adversary] Peninnah. The cognate verb is used in Leviticus 18:18, “Thou shalt not take a wife to her sister to vex her.”

7. as he did so] Peninnah’s spitefulness was evoked by the display of Elkanah’s affection. Exultation at another’s misfortune is one of the most detestable forms of malice.

did not eat] Refused to take any part in the rejoicings of the sacrificial feast.

8. better to thee than ten sons] Cp. Ruth 4:15.