When the time had come, Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of Yahweh.”
Parallel Translations
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When the time had come, Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of Yahweh.”
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Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.
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And it came to pass, when the time was come about, that Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she called his name Samuel: 'because I have asked him of the LORD.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to 1 Samuel 1:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 41:51-52 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
- Exodus 2:10 The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
- Matthew 1:21 She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”
- Exodus 2:22 She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land.”
- Genesis 16:11 Yahweh’s angel said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction.
- Genesis 29:32-35 Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, “Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, “Because Yahweh has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also.” She named him Simeon. She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, “This time I will praise Yahweh.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.
- Genesis 30:6-21 Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, conceived again, and bore Jacob a second son. Rachel said, “I have wrestled with my sister with mighty wrestlings, and have prevailed.” She named him Naphtali. When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her servant, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Zilpah, Leah’s servant, bore Jacob a son. Leah said, “How fortunate!” She named him Gad. Zilpah, Leah’s servant, bore Jacob a second son. Leah said, “Happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy.” She named him Asher. Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” Leah said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes, also?” Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.” Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” He lay with her that night. God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah said, “God has given me my hire, because I gave my servant to my husband.” She named him Issachar. Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons.” She named him Zebulun. Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.
- Genesis 5:29 He named him Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, caused by the ground which Yahweh has cursed.”
- Genesis 4:25 Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, saying, “for God has given me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Sa 1:20 Wherefore it came to pass, when the…
1Sa 1:20 Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, [saying], Because I have asked him of the LORD.
Ver. 20. That she bare a son.] A singular son, Quem Deus immortalis nasci voluit ut esset in quo virtus per omnes numeros hominibus efficaciter se ostenderet, {a} whom God would have [to be] born for a pattern of piety.
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And called his name Samuel,] i.e., Asked of God; sent me as a return of prayer, and therefore the more dear unto me: -
“ Quoniam charissima semper
Munera sunt, Author quae preciosa facit. ”
{a} Sic de Scipione, Val. Max.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain So the sense is, When the usual time from…
So the sense is, When the usual time from the conception to the birth was past, she brought forth her son. Heb. in or after the revolution, or expiration of some days, Hannah conceived, and in due time
bare a son. So the meaning is, That although her husband knew her conjugally at his return, and God was minded of her, and intended in his time to give her his blessing, yet she did not conceive at first, but after some days or time afterwards.
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And called, i.e. she called, not doubting of her husband’s consent to the name. The names of children were given to them sometimes by their fathers, and sometime by the mothers. See Gen 4:1,26; 5:29; 21:3; 19:37,38, &c.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was…
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about, after Hannah had conceived,.... Or, "at the revolutions of days" (b); at the end of a year, of a complete year, as Ben Melech, from their return from Shiloh; for it might be some time after their return that she conceived; or rather the sense is, that at nine months' end, the usual time of a woman's going with child from her conception, which is the date here given:
that she bare a son: was brought to bed of a son:
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and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord; one would think rather his name should have been Saul, for the reason given; but, as Ben Gersom observes, givers of names are not always grammatically strict and critical in them, or in the etymology of them, as in the names of Reuben and Noah, in which he instances; and this may be the rather overlooked in a woman, than in a man of learning. According to Kimchi, it is as if it was Saulmeel; that is, "asked of God", and by contraction Samuel; but Hillerus (c) gives a better account of this name, and takes it to be composed of Saul-mul-el, "asked before God", "in the sight of God", "before the ark of God". This name Hannah gave her son (for sometimes the father, and sometimes the mother, gave the name) in memory of the wonderful favour and goodness of God in granting her request; and to impress her own mind with a sense of the obligation she lay under, to perform her vow, and to engage her son the more readily to give up himself to the service of God, when he reflected on his name, and the reason of it.
(b) "in revolutionibus dierum", Montanus; so Piscator. (c) Onomastic. Sacr. p. 418, 419, 487.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Samuel - That is, Asked of God.
Samuel - That is, Asked of God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. Called his name Samuel] As she gave…
Verse 20. Called his name Samuel] As she gave this name to her son because she had asked him of the Lord, the word שמואל Shemuel must be here considerably contracted; if it express this sentiment, the component parts of it are the following: שאול מאל shaul meEl, "asked of God.' This name would put both the mother and the son in continual remembrance of the Divine interposition at his birth. See on 1Sa 1:28.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Samuel - i. e. heard of God, because given…
Samuel - i. e. heard of God, because given in answer to prayer. The names “Ishmael” and “Elishama” have the same etymology.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain About, at the expiration of the year, which term…
About, at the expiration of the year, which term the ancients frequently allowed between the conception and the nativity, Genesis xviii. 10. --- Samuel. This name imports, asked of God. (Challoner) --- Some letters are omitted for the easier pronunciation, as the Hebrews would now write it, Saul-meel; (Calmet) or it may signigy, "God placed him," sum-hal. (Tirinus) --- Shaal means, "to ask." But Vatable thinks that Anna retained only the first letter. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain SAMUEL BORN. (Sa1 1:20)
SAMUEL BORN. (Sa1 1:20)
called his name Samuel--doubtless with her husband's consent. The names of children were given sometimes by the fathers, and sometimes by the mothers (see Gen 4:1, Gen 4:26; Gen 5:29; Gen 19:37; Gen 21:3); and among the early Hebrews, they were commonly compound names, one part including the name of God.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. Called his name Samuel — This name (שׁמואל)…
20. Called his name Samuel — This name (שׁמואל) is a contraction of שׁמוע אל, heard of God, and alludes to the fact that God heard Hannah’s prayer for a child. Some derive the name from שׁם אל, name of God, which etymology, though possible, does not well agree with the comment of the immediate context. The derivation from שׁאול מאל, asked of God, though agreeing well with the comment of the context, is too artificial and farfetched. “The words Because I have asked him of the Lord are not an etymological explanation of the name, but an exposition founded upon facts. Because Hannah had asked him of Jehovah, she named him the God-heard, as a memorial of the hearing of her prayer.” — Keil. “His name,” says Smith, (Old Testament History,) “is expressive of the leading feature of his whole history, the power of prayer. Himself the child of prayer, he gained all his triumphs by prayer; he is placed at the head of those ‘who called upon Jehovah and he answered them.’”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. Wherefore] Simply And.
20. Wherefore] Simply And.
to Ramah] See note on Ramathaim-Zophim in 1Sa_1:1.
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Samuel] This name, in Hebrew Shemuel, is familiar to us only in its Latin dress. It was borne by two other persons in the O. T. (Num_34:20; 1Ch_7:2). Three explanations of it are proposed: (a) “Name of God”: (b) “Asked of God”: (c) “Heard of God”: of which the last is the most probable; compare Ishmael = “God heareth.” Hannah gives the child a name which will be a continual memorial of God’s answer to her prayer. It found a subsequent appropriateness in the fervency and efficacy of his own prayers.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) And called his name Samuel.—The words translated “because…
(20) And called his name Samuel.—The words translated “because I have asked him of the Lord,” do not explain the meaning of the name “Samuel ” they simply give the reason for his mother so calling him. The name Sh’muel (Samuel) is formed from the Hebrew words Sh’mua El (a Deo exauditus), “heard of God.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.