I SAMUEL 1-3

I Samuel 1

1:1 Ramathaim is later called Ramah in 1:19 and 2:11. Elkanah is called an Ephraimite here but a Levite in I Chronicles 6. But Ephraim may just indicate where he resided, not the tribe he came from. (M.J. Evans)

1:2 The fact that he had two wives indicates that he was wealthy, as does the later mention of the lavish sacrifice made following Samuel's birth (I Samuel 1:24). The situation of a barren woman who is blessed by God with a child who will have a special mission also occurs with Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Samson's mother, and Elizabeth.

1:3 Elkanah is also shown to be very pious. This is the first of several times in the story where a key phrase will be repeated later, sometimes with a different meaning. Thus “year by year” appears again in v. 7.

McKenzie notes that the names of Eli's sons are Egyptian in origin. This might provide the first hint that they will not be the godly priests that they should be. However, Ashley suggests that Eli may have named his son Phinehas “perhaps to legitimate his priesthood.” (see the Phinehas of Exodus 6:25 and Numbers 25:7-9)

1:5-6 This story of a man who loved the barren wife over another wife repeats a theme found in Genesis. Similarly, the taunting of the rival wife is an echo of Hagar's treatment of Sarah.

1:7 “The House of the LORD” is not a temple in Jerusalem, but some sort of tabernacle (tent) located in Shiloh (see Joshua 18:1 and Psalm 78:60). There is a scholarly debate as to whether it was actually a temple or a tabernacle. Milgrom suggests that the tabernacle may have been located within a temple.

1:9 Hannah and her husband “eat and drink” also in 1:18.

1:11 He will be a nazirite from birth like Samson (see Numbers 6 for a description of the nazirite vow). Paradoxically, the phrase “drink neither wine nor strong drink” will be applied to Hannah herself in 1:15.

1:12-15 This conversation makes little sense to us since we generally pray silently, but the common practice then was to pray aloud.

1:13 There is a strong similarity here with the events of the Day of Pentacost when bystanders mistakenly thought that the apostles were drunk.

1:17 The phrase “grant the petition” re-appears in 1:27 where Eli is reminded that his prayer for her has indeed been granted.

1:19 Marcus points to the similarities between this verse where Hannah returns haramata (“to Ramah”) and praises God for raising people up from the dead (2:6), and the account in Mark 15:43 where Joseph from Arimathea helps to bury Jesus who will then be raised from the dead by God.

1:24 “This was a lavish peace offering by any standards, and it probably reflects Hannah's great thankfulness for Samuel's birth as well as Elkanah's relative affluence.” (Wenham)

I Samuel 2

2:1-10 Pennent notes, as do most other commentators, that this poem/song appears to interrupt the narrative flow and not to be well connected with the surrounding context. However, he points out that there are actually several ways in which it does speak directly to Hannah's situation. In addition, this poetic hymn serves a very important function both within the whole of I-II Samuel and as a crucial parallel with the early life of Jesus. Concerning the first of these functions, Long says that “the books of Samuel are framed fore and aft with poetic pieces [the other being David's song in II Samuel 22-23] providing thematic orientation for the reading of the intervening narrative episodes.”

In addition to this general function, several scholars have enumerated exact parallels or reversals between these two songs:

Theme                                                                         I Samuel 2     II Samuel      Commentator

There is no rock like God                                          v. 2                 23:3                Childs

The mighty are fearful / David is girded mightily     v. 4                22:33              McCarter

Exalting and abasing by God                                     v. 6                22:28              Childs

Killing and making alive                                           vv. 6-8            22:17-19        Childs

Language usual to an epiphany                                 v. 10                22:8-10          Childs

Blessings to the king                                                 v. 10                22:51             Childs

Similarly, Hannah's song and the early events in Jesus' life as recorded in Luke's Gospel have notable parallels, as recognized by many scholars. Here are some listed by Long:

Theme                                                                 I Samuel 2         Luke

Rejoicing in the Lord's deliverance                     v. 1                  1:46-48

God's uniqueness and holiness                            v. 2                  1:49-50

Proud boasting condemned                                 v. 3                   1:51

Reversal of human fortunes                               vv. 4-8               1:52-53

Expressions of confidence in God's care           v. 9a                   1:54-55

N. de Claisse-Walford notes that I Samuel 2:2,8, and 5b have often been compared to Psalm 113:5, 7-8, and 9, respectively. “The story of God's care for Hannah becomes a model for God's care for Israel memorialized in the Passover celebration.”

2:11-20 The comments in vv. 11 and 18-20 concerning Samuel faithfully ministering to the Lord bracket the contrasting picture of the faithlessness of Eli's sons. V.P. Long sees irony in the fact that both Samuel and Eli's sons did not know the LORD (2:12; 3:7). and R. Brown notes that there was a rabbinic belief that sinners were never included in genealogies. Therefore Phinehas could not have been one since his name is included in I Samuel 14:3. The description of their activities in 2:12-17 certainly disproves that contention.

2:15-17 These verses show their extreme sinfulness in taking the desirable fatty portions of the sacrifice which were to be reserved for God alone.

2:17 The accusation of these priests sinning against God is repeated in 2:25.

2:18 The fact that the boy was wearing a linen ephod appears to be an extraneous detail. However, that was the type of garment that priests wore – a foreshadowing of events to come (see 3:28). This is another mention of the yearly trip of Hannah and her husband to worship.

2:22-25 It is amazing that Eli apparently only receives second-hand accounts of his sons' activities when in chapter 1, Eli stations himself close to the temple and even eavesdrops on Hannah closely enough to chastise her for her apparent drunkenness. Sometimes we close our eyes to evil that we don't want to see.

2:26 Here is yet another similarity to Jesus' birth and early years (see Luke 2:52).

2:27 The designation “man of God” usually denotes a prophet.

2:27-28 “In comparing 1 Kings 2:27 (which asserts that the priest Abiathar was of the house of Eli) to 1 Chronicles 24:3,6 (which says that Abiathar was of the line of Ithamar), it is evident that the house of Eli was descended from Ithamar, youngest son of Aaron.” (Garrett)

2:30 This is one of several examples in the OT demonstrating the important principle that all of God's predicted promises come with either a spoken or understood condition. They are all predicated on the appropriate behavior of the recipients.

2:30-33 Murphy states that “David's words to Abiathar (in 2 Sam. 22:22-23) are an acknowledgment of blame, but also an indication that the prophecy to Eli (I Sam. 2:30-33) has been unwittingly brought to its conclusion by his actions: the house of Eli has fallen 'by the sword' (2:33 ESV).”

2:34-36 Pratt sees in these verses a type of what was to come. “In Jesus' day God rejected the defiled worship of Israel, but Jesus opened the way for blessings from God through his own priestly sacrifice and intercession.”

2:26 Boling notes the parallel between this verse and Judges 13:24 in which two men consecrated at their birth to God by nazirite vows grew up and received God's blessings.

2:29 Propp says that the sons were not condemned for eating improperly prepared meat, as some commentators have claimed, but because to their depriving both worshipers and God of what was due to them. The expression “greedy eye” is repeated in 2:32.

2:34 This is one of several OT examples where the truth of a long-term prophecy is ratified by the fulfillment of a shorter-term prophecy.

I Samuel 3

Both Fishbane and C.J. Collins have carried out literary analyses on Chapter 3. My own analysis is based on insights obtained from both these sources:

    A. Oracles of God were rare (v. 1)

        B. Eli grows old (v. 2)

            C. Three divine calls to Samuel (vv. 3-9)

                D. Oracle against Eli's house (vv. 10-14)

            C'. Samuel repeats the oracle to Eli (vv. 15-18)

        B'. Samuel grows up (v. 19)

    A'. Oracles resume (3:20-4:1a)

Section A' resolves the problem outlined in A. Sections B and B' describe the supplanting of Eli by Samuel. Section C is obviously just a lead-in to the climax in D while C' is an obvious reaction to that climax. In addition, in C it states that Samuel had not yet received any word from the LORD (v. 7) while in C' the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to Eli (v. 17).

Fitzmyer: “Josephus dates the beginning of Samuel's acting as a prophet (i.e. his call narrated in I Samuel 3:3) to his twelfth year.” It this is true, it would be a final parallel in these chapters between the life of Samuel and that of Jesus recorded in Luke's Gospel since Jesus was taken on his first pilgrimage to Jerusalem when he was twelve years old (instead of the usual age of thirteen).