Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 1:16
Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
16. a daughter of Belial ] Rather, a worthless, or, wicked woman. Our translators have wrongly treated this word as a proper name in the historical books, but not elsewhere, though the alternative is generally given in the margin. It means worthlessness, and according to the usual Hebrew idiom a son or daughter of worthlessness signifies “a worthless man or woman,” and with positively bad sense, a lawless, ungodly, wicked person. If “naughty,” by which the word is rendered in Pro 6:12, had retained its archaic sense, it would be a fair equivalent. “Belial,” or more correctly “Beliar,” is used by St Paul in 2Co 6:15 as a name of Satan, the personification of all lawlessness and worthlessness. Milton naturally follows the E. V. in regarding Belial as the name of a spirit.
“Belial, than whom a spirit more lewd
Feel not from heaven, to him no temple stood,
Or altar smoked, yet who more oft than he
In temples and at altars, when the priest
Turns atheist, as did Eli’s sons, who filled
With lust and violence the house of God.”
Paradise Lost, I. 490, ff.
grief ] Lit. “provocation” (cp. 1Sa 1:6), or “vexation” as the consequence of provocation.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 16. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial] al titten eth amathecha liphney bath Beliyael; ‘Put not thy handmaiden before the faces of a daughter of Belial.” “If I am a drunkard, and strive by the most execrable hypocrisy (praying in the house of God) to cover my iniquity, then I am the chief of the daughters of Belial.” Or, “Give not thy handmaid to reproach) before the faces of the daughters of Belial.” Several of these probably attended there for the purposes of prostitution and gain; for it is said, 1Sa 2:22, that Eli’s sons lay with the women at the door of the tabernacle, though this may refer to the women who kept the door.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For a daughter of Belial; for such a wicked monster, as a drunken woman is. The oppression of my spirits hath forced me to speak, and that so liberally at this time, for the case of my sinking heart.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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 1Sa 25:17. Drunkenness in man is au abominable crime, but much more in a woman. The Romans a 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.
a Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 14. c. 13.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
16. A daughter of Belial The Hebrew word , beliyaal, rendered as a proper name here and frequently elsewhere in the Old Testament, means worthlessness, lowness. Our translators have rendered it variously wicked, (Deu 15:9😉 evil, (Psa 41:8😉 naughty, (Pro 6:12😉 ungodly, (Pro 16:27😉 and scholars are now generally agreed that it is nowhere to be taken as a proper name.
It should here be rendered, a daughter of worthlessness, that is, a low, worthless, licentious woman, such as were those whom Eli’s own sons corrupted. 1Sa 2:22. Hannah besought Eli not to class her among those wretched prostitutes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 1:16 Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
Ver. 16. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial. ] That is, Of the devil, as all drunkards are confessedly. Behemoth lieth in the fens, Job 40:21 which Gul. Parisiensis applieth to the devil dwelling in drunken hearts. See Luk 11:24 . Oh that our carousers were persuaded, as Mohammed told his followers, that in every grape there dwelt a devil!
For out of the abundance of my complaint and grief.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
a daughter: 1Sa 2:12, 1Sa 10:27, 1Sa 25:25, Deu 13:13
out of: Job 6:2, Job 6:3, Job 10:1, Job 10:2, Mat 12:34, Mat 12:35
complaint: or, meditation
Reciprocal: Jdg 19:22 – sons of Belial Job 21:4 – is my complaint Psa 5:1 – consider my Psa 42:4 – I pour Psa 102:1 – poureth Psa 142:2 – poured out Jon 2:2 – by reason of mine Joh 20:15 – if
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 1:16. Count not thy handmaid for a daughter of Belial, &c. A Scripture phrase for a wicked person. Thus, when we are unjustly censured, we should endeavour not only to clear ourselves, but to satisfy our brethren, by giving them a just and true account of what they misapprehended.