Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 1:20
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bore a son, and called his name Samuel, [saying], Because I have asked him of the LORD.
20. Wherefore ] Simply And.
to Ramah ] See note on Ramathaim-Zophim in 1Sa 1:1.
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Samuel – i. e. heard of God, because given in answer to prayer. The names Ishmael and Elishama have the same etymology.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. Called his name Samuel] As she gave this name to her son because she had asked him of the Lord, the word Shemuel must be here considerably contracted; if it express this sentiment, the component parts of it are the following: 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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.
And called, i.e. she called, not doubting of her husbands 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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. called his name Samueldoubtlesswith her husband’s consent. The names of children were givensometimes 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, onepart including the name of God.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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:
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(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 Shmuel (Samuel) is formed from the Hebrew words Shmua El (a Deo exauditus), heard of God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Called his name Samuel This name ( ) is a contraction of , heard of God, and alludes to the fact that God heard Hannah’s prayer for a child. Some derive the name from , name of God, which etymology, though possible, does not well agree with the comment of the immediate context. The derivation from , 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.’”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 1:20. Called his name Samuel, &c. We have often had occasion to observe, that the reason of names imposed is given in the context; which being the case here, it is surprising that interpreters should have wearied themselves in search of other etymologies. According to Marsham, Samuel was born in the interval of the forty years that the people of Israel served the Philistines. Vignoles thinks that Eli had abdicated the high-priesthood, that he was only judge when Samuel was born, and that he was born in the third year of Eli’s administration. See his Chronol. tom. 1: p. 76.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(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.
I would have the Reader to notice in this verse, the expression, when the time was come about. There is a time to favor Zion. We are in haste for all we ask. But the Lord’s time is the best time. The Lord waits this time to be gracious. If the Reader would mark this in his memorandums, it would be of great use to him, in waiting the Lord’s answers to prayer. Isa 30:18 . Samuel signifies asked. So that Hannah called the child by this name, to remind both him, and her, that being thus given in answer to prayer, every motive of gratitude demanded his being dedicated to the service of the great Giver. Reader! if you and I were thus to name our blessings, which the Lord bestows upon us in answer to prayer, should we not have many that we might also properly call our Samuels?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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.
And called his name Samuel,
“ Quoniam charissima semper
Munera sunt, Author quae preciosa facit. ”
a
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
bare a son. Thus Samuel was a descendant of Korah. See Exo 6:24.
Samuel. See note on Title, in the book comments for Samuel.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
when the time was come about: Heb. in revolution of days, Samuel. that is, Asked of God. Because. Gen 4:25, Gen 5:29, Gen 16:11, Gen 29:32-35, Gen 30:6-21, Gen 41:51, Gen 41:52, Exo 2:10, Exo 2:22, Mat 1:21
Reciprocal: Gen 3:20 – Adam Gen 29:31 – he opened Gen 30:17 – General Gen 30:22 – remembered Gen 48:9 – my sons Jdg 13:3 – but thou 1Sa 2:5 – the barren 1Sa 2:21 – visited 2Ki 4:17 – General 1Ch 6:27 – Elkanah 1Ch 6:33 – Shemuel Psa 127:3 – children Isa 7:14 – shall call Luk 1:13 – thy prayer Luk 1:25 – hath Heb 11:32 – Samuel