1 Samuel 2:21-23

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 1 Samuel 2:21 tn The core component of Hebrew verb פָּקַד (paqad) is “to take note of.” But it also carries the implication of acting accordingly with what is noted. When the syntax combines the Qal of פָּקַד (paqad) plus a direct object which is a person, plus contextually stated benefits, the verb regularly describes assisting or providing for someone (Brian Webster, The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew [New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009] 230). The same verb is used to describe enabling Sara to have Isaac in Gen 21:1.
2. 1 Samuel 2:21 tn Presumably in successive pregnancies, not as quintuplets.
3. 1 Samuel 2:21 tn The term נַעַר (naʿar), here translated “boy,” often refers to a servant or apprentice in line for a position of authority. tc At Qumran 4QSam^a omits “the boy” and reads “he grew up there.” The Hebrew word “there” (שָׁם; sham) consists of the first two letters of Samuel’s name.
4. 1 Samuel 2:21 tc The MT reads “with the Lord.” The LXX and 4QSam^a read “before the Lord.” The Hebrew phrasing “with (עִם; ʾim) the Lord” or “with God” is uncommon and varies in significance. The preposition indicates generally that the action in the verb is done in association with the preposition’s object. From context we understand that Samuel’s religious duties are specially in the Lord’s presence, hence the NAB and TEV “in the service of the Lord”; or the CEV “at the Lord’s house in Shiloh.” The NIV, NRSV, and NLT follow the LXX “in the presence of the Lord.”
5. 1 Samuel 2:22 tn Heb “to all Israel.”
6. 1 Samuel 2:22 tc The latter half of the verse is absent in the LXX. It also appears to be absent from 4QSam^a, as judged by the lack of adequate space between the remaining text.
7. 1 Samuel 2:22 tn Heb “lie down with,” a euphemism for sexual relations.
8. 1 Samuel 2:23 tn The MT reads, “Why do you act according to these things which I am hearing—evil things—from all these people?”tc The LXX ends “from all the people of the Lord” (κυρίου, kuriou). Perhaps the final phrase of v. 24 (“the people of the Lord”) influenced the LXX. Somewhat less likely is the view that the MT reading is due to a distorted dittography of the first word of v. 24. The Vulgate lacks the word.