1 Samuel, Volume 10: Second Edition

by Ralph W. Klein, John D. W. Watts (Editor), James W. Watts (Editor), Ralph P. Martin (Editor), Lynn Allan Losie (Editor)

Overview

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.

 

Overview of Commentary Organization

• Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology.
• Each section of the commentary includes:
• Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope.
• Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English.
• Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation.
• Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here.
• Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research.
• Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues.

General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliography contains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310588429
Publisher:	Zondervan Academic
Publication date:	04/24/2018
Series:	Word Biblical Commentary
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	366
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About the Author

Ralph W. Klein is Christ Seminary-Seminex professor of Old Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). He has written for numerous journals, has been editor of Currents in Theology and Mission since 1974, and is an associate editor of the Catholic Biblical Quarterly. His books include Textual Criticism of the Old Testament, Israel in Exile, Ezekiel: the Prophet and his Message; and the commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah in the New Interpreter's Bible. Klein received his M.Div. from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and his Th.D. from Harvard University.

Bruce M. Metzger (1914 – 2007) was a biblical scholar, textual critic, and a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. Metzger is widely considered one of the most influential New Testament scholars of the 20th century. He was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2007).

David Allan Hubbard (1928 – 1996), former president and professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, was a recognized biblical scholar. In addition to over 30 books, he has written numerous articles for journals, periodicals, reference works. He was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 1996).

Glenn W. Barker (d. 1984) was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 1984). 

John D. W. Watts (1921 – 2013) was President of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Ruschlikon, Switzerland, and served as Professor of Old Testament at that institution, at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. His numerous publications include commentaries on Isaiah (2 volumes), Amos, and Obadiah. He was Old Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 2011).

 

James W. Watts is a professor and chair of the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. His teaching and research interests include biblical studies, especially the Torah/Pentateuch, ritual theories, rhetorical analysis, and comparative scriptures studies. He is a co-founder of the Iconic Books Project. He had served as the associate Old Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2011).

 

Ralph P. Martin (1925-2013) was Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Fuller Theological Seminary and a New Testament Editor for the Word Biblical Commentary series. He earned the BA and MA from the University of Manchester, England, and the PhD from King's College, University of London. He was the author of numerous studies and commentaries on the New Testament, including Worship in the Early Church, the volume on Philippians in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series. He also wrote 2 Corinthians and James in the WBC series.

Lynn Allan Losie is Associate Professor of New Testament at Azusa Pacific University. A generalist in New Testament studies, Dr. Losie teaches courses in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Pauline Epistles, as well as in the background areas of Greek, early Judaism, and the greater Hellenistic World. He has published articles on the New Testament and had served as the associate New Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2013). Ordained as a Baptist minister, he has also served in pastoral ministry in Southern California and Oregon.

Read an Excerpt

1 Samuel, Volume 10

Word Biblical Commentary

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By Ralph W. Klein, Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker, John D. W. Watts, James W. Watts, Ralph P. Martin, Lynn Allan Losie

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2000 Thomas Nelson, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-52173-0

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CHAPTER 1

The Birth of Samuel (1:1–28)

Farm/Structure/Setting

The book begins with the birth of Samuel; by the end of the book, Samuel is dead, as is the first king, Saul, whom he anointed. The birth narrative of 1 Sam 1 is actually continued by 2:11, 18–21, 26, which report Samuel's success at Shiloh, but the (secondary) placement of the Song of Hannah at the beginning of chap. 2 makes it appropriate to limit the first pericope to chap. 1.

Summary. Elkanah, an Ephraimite, had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah, but only the latter had children. Yearly pilgrimages took him to Shiloh where Hophni and Phinehas were priests (vv 1–3). There was bitter rivalry between the two wives about their ability to bear children though Elkanah was solicitous and loving to the barren Hannah (vv 4–8). In her distress Hannah prayed to Yahweh for a son and promised to dedicate him to Yahweh (vv 9–11). Eli, who at first mistook her praying as drunken behavior, gave his blessing to her request. This led to a change in Hannah's mood (vv 12–18). Shortly thereafter, with Yahweh's favor, Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to Samuel (vv 19–20). After she had weaned Samuel she brought him up to Shiloh with appropriate offerings. Since it was Yahweh who had granted her request, she dedicated her young son to the Lord and left him in Shiloh (vv 21–28).

The motif of a barren wife who is given a child by Yahweh and whose child plays an important role is quite frequent in the OT. One thinks of the barrenness of Sarah until the birth of Isaac, of Rachel until the birth of Joseph and Benjamin, of the wife of Manoah until the arrival of Samson. In the NT the story repeats itself with Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. The effect of these moving stories is to underscore the importance of the son who is born and to indicate the fact that he is God's gift. Stories with a related function are the prenatal calls or assignments of Samson, Jeremiah, the servant of Yahweh in Second Isaiah, and of St. Paul. Lending poignancy to the stories about barren women is the frequent presence of a rival wife, who has borne children and who uses her fertility to irritate the barren woman. Think of Hagar and Sarah, of Leah and Rachel, and here of Peninnah and Hannah.

Brown (The Birth of the Messiah, 156) detects five typical steps in other biblical annunciations of birth (Ishmael, Isaac, Samson, John the Baptist, and Jesus): 1. the appearance of the Lord or his angel; 2. the fear of the person confronted with the supernatural presence; 3. the divine message; 4. an objection or a request for a sign; 5. the giving of a sign as reassurance.

Hannah's prayer resembles the Personal Psalms of Distress in the Psalter. Hayes (57–84) notes the following elements in such laments: 1. address to God; 2. description of distress; 3. plea for redemption; 4. statement of confidence; 5. confession of sin or innocence; 6. pledge or vow; 7. conclusion. Hannah's distress stems from her childlessness, and her plea in this case is accompanied by a fervent vow (v 11). Hayes cites Eli's reply in v 17 as an example of an Oracle of Salvation delivered by a priest as a reassuring promise to a petitioner (cf. also Hos 14:4–7). It has been proposed that such oracles account for the mood shift from lament to jubilation in certain Psalms. Psalm 6, for example, shows such a remarkable shift, indicating that the worshiper may have received a favorable response to his request during the service of lament. The Oracles of Salvation appear as an independent genre in Second Isaiah (cf. Klein, Israel in Exile, 108–111).

Whatever the literary history of the first seven chapters, in their present arrangement they show important progression in structure that needs to be considered in any interpretation (see Willis, JBL 90 [1971] 288–308). In 1:1–4:1a, Samuel comes on the scene during peaceful times. Yet he is the man being prepared for the coming crisis. That crisis is described in 4:lb–7:1—the threat posed by the clear military superiority of the Philistines. In 7:2–17 Samuel guides Israel through its crisis to a great victory. One function of 1:1–4: la is to describe the sins of the house of Eli and their coming punishment and to introduce the ark. In the subsequent section, 4: lb–7:1, the house of Eli is punished and the ark lost. The opening section (1:1–4:la) provides the background for Samuel and his reputation. It is this same Samuel, in 7:2–17, who brings Israel to repentance and effects their deliverance.

Another structural item is provided by the notices of Eli's poor eyesight. In 1:12–13 he sees Hannah praying but takes her as a drunk; in 2:22–24 he fails to see his sons' wickedness. His poor eyesight also is noted in 3:2 and 4:15.

While chap. 1 is now part of the Deuteronomistic History (Dtr), no clear evidence of the historian's hand is present in this chapter. Textual criticism indicates that the Song of Hannah is a late addition, and the expressions "he (or she, as in 4Q) worshipped Yahweh there" (in 1:28 MT) "and Hannah prayed" (in 2:1 MT) seem to be redactor's attempts to provide a proper introduction to the song.

Comment

(Vv 1–3) Ramathaim is only mentioned here in 1 Samuel. Elsewhere, beginning perhaps already in v 19, Elkanah's home town is called Ramah. On the basis of Eusebius and Jerome, scholars identify Ramathaim with Rentis, about 16 miles E. of Tel Aviv (Stoebe, McCarter; MR 152159). This Ephraimite locale is also intended in v 19 though in subsequent chapters (e.g. 1 Sam 7:17) Ramah is probably the Benjamite city of er–Ram, situated about 5 miles N. of Jerusalem (MR 172140). Ramathaim is the same as Arimathea in the NT (Matt 27:57). While the bulk of tradition associates Samuel with the Ramah of Benjamin (er–Ram), the first verse of the book—and possibly v 19 and 2:11—represent an alternate, Ephraimite tradition. According to 9:5–6 the home of Samuel was in the land of Zuph, also in Ephraim. Driver suggests that the land of Zuph was so called because it was settled by the family of Zuph, an ancestor of Elkanah, or that the name of the land of Zuph has been personified in the genealogy of 1:1.

Elkanah is only mentioned in chaps. 1–2 and in the genealogical notices of 1 Chr 6:12, 19 (EVV. 27, 34). His father's name Jeroham is given in an alternate spelling in LXX (Jerahmeel). The name of Elkanah's grandfather, Elihu, is spelled Eliel in 1 Chr 6:19 (EVV. 34) and Eliab in 1 Chr 6:12 (EVV. 27). For the variation in the spelling of Toah see the textual notes. More important than these minor spelling variations is the fact that Samuel's ancestor, Zuph, is identified as an Ephraimite in 1 Sam 1:1 ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] = Ephraimite also in Judg 12:5 and 1 Kgs 11:26). In 1 Chr, however, Samuel is classified as a Levite. The following lists illustrate the divergences in the genealogical notices:

1 Chr 6:1–13 1 Chr 6:18–23 1 Sam 1:1; 8:2
(EVV. 16–28) (EVV. 33–38)


Israel
Israel/Jacob
Levi
Levi
Joseph

Ephraim

Names
Names
Names
Omitted
Omitted
Omitted

Zophai
Zuph
Zuph
Nahath
Toah
Toah
Eliab
Eliel
Elihu
Jeroham
Jeroham
Jeroham
Elkanah
Elkanah
Elkanah
Samuel
Samuel
Samuel
Joel, Abijah
Joel
Joel, Abijah

The divergence between Levitic and Ephraimite ancestry has been explained harmonistically: though from the tribe of Ephraim by birth, Samuel was attached to the tabernacle as a Nazirite and "almost automatically drawn by Levitic tradition into family attachment to the tribe of Levi" (Albright, Prophetic Tradition 161). Others understand the Chronicler's information as a nonhistorical attempt to link the Ephraimite Samuel to a Levitic ancestry, which would have been considered necessary and proper by the Chronicler's time. Eli, the priest of Shiloh, is probably identified as a Levite in 1 Samuel (cf. 2:27–28; in Josephus his line goes through Ithamar the son of Aaron [Ant. 5.361], but in 2 Esd. 1:2–3 through Aaron's son Eleazar).

Though monogamy predominates in the OT, there is occasional evidence that men had two or more wives. With kings like David and Solomon, the practice may be explained in part by political factors; with others the acquiring of a second wife may have resulted from the infertility of the first (Deut 21:15–17 legislates inheritance practices when both have borne children). Since Hannah is called Elkanah's first wife, it is plausible to suppose that he married Peninnah only in an attempt to produce an heir. Lipinski has argued that the names of the two women signify their function in the story. Etymologically, Hannah means something like "charming," reflecting the fact that she was the loved one; Peninnah may mean something like "prolific" or "fecund," corresponding to her role as the wife who bore children.

Elkanah made an annual pilgrimage to sacrifice at Shiloh (cf. Judg 21:19). This would seem to be a private, personal pilgrimage distinct from the requirement for males to appear three times a year before Yahweh as part of a national festival (Exod 23:15–17; 34:18–24; Deut 16:16; cf. Haran). In Elkanah's case, the whole family went (cf. v 21; 2:19; 20:6, 29). Similar family sacrifices are reported in Samuel's home city (9:12) and in Bethlehem (20:6, 29; cf. 17:2–5).

Shiloh was located about 18½ miles north of Jerusalem, just east of the road between Bethel and Shechem, at modem Khirbet Seilun (MR 177162). Danish excavations in 1926 and 1929 seemed to indicate a destruction by the Philistines in 1050 B.C., but a further campaign in 1963 led to revised conclusions. S. Holm–Nielsen holds that there was no "regular" destruction in the Iron I period and reports abundant ceramic evidence from Iron II. Jeremiah (7:12, 14; 26:6, 9) may refer to some kind of devastation in 722 (of the sanctuary only?) in connection with the fall of the Northern Kingdom, but the whole site seems actually to have been destroyed later, about 600 B.c., (IDBSup, 822–823). According to Josh 18:1–10, the Tent of Meeting was set up there during the confederacy, and Judg 18:31 refers to the house of God located at Shiloh. The ark of God was also there (cf. 3:3).

Yahweh of hosts was the object of Elkanah's worship. This is the first mention of this divine title in the Bible, and it is the first of five references to it in 1 Samuel. Parsing "Yahweh" as an archaic Hiphil imperfect, the name might mean "He who creates the (heavenly) armies," originally an epithet of the Canaanite god El (Cross, CMHE, 197). Others interpret the word "hosts" as an intensive abstract plural, or plural of extension and importance, giving the title the meaning of "Yahweh the almighty" or the like (cf. A. S. van der Woude, THAT, 504–506).

Eli's two sons, whose wickedness and death play significant roles in the following chapters, have Egyptian names. Hophni means "tadpole," and is a rare name, unattested after the Middle Kingdom. Phinehas means "the Negro," and is more common, being the name also for Aaron's grandson (Num 25:7).

(vv 4–8). Verse 4 begins with an account of a specific sacrifice at Shiloh, but the narrative is interrupted by a long parenthesis, from 4b to 7a, that informs the reader of the usual things that happened on such an occasion. Elkanah gave (sacrificial) portions to Peninnah and each of her children. Presumably these portions were to be consumed by the worshiper (cf. 9:23), and the sacrifices are to be understood as "peace offerings." Although Hannah, being childless, received only one portion, she was the one whom Elkanah really loved. The word order in v 5b emphasizes that Hannah was the object of his love. Recall that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, despite her barrenness (Gen 29:30–31). There is no indication that Yahweh's shutting of Hannah's womb was considered judgmental, but Peninnah used her fertility to lord it over her rival (cf. Hagar and Sarah, Gen 16:4: and Leah and Rachel, Gen 30:1–24. In the case of Leah, Yahweh opened her womb when he saw that she was hated, Gen 29:31). The text of v 7 as reconstructed in note* indicates that Peninnah's behavior each year was irritating. The reading in MT—"So he would do"—construes the sentence to mean that Elkanah each year gave more portions to his less–loved wife. The last two verbs in v 7—after the parenthesis—pick up the narrative from v 4: Hannah broke into tears and refused to eat. Elkanah is a solicitous husband though one can well imagine that his questions were small comfort for the hurts inflicted by Peninnah's taunts. The Hebrew words translated as "depressed" in v 8 are used to depict a "grudging heart" in Deut 15:10. Perhaps this connotation is to be understood here as well.

(Vv 9–11) Hannah apparently interrupted her abstinence from food by eating some of the boiled sacrificial offering (cf. 1 Sam 2:13–14). As Hannah begins her prayer, Eli is introduced for the first time (Was this chapter once part of a longer account that had introduced him earlier? Or should we restore his name in v 3 with LXX? Or did the narrator omit him in v 3 because he wanted to bring only Hophni and Phinehas to the attention of the reader in preparation for the central role of their wickedness later?). The priest sat by a doorpost of the nave of the temple, looking across the vestibule ('ûlaw) to the court outside, where Hannah was praying. The reference to the doorpost in v 9 would indicate that a more permanent structure had replaced the tent sanctuary (but cf. 2 Sam 7:6).

References to Hannah's intercession are made four times in chap. 1 (vv 10, 12, 26, 27) with an additional reference in 2:1 MT. The only other person who intercedes in 1 Sam is Samuel himself (7:5; 8:6; 12:19, 23). Hannah's bitterness (cf. 2 Kgs 4:27) is expressed by her many tears. She bases her vow on the condition that Yahweh will see her affliction and remember her, that is, he will be moved to appropriate action (cf. Exod 2:23–24; 6:5). According to Num 30:6–15, a woman's vow could be cancelled by her husband. If he said nothing, however, or did not oppose her, the vow had to be carried through. The piety of Hannah is emphasized by the threefold use of the word, "your handmaid," in speaking with God (v 11). She is the one who gives the boy his pious name, who brings him to Shiloh, and who "lends" him to Yahweh (Note: "I have lent," not "we have lent"). If she should receive a favorable answer to her prayer, she promised to dedicate the boy (as a Nazirite) to Yahweh. The sudden switch from 2nd (you) to 3rd person (to Yahweh, v 11) in her prayer may connote a special kind of festive solemnity (Stoebe). If so, the presence of the 2nd person in LXX would be the easier—and therefore the secondary—reading.

Hannah's promise that her son would not have his hair cut nor drink wine or strong drink (cf. Notes ll.a.–a. and 22.b.) corresponds closely to the descriptions of Nazirites elsewhere in the OT. The mother of Samson was not to drink alcohol even during her pregnancy, and, of course, Samson, who was to be a life–long Nazirite, was to let his hair grow. The Nazirite vow and the refusal to cut one's hair may have been connected in some way to Holy War (cf. Judg 5:2; Deut 32:42). In the case of Samson and in Amos 2:11, one became a Nazirite at Yahweh's initiative and remained in this status for one's entire life. The laws in Num 6:1–21 make a temporary vow of what had once been a permanent promise. In these laws alcohol and hair cutting are forbidden, as well as any contact with the dead. Hannah consecrated her expected son to the service of God, rather than to war, and in this respect her vow resembled that of Num 6. But Samuel's Nazirite status resulted neither from his personal vow, as in Num 6, nor from God's consecration of someone to himself as in Amos 2:11 and the Samson story. Rather, Samuel was a Nazirite because his mother promised he would be one. His mother indicated his vocation prenatally (cf. Jer 1:5 and Gal 1:15).

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from 1 Samuel, Volume 10 by Ralph W. Klein, Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker, John D. W. Watts, James W. Watts, Ralph P. Martin, Lynn Allan Losie. Copyright © 2000 Thomas Nelson, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Editorial Preface, xi,
Abbreviations, xiii,
Main Bibliography, xxiii,
I. Commentaries, xxiii,
II. General Studies on Samuel, xxiii,
Introduction, xxv,
I. The Book Called 1 Samuel, xxv,
II. The Text of Samuel, xxv,
Bibliography, xxv,
The Biblical Text, xxvi,
III. Literary Origins, xxviii,
IV. The Shape of This Commentary, xxxii,
My Commentary on 1 Samuel After Twenty-Five Years, xxxiii,
The Birth of Samuel (1:1–28), 1,
The Song of Hannah (2:1–10), 12,
Good Son/Bad Sons (2:11–36), 21,
Samuel and the Word of Yahweh (3:1–21 [4:1a]), 29,
The Ark Goes into Exile (4:lb–22), 36,
The Victorious Hand of Yahweh (5:1–12), 47,
The Victorious Ark Comes Home (6:1—7:1), 53,
The Rise of Kingship (7–15), 62,
Bibliography, 62,
Samuel Judges Israel (7:2–17), 63,
The Rights of the King (8:1–22), 72,
Asses Sought, a Kingdom Found (9:1–10:16), 80,
The King Whom Yahweh Has Chosen (10:17–27a), 95,
Saul Proclaimed King (10:27b–ll:15), 102,
Kingship: Right or Wrong? (12:1–25), 110,
No Dynasty for Saul (13:1–23), 121,
Military Exploits of Saul and Jonathan (14:1–52), 129,
Saul Rejected as King (15:1–35), 144,
Samuel Anoints David (16:1–13), 157,
The History of David's Rise (HDR) (1 Samuel 16:14–2 Samuel 5:10), 163,
Bibliography, 163,
David Comes to the Royal Court (16:14–23), 164,
David Defeats the Philistine (17:1–18:5), 168,
Saul's Jealousy and David's Success (18:6–30), 184,
Four Escapes (19:1–24), 192,
Bilateral Loyalty (20:1–21:1), 201,
A Priest Favors David (21:2–10 [EW 1–9]), 211,
David, the Madman (21:11 [EW 10–15]), 215,
Abiathar Joins David in Flight (22:1–23), 219,
Yahweh Does Not Surrender David (23:1–24:1 [EW 23:29]), 227,
David Refuses to Kill Yahweh's Anointed (24:2–23 [EW 1–22]), 234,
David and Abigail (25:1–44), 243,
Reprise: David Refuses to Kill Yahweh's Anointed (26:1–25), 254,
David as Double Agent (27:1–28:2), 261,
Bad News at En–Dor (28:3–25), 267,
A Narrow Escape (29:1–11), 275,
A Kinglike Hero (30:1–31), 279,
The Death and Burial of Saul (31:1–13), 286,
Indexes, 291,