David was young when Samuel found him. 72. Samuels rise to prominence was anticipated and guided by the Lord, Samuel would be sustained by God in his challenging but crucial ministry, and. 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. The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. Type scenes. In contrast to the use of shakab (lie with) in the account of the promiscuity of Elis sons, discussed above, in the account of Samuels divine call, Eli instructs the lad repeatedly to shakab (lie down). Following Hannahs song, the narrator begins his detailed condemnation of Elis sons with the epithet: Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial, implying a scathing equivalence of Eli and Belial.52 Further, the narrator observes with biting irony that Elis sons knew not the Lord, even though they are introduced as priests of the Lord (1:3). Samuel is ever faithful to his consecrated responsibilities at Shiloh and eventually becomes one of Israels greatest spiritual leaders. These are known by the technical German term Leitwort. . They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. While more than one priest could easily officiate at the temple, the fact that the story initially identifies Elis sons as priests of the Lord creates dramatic tensions that become central to the unfolding of the Samuel story. Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. All other textual details and literary conventions of the account systematically support a covenant perspective in the following central ways. Updates? We may never know for sure whether a covenant perspective actually motivated those who crafted the inherited text over the centuries of its development. Web1 Samuel 1. The Birth of Samuel. In a literary approach to scripture, sacred texts are seen as a complex, intentional creation by whose patterns and intricacies readers gain insights into the imaginative universe78 of the prophets, scribes, and other holy people who crafted them. In the second story (chapter 15), Samuel is motivated by the failure of Saul to observe the ethic of the holy war. The text never has him interact directly with any of Hannahs children, and he speaks with Hannah only when her devotional actions disrupt his traditional ritual routine. In ancient Israel, children were considered a clear sign of Gods blessing (see Psalm 127:3 ). Flashbacks of the The United States of America vividly remembers Samuel Adams as a key member of the Founding Fathers who penned down their signatures to usher in an independent America. The prevailing view of biblical scholars is that the account of Samuels life and ministry took final shape centuries after the events it depicts and was likely the work of more than one author/editor/redactor. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. The result of the action is usually considered enduring and definitive.32 In short, the text projects that her vow to the Lord will be unequivocal and permanent. The Lord . The text expresses this commitment in two complementary ways. Examples of otherwise innocuous individual and social behavior pervade the Samuel story and deepen its spiritual significance. 2. Samuels prophecy reinforces much of what the man of God earlier says to Eli but does not repeat any of his specific words and phrases or hint at Samuels awareness of his existence or message. Role. He is credited with The reiterated and, then, plays an important role in creating the rhythm of the story, in phonetically punctuating the forward driving movement of the prose. WebSamuel was the son of Elkanah and Hannah, and he was born at Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. However, in the Hebrew Bible, lay/lie with does not always connote illicit sexual relations, for example, Genesis 30:16, and know does not always imply legitimate and covenantal sexual relations, for example, Judges 19:25. 1806 Houston's father, Major Samuel Houston, dies. . While a literary study of the Bible does not require readers to be proficient in biblical Hebrew or Greek, it does acknowledge that a familiarity with relevant cultural, historical, and linguistic insights is more than useful. Please select which sections you would like to print: Professor of Theology, DePaul University, Chicago, 197078. Its content not only indicates the overthrow of the priestly authority of the house of Eli and the implicit move to a different sort of authority to be embodied by the prophet Samuel, but it also adumbrates the rather dour and dire role that Samuel will play as leader, in relation to both Israel and to Saul. Alter, Ancient Israel, 256 nn. In gratitude she dedicated him to the service of the chief sanctuary of Shiloh, in the charge of the priest Eli. The antimonarchic account presents a different picture of the kingship and of Saul and Samuel. From a structural perspective, the song is not only an appropriate expression of personal gratitude for Hannahs heavenly blessing but also a crucial narrative bridge between the initial fulfillment of her vow and the Lords repeated faithful response. Thus, the ambivalent and matter-of-fact introduction of the priests at Shiloh implies that while central to the story of Samuels beginnings, Eli and his sons will play roles that are marginal to or destructive of their high ritual status. Structuring Devices: Play of Perspectives. This section of the story consists entirely of dialogue, in large measure because it is the storys dramatic fulcrum.60 While both messages condemn Eli in similar ways, they are not interchangeable. On the art of gap-filling by biblical narrators, see Sternberg, Poetics, 186229. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord., Type Scene: Obedience to Gods Call. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The story is also at the root of the priestly role imposed on Samuel at a later date in 1 Chronicles 6; but this is an effort to explain in terms of the later priesthood the sacred functions performed by Samuel. Weitzman, Song, 6667, and Polzin, Samuel, 3334, respectively, compare the similarities of Hannahs song with Marys Magnificat and Davids final hymn. The first specific action in the Samuel story has Elkanah sharing with Hannah a worthy portion of the offering. PTSD symptoms can include: Frequent nightmares. Diction. Heimert, Religion and the American Mind, 11. JPS Tanakh 1917 Characterization: Husband and Wife. See, for example, McCarter, ISamuel, 1214; Richard R. Losch, All the People in the Bible: An AZ Guide to the Saints, Scoundrels, and Other Characters in Scripture (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2008), 36870. . And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. WebThere, the prophet Samuel is born to a previously barren woman, and he is dedicated from a young age to serve in the Temple. And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men. Hannahs song of exultation on an auspicious occasion elicits positive comparison with Moses, Miriam, and David in the Hebrew Bible (Exodus 15, Deuteronomy 3132, 2 Samuel 22) and Zacharias, Mary, and Simeon in the Christian Bible (Luke 12).50, And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. This contrast does not mean that biblical characters are shallow. Leitwrter: know and lie with. Samuel, whose name means heard of God, was dedicated to God by his mother, Hannah, as part of a vow she made before he was born (1 Samuel 1:11). And they went unto their own home. Simon, Prophetic Narratives, 3637, 43, systematically compares the miraculous birth narratives of the Hebrew Bible and summarizes this biblical scene type. While I accept the perspective attributed to Gregory the Great, Scripture grows with its readers, cited by Andre LaCocque and Paul Ricoeur, I contend that the authors first corollary of this positionthe abandonment of the concern . Not in Heaven: Coherence and Complexity in Biblical Narrative (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991); and Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary (New York: W.W. Norton, 2004), ixxlviii, among many others. 4. God heard her prayer Birth Year: 1797. english literature timeline. And he said, I called not; lie down again. It is said of an eccentric schoolmaster in Germany, who lived about 300 See also Allen Verhey, Remember, Remembrance, in Freedman, Anchor Bible Dictionary, 5:66769; McCarter, ISamuel, 62 n.19; Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996), 526; and Alter, Moses, 385 n.3. Following Samuels birth, Hannah nurtures him as only a mother can and thereafter entrusts him to JHWHs priest. The present study relies on the LDS edition of the King James Translation of the Hebrew Bible. The possibility of a covenant perspective, however, cannot be denied and may be profoundly appreciated as we seek to plumb the depths of this remarkable text. 23. WebShe praised God when He answered her prayer and gave her a child. It is quite unlikely that either the powers of the king or the prerogatives of the priest were as closely defined as this in the early period. And the priests custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priests servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand; And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. Samuels principal role is to realize his divine destiny for all Israel (3:14:1a). The phrase were there identifies only that they are present at the temple, not that they are functioning worthily. Repetitions of this kind, especially in the unusually truncated narrative of the Hebrew Bible, focus readers attention on details of great significance to the overall story. And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. She fasts, she prays, she bears and nurtures, she sacrifices and gives thanks, she serves, and she remains faithful to her divine calling without any desire for personal position, recognition, or recompense.27 As a result, the narrative portrays Hannah as worthy of becoming the mother of one of Israels greatest prophets and of serving as a paragon of holiness in the Hebrew Bible. WebBetter known as Sam Sharpe, Samuel Sharpe, a Creole slave, was born in Montego Bay, Jamaicain 1801. Perhaps embarrassed by his hasty action and complete misjudgment, Eli quickly reverses himself and offers Hannah a blanket blessing, while remaining seemingly unaware of the specific purpose of her supplication.26. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. While some linkages may be incidental, most scholars recognize that an authors intentional linkages create a phenomenon that Adele Berlin, following Paul Werth, calls poetic effect, which she defines as the result of an interaction between verbal form and meaning. Adele Berlin, The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992), 10. We compared the results of the SVV test in two groups of children with ages ranging from 7 to 10 years. Birth City: London, England. However, Sternberg, Poetics, 32528, eloquently qualifies Alters perspective. This usage introduces another meaningful connotation of the verb, shakab, in relation to yada (know). . The paradigm serves as a frame of reference that allows us to examine each component in the context of the expectations aroused by its parallels in the other stories. Hannahs promise to God that there shall no razor come upon [her sons] head draws an explicit parallel with Samson, Israels most noteworthy judge (Judg. 7. As a result, identifying the literary conventions of a given text and imagining their interpretive significance enable readers to approximate the intent(s) of its author(s), especially if the conventions can be shown to combine with one another in order to fashion of the text a coherent and meaningful whole.8. As with the development of individual characters, so too are human actions carefully crafted in the biblical narrative for ideological purposes. This issue carries significant economic, psychological, and social costs for the families affected. Genesis 2428, 38; Ruth 14. PTSD symptoms can include: Frequent nightmares. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread (2:5) anticipates Gods curse of Elis house, discussed below, in part because Elis sons and perhaps Eli himself had abused the sacrificial offering to satisfy their gluttony. Furthermore, mood disorders are also commonly related to childhood trauma, affecting a child's functioning in many ways. And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? 13. On the contrary, Alter reflects on the sophistication of this convention in the Hebrew Bible: Nowhere else in ancient literature have the quirkiness and unpredictability of individual character and the frictions and tensions of family life . He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. He spent his adolescence across the country, removed from all hed known as a child, raised by a stepfather who he felt no connection to. While both messengers faithfully deliver their respective messages from the Lord, the man of God accomplishes hismission in total anonymity. 53. While the biblical account is silent regarding Elis reaction to the man of God, it is structured explicitly so that the priest must accept Samuels dire prophecy. 1. Before Samuel's time, a prophet was called a "seer." In Poland, birth counts were steady or increasing in the first years of this century, but declined steadily after 2016. 76. Alternatively, McCarter, I Samuel, 60 n.9, suggests that the details of Elis first appearance may imply his watchful care over all temple matters. In the context of Samuels calling, neither yada nor shakab have sexual connotations. Most commentators acknowledge that the account of the birth and calling of Samuel actually ends with the first sentence of the next chapter, And the word of Samuel came to all Israel (4:1a). Characterization. 1 Samuel 3:416; Genesis 22:1. Elkanah has only two direct speeches in the entire story. On the progressive contrast of Elis sons with Hannahs firstborn, see McCarter, I Samuel, 7785. 14. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. Despite his emotional distance from Hannah, Elkanah regularly and routinely worships at Shiloh in a manner that is consistent with the prescriptions of the Mosaic law. (1:18). Reflecting on this complex and somewhat foreign (to modern readers) convention, Sternberg recognizes the challenge: Reading a character becomes a process of discovery, attended by all the biblical hallmarks: progressive reconstruction, tentative closure of discontinuities, frequent and sometimes painful reshaping in the face of the unexpected, and intractable pockets of darkness to the very end. Sternberg, Poetics, 32324. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. Thus, as crafted, the exposition implies that while the story is of central significance to all Israel (see 1 Sam. Nothing is clearer in the final form of the text than Yahwehs utter mastery of the situation, whatever it may be. Polzin, Samuel, 4. . Background: Preterm birth continues to be a leading cause of death for children under the age of 5 globally. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Samuel, the son of Elkanah (of Ephraim) and Hannah, was born in answer to the prayer of his previously childless mother. Strong, Exhaustive Concordance, 122533. Within the context of the Samuel narrative, these verbs repeatedly indict Elis sons. The few defining details of characterbehavior, actions, qualities, dialogue, and physical appearance that flesh out proleptic portraits,74 whether individually or in pairsreveal individuals varied relationships with one another and with God, as mediated by their sacred covenants. Elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, gada is used in reference to felling trees, particularly groves devoted to the worship of pagan gods, or more generally to destroying anything of value as a consequence of wickedness and as a sign of Gods displeasure (for example, Deuteronomy 7:5; Judges 21:6; 2 Chronicles 14:3; 31:1; Psalms 75:10; 107:16; Isaiah 9:10; 14:12; 15:2; 22:25; 45:2; Jeremiah 48:25; 50:23; Ezekiel 6:6). They became so angry with Samuel that they threw him out of their city. And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb. Leitwrter: know and lie with. . Polzin, Samuel, 39, contrasts the rather neutral narrative language of the beginning of the Samuel story with the highly judgmental language on this middle portion, preparing readers for the curse of the house of Eli and corresponding rise of Samuel. Simon, Prophetic Narratives, 5161, makes the case that Samuels divine call is part of a literary genre in the Hebrew Bible by illustrating numerous structural parallels with those of other Israelite prophets. And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The Lord give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord. God gifted Samson with incredible strength, but he lost his strength when Delilah betrayed him to the Philistines, who blinded and enslaved him. Several difficulties in reconstructing the era of the Judges, including its chronology, during what archaeologists call Iron AgeI, are identified in Jo Ann Hackett, There Was No King in Israel: The Era of the Judges, in The Oxford History of the Biblical World, ed. Nevertheless, Hannah is not satisfied: she wants a son for herself, but not for selfish reasons. been registered with such subtlety and insight. Alter, Moses, xii. In biblical Hebrew, shael has a double meaning: to request and to lend. 3. God, in turn, gives Hannah a man child according to her supplication, who then becomes a prophet unto all Israel. Thus, God manifests his goodness by fulfilling Hannahs vow in ways that she could not possibly have imagined beforehand or accomplished herself. . Saul was vindicated as king by his leadership of Israel in a campaign against the Ammonites (chapter 11); after this, Samuel retired from the leadership of Israel (chapter 12). . Characterization: Priest and Suppliant. According to the account, Elkanah loves Hannah, favors her with a worthy portion of the ceremonial offering, and is her partner in the conception of Samuel; nevertheless, he leads out in and is concerned with no other family roles than performing the annual ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic law and providing for the familys material support. Throughout this study, unless otherwise noted, I have relied on the following standard sources for the meaning of individual Hebrew words and phrases: James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Abington Press, 1890, 1973 printing); and Francis Brown, S.R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody, Mass. Characterization: Prophet of God. Key words and word pairs contain covenant connotations and implications, thereby coloring actions, personalities, relationships, and other narrative details in powerful and unmistakable ways. See Robert Alter, Ancient Israel: The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, A Translation with Commentary (New York: W.W. Norton, 2013), 257; Robert Polzin, Samuel and the Deuteronomist: A Literary Study of the Deuteronomic History, Part Two: 1Samuel (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993), 1954; Uriel Simon, Reading Prophetic Narratives, trans. Alter observes that biblical narrators develop in-depth characterization through the use of a complex array of literary tools: Through the report of actions; through appearance, gestures, posture, costume; through one characters comments on another; through direct speech by the character; through inward speech, either summarized or quoted as interior monologue; or through statements by the narrator about the attitudes and intentions of the personages, which may come as flat assertions or motivated explanations. Alter, Art, 11617. Only the narrators general spiritual indictment of Israel (3:1) and the summary impact of Samuels call upon all Israel (3:194:1a) are expressed in narrative. Type Scene: Female Spiritual Initiative. Her first direct speech, for example, expresses her private but poignant vow to God, which defines her lifes purpose and sacred identity: O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look upon the afflictions of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.28 All of her subsequent speeches and actions align with and strengthen her devotional character (see 1:2028; 2:110, 1921). WebSignificance. 1 and 2 Samuel form one book in the ancient Hebrew manuscripts. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. Yet, the picture is not entirely straightforward, and a close examination of the material, as conducted by a large number of critical historians, reveals inconsistencies that raise questions about both the history of Samuel and the sources in which this history has been preserved. Samuel was a major contributor, but much of the book takes place after his death in 1 Samuel 25. William F. Albright and David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1980), 6366. On the other hand, the language of the sons introduction bestows no honor or dignity to their priestly office. The second way that Hannah continues to nurture her firstborn is mentioned below in the discussion of 1 Samuel 2:19. While Eli properly identifies the source of Samuels call, he does not hear the voice himself; only the lad does. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Once additional characters enter the story, readers become aware of its first type scene: the barren wife. . The problem may be resolved by identifying a role for Samuel that receives only passing mention because it no longer existed when this material was written. 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