Bible Strands
1 Samuel 1:20
So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Hannah’s conception and delivery of a son following her return to Ramah with Elkanah after morning worship. She speaks the naming declaration at the moment of childbirth, addressing no specific listener but establishing the child’s origin for the record.
The words — The phrase לִתְקֻפֹּת הַיָּמִים (lit. to the circuits of the days) denotes the passage of time preceding Hannah’s conception. The verb וַתִּקְרָא (vatikra) records her formal act of naming the child Samuel.
The thread — This naming pattern appears in Genesis 41:51, Exodus 2:10, and Matthew 1:21, where each parent declares the reason for a child’s name. These references align with Hannah’s statement that the child was requested from the LORD.
Why it lands — The text requires acknowledging that the child’s existence results from a stated divine response rather than natural circumstance. It demands a plain acceptance of the naming declaration without importing external theological frameworks.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Genesis 41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”
- Exodus 2:10 When the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and explained, “I drew him out of the water.”
- Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
- Exodus 2:22 And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
- Genesis 16:11 The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.
- Genesis 29:32 And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”
- Genesis 30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.
- Genesis 5:29 And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.”
- Genesis 4:25 And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”