Bible Strands
1 Samuel 1:23
“Do what you think is best,” her husband Elkanah replied, “and stay here until you have weaned him. Only may the LORD confirm His word.” So Hannah stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elkanah addresses Hannah at Shiloh after she vows to return her son to the Lord once weaned. He grants her discretion over the timing while instructing her to remain in place until the weaning period ends.
The words — The phrase עֲשִׂי הַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךְ (aśî haṭṭôḇ bəʿênêḵ) literally means "do the good in your eyes," conveying Elkanah's permission for Hannah to decide the course. The imperative שְׁבִי (šəḇî) commands her to "remain" until the child is weaned, establishing the boundary of her temporary stay.
The thread — Elkanah's silent confirmation of Hannah's vow parallels the principle in Numbers 30:7 where a husband's lack of objection validates a wife's pledge. Hannah's plea for divine confirmation mirrors Solomon's prayer in 2 Samuel 7:25, while the domestic act of nursing a promised child recalls the birth narrative in Genesis 21:7.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that spiritual commitments require adherence to natural seasons and domestic responsibility. It asks the reader to trust that God establishes spoken vows when the appointed period concludes, not before.
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
And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the Lord establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 7:25 And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You have promised,
- Genesis 21:7 She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
- Numbers 30:7 and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her on that day, then the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.
- 1 Samuel 1:17 “Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.”
- Psalms 22:9 Yet You brought me forth from the womb; You made me secure at my mother’s breast.
- Isaiah 44:26 who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’
- Matthew 24:19 How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
- Luke 11:27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!”