1 Samuel 4:20

As she was dying, the women attending to her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay any heed.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The attending women address the dying daughter-in-law of Eli immediately after she collapses and delivers her child upon hearing of the ark’s capture and the deaths of her husband and father-in-law.

The words — mu.Tah (מוּתָ֗הּ) literally means “dying,” describing her physical state, while tir'I (תִּֽירְאִ֖י) is a negative imperative meaning “do not be afraid,” framing the women’s attempt to reassure her.

The thread — The women’s consolation mirrors the midwife’s words to Rachel in Genesis 35:17 and contrasts with the unrelieved anguish in Psalm 77:2, while prefiguring the transition from labor pain to joy described in John 16:21.

Why it lands — Her refusal to respond forces the reader to acknowledge that profound national and personal catastrophe can render conventional comfort meaningless, demanding a clear-eyed confrontation with grief rather than spiritual bypassing.

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

וּכְעֵ֣תu./khe./'Etand/ about/ [the] time of מוּתָ֗הּmu.Ta/hdying/ she וַתְּדַבֵּ֙רְנָה֙va./te.da.Be.re.nahand/ they spoke הַנִּצָּב֣וֹתha./ni.tza.Votthose/ [who] were standing עָלֶ֔יהָ'a.Lei./haover/ her אַל־'al-may not תִּֽירְאִ֖יtir.'Iyou be afraid כִּ֣יkifor בֵ֣ןvena son יָלָ֑דְתְּya.La.detyou have borne וְלֹ֥אve./Lo'and/ not עָנְתָ֖ה'a.ne.Tahshe answered וְלֹא־ve./lo'-and/ not שָׁ֥תָהSha.tahshe set לִבָּֽהּ׃li.Ba/hheart/ her

King James Version

And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.

Cross-references

Genesis 35:17 During her severe labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you are having another son.”
Psalms 77:2 In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted.
John 16:21 A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.