1 Samuel 1:22

1Sa 1:22 But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, [I will not go up] until the child be weaned, and [then] I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.

Ver. 22. I will not go up until the child be weaned.] She knew herself not bound to go up, because she was a woman, and her husband a Levite. Now also she was a mother, and had a child to nurse. Nightingales are silent when once they have hatched their eggs, as if then all their care were for their young ones.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 1:22. I will not go up till the child be weaned — Not only from the breast, but from the mother’s knee and care, and childish food. She was not bound by the law to go up with her husband; and therefore, though she had been wont to go, she resolved, as became a prudent woman, to stay at home, till the child was so far grown up, as not only to be strong enough to accompany her, but capable of being instructed in the service of the tabernacle, and of being useful therein. For, it seems, as soon as he was brought thither he worshipped God, (1Sa 1:28,) and, soon after, ministered to Eli, 1Sa 2:11.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:22 until the boy is weaned: Hannah would have nursed Samuel two to four years.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

But Hannah went not up--Men only were obliged to attend the solemn feasts (Exo 23:17). But Hannah, like other pious women, was in the habit of going, only she deemed it more prudent and becoming to defer her next journey till her son's age would enable her to fulfill her vow.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(22) Until the child be weaned.—Weaning, we know, took place very late among the Hebrews. From 2Ma_7:27, it appears that Hebrew mothers were in the habit of suckling their children for three years. The mother proposed, when the weaning had taken place, to leave her son as a servant of the sanctuary, there to remain all his life.

On the late period of weaning among the Oriental nations, Kalisch refers to the Persian custom of suckling boys two years and two months, and girls two years.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. until the child be weaned] He would then be two or three years old. It is still a common practice in the East to suckle children for two years: and in ancient times they were sometimes not weaned till three years old. See 2Ma_7:27, “O my son, have pity upon me that gave thee suck three years and nourished thee.” The weaning was made an occasion of festivity (Gen_21:8). The objection has been made that so young a child would have been troublesome to Eli, but there were women engaged in the tabernacle service (1Sa_2:22), to whose care he might have been committed. It was important that he should be dedicated as soon as possible. The house of God was to be the only home he knew; the earliest impressions of his boyhood were to be those of the sanctuary.

for ever] Equivalent to “as long as he liveth” of 1Sa_1:28.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But Hannah went not up,.... For women, though they might go if they pleased to the yearly feasts, yet they were not obliged to it; whether she went up at the time for her purification, and for the presenting and redemption of the firstborn, is not certain; some say the Levites were not obliged by that law, the perquisites of it falling to them, and so did not go up; others that she did, though it is not expressed, the Scriptures not relating all facts that were done; though by what follows it looks as if she did not:

for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned: which, according to Jarchi, was at the end of twenty two months; but others say at the end of twenty four months, or two years, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; and sometimes a child was three years old before it was weaned, and sometimes longer, which very probably was the case here; See Gill on Gen 21:8. Comestor (d) observes, there was a three fold weaning of children in old times; the first from their mother's milk, when three years old; the second from their tender age, and care of a dry nurse, when seven years old; the third from childish manners, when at twelve years of age; and that it is this last and metaphorical weaning which is here meant, when Samuel was twelve years of age, and fit to serve in the temple; but the proper sense is best, since she is said to bring him when weaned: her reason for it seems to be this, because had she went up with her sucking child, she must have brought him back again, since he would not be fit to be left behind, and would be entirely incapable of any kind of service in the sanctuary; and according to the nature of her vow, she could not think of bringing him back again, after she had once entered him there:

and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord; and minister in the service of the sanctuary in what might be suitable to his age; there and then she would present him, and give him up to the Lord, as she had promised she would:

and there abide for ever; that is, as long as he lived; for her vow was that he should be a Nazarite all the days of his life, and be separated to the service of God as long as he had a being in the world.

(d) Apud Weemse's Observ. Nat. c. 18. p. 76.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Until the child be weaned - Hebrew mothers, as elsewhere in the East, usually suckled their children until the age of two complete years, sometimes until the age of three.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

CHAPTER I.

Weaned. The mother of the Machabees weaned her children when they were three years old; (2 Machabees vii. 27.) which Gallien asserts as the proper time, though Avicenna fixes upon two years. See Genesis xxi. 8. Iremellius translates, "till the child be grown up." But we must not allow any long term, since he was very young when he was presented to the Lord, ver. 24.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Hannah went not up, to wit, at that sacred anniversary feast, to which she went up before but now did not, because she could not with satisfaction to her mind and conscience appear before the Lord empty, or without paying her vow; nor bring her child thither to God, and then carry him away from God to her own house. Nor did she sin by not going up; for the women were not obliged go up at the solemn feasts, but the men only, Exo 23:17.

Until the child be weaned; not only from the breast and the milk, which was done within two or three years at most, but also from the mother’s knee and care, and from childish food; till the child be something grown up, and fit to do some service in the tabernacle for it seems, that as soon as he was brought up, he worshipped God, 1Sa 1:28, and presently after ministered to Eli, 1Sa 2:11. And this may further appear from the very nature of the vow, which must needs design a service and an advantage to the tabernacle, and not a burden and encumbrance, as it would have been if a young child had been brought up to it, and left upon it.

That he may appear before the Lord, and there abide forever; that when once he is presented to the Lord, he may continue in his service as long as he liveth, as is said 1Sa 1:28.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. Until the child be weaned — Which in some cases was at the age of three years, (2Ma_7:27,) and so quite likely in the case of Samuel.

Abide for ever — That is, as long as he shall live. Compare 1Sa_1:11.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Weaned - Not only from the breast, but also from the mother's knee and care, and from childish food; 'till the child be something grown up, and fit to do some service in the tabernacle: for it seems that as soon as he was brought up he worshipped God, ver. 28, and presently after ministered to Eli, chap. ii, 11.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

When [the boy] will be weaned. At the end of twenty-two (other versions, twenty-four) months, for that is the period for a child to nurse.

And shall remain there forever. Forever in the Levitic sense, i.e., fifty years as it is said, "from the age of fifty he shall retire from the work force." Figuring as follows, we determine that Shmuel's lifetime was fifty-two years: Eili judged Yisroel for forty years. On the day of Chana's prayer he was appointed judge. By subtracting the year in which Chana conceived Shmuel, there remain thirty-nine years. Shmuel governed Yisroel from the time of Eili's death for thirteen years, as follows: On the day of Eili's death, the Ark was captured, and it remained in the land of the Philistines for seven months. From there, it was brought to and remained in Kiryas Yearim until Dovid brought it up after he had reigned seven years in Chevron over Yehudah, and all of Yisroel had accepted him as their king. And it is written, "From the day the Ark came to rest in Kiryas Yearim, there ensued many days, and they became twenty years." Subtracting from them seven years which Dovid reigned in Chevron discloses that from the time the Ark was captured until Shaul's death, were thirteen years and seven months; and Shmuel died four months before Shaul.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Until the boy will be weaned: Until the end of his nursing, and that is the twenty-four months that an infant nurses. And even though they were obligated to bring him [to Shiloh] on account of, "every male shall appear" (Exodus 23:17) - our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said it was because she saw that he was pampered and weak, so she was concerned lest he fall sick because of the travel.

And he shall abide there forever: As she had vowed about him, "and I will give him to the Lord" (I Samuel 1:11). And the explantion of, "forever," is all the days of his life. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, expounded - the forever of the Levites, since they would serve fifty years, as it is written (Numbers 8:25), "From the age of fifty he shall retire from the work force." And they said that all the days of Shmuel were only fifty-two years: As Channah had already said, "and I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life." And she said, "And he shall abide there forever" - and that is the forever of the Levites, which is fifty years. And from when he came to the House of the Lord until the day of his death was fifty years. And the [other] two years were when he nursed, as it is written, "until the boy will be weaned." And it is the way of a child to nurse twenty-four months. There you have fifty-two years.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.