1 Samuel 1:26

1Sa 1:26 And she said, Oh my lord, [as] thy soul liveth, my lord, I [am] the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.

Ver. 26. As thy soul liveth.] As sure as thou art alive. Her heart was full, her tongue fluent, in mentioning God’s mercy.

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.

That is, most certainly.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 26. As thy soul liveth] As sure as thou art a living soul, so surely am I the person who stood by thee here praying.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(26) O my lord, as thy soul liveth.—“This oath is peculiar to the Books of Samuel, in which it occurs six times, and to the Books of Kings, in which, however, it is found only once. The similar oath, as Pharaoh liveth (by the life of Pharaoh), occurs in Gen_42:15; and as the Lord liveth is found almost exclusively in the books of which Judges is the first and 2 Kings the last, being especially frequent in the Books of Samuel. This accords with the fact of the age of the Judges and Saul being characteristically the age of vows.”—Speaker’s Commentary.

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

26. as thy soul liveth] An oath peculiar to the books of Samuel and Kings.

that stood by thee] Prayer was offered either (a) standing, as by Hannah and Abraham (Gen_18:22), cp. Mat_6:5, Mar_11:25, Luk_18:11 : (b) kneeling, as by Solomon (1Ki_8:54), and by Daniel (Dan_6:10), cp. Act_9:40; Act_20:36; Act_21:5 : (c) prostrate, as by Moses and Aaron (Num_16:22), and by our Lord (Mat_26:39).

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.

And she said, O my lord,.... According to the Targum, it is a supplication or request, I beseech thee, my lord; that is, to look upon her son, and take him under his care as his disciple or scholar, to instruct him in the law of God, and enter him into his service; to which Eli might be very backward and indifferent, and even treat it with some degree of contempt, that such a young Levite should be brought to him, when the soonest the Levites were admitted was at twenty five years of age:

as thy soul liveth, my lord; which Ben Gersom takes for the form of an oath, as if she swore to the truth of what follows by the life of the high priest; but as it was forbidden to swear by any but by the living God, by his life, it cannot be thought so good a woman as Hannah would be guilty of such a sinful and Heathenish practice; this rather is a wish or prayer for his life and health, and the continuance thereof, to bring up her son in the exercise of true religion:

I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord: by which it appears that Eli was now at the tabernacle, and in the same place he was, Sa1 1:9 when she was some years ago praying near him, at the distance of four cubits, as the Jews say: she takes no notice of his mistaking her for a drunken woman, nor of his censure on her, and the reproof he gave her; but puts him in mind only of her praying to the Lord standing near to him, which made him take the more notice of her; standing is a prayer posture; the Jews say there is no standing but what is prayer, or prayer is meant by it; See Gill on Mat 6:5.

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

As thy soul liveth - This oath is unique to the Books of Samuel, in which it occurs six times, and to the Books of Kings, in which however, it is found only once. See the note to 1Sa 1:11.

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

Liveth: a strong attestation. (Menochius) --- As sure as you live; or, may you enjoy a long and happy life. See chap. xvii. 55., and xx. 3., Daniel iii. 9., and 2 Esdras ii. 3.

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).

Oh my lord; a form of speech to engage favourable attention.

As thy soul liveth; the usual form of an oath, as Gen 42:15; 1Sa 17:55; 20:3; as surely as thou livest: which asseverations seem necessary, because this was some years after it, and was quite forgotten by him.

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

26. As thy soul liveth — A form of oath peculiar to the books of Samuel. The age of the judges was noticeably an age of vows.

I am the woman — Eli had, perhaps, forgotten her, but she had kept his words in her heart. So, often, the minister of God may utter his benediction, which, though forgotten by himself, lives in another memory, and causes untold comfort.

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

Soul liveth - As surely as thou livest. Which asseveration seems necessary, because this was some years after it.

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

When the boy was presented, his mother made herself known to the high priest as the woman who had previously prayed to the Lord at that place (see Sa1 1:11.), and said, "For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath granted me my request which I asked of Him: therefore I also make him one asked of the Lord all the days that he liveth; he is asked of the Lord." וגם אנכי: I also; et ego vicissim (Cler.). השׁאיל, to let a person ask, to grant his request, to give him what he asks (Exo 12:36), signifies here to make a person "asked" (שׁאוּל). The meaning to lend, which the lexicons give to the word both here and Exo 12:36, has no other support than the false rendering of the lxx, and is altogether unsuitable both in the one and the other. Jehovah had not lent the son to Hannah, but had given him (see Sa1 1:11); still less could a man lend his son to the Lord. The last clause of Sa1 1:28, "and he worshipped the Lord there," refers to Elkanah, qui in votum Hannae consenserat, and not to Samuel. On a superficial glance, the plural ישׁתּחווּ, which is found in some Codd., and in the Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic, appears the more suitable; but when we look more closely at the connection in which the clause stands, we see at once that it does not wind up the foregoing account, but simply introduces the closing act of the transference of Samuel. Consequently the singular is perfectly appropriate; and notwithstanding the fact that the subject is not mentioned, the allusion to Samuel is placed beyond all doubt. When Hannah had given up her son to the high priest, his father Elkanah first of all worshipped before the Lord in the sanctuary, and then Hannah worshipped in the song of praise, which follows in Sa1 2:1-10.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Oh, my master! As you live, my master

Here the idiom "As you live" shows that Hannah is being sincere and truthful. AT: "Sir, what I am going to tell you is certainly true" (See: Idiom)

has given me my petition which I asked of him

The noun "petition" refers to a formal request for another person to do something. It can be translated with a verb. The idiom "to give a petition" means to do what the person requests. AT: "has agreed to do what I solemnly requested that he do" (See: Abstract Nouns and Idiom)

he is lent to Yahweh

This can be translated in active form. AT: "I am loaning him to Yahweh" (See: Active or Passive)

he worshiped Yahweh

Possible meanings: 1) "He" refers to Elkanah or 2) "he" is a synecdoche referring to both Elkanah and his family. AT: "Elkanah and his family" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

lord

pray

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Please my lord. Take care of him, that he become your disciple. But according to the Midrash of our Sages, [she asked of Eili] not to punish him with death.

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.

Please, my lord: It is a matter of a supplication and a request - like its translation [in Targum Yonatan], "please, my master" - as you live, that you should keep your eyes upon this lad and teach him, for "I am the woman" who prayed to the Lord.

With you: Meaning to say, before you and in your presence - as you were there when I prayed. And I prayed for this lad and the Lord granted me what I asked, as you proclaimed to me. And the [letter,] hey [at the end of the word, imcha (with you)] is like the hey in (Jeremiah 29:25), "that you sent books in your name"; (Exodus 13:16) "and they will be a sign upon your hand"; and those that are similar to it. As leave it alone - sometimes it is written and sometimes it is not written. And there is a homiletical teaching about it - from here, [we learn about] the four cubits of prayer.

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.