Though the Hebrew is literally “But Hannah answered and said,” in the interest of English style, Good News Translation substitutes the pronoun “she” for the name Hannah and omits the words “and said.”

My lord is a common biblical term expressing politeness. It should be rendered by an equally common and equally polite term in the receptor language. Like Good News Translation, Revised English Bible and New Century Version also use the English equivalent “sir.” Whether such a term is placed at the beginning of the address or later will depend on what is natural in the receptor language.

I am a woman sorely troubled: literally “a woman heavy [or, difficult] of spirit [am] I.” The sense is not so much that she was “desperate” (so Good News Translation) but that she was “a very unhappy woman” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “a heart-broken woman” (Revised English Bible). New American Bible (“an unhappy woman”) is similar to the New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translation, but “very unhappy” or “feel miserable” (Contemporary English Version) seem to capture better the force of the Hebrew.

I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink is a literal translation. Strong drink translates the noun form of a verb that means “be or become drunk,” and in Hebrew the noun refers to an intoxicating drink. Such strong drinks were made from either grains or fruits, and most likely they were fermented drinks rather than distilled liquors. The Hebrew word is therefore better translated as “beer” (New International Version) than as “liquor” (New American Bible). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh appropriately inserts the word “other,” that is, “I have drunk no wine or other strong drink.” Some common language translations compress the two Hebrew nouns wine and strong drink and say simply “I haven’t been drinking” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant).

But I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD is a literal translation. The Hebrew word translated soul has a wide range of meanings. It may refer to the center of spiritual and physical needs and desires. It may also refer to the seat of emotions and experiences such as sadness, grief, pain, distress, and anxiety. In this context “pouring out my troubles” (Good News Translation, New American Bible) is an appropriate translation. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh’s “pouring out my heart” also expresses in contemporary English the meaning of the Hebrew, as does the expression “pouring out my feelings” (Revised English Bible).

As in verse 12 above, before the LORD (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Fox) is a literal translation of a common Hebrew expression. While the word before indicates location, the meaning is that the speaker is in the presence of the person being addressed and is capable of being heard. Many translations say “to the LORD” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Bible en français courant).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .