Elkanah made the trip to Shiloh each year (verse 3). Since the text implies that a year had passed since the previous visit to Shiloh, the common Hebrew conjunction may be translated in such a way as to indicate the passage of time. In some languages the most natural way to begin this verse may be to say “The next time….”
The man Elkanah and all his house: the Hebrew word translated as the man may also mean “the husband” (so New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Osty-Trinquet). Other translations, understanding the word to mean “the man” in this verse, simply leave it untranslated (so Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Revised English Bible). Whether translated as “the man,” “the husband,” or left untranslated, the meaning is essentially the same.
The Hebrew word his house has here, as often in the Old Testament, an extended meaning and may be translated as “his family” (Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Bible en français courant) or his “household” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, La Bible Pléiade). The Hebrew household was more extensive than a modern household in the Western world. It could include the husband, wives, concubines, children, and their spouses and children, close relatives, slaves, and even foreigners living with the family.
Went up: see the comments on this verb in verse 3 above. In this context it may be necessary to add the word “again” to the verb, since this was not the first time this had happened. But this will depend on what kind of transition word is used at the beginning of the verse. Also, it may be helpful to readers in certain languages to supply the implied information about where Elkanah and his family were going. Good News Translation may serve as a useful model as it adds the words “to Shiloh.”
Yearly: literally “of days,” as also in 2.19 and 20.6.
To pay his vow: the Hebrew is literally “and his vow,” the words to pay being added to complete the sense. The exact nature of the vow is not known. Possibly it was a “thank offering” (so Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente; see Lev 7.11-15). More likely it was a votive offering in fulfillment of a vow that he or his wife had made to God (see Lev 17.16). Elkanah was not going to Shiloh to make the vow but rather to offer the sacrifice that he had earlier promised to God in return for some favor. That is why Good News Translation and Bible en français courant say “to offer the special sacrifice he had promised.” Other translations add other words such as “to carry out” (Osty-Trinquet) or “to fulfill,” in order to indicate that he was doing what was necessary to complete the vow that he had made.
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 .