Verses 27 and 28 contain a play on words that cannot usually be captured in translation. The words my petition (27), I made (27), I have lent him (28), and he is lent (28) all come from the same root, meaning “to ask” or “to request” and, in some forms, “to lend.” Osty-Trinquet attempted to capture the wordplay as follows: “It was for this child that I was praying, and Yahweh granted me the request that I requested of him. For my part, I yield him to [the request of] Yahweh; all the days that he will live, he will be yielded to [the request of] Yahweh.” La Bible Pléiade and Fox have similarly tried to preserve the play on words. Most translators, however, will probably find it best not to try to maintain the wordplay.

The word order of the Hebrew gives prominence to this child. If possible the sense of this emphatic position should be maintained in translation. Certain modern versions seek to do so by saying “It was this boy that I prayed for” (Revised English Bible); “this is the child for which I was praying” (New Jerusalem Bible).

The LORD has granted me my petition is an allusion to the petition that Eli mentions in 1.17. Some translators may render this expression as “the LORD has answered this prayer of mine” or “the LORD has given me what I asked for.”

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 .