Hannah Dedicates Samuel

The following is a stained glass window from the Three choir windows in the Marienkirche, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, of the 14th century, depicting Hannah’s dedication of Samuel:

Source: Der gläserne Schatz: Die Bilderbibel der St. Marienkirche in Frankfurt (Oder), Neuer Berlin Verlag, 2005, copyright for this image: Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

See also other stained glass windows from the Marienkirche in Frankfurt.

complete verse (1 Samuel 1:25)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 1:25:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then that bullock was slaughtered and sacrifices burnt to God, after that they handed over that child to Eli.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then they killed the bull, and the child they took along to Eli’s place.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “After the bull was-butchered they brought Samuel to Eli.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “After the priest had slaughtered the bull and offered it to Yahweh on the altar, Hannah and Elkanah brought the boy to Eli.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 1:25

Two events are mentioned in the Hebrew text. Good News Translation shows the logical time relationship between the two events by saying “After they had killed the bull….”

They slew the bull: the antecedent of the pronoun they is not clear in Hebrew, since Hannah has been the subject of the verbs in the previous verse. Are the agents the temple attendants? Samuel’s parents? Quite possibly the referent is intentionally vague, meaning some unknown persons.

The Septuagint has a longer text for this verse that reads as follows: “They led him before the Lord, and his father burned the victim which he offered each year to the Lord, and he led the child, and he [the father] burned the bull. And Hannah his mother led the child to Eli.” New American Bible, based on a suggested change in the Hebrew text under the influence of the Septuagint, reads “After the boy’s father had sacrificed the young bull, Hannah his mother approached Eli.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommends that translators follow the Masoretic Text here (see the comments on verse 24). So in languages that freely use passive verb forms, it will be possible to say “When the bull had been killed, the child was brought to Eli.” But in other languages the third person plural pronoun “they” is used for indefinite reference, so a more literal rendering will be acceptable.

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 .