John Gill Commentary


John Gill Commentary
"And it came to pass, when the time was come about, that Hannah conceived, and bare a son; and she called his name Samuel, [saying], Because I have asked him of Jehovah." — 1 Samuel 1:20 (ASV)
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about, after
Hannah had conceived
Or, "at the revolutions of days" F2; that is, at the end of a year, a complete year, as Ben Melech states, from their return from Shiloh. It might be some time after their return that she conceived. Or rather, the sense is that it was at nine months' end, the usual time of a woman's going with child from her conception, which is the date given here:
that she bore a son :
was brought to bed of a son:
and called his name Samuel, [saying], because I have asked him of the
Lord ;
one would think rather his name should have been Saul, for the reason given; but, as Ben Gersom observes, givers of names are not always grammatically strict and critical in them, or in the etymology of them, as in the names of Reuben and Noah, in which he instances; and this may be the rather overlooked in a woman, than in a man of learning. According to Kimchi, it is as if it was Saulmeel; that is, "asked of God", and by contraction Samuel; but Hillerus F3 gives a better account of this name, and takes it to be composed of Saul-mul-el, "asked before God", "in the sight of God", "before the ark of God". This name Hannah gave her son (for sometimes the father, and sometimes the mother, gave the name) in memory of the wonderful favor and goodness of God in granting her request. This was also to impress her own mind with a sense of the obligation she lay under to perform her vow, and to engage her son the more readily to give up himself to the service of God, when he reflected on his name, and the reason of it.