1 Samuel 1:1

1 Samuel 1:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim–zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:
• English Standard Version (ESV)There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
• New Living Translation (NLT)There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim.

Context of 1 Samuel 1:1

There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. 3Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:1 word by word

וַיְהִי֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶחָ֜ד מִן־הָרָמָתַ֛יִם צוֹפִ֖ים מֵהַ֣ר אֶפְרָ֑יִם וּשְׁמ֡וֹ אֶ֠לְקָנָה בֶּן־יְרֹחָ֧ם בֶּן־אֱלִיה֛וּא בֶּן־תֹּ֥חוּ בֶן־צ֖וּף אֶפְרָתִֽי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Now there was a certainאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• of Ramathaim–zophimרָמָתַיִם צוֹפִיםrâmâthayim tsôphîym · Ramathaim-zophimH7436
• of mountהַרhar · mountain: hill countryH2022
• Ephraimאֶפְרַ֫יִם'ephrayim · EphraimH669
• and his nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• Elkanahאֶלְקָנָה'elqânâh · ElkanahH511
• the sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• of Jerohamיְרֹחָםyerôchâm · JerohamH3395
• of Elihuאֱלִיהוּ'ĕlîyhû 'ĕlîyhû' · ElihuH453
• of Tohuתֹּחוּtôchû · TohuH8459
• of Zuphצוּףtsûph tsôphay tsîyph · ZuphH6689
• an Ephrathiteאֶפְרָתִי'ephrâthîy · EphraimiteH673

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 1:1

• 1 Samuel 1:4Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.
• 1 Samuel 1:9Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house.
• 1 Samuel 1:12As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth.
• 1 Samuel 1:19Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.
• 1 Samuel 1:24After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.
• Matthew 27:57As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.
• Judges 17:1Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim
• Judges 19:1In those days Israel had no king. Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
• 1 Chronicles 6:25The descendants of Elkanah: Amasai, Ahimoth,
• 1 Samuel 9:5When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”
• 1 Samuel 17:12Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old.
• Judges 12:5The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he replied, “No,”
• Ruth 1:2The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
• 1 Kings 11:26Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 1:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Ramathaim-zophim - Literally, the two high places of the watchman; these were, no doubt, two contiguous hills, on which watchtowers were built, and in which watchmen kept continual guard for the safety of the country and which afterwards gave name to the place.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Ramathaim-zophim may signify “the two hills 1 Samuel 9:11-13 of the watchmen,” so called from its being a post from which the watchmen looked out. But since Zuph is the name of the head of the family, it is more probable that Zophin means the Zuphites, the sons of Zuph (see Zophai, 1 Chronicles 6:26), from whom the land about Ramah was called “the land of Zuph,” 1 Samuel 9:5. There is reason to believe that Elkanah - an Ephrathite, or inhabitant of…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1In this book we have an account of Eli, and the wickedness of his sons; also of Samuel, his character and actions. Then of the advancement of Saul to be the king of Israel, and his ill behaviour, until his death made way for David's succession to the throne, who was an eminent type of Christ. David's patience, modesty, constancy, persecution by open enemies and feigned friends, are a pattern and example to the church, and to every member of it. Many…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Elkanah was a Levite (a member of the tribe of Levi) (1 Chronicles 6:22–27). After the Israelites conquered the promised land, the Levites received towns in other tribes' territories, including Ephraim (Joshua 21:20). Elkanah's hometown was Ramah (1 Samuel 2:11). Do not confuse this Ramah with the one in the land of Benjamin (see Joshua 18:25; Judges 19:13; Matthew 2:18). The region of Zuph got its name from one of Elkanah's ancestors, a Levite from the…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-8Commentary by Robert Jamieson 1Sa 1:1-8. Of Elkanah and His Two Wives. 1-2. a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim--The first word being in the dual number, signifies the double city--the old and new town of Ramah (1Sa 1:19). There were five cities of this name, all on high ground. This city had the addition of Zophim attached to it, because it was founded by Zuph, "an Ephrathite," that is a native of Ephratha. Beth-lehem, and the expression "of…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Samuel 1:1

• Eliab
• Elihu
• Elkanah
• Hannah
• Jeroham
• Nahath
• Ramah
• Zophim
• Zuph

In the dictionaries

• Ephraim
• Ephraim, Ephraimite
• Mount Ephraim
• Ramathaim-Zophim
• Arimathea
• Bitterness
• Elihu
• Elkanah
• Hannah
• Jeroham

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings