1 Samuel 2:18–2:21, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
1 Samuel 2:18–2:21
Samuel grows under Hannah's continuing care
Samuel ministers in a linen ephod, Hannah brings him a coat each year, Eli blesses the parents, and Hannah later bears five more children while Samuel grows before the LORD.
Why this sits here
1 Samuel 2:11–2:17 establishes the preceding pressure: Samuel serves at Shiloh while Hophni and Phinehas seize sacrificial meat before the prescribed portion and threaten worshipers with force, causing people to despise the offering. 1 Samuel 2:18–2:21 continues the narrative consequence; that demonstrated relationship, rather than sequence alone, explains why the unit belongs here.
At the opening, the text contrasts the sons with Samuel's child service in a linen ephod. By the close, it reports Hannah's later children while Samuel continues growing before the LORD. The unit therefore moves from “But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod” to “And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the….”
What the author is communicating
Why this reading fits
Ethical boundary
Samuel's service does not erase his dependence as a child, make family separation painless, or teach that faithful giving guarantees replacement children.
A phrase that matters
little coat
See the cited Masoretic Hebrew record
In 1 Samuel 2:18–2:21, “little coat” carries a wording claim that must remain distinct from this overreach: Samuel's service does not erase his dependence as a child, make family separation painless, or teach that faithful giving guarantees replacement children.
How this should shape us
What accountable response follows?
Protect a child's safety, development, voice, and continuing relationships when adults make religious or family commitments; devotion must not erase a child's personhood or practical needs. Samuel's service does not erase his dependence as a child, make family separation painless, or teach that faithful giving guarantees replacement children.
Teach it back
Explain 1 Samuel 2:18–2:21 in your own words, including its movement, one source-controlled detail, one uncertainty, one affected person, and one misuse the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Narrative movement
Samuel ministers in a linen ephod, Hannah brings him a coat each year, Eli blesses the parents, and Hannah later bears five more children while Samuel grows before the LORD.
Language control
Hannah's yearly garment keeps her continuing care visible after Samuel's dedication.
Ethical boundary
Samuel's service does not erase his dependence as a child, make family separation painless, or teach that faithful giving guarantees replacement children.
Original-language wording and grammarTechnical detail appears only where it helps
little coat
Hannah's yearly garment keeps her continuing care visible after Samuel's dedication.
How certain? probableWhat the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
Ancient setting and recoverable limits
Samuel ministers in a linen ephod, Hannah brings him a coat each year, Eli blesses the parents, and Hannah later bears five more children while Samuel grows before the LORD. Historical and social reconstruction remains limited by the received narrative, textual plurality, and selective comparative evidence; no source proves every speech, motive, number, miracle, or theological explanation.
How certain? probableWhy translations sometimes differMaterial translation choices
KJV language and material alternatives
The KJV expression “little coat” is read with the Masoretic wording and the inspected NET notes. Hannah's yearly garment keeps her continuing care visible after Samuel's dedication. Material textual differences remain visible where they affect the unit.
How certain? probableEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Torah, Judges, Samuel-Kings, and Jewish reading
Judges, Torah, and the continuing Samuel-Kings narrative provide the nearest literary and theological horizon; their ancient peoples and conflicts must not be flattened into modern labels.
How certain? strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
Responsible canonical connections
Later biblical reception may compare monarchy, anointing, lament, covenant, and kingship only after this unit's own ancient setting and literary work are established.
How certain? probableTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
Textual and reconstruction limits
The narrative's positive contrast with Eli's sons is clear, while the practical shape of Samuel's childhood service remains largely unstated.
How certain? probableWhere careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful readers disagree?
Best judgment: The narrative's positive contrast with Eli's sons is clear, while the practical shape of Samuel's childhood service remains largely unstated.
How certain? probableTheology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
The received narrative joins divine judgment or mercy with accountable human action: Samuel ministers in a linen ephod, Hannah brings him a coat each year, Eli blesses the parents, and Hannah later bears five more children while Samuel grows before the LORD.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
Within 1 Samuel's received movement from Shiloh through contested monarchy to Gilboa, Samuel ministers in a linen ephod, Hannah brings him a coat each year, Eli blesses the parents, and Hannah later bears five more children while Samuel grows before the LORD.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
Samuel's service does not erase his dependence as a child, make family separation painless, or teach that faithful giving guarantees replacement children.
A vivid line from 1 Samuel 2:18–2:21 can be detached from its speaker, literary form, ancient power, affected people, material uncertainty, and later qualification.
The unit communicates this claim: Samuel grows under Hannah's continuing care. The wording “little coat” supplies this passage-specific control: Hannah's yearly garment keeps her continuing care visible after Samuel's dedication.
The enduring claim is contextual rather than triumphal: Samuel ministers in a linen ephod, Hannah brings him a coat each year, Eli blesses the parents, and Hannah later bears five more children while Samuel grows before the LORD. Samuel's service does not erase his dependence as a child, make family separation painless, or teach that faithful giving guarantees replacement children.
The text-supported movement remains: Samuel ministers in a linen ephod, Hannah brings him a coat each year, Eli blesses the parents, and Hannah later bears five more children while Samuel grows before the LORD.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
1 Samuel 2:18–2:21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology, with the two KJV-Hebrew versification shifts stated rather than silently offset.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Sam.xml, OSIS 2:18–2:21; KJV 20:42 spans Hebrew 20:42–21:1, KJV 21:1–15 maps to Hebrew 21:2–16, KJV 23:29 maps to Hebrew 24:1, and KJV 24:1–22 maps to Hebrew 24:2–23
Supports: Only the translator notes actually printed for these verses, used for lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and older-English controls.
NET Bible First Edition Notes, 1 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 504–543, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 2:18–2:21
Supports: One relatively early integrated/two-edition account of composition, structure, and historiographic value, retained as a contested model.
Garsiel, JHS 10.5 (2010), pp. 1–42, named structural or composition discussion covering the movement that includes 1 Samuel 2:18–2:21
Supports: Only the publisher-visible book architecture and theological scope; the paywalled body is not treated as inspected.
Goldingay, The Theology of the Book of Samuel (2024), official frontmatter and TOC: 1 Samuel 1:1–4:1a, pp. 14–49
Supports: Publisher-visible alternative framing of Israelite state formation, early monarchy, history, and biblical historiography; paywalled detail is not attributed.
Dietrich, Oxford Handbook of the Historical Books (2020), pp. 94–108, official abstract and page range
Supports: One literary, ethical, and political account of divine and human violence; publisher-visible scope does not establish consensus.
Gilmour, Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel (2021/2022), official abstract and TOC: relevant discussion for 1 Samuel 2:18–2:21, including 1 Samuel 12 pp. 71–81, Saul's rejection pp. 90–139, Eli's house pp. 140–150, or ark violence pp. 154–185 as applicable
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Exact location: 1 Samuel 2:18–2:21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology, with the two KJV-Hebrew versification shifts stated rather than silently offset.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Sam.xml, OSIS 2:18–2:21; KJV 20:42 spans Hebrew 20:42–21:1, KJV 21:1–15 maps to Hebrew 21:2–16, KJV 23:29 maps to Hebrew 24:1, and KJV 24:1–22 maps to Hebrew 24:2–23
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: 1 Samuel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only the translator notes actually printed for these verses, used for lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and older-English controls.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Notes, 1 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 504–543, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 2:18–2:21
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access scholarly article
The Book of Samuel: Its Composition, Structure and Significance as a Historiographical Source
Moshe Garsiel
The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 10.5, 2010
Supports: One relatively early integrated/two-edition account of composition, structure, and historiographic value, retained as a contested model.
Exact location: Garsiel, JHS 10.5 (2010), pp. 1–42, named structural or composition discussion covering the movement that includes 1 Samuel 2:18–2:21
Open source ↗scholarly monograph frontmatter and table of contents
The Theology of the Book of Samuel
John Goldingay
Cambridge University Press, 2024
Supports: Only the publisher-visible book architecture and theological scope; the paywalled body is not treated as inspected.
Exact location: Goldingay, The Theology of the Book of Samuel (2024), official frontmatter and TOC: 1 Samuel 1:1–4:1a, pp. 14–49
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Israelite State Formation and Early Monarchy in History and Biblical Historiography
Walter Dietrich
The Oxford Handbook of the Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible, 2020
Supports: Publisher-visible alternative framing of Israelite state formation, early monarchy, history, and biblical historiography; paywalled detail is not attributed.
Exact location: Dietrich, Oxford Handbook of the Historical Books (2020), pp. 94–108, official abstract and page range
Open source ↗scholarly monograph abstract and contents
Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel
Rachelle Gilmour
Oxford University Press, 2021 online; 2022 print
Supports: One literary, ethical, and political account of divine and human violence; publisher-visible scope does not establish consensus.
Exact location: Gilmour, Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel (2021/2022), official abstract and TOC: relevant discussion for 1 Samuel 2:18–2:21, including 1 Samuel 12 pp. 71–81, Saul's rejection pp. 90–139, Eli's house pp. 140–150, or ark violence pp. 154–185 as applicable
Open source ↗