1 Samuel 2:19
in 1 Samuel 2Each year his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
KJV
Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 2
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A little coat - The robe of the ephod was also one of the garments worn by the High Priest (see Exo 28:31 note).
This site's exposition
a boy wearing a linen ephod
on 1 Samuel 2:18-21
Samuel serves “wearing a linen ephod”, priestly dress on a child, and his mother's yearly “little robe” measures her love in cloth and years. Eli asks the LORD to repay Hannah for the child she gave, and verse 21 answers at once: “she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters”. The barren woman of verse 5 now bears in fact as well as in song.
This site's exposition
Each year his mother would make him a little robe
Adam Clarke takes the little robe as an upper garment to keep the boy warm, made new each year. Albert Barnes notes that the same word names the robe of the ephod worn by the high priest in Exodus 28:31. Hannah kept clothing the son she had given.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church4 voices
And his mother made for him a little tunic. The Lord assumed not only a chaste and free from all sin, but also an entirely humble flesh, which the Church makes for Him, or whoever believes Him rightly and most wholesomely such, or because the …
Which he offered on the appointed days, etc. And the Church, never deserted by Christ, whom it has with it in secret all the days until the end of the age, ascending on the solemn days of the Mass to sacrifice, carries with it the …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 2 · Written before 604.
proposed
10. To offer a sacrifice of the Holy Church is to kindle the hearts of one's hearers in love of the Creator through the words of preaching. At that time, therefore, a small garment is said to have been brought to Samuel, because while he was still advancing through the growth of his newness, he received from the Church tokens of righteousness suited to his smallness, with whose splendor he might shine. There follows: (Verse 20.)
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 3 · Written before 604.
proposed
To this boy indeed his mother, ascending with her husband to sacrifice the solemn offering, is said to have brought a small tunic. The mother indeed ascends with her husband when the mind of the preacher raises itself through the foreknowledge of the interior spouse to contemplate those sublime joys of eternity. Then indeed she sacrifices the solemn offering, because while she is joined to the Creator through the ineffable sweetness of that love, a festive devotion is presented at the heavenly altars. And then indeed she brings a small tunic, because even if through the great grace of interior visitation the soul of the pastor is lifted up to heavenly things, nevertheless he ought to impose the precepts of conduct upon the little one not according to the measure of his own subtlety, but according to their strength. Hence also Moses, returning from the mountain in the immense splendor of his countenance, veiled his face so that the people might be able to direct their gaze upon him (Exod. 34:33). Therefore let her who is a spiritual mother bring a small tunic to her son, so that she may prescribe to the little ones still certain beginnings and plain things, and not impose upon them the burden of her own strength. For often those who can conquer the enemy through lesser works fall amid great ones. Hence also David, advancing into battle against the mightiest of the Philistines, laid aside the breastplate, shield, and all military equipment; and he who could not wield himself against the enemy under their weight struck him down with a single stone from a sling (1 Sam. 17:39, 40 ff.). That mother had ascended to sacrifice the solemn offering, who said: "I know such a man, who was caught up into paradise" (2 Cor. 12:4). […]
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
We may suppose they went thither to see their child oftener than once a year, for it was not ten miles from Ramah; but their annual visit is taken notice of because then they brought their yearly sacrifice, and then Hannah fitted up her son (and some think oftener than once a year) with a new suit of clothes, a little coat (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Moreover, his mother made him a little coat,....
Parents must take care that their children want nothing that is fit for them, whether they are with them or from them; but those that are dutiful and hopeful, and minister to the Lord, must be thought worthy of double care and kindness.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Made him a little coat - מעיל קטן meil katon, a little cloak, or surtout, an upper garment: probably intended to keep him from the cold, and to save his other clothes from being abused in his meaner services. It is probable that she furnished him with a new one each year, when she came up to one of the annual sacrifices.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמְעִ֤יל | umeil | and a robe | H4598 → | 28 times |
| קָטֹן֙ | katon | small | H6996 → | 101 times |
| תַּעֲשֶׂה־ | taaseh- | she made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לּ֣וֹ | lo | for <the> him | ||
| אִמּ֔וֹ | ʾimo | mother his | H517 → | 220 times |
| וְהַעַלְתָ֥ה | vehaaltah | and she brought it up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| מִיָּמִ֣ים׀ | miyamim | from days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| יָמִ֑ימָה | yamimah | days towards | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| בַּֽעֲלוֹתָהּ֙ | baalotah | when went up she | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| אִישָׁ֔הּ | ʾishah | husband her | H376 → | 1663 times |
| לִזְבֹּ֖חַ | lizboach | to sacrifice | H2076 → | 134 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זֶ֥בַח | zevach | [the] sacrifice of | H2077 → | 162 times |
| הַיָּמִֽים׃ | haiyamim | the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
וּמְעִ֤ילand a robe
umeilH4598 →28 times
קָטֹן֙small
katonH6996 →101 times
תַּעֲשֶׂה־she made
taaseh-H6213 →2628 times
לּ֣וֹfor <the> him
lo
אִמּ֔וֹmother his
ʾimoH517 →220 times
וְהַעַלְתָ֥הand she brought it up
vehaaltahH5927 →890 times
ל֖וֹto <the> him
lo
מִיָּמִ֣ים׀from days
miyamimH3117 →2304 times
יָמִ֑ימָהdays towards
yamimahH3117 →2304 times
בַּֽעֲלוֹתָהּ֙when went up she
baalotahH5927 →890 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
אִישָׁ֔הּhusband her
ʾishahH376 →1663 times
לִזְבֹּ֖חַto sacrifice
lizboachH2076 →134 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זֶ֥בַח[the] sacrifice of
zevachH2077 →162 times
הַיָּמִֽים׃the days
haiyamimH3117 →2304 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 1:3Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD.
it leads to
- Luke 2:41
Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.
- Deuteronomy 12:5–7
Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- Joshua 18:1
Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,
- Exodus 34:23
Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
- Exodus 23:14
Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.
- Luke 2:41
Through
1 Samuel 1:21Then Elkanah and all his house went up to make the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow,
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 1:3
Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 12:11
then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all…
- 1 Samuel 1:3
Through
Exodus 23:14Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:16
Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast…
- Deuteronomy 16:16
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Samuel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 2; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
