1 Samuel 4:20
in 1 Samuel 4As she was dying, the women attending to her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay any heed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast brought forth a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
KJV
And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseLet us read the Scriptures, and we will never find that holy women, except Rachel, gave birth with pain: because she was on the way and in the hippodrome, that is, in the race of horses, which are sold in Egypt, she gave birth to a son of pain, whom later the father called the son of his right hand. Eve, expelled from paradise and hearing: "In pain you will bring forth children," is said to have given birth in pain.
This site's exposition
the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant
on 1 Samuel 4:19-20
Phinehas's wife goes into labor at the news, and the verse names “the capture of God’s ark” before the deaths of her father-in-law and husband. When the women tell her she has borne a son, “she did not respond or pay any heed”, her grief swallowing the comfort of new life. The narrator gives her no name, only her relation to Phinehas, and lets her silence carry the weight.
This site's exposition
As she was dying
The women offer the one comfort they have. A living son means nothing to her beside the ark, and John Wesley observed that no earthly joy keeps its taste at death. Jerome set this birth beside Rachel's, a son born in pain on the road.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Their priests fell by the sword and their widows were not mourned." We read that during the captivity the sons of the priest Eli were put to the sword by the foreigners. The wife of one of them thus widowed suddenly gave birth and prematurely …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2 · Written before 604.
proposed
26. But who was the daughter-in-law of Eli, if not the people of the Jews, subject to reprobate priests? Because she had received the seeds of unbelief in her mind through their preaching, she was pregnant. And because she was also thinking of pouring forth the malice she had conceived, she is said to have been not only pregnant but also near to giving birth. But what does it mean that, upon hearing of the capture of the ark and the death of her father-in-law and her husband, she is said to have given birth, except that the remnant of the Jewish people, when it recognizes that the spiritual mysteries of the Scriptures have passed over to the instruction of the Gentiles, when it now sees that the wise men of the Synagogue have perished along with both priesthoods, does not cease to pour forth by speaking the seeds of its heresy, which it had conceived? For her to give birth is to disclose to others by speaking the depravity she had conceived. And because she preaches reprobate things, while she is said to give birth, she is recorded as having bent over. For those who speak of heavenly things give birth, as it were, without bending over, because in the standing posture of faith they raise the hearts of their hearers to the pursuit of good works. She, therefore, who asserts crooked things gives birth bent over, because indeed by her speaking she brings it about that the more intently she speaks, the more deeply she is cast down into the abyss of her own damnation. Rightly, therefore, while she is bent over in giving birth, she is said to die. For she dies in giving birth, because she is condemned in the guilt of her blasphemy. And because she does not foresee the torments of her death, sudden pains are said to rush upon her. For sudden pains are the unexpected afflictions of death coming without foresight. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
None but spiritual joy will stand us in stead then. Death admits not the relish of any earthly joy: it is then all flat and tasteless. What is it to one that is lamenting the loss of the ark?
And about the time of her death,....
Perhaps it is meant of his prophecy against the house of Eli. This was generally known and talked of, and all that were serious and observing compared the events here related, when they came to pass, with the prophecy, and saw it accomplished in them.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
But she answered not - She paid no attention to what the women had said concerning her having borne a son; that information she regarded not.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּכְעֵ֣ת | ukheet | and about [the] time of | H6256 → | 296 times |
| מוּתָ֗הּ | mutah | dying she | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וַתְּדַבֵּ֙רְנָה֙ | vatedaberenah | and they spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| הַנִּצָּב֣וֹת | hanitzavot | those [who] were standing | H5324 → | 75 times |
| עָלֶ֔יהָ | ʾaleiha | over her | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּֽירְאִ֖י | tiri | you be afraid | H3372 → | 315 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בֵ֣ן | ven | a son | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יָלָ֑דְתְּ | yaladet | you have borne | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָנְתָ֖ה | ʾanetah | she answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁ֥תָה | shatah | she set | H7896 → | |
| לִבָּֽהּ׃ | libah | heart her | H3820 → | 595 times |
וּכְעֵ֣תand about [the] time of
ukheetH6256 →296 times
מוּתָ֗הּdying she
mutahH4191 →839 times
וַתְּדַבֵּ֙רְנָה֙and they spoke
vatedaberenahH1696 →1141 times
הַנִּצָּב֣וֹתthose [who] were standing
hanitzavotH5324 →75 times
עָלֶ֔יהָover her
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּֽירְאִ֖יyou be afraid
tiriH3372 →315 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
בֵ֣ןa son
venH1121 →4930 times
יָלָ֑דְתְּyou have borne
yaladetH3205 →496 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
עָנְתָ֖הshe answered
ʾanetahH6030 →331 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁ֥תָהshe set
shatahH7896 →
לִבָּֽהּ׃heart her
libahH3820 →595 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
Psalms 77:2In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted.
it leads to
- Psalms 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- Isaiah 26:9
My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
- Isaiah 26:16
O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.
- Genesis 37:35
All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
- Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His…
- Psalms 50:15
Through
John 16:21A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the…
it leads to
- Psalms 113:9
He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother to her children. Hallelujah!
- Isaiah 13:8
Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.
- Jeremiah 30:6–7
Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?
- Psalms 113:9
Where this verse is studied
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About 1 Samuel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 77.64; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2; Jerome, COMMENTARY ON MICAH 2.4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
