What Does 1 Samuel 1:23 Mean?
And Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what is good in your eyes. Settle until you have weaned him. Only may the LORD make his word stand. So the woman settled and suckled her son until she weaned him.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.THE KEY
The LORD’s word is being established in the same moment that Hannah is still nourishing the child.
THE MEANING
The word is entrusted to the LORD’s establishing while the child is still receiving the care that sustains him. What is spoken can stand firm while its human bearer is still growing. The verse holds promise and nurture together in the present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a promise must be hurried into visible fulfillment to remain true: here, the child is still being weaned while the LORD’s word is entrusted to stand.
THE ROOT
יָקֵם
yaqem
GROWS FROM
קוּם
qum
To rise, stand, or come to be established.
“make his word stand” in this verse is yaqem. The Hebrew behind “establish” comes from the root for rising and standing. The LORD’s word is pictured as something brought to its feet, even as the child remains at the breast; promise and ongoing care occupy the same moment.
ALSO GROWS
qum: Rise, stand
קוּם
This is the root action behind the LORD making the word stand.
heqim: Raise up, cause to stand, establish
הֵקִים
This causative form makes clear that the word’s standing is something the LORD brings about.
maqom: Place
מָקוֹם
This noun from the same root names a place as a standing place, extending the image from standing to where one stands.
THE PATTERN
God’s purposes can be present while their human bearers are still growing through ordinary care.
And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Lead this child away, and suckle him for me, and I will give you your wages. And the woman took the child, and suckled him.And the child grew, and grew strong in breath, being filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.THE THREAD
And God said, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall call his name Isaac, he will laugh. I will make my covenant stand with him, for a covenant of the ages, and with his seed after him.“Establish” in both verses comes from קוּם (qum), “rise, stand.” Genesis speaks of God establishing a covenant; here, Elkanah entrusts the LORD to establish his word, as the child is still being nursed and weaned.
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