What Does 1 Samuel 2:21 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The LORD’s “visit” is active attention that becomes life, and that life keeps growing in the same presence.
THE MEANING
This verse meets the reader with divine attention that has consequences in Hannah’s life: she conceives, and Samuel continues to grow before the LORD. The gift does not end at its arrival; its life unfolds within the presence that attends it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that fulfillment is a single finished moment: the life that arrives continues to grow before the LORD.
THE ROOT
פָּקַד
pāqad
GROWS FROM
פקד
The root פ־ק־ד (p-q-d; pāqad) carries the sense of attending to, taking account of, or mustering.
“visited” in this verse is pāqad. The verb פָּקַד (pāqad, to attend to or visit) holds more than the idea of appearing briefly: it can name active regard. Here that regard is made visible in Hannah’s conception, while Samuel’s growth continues before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
pāqīd: An officer or overseer.
פָּקִיד
This related noun carries the sense of oversight, showing the root’s link between attention and responsibility.
mifqād: A muster or numbering.
מִפְקָד
A muster takes account of those gathered; this branch shows how the root can hold the idea of actively attending to what is present.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s visitation is active regard that brings consequential change into view.
And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,THE THREAD
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?Psalm 8:4 uses the same Hebrew verb פקד (pāqad, attend to or visit) when asking why God attends to humanity. Here that wide attention is shown in Hannah’s life as conception and Samuel’s continued growth.
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