1 Samuel 2:11

Contemporary English Version

Elkanah and Hannah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed to help Eli serve the Lord .

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the Lord in the presence of the priest Eli.

Hebrew Names Version
Elkana went to Ramah to his house. The child did minister to the LORD before `Eli the Kohen.

King James Version
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest.

Lexham English Bible
Then Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house. Now the boy was serving Yahweh in the presence of Eli the priest.

English Standard Version
Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

New Century Version
Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy continued to serve the Lord under Eli the priest.

New English Translation
Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of Eli the priest.

Amplified Bible
Elkanah [and his wife Hannah] returned to Ramah to his house. But the child [Samuel] served the LORD under the guidance of Eli the priest.

New American Standard Bible
Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the boy continued to attend to the service of the LORD before Eli the priest.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house, and the childe did minister vnto the Lord before Eli the Priest.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the young boy ministered to Yahweh before Eli the priest.

Complete Jewish Bible
Elkanah went home to Ramah, while the child began ministering to Adonai under the direction of ‘Eli the cohen.

Darby Translation
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the boy ministered to Jehovah in the presence of Eli the priest.

Easy-to-Read Version
Elkanah and his family went home to Ramah, but the boy stayed in Shiloh and served the Lord under Eli the priest.

George Lamsa Translation
And Hilkanah and his wife Hannah returned to Ramtha to his house. And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

Good News Translation
Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed in Shiloh and served the Lord under the priest Eli.

Literal Translation
And Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house. And the child served Jehovah before Eli the priest.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Elcana wente his waye to Ramath vnto his house. And the childe became the LORDES mynister before Eli the prest.

American Standard Version
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto Jehovah before Eli the priest.

Bible in Basic English
Then Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child became the servant of the Lord under the direction of Eli the priest.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Elkana went to Ramath to his house, and the lad dyd minister vnto the Lorde before Eli the priest.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest.

King James Version (1611)
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house, and the child did minister vnto the Lord before Eli the Priest.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and departed to Armathaim: and the child ministered in the presence of the Lord before Heli the priest.

English Revised Version
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the LORD before Eli the priest.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Helcana yede in to Ramatha, in to his hows; forsothe the child was seruaunt in the siyt of the Lord bifor the face of Ely the preest.

Young's Literal Translation
And Elkanah goeth to Ramath, unto his house, and the youth hath been serving Jehovah, [in] the presence of Eli the priest;

Update Bible Version
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the lad was ministering to Yahweh before Eli the priest.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

World English Bible
Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child did minister to Yahweh before Eli the priest.

New King James Version
Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

New Living Translation
Then Elkanah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy served the Lord by assisting Eli the priest.

New Life Bible
Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy served the Lord with Eli the religious leader.

New Revised Standard
Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, while the boy remained to minister to the Lord , in the presence of the priest Eli.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then went Elkanah to Ramah, unto his own house, - but, the boy, remained ministering unto Yahweh, before Eli the priest.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Elcana went to Ramatha, to his house: but the child ministered in the sight of the Lord before the face of Heli the priest.

Revised Standard Version
Then Elka'nah went home to Ramah. And the boy ministered to the LORD, in the presence of Eli the priest.

THE MESSAGE
Elkanah went home to Ramah. The boy stayed and served God in the company of Eli the priest.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the boy ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

Contextual Overview

¹¹ Elkanah and Hannah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed to help Eli serve the Lord . ¹²Eli's sons were priests, but they were dishonest and refused to obey the Lord . So, while people were boiling the meat from their sacrifices, these priests would send over a servant with a large, three-pronged fork. ¹⁴ The servant would stick the fork into the cooking pot, and whatever meat came out on the fork was taken back to the priests. That is how these two priests treated every Israelite who came to offer sacrifices in Shiloh. ¹⁵ Sometimes, when people were offering sacrifices, the servant would come over, even before the fat had been cut off and sacrificed to the Lord . Then the servant would tell them, "The priest doesn't want his meat boiled! Give him some raw meat that he can roast!" ¹⁶ Usually the people answered, "Take what you want. But first, let us sacrifice the fat to the Lord ." "No," the servant would reply. "If you don't give it to me now, I'll take it by force." ¹⁷ Eli's sons did not show any respect for the sacrifices that the people offered. This was a terrible sin, and it made the Lord very angry. ¹⁸ The boy Samuel served the Lord and wore a special linen garment ¹⁹ and the clothes his mother made for him. She would bring new clothes every year, when she and her husband came to offer sacrifices at Shiloh. ²⁰ Eli would always bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "Samuel was born in answer to your prayers. Now you have given him to the Lord . I pray that the Lord will bless you with more children to take his place." After Eli had blessed them, Elkanah and Hannah would return home. ²¹ The Lord was kind to Hannah, and she had three more sons and two daughters. But Samuel grew up at the Lord 's house in Shiloh.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

minister: 1 Samuel 2:18, 1 Samuel 1:28, 1 Samuel 3:1, 1 Samuel 3:15

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 1:22 - and there 1 Samuel 2:20 - General Acts 13:2 - they Philippians 3:19 - whose God Titus 1:6 - having Hebrews 11:32 - Samuel

Cross-References

1 Samuel 15:7
and Saul attacked the Amalekites from Havilah to Shur, which is just east of Egypt.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house,.... Of which see 1 Samuel 1:19. This was after he had offered the sacrifices at the feast, worshipped the Lord, and Hannah had delivered her prayer or song of praise, and both had committed Samuel to the care of Eli, and left him with him:

and the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest; he not only read in the book of the law, but learned to sing the praises of God vocally, and to play upon an instrument of music used in the service of God in those times, and to light the lamps in the tabernacle, and open and shut the doors of it, and the like; which were suitable to his age, and which might not be quite so tender as some have thought; or this may respect some small beginnings in the ministry of the sanctuary, in which he gradually increased under the inspection, guidance, and instruction of Eli, which is meant by ministering before him; the Targum is,

"in the life of Eli the priest;''

he began his ministration before his death.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The word “minister” is used in three senses in Scripture:

(1) of the service or ministration of both priests and Levites rendered unto the Lord Exodus 28:35, Exodus 28:43 :

(2) of the ministrations of the Levites as rendered to the priests, to aid them in divine Service Numbers 3:6 :

(3) of any service or ministration, especially one rendered to a man of God, as that of Joshua to Moses Numbers 11:28.

The application of it to Samuel as ministering to the Lord before Eli the priest accords “most exactly” with Samuel’s condition as a Levite.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 2:11. And Elkanah went to Ramah — Immediately after the 10th verse, the Septuagint add, Και κατελιπεν αυτον εκει ενωπιον Κυριου· και απηλθεν εις Αραματαια, And she left him there before the Lord, and went unto Arimathea. Thus the Septuagint suppose that the song of Hannah was composed when she brought Samuel to present him to the Lord; and as soon as she had completed this fine ode, she delivered him into the hands of Eli the high priest, and the child entered immediately on his ministration, under the direction and instructions of Eli.