Issues in Bible translation, 6 : Hannah expresses her strong feelings about her rival and about the Lord in her hymn of praise (1Sam 2,1-2)

Abstract

The present study forms part of a wider research project that would comprise the entire text block ISam 1,1-2,21, the story of Samuel's birth and infancy. What helps isolating this textual segment from the rest of its literary context are the wayhi clause in 1,1 that introduces the family of Samuel as personages completely unknown with the readers, and the circumstantial clause in 2,22 which ushers in Eli and his family as the participants in the next narratological unit. This essay will focus further on part of what the Masoretic reading tradition identified as Hannah's tephillah (2,1-10), normally formulated as 'poetry' notwithstanding current scholarly misgivings to apply such descriptive terms for identifying literary units within the Hebrew canon.