Commentary for I Samuel 1:16

Do not deliver your maidservant. Because she had spoken harshly to him, she tried to appease him, so that he deliver her not, unprotected and disgraced, to her rival, the wicked woman.

Do not take: Do not think of me as an unbridled woman, to come drunk to the House of the Lord. Meaning to say, if the truth is like your words, why should I prolong my words so much in prayer?

As (lit., before) an unbridled woman: Before the Lord, as an unbridled woman. Meaning to say, do not think that I would stand drunk like an evil woman in front of the Lord, may He be blessed. And Yonatan translated it [in the Targum] as, "Do not embarrass your maidservant before an evil woman." It appears from his words that she said, "unbridled woman," about Peninah, her rival. So she said to him, "Do not embarrass me in front of her, for she will rejoice at my misfortune, and she angers me." And the understanding of, "Do not place," is do not place me in this bad thing - do not embarrass me with it in front of this woman that is unbridled. And this explanation is correct.

For it is out of much grievance. That I have spoken harshly to you.

For it is out of the greatness of my grievance and my anger: For it is due to the greatness of the telling of the troubles and the anger with which Peninah angered me that I spoke in front of the Lord until now, as they are great.

For it is out of the greatness of my grievance and my anger: It is like its translation [in Targum Yonatan], "because of the abundance of my provocations and my anger did I prolong my prayer until now." Meaning to say, it is from the abundance that I have to speak before God [of] provocations that my rival provokes and angers me that I spoke in front of the Lord, may He be blessed, until now.

Grievance. In some instances, it [שִֹיחִי] is an expression of heartache. Another explanation of מֵרֹב שִֹיחִי, according to Targum, "because of much provocation and anger, I have prolonged my prayer until now."

And anger. My rival angers me.

Do not deliver. An expression of giving over, as in, "'Do not deliver me to the will of my tormentors."²⁷Tehillim 27:12.