וַיַּ֛עַל הָאִ֥ישׁ אֶלְקָנָ֖ה וְכׇל־בֵּית֑וֹ לִזְבֹּ֧חַ לַיהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־זֶ֥בַח הַיָּמִ֖ים וְאֶת־נִדְרֽוֹ׃
And when this man Elkanah and all his household were going up to offer to GOD the annual sacrifice and his votive sacrifice,
(The above rendering comes from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation. Before accounting for this rendering, I will analyze the plain sense of the Hebrew term אִישׁ, by employing a situation-oriented construal as outlined in this introduction, pp. 11–16.)
Here הָאִישׁ is referentially superfluous, given that the name Elkanah alone would suffice to identify the party in question. Other such instances are listed in my comment at Exod 11:3.
Preceding this verse, the narrative has been about Hannah’s giving birth and naming her newborn son. Now the topic shifts back to Elkanah as the head of the household. Here the label הָאִישׁ has at least three discourse functions: it signals the shift in topic; it regards Elkanah in terms of the situation that he has been depicted within; and it frames him as a key player in that situation, while it is depicted schematically.
As usual, the label הָאִישׁ—being part of the vocabulary for sketching a situation—cognitively anchors its referent to the situation of interest. This instance is thus a prototypical usage of אִישׁ. Meanwhile, as usual, הָאִישׁ says nothing new or relevant about the age or gender of its referent. (See further David E. S. Stein, “Explaining the Preference for הָאִישׁ as a Label,” paper presented at the Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting, November 2024.)
I differ with the construal of אִישׁ here as “husband,” as found in some translations (Louis Segond: Son mari Elkana; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; New Jerusalem Bible). That ad-hoc solution does not work in most other instances of this construction, whereas a situating approach works throughout. For the same reason, אִישׁ is not a social status term here, as proposed by Paul Joüon (“Notes de Lexicographie hébraïque,” Biblica 6, 1925). See my comment at Exod 11:3.
As for the translation, the NJPS “the man Elkanah” has been modified, on the grounds that such an expression is not current English idiom. In the revised rendering, the demonstrative pronoun appropriately regards the referent within his situation.
• For a list of my comments on the RJPS translation, see here.
• For a list of my comments on אִישׁ, see here.