Text -- 1 Samuel 1:1-24 (NET)

Hannah Gives Birth to Samuel

1:1 There was a man from Ramathaim Zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 1:2 He had two wives; the name of the first was Hannah and the name of the second was Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless. 1:3 Year after year this man would go up from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh. It was there that the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, served as the Lord’s priests. 1:4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he used to give meat portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 1:5 But he would give a double portion to Hannah, because he especially loved her. Now the Lord had not enabled her to have children. 1:6 Her rival wife used to upset her and make her worry, for the Lord had not enabled her to have children. 1:7 Peninnah would behave this way year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the Lord’s house, Peninnah would upset her so that she would weep and refuse to eat. 1:8 Finally her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and not eat? Why are you so sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” 1:9 On one occasion in Shiloh, after they had finished eating and drinking, Hannah got up. (Now at the time Eli the priest was sitting in his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.) 1:10 She was very upset as she prayed to the Lord, and she was weeping uncontrollably. 1:11 She made a vow saying, “O Lord of hosts, if you will look with compassion on the suffering of your female servant, remembering me and not forgetting your servant, and give a male child to your servant, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.” 1:12 As she continued praying to the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth. 1:13 Now Hannah was speaking from her heart. Although her lips were moving, her voice was inaudible. Eli therefore thought she was drunk. 1:14 So he said to her, “How often do you intend to get drunk? Put away your wine!” 1:15 But Hannah replied, “That’s not the way it is, my lord! I am under a great deal of stress. I have drunk neither wine nor beer. Rather, I have poured out my soul to the Lord. 1:16 Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman, for until now I have spoken from my deep pain and anguish.” 1:17 Eli replied, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request that you have asked of him.” 1:18 She said, “May I, your servant, find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and got something to eat. Her face no longer looked sad. 1:19 They got up early the next morning and after worshiping the Lord, they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 1:20 After some time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, thinking, “I asked the Lord for him.

Hannah Dedicates Samuel to the Lord

1:21 This man Elkanah went up with all his family to make the yearly sacrifice to the Lord and to keep his vow, 1:22 but Hannah did not go up with them. Instead she told her husband, “Once the boy is weaned, I will bring him and appear before the Lord, and he will remain there from then on.” 1:23 So her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what you think best. Stay until you have weaned him. May the Lord fulfill his promise.” So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 1:24 Once she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with three bulls, an ephah of flour, and a container of wine. She brought him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh, even though he was young.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: 1Sa 1:1

zophim - Called Ramah, 1Sa 1:19.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:1

That is, one of Bethlehem - judah, by his birth and habitation, though by his original a Levite.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:2

As many had in those ages, tho' it was a transgression of the original institution of marriage. And it is probable that he took his second wife, namely, Peninnah, because Hannah was barren.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:3

At the three solemn feasts, when he, together with all other males were obliged to go to worship God in the place appointed; and at other times, when he as a Levite, was to go thither in his course.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:3

Not in his own person, which the Levites could not do, but by the priests.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:3

Or, were the priests of the Lord there, under their father Eli, who is generally conceived to have been the high-priest, but being very old and infirm, his sons ministered in his stead. This is the first time in scripture, that God is called the Lord of hosts or Armies. Probably Samuel was the first who used this title of God, for the comfort of Israel, at the time when their armies were few and feeble, and those of their enemies many and mighty.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:4

Out of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings, the greatest part whereof fell to the offerer, and was eaten by him, and his friends or guests, before the Lord. And out of this he gave them all portions, as the master of the feast used to do to the guests.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:5

Yet Elkanah did not withdraw his love from her. To abate out just love to any relation, for the sake of any infirmity which they cannot help, is to add affliction to the afflicted.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:6

Peninnah: so her envy or jealousy made her though so nearly related.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:7

This circumstance is noted as the occasion of the contention, because at such times they were forced to more society with one another, by the way, and in their lodgings; whereas at home they had distinct apartments, where they might be asunder; and then her husband's extraordinary love and kindness was shewed to Hannah, whereby Peninnah was the more exasperated; then also Hannah prayed earnestly for a child, which hitherto she had done in vain; and this possibly she reproached her with.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:7

Being overwhelmed with grief, and therefore unfit to eat of the sacred food. Which they were not to eat in their mourning.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:8

Oughtest thou not to value my hearty love to thee, more than the having of as many sons as Penninah hath? She would willingly change conditions with thee.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:9

Or, throne; for it is manifest it was raised higher than ordinary, 1Sa 4:18. Here he might sit, either as the judge; or rather as high-priest, to hear and answer such as came to him for advice, and to inspect and direct the worship of God.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:9

That is, of the tabernacle, which is frequently so called.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:10

That is, oppressed with grief.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:10

They had newly offered their peace-offerings, to obtain the favour of God, and in token of their communion with him, they had feasted upon the sacrifice: and now it was proper to put up her prayer, in virtue of the sacrifice. For the peace-offerings typified Christ's mediation, as well as the sin-offerings: since by this not only atonement is made for sin, but an answer to our prayers obtained.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:11

That is, consecrate him to God's service in his temple.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:11

That is, he shall be a perpetual Nazarite.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:12

Heb. multiplied to pray. By which it appears that she said much more than is here expressed. And the like you are to judge of the prayers and sermons of other holy persons recorded in scripture, which gives us only the sum and substance of them. This consideration may help us much to understand some passages of the bible.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:13

Because of the multitude of her words, and those motions of her face and body, which the vehemency of her passion, and the fervency in prayer occasioned.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:16

_Thus when we are unjustly censured, we should endeavour not only to clear ourselves, but to satisfy our brethren, by giving them a just and true account of that which they misapprehended.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:18

That favourable opinion and gracious prayer which thou hast expressed on my behalf, be pleased to continue towards me.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:18

Her heart being cheared by the priest's comfortable words, and especially by God's spirit setting them home upon her, and assuring her that both his and her prayers should be heard, it quickly appeared in her countenance.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:19

Manifested his remembrance of her by the effect.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:20

That is, Asked of God.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:21

Hannah only and her child excepted.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:21

By which it appears, though it was not expressed before, that he heard and consented to her vow, and that he added a vow of his own, if God answered his prayers.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:22

Not only from the breast, but also from the mother's knee and care, and from childish food; 'till the child be something grown up, and fit to do some service in the tabernacle: for it seems that as soon as he was brought up he worshipped God, 1Sa 1:28, and presently after ministered to Eli, 1Sa 2:11.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:23

His matter or thing; the business concerning the child, what thou hast vowed concerning him, that be may grow up, and be accepted and employed by God in his Service.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:24

One for a burnt-offering, the second for a sin-offering, and the third for a peace offering; all these sorts being expedient for this work and time.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:24

For the meal-offerings belonging to the principal sacrifices, which to each bullock were three tenth - deals, or three tenth parts of an ephah, and so nine parts of the ephah were spent, and the tenth part was given to the priest.

Wesley: 1Sa 1:24

For drink-offerings.

JFB: 1Sa 1:1-2

The first word being in the dual number, signifies the double city--the old and new town of Ramah (1Sa 1:19). There were five cities of this name, all on high ground. This city had the addition of Zophim attached to it, because it was founded by Zuph, "an Ephrathite," that is a native of Ephratha. Beth-lehem, and the expression "of Ramathaim-zophim" must, therefore, be understood as Ramah in the land of Zuph in the hill country of Ephratha. Others, considering "mount Ephraim" as pointing to the locality in Joseph's territory, regard "Zophim" not as a proper but a common noun, signifying watchtowers, or watchmen, with reference either to the height of its situation, or its being the residence of prophets who were watchmen (Eze 3:17). Though a native of Ephratha or Beth-lehem-judah (Rth 1:2), Elkanah was a Levite (1Ch 6:33-34). Though of this order, and a good man, he practised polygamy. This was contrary to the original law, but it seems to have been prevalent among the Hebrews in those days, when there was no king in Israel, and every man did what seemed right in his own eyes [Jdg 21:25].

JFB: 1Sa 1:3

In that place was the "earth's one sanctuary," and thither he repaired at the three solemn feasts, accompanied by his family at one of them--probably the passover. Although a Levite, he could not personally offer a sacrifice--that was exclusively the office of the priests; and his piety in maintaining a regular attendance on the divine ordinances is the more worthy of notice because the character of the two priests who administered them was notoriously bad. But doubtless he believed, and acted on the belief, that the ordinances were "effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in those who administered them, but from the grace of God being communicated through them."

JFB: 1Sa 1:4

The offerer received back the greater part of the peace offerings, which he and his family or friends were accustomed to eat at a social feast before the Lord. (See on Lev 3:3; Deu 12:12). It was out of these consecrated viands Elkanah gave portions to all the members of his family; but "unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion"; that is, a larger choice, according to the Eastern fashion of showing regard to beloved or distinguished guests. (See on 1Sa 9:24; also see on Gen 43:34).

JFB: 1Sa 1:6

The conduct of Peninnah was most unbecoming. But domestic broils in the houses of polygamists are of frequent occurrence, and the most fruitful cause of them has always been jealousy of the husband's superior affection, as in this case of Hannah.

JFB: 1Sa 1:11

Here is a specimen of the intense desire that reigned in the bosoms of the Hebrew women for children. This was the burden of Hannah's prayer; and the strong preference she expressed for a male child originated in her purpose of dedicating him to the tabernacle service. The circumstance of his birth bound him to this; but his residence within the precincts of the sanctuary would have to commence at an earlier age than usual, in consequence of the Nazarite vow.

JFB: 1Sa 1:12-18

The suspicion of the aged priest seems to indicate that the vice of intemperance was neither uncommon nor confined to one sex in those times of disorder. This mistaken impression was immediately removed, and, in the words, "God grant," or rather, "will grant," was followed by an invocation which, as Hannah regarded it in the light of a prophecy pointing to the accomplishment of her earnest desire, dispelled her sadness, and filled her with confident hope [1Sa 1:18]. The character and services of the expected child were sufficiently important to make his birth a fit subject for prophecy.

JFB: 1Sa 1:20

Doubtless with her husband's consent. The names of children were given sometimes by the fathers, and sometimes by the mothers (see Gen 4:1, Gen 4:26; Gen 5:29; Gen 19:37; Gen 21:3); and among the early Hebrews, they were commonly compound names, one part including the name of God.

JFB: 1Sa 1:21

The solemn expression of his concurrence in Hannah's vow was necessary to make it obligatory. (See on Num 30:3).

JFB: 1Sa 1:22

Men only were obliged to attend the solemn feasts (Exo 23:17). But Hannah, like other pious women, was in the habit of going, only she deemed it more prudent and becoming to defer her next journey till her son's age would enable her to fulfill her vow.

JFB: 1Sa 1:24

The Septuagint renders it "a bullock of three years old"; which is probably the true rendering.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:1

Ramathaim-zophim - Literally, the two high places of the watchman; these were, no doubt, two contiguous hills, on which watchtowers were built, and in which watchmen kept continual guard for the safety of the country and which afterwards gave name to the place.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:2

He had two wives - The custom of those times permitted polygamy; but wherever there was more than one wife, we find the peace of the family greatly disturbed by it

Clarke: 1Sa 1:2

The name of the one was Hannah - חנה Channah , which signifies fixed or settled, and the other פננה Peninnah , which signifies a jewel or pearl.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:3

Went up out of his city yearly to worship - As the ark was at Shiloh, there was the temple of God, and thither all the males were bound by the law to go once a year, on each of the great national festivals: viz., the passover, pentecost, and feast of tabernacles

Clarke: 1Sa 1:3

The Lord of hosts - יהוה צבאות Yehovah tsebaoth , Jehovah of armies. As all the heavenly bodies were called the hosts of heaven, צבא השמים tseba hashshamayim , Jehovah being called Lord of this host showed that he was their Maker and Governor; and consequently He, not they, was the proper object of religious worship. The sun, moon, planets, and stars, were the highest objects of religious worship to the heathens in general. The Jewish religion, teaching the knowledge of a Being who was the Lord of all these, showed at once its superiority to all that heathenism could boast. This is the first place where Lord of hosts is mentioned in the Bible; and this is so much in the style of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc., that it gives some weight to the supposition that this book was written by a person who lived in or after the times of these prophets. See the preface.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:4

He gave - portions - The sacrifices which were made were probably peace-offerings, of which the blood was poured out at the foot of the altar; the fat was burnt on the fire; the breast and right shoulder were the portion of the priest, and the rest belonged to him who made the offering; on it he and his family feasted, each receiving his portion; and to these feasts God commands them to invite the Levite, the poor, the widow, and the orphan, Deu 16:11.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:5

Unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion - The Hebrew here is very obscure, יתן מנה אחת אפים yitten manah achath appayim ; he gave her one portion of two faces; which the Syriac renders, he gave her one Double Part; and the Chaldee, he gave her one Chosen part; the Arabic is nearly the same; the Vulgate Annae autem dedit unam partem tristis , but to Anna he being sorrowful gave one part. As the shew-bread that was presented to the Lord was called לחם פנים lechem panim , the bread of faces, because it was placed before the face or appearances of the Lord; probably this was called מנה אפים manah appayim , because it was the portion that belonged to, or was placed before, the person who had offered the sacrifice. On this ground it might be said that Elkanah gave Hannah his own portion or a part of that which was placed before himself. Whatever it was, it was intended as a proof of his especial love to her; for, it is added, he loved Hannah.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:6

And her adversary - That is, Peninnah

Clarke: 1Sa 1:6

Provoked her sore - Was constantly striving to irritate and vex her, to make her fret - to make her discontented with her lot, because the Lord had denied her children.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:7

And as he did so year by year - As the whole family went up to Shiloh to the annual festivals, Peninnah had both sons and daughters to accompany her, 1Sa 1:4, but Hannah had none; and Peninnah took this opportunity particularly to twit Hannah with her barrenness, by making an ostentatious exhibition of her children

Clarke: 1Sa 1:7

Therefore she wept - She was greatly distressed, because it was a great reproach to a woman among the Jews to be barren; because, say some, every one hoped that the Messiah should spring from her line.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:8

Am not I better to thee than ten sons? - Ten, a certain for an uncertain number. Is not my especial affection to thee better than all the comfort thou couldst gain, even from a numerous family?

Clarke: 1Sa 1:9

Eli - sat upon a seat - על הכסא al hakkisse , upon the throne, i.e., of judgment; for he was then judge of Israel

Clarke: 1Sa 1:9

By a post of the temple of the Lord - I think this is the first place where היכל יהוה heychal Yehovah , "temple of Jehovah,"is mentioned. This gives room for a strong suspicion that the books of Samuel were not compiled till the first temple was built, or after the days of Solomon. After this the word temple is frequent in the books of Kings, Chronicles, and in the prophets. Perhaps those Psalms in which this word occurs were, like many others in the Psalms, not of David’ s composition; some of them were evidently made long after his time.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:11

I will give him unto the Lord - Samuel, as a descendant of the house of Levi, was the Lord’ s property from twenty-five years of age till fifty; but the vow here implies that he should be consecrated to the Lord from his infancy to his death, and that he should not only act as a Levite, but as a Nazarite, on whose head no razor should pass.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:13

Spake in her heart; only her lips moved - She prayed; her whole heart was engaged: and though she spake not with an audible voice, yet her lips formed themselves according to the pronunciation of the words which her heart uttered.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:15

I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink - Neither wine nor inebriating drink has been poured out unto me; but I have poured out my soul unto the Lord. There is a great deal of delicacy and point in this vindication.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:16

Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial - אל תתן את אמתך לפני בת בליעל al titten eth amathecha liphney bath Beliyael ; ‘ Put not thy handmaiden before the faces of a daughter of Belial.""If I am a drunkard, and strive by the most execrable hypocrisy (praying in the house of God) to cover my iniquity, then I am the chief of the daughters of Belial."Or, "Give not thy handmaid (to reproach) before the faces of the daughters of Belial."Several of these probably attended there for the purposes of prostitution and gain; for it is said, 1Sa 2:22, that Eli’ s sons lay with the women at the door of the tabernacle, though this may refer to the women who kept the door.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:17

Grant thee thy petition - He was satisfied he had formed a wrong judgment, and by it had added to the distress of one already sufficiently distressed

The fact that Eli supposed her to be drunken, and the other of the conduct of Eli’ s sons already mentioned, prove that religion was at this time at a very low ebb in Shiloh; for it seems drunken women did come to the place, and lewd women were to be found there.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:18

Let thine handmaid find grace - Continue to think favorably of me, and to pray for me.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:20

Called his name Samuel - As she gave this name to her son because she had asked him of the Lord, the word שמואל Shemuel must be here considerably contracted; if it express this sentiment, the component parts of it are the following: שאול מאל shaul meEl , "asked of God."This name would put both the mother and the son in continual remembrance of the Divine interposition at his birth. See on 1Sa 1:28 (note).

Clarke: 1Sa 1:21

The man Elkanah and all his house - He and the whole of his family, Hannah and her child excepted, who purposed not to go up to Shiloh till her son was old enough to be employed in the Divine service

Clarke: 1Sa 1:21

And his vow - Probably he had also made some vow to the Lord on the occasion of his wife’ s prayer and vow; in which, from his love to her. he could not be less interested than herself.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:23

Until thou have weaned him - On the nature of this weaning, and the time in which it was usually done, the reader will be pleased to refer to the note on Gen 21:8

Clarke: 1Sa 1:23

The Lord establish his word - Or, may the Lord establish his word - preserve the child, cause him to grow up, and make him a blessing to Israel.

Clarke: 1Sa 1:24

With three bullocks - The Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Arabic, read, a bullock of three years old; and this is probably correct, because we read, 1Sa 1:25, that they slew את הפר eth happar , The bullock. We hear of no more, and we know that a bullock or heifer of three years old was ordinarily used, see Gen 15:9

Clarke: 1Sa 1:24

One ephah of flour - Seven gallons and a half

Clarke: 1Sa 1:24

A bottle of wine - נבל יין nebel yayin , a skin full of wine. Their bottles for wine and fluids in general were made out of skins of goats, stripped off without being cut up; the places whence the legs were extracted sewed up, as also the lower part; and the top tied. She the notes on Gen 21:14, and Mat 9:17. These three things, the ox, the flour, and the wine, probably constituted the consecration-offering.

Defender: 1Sa 1:3

This the first of almost 240 references in the Bible to God as the "Lord of hosts" (Hebrew Jehovah Sabaoth). He is also called "the God of hosts" (as in Psa 80:7 for example) about 10 times, and "Lord God of hosts" some 25 times (as in 2Sa 5:10 for example). This unique name, used most often in the prophetical books, stresses the "innumerable" (Heb 12:22) company of angels under the command of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the "captain of the host of the Lord" (Jos 5:14) and could easily have called on "twelve legions of angels" (Mat 26:53) to save Himself from the cross, had He been so minded. The name "Lord of sabaoth" is used only once in the New Testament (Jam 5:4)."

TSK: 1Sa 1:1

Ramathaimzophim : This ancient town, now called Ramla, is, according to Phocas, about thirty-six miles west of Jerusalem, and, according to modern travellers, about nine miles from Joppa and a league from Lydda, between which it is situated. It is built on a rising ground, on a rich plain, and contains about two thousand families. 1Sa 1:19; Mat 27:57, Arimathea

mount : Jdg 17:1, Jdg 19:1

Elkanah : 1Ch 6:25-27, 1Ch 6:34

Zuph : 1Sa 9:5

Ephrathite : 1Sa 17:12; Jdg 12:5; Rth 1:2; 1Ki 11:26

TSK: 1Sa 1:2

two : Gen 4:19, Gen 4:23, Gen 29:23-29; Jdg 8:30; Mat 19:8

but : Gen 16:1, Gen 16:2, Gen 25:21, Gen 29:31; Jdg 13:2; Luk 1:7

TSK: 1Sa 1:3

yearly : Heb. from year to year, Exo 23:14, Exo 23:17, Exo 34:23; Deu 16:16; Luk 2:41

to worship : Deu 12:5-7, Deu 12:11-14

Shiloh : 1Sa 1:9; Jos 18:1; Jdg 18:31; Psa 78:60; Jer 7:12-14

And the : 1Sa 1:9, 1Sa 2:12-17, 1Sa 2:34, 1Sa 3:13, 1Sa 4:4, 1Sa 4:11, 1Sa 4:17, 1Sa 4:18

TSK: 1Sa 1:4

offered : Lev 3:4, Lev 7:15; Deu 12:5-7, Deu 12:17, Deu 16:11

TSK: 1Sa 1:5

a worthy portion : or, a double portion, The Hebrew phrase, manah achath appayim , is correctly rendered by Gesenius, ein Stud fur zwei personen , doppelle Portion , ""a portion for two persons, a double portion;""for aph in Hebrew, and προσωπον in Greek, which literally mean a face, are used for a person. Gen 43:34, Gen 45:22

he loved : Gen 29:30, Gen 29:31; Deu 21:15

shut up : Gen 20:18, Gen 30:2

TSK: 1Sa 1:6

adversary : Lev 18:18; Job 6:14

provoked her : Heb. angered her

TSK: 1Sa 1:7

year : 1Sa 2:19

when she : or, from the time that she, Heb. from her going up

TSK: 1Sa 1:8

why weepest : 2Sa 12:16, 2Sa 12:17; 2Ki 8:12; Job 6:14; Joh 20:13, Joh 20:15; 1Th 5:14

am not : Rth 4:15; Psa 43:4; Isa 54:1, Isa 54:6

TSK: 1Sa 1:9

1Sa 3:3, 1Sa 3:15; 2Sa 7:2; Psa 5:7, Psa 27:4, Psa 29:9

TSK: 1Sa 1:10

in bitterness of soul : Heb. bitter of soul, Rth 1:20; 2Sa 17:8; Job 7:11, Job 9:18, Job 10:1; Isa 38:15, Isa 54:6; Lam 3:15

prayed : Psa 50:15, Psa 91:15; Luk 22:44; Heb 5:7

wept sore : Gen 50:10; Jdg 21:2; 2Sa 13:36; 2Ki 20:3; Jer 13:17, Jer 22:10

TSK: 1Sa 1:11

vowed : Gen 28:20; Num 21:2, Num 30:3-8; Jdg 11:30; Ecc 5:4

look : Gen 29:32; Exo 4:31; 2Sa 16:12; Psa 25:18

remember : 1Sa 1:19; Gen 8:1, Gen 30:22; Psa 132:1, Psa 132:2

a man child : Heb. seed of men

I will give : Samuel, as a descendent of Levi, was the Lord’ s property, from twenty-five years of age till fifty; but the vow here implies that he should be consecrated to the Lord from his infancy to his death, and that he should not only act as a Levite, but as a Nazarite.

there : Num 6:5; Jdg 13:5

TSK: 1Sa 1:12

continued praying : Heb. multiplied to pray, Luk 11:8-10, Luk 18:1; Eph 6:18; Col 4:2; 1Th 5:17; Jam 5:16

TSK: 1Sa 1:13

spake : Gen 24:42-45; Neh 2:4; Psa 25:1; Rom 8:26

she had : Zec 9:15; Act 2:13; 1Co 13:7

TSK: 1Sa 1:14

How long : Jos 22:12-20; Job 8:2; Psa 62:3; Pro 6:9; Mat 7:1-3

put away : Job 11:14, Job 22:23; Pro 4:24; Eph 4:25, Eph 4:31

TSK: 1Sa 1:15

my Lord : Pro 15:1, Pro 25:15

of a sorrowful spirit : Heb. hard of spirit

poured : Psa 42:4, Psa 62:8, Psa 142:2, Psa 142:3, Psa 143:6; Lam 2:19

TSK: 1Sa 1:16

a daughter : 1Sa 2:12, 1Sa 10:27, 1Sa 25:25; Deu 13:13

out of : Job 6:2, Job 6:3, Job 10:1, Job 10:2; Mat 12:34, Mat 12:35

complaint : or, meditation

TSK: 1Sa 1:17

Go : 1Sa 25:35, 1Sa 29:7; Jdg 18:6; 2Ki 5:19; Mar 5:34; Luk 7:50, Luk 8:48

the God : 1Ch 4:10; Psa 20:3-5

TSK: 1Sa 1:18

Let thine : Gen 32:5, Gen 33:8, Gen 33:15; Rth 2:13

went her : Ecc 9:7; Joh 16:24; Rom 15:13; Phi 4:6, Phi 4:7

TSK: 1Sa 1:19

they rose : 1Sa 9:26; Psa 5:3, Psa 55:17, Psa 119:147; Mar 1:35

knew : Gen 4:1

and the Lord : 1Sa 1:11; Gen 8:1, Gen 21:1, Gen 30:22; Psa 25:7, Psa 136:23; Luk 23:42

TSK: 1Sa 1:20

when the time was come about : Heb. in revolution of days, Samuel. that is, Asked of God. Because. Gen 4:25, Gen 5:29, Gen 16:11, Gen 29:32-35, 30:6-21, Gen 41:51, Gen 41:52; Exo 2:10, Exo 2:22; Mat 1:21

TSK: 1Sa 1:21

1Sa 1:3; Gen 18:19; Jos 24:15; Psa 101:2

TSK: 1Sa 1:22

then : Deu 16:16; Luk 2:22, Luk 2:41, Luk 2:42

and there : 1Sa 1:11, 1Sa 1:28, 1Sa 2:11, 1Sa 2:18, 1Sa 3:1; Psa 23:6, Psa 27:4

for ever : Exo 21:6; Lev 25:23; Jos 4:7; Psa 110:4; Isa 9:7

TSK: 1Sa 1:23

Do what : Num 30:7-11

the Lord : 2Sa 7:25; Isa 44:26

son suck : Gen 21:7, Gen 21:8; Psa 22:9; Mat 24:19; Luk 11:27

TSK: 1Sa 1:24

am 2839, bc 1165, An, Ex, Is, 326

she took : Num 15:9, Num 15:10; Deu 12:5, Deu 12:6, Deu 12:11, Deu 16:16

three bullocks : The LXX, Syriac, and Arabic, read ""a bullock of three years old;""which is probably correct, as we read (1Sa 1:25) that they slew eth happar , ""the bullock."

house : 1Sa 4:3, 1Sa 4:4; Jos 18:1

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 1Sa 1:1

Ramathaim-zophim may signify "the two hills 1Sa 9:11-13 of the watchmen,"so called from its being a post from which the watchmen looked out. But since Zuph is the name of the head of the family, it is more probable that Zophin means the Zuphites, the sons of Zuph (see Zophai, 1Ch 6:26), from whom the land about Ramah was called "the land of Zuph,"1Sa 9:5.

There is reason to believe that Elkanah - an Ephrathite, or inhabitant of Bethlehem 1Sa 17:12; Rth 1:2 and of the territory of the tribe of Ephraim 1Ki 11:26 - the father of Samuel, represents the fifth generation of settlers in Canaan, and therefore that Samuel was born about 130 years after the entrance into Canaan - four complete generations, or 132 years - and about 40 years before David.

Barnes: 1Sa 1:2

He had two wives - Compare Gen 4:19. This was permitted by the law Deu 21:15, and sanctioned by the practice of Jacob Gen. 29, Ashur 1Ch 4:5, Shaharaim 1Ch 8:8, David 1Sa 25:43, Joash 2Ch 24:3, and others.

Hannah - i. e. "Beauty or charm,"is the same as "Anna"Luk 2:36.

Peninnah - i. e. "a Pearl,"is the same name in signification as "Marqaret."

The frequent recurrence of the mention of barrenness in those women who were afterward famous through their progeny (as Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel) coupled with the prophetic language of Hannah’ s song in 1 Sam. 2, justifies us in seeking a mystical sense. Besides the apparent purpose of marking the children so born as raised up for special purposes by divine Providence, the weakness and comparative barrenness of the Church of God, to be followed at the set time by her glorious triumph and immense increase, is probably intended to be foreshadowed.

Barnes: 1Sa 1:3

It is likely that during the unsettled times of the Judges Jdg 21:25 the attendance of Israelites at the three Festivals Exo 34:23; Deu 16:16 fell into desuetude or great irregularity, and this one feast (see the marginal reference), which may have coincided with the Feast of Pentecost or tabernacles, may have been substituted for them.

The Lord of Hosts - This title of Yahweh which, with some variations, is found upward of 260 times in the Old Testament, occurs here for the first time. The meaning of the word "hosts"is doubtless the same as that of "army"Dan 4:35 and includes all the myriads of holy Angels who people the celestial spheres 1Ki 22:19. It is probably with reference to the idolatrous worship of the Host of heaven that the title the "Lord of Hosts"was given to the true God, as asserting His universal supremacy (see Neh 9:6). In the New Testament the phrase only occurs once Jam 5:4.

And the two sons ... - It should be, "and there the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord,"i. e. performed the functions of priests, in the old age of Eli 1Sa 4:18, who is represented 1Sa 1:9 as sitting on a seat in the temple. The reading of the Greek Version "Eli was there, and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, priests of the Lord,"is quite unnecessary, and indeed destroys the sense. The information here given concerning the sons of Eli is followed up in 1Sa 2:12 ff.

Barnes: 1Sa 1:5

A worthy portion - Probably as in the margin. Naturally she would have had a single portion of the sacrifice (compare 1Sa 9:23), but because of his love to her he gave her a double portion, enough for two people (compare Gen 43:34).

Barnes: 1Sa 1:7

And as he did so ... - It should rather be "And so she did year by year, as often as she went up to the House of the Lord, so she provoked her."Though the verb is masculine, Peninnah must be the subject, because as often as SHE went up follows. The Vulgate has "they went up."

Barnes: 1Sa 1:9

After they had eaten ... - Rather, "after she had eaten and after she had drunk,"which is obviously right. Hannah, in the bitterness of her spirit, could not enjoy her feast, and so, after eating and drinking a little, she arose and went to the temple, leaving her husband and Peninnah and her children at table, where she still found them on her return 1Sa 1:18.

Upon a seat ... - Rather, "upon the throne,"the pontifical chair of state 1Sa 4:13, which was probably set at the gate leading into the inner court of the tabernacle.

The temple of the Lord - The application of the word temple to the tabernacle is found only here, 1Sa 3:3; and Psa 5:7; and the use of this word here is thought by some an indication of the late date of the composition of this passage.

Barnes: 1Sa 1:11

vows are characteristic of this particular age of the Judges. (Compare Jdg 11:30; Jdg 21:5; 1Sa 14:24.) For the law of vows in the case of married women, see Num 30:6-16; and for the nature of the vow, see the marginal references.

Barnes: 1Sa 1:15

See 1Sa 1:2 and note. She means that wine was not the cause of her present discomposure, but grief of heart.

Barnes: 1Sa 1:18

A beautiful example of the composing influence of prayer. Hannah had cast her burden upon the Lord, and so her own spirit was relieved of its load. She now returned to the family feast, and ate her portion with a cheerful heart. Act 2:46-47.

The word "sad"is not in the Hebrew text, but it fairly supplies the meaning intended.

Barnes: 1Sa 1:20

Samuel - i. e. heard of God, because given in answer to prayer. The names "Ishmael"and "Elishama"have the same etymology.

Barnes: 1Sa 1:22

Until the child be weaned - Hebrew mothers, as elsewhere in the East, usually suckled their children until the age of two complete years, sometimes until the age of three.

Poole: 1Sa 1:1

Ramathaim-zophirn called Ramah , 1Sa 1:19 , and here is the dual number Ramathaim , i.e. double Ramah , probably because it consisted of two parts, whereof the one might be called the old city, the other the new, both being united into one; and the additional title of Zophim , which signifies watch-towers , or watchmen , may note either the height of its situation, which made it fit for that use; or that the prophets, who are called watchmen, as Eze 3:17 , had a school or college there.

An Ephrathite i.e. one of Bethlehem-judah, Rth 1:2 , to wit, by his birth and habitation, though by his original a Levite. Thus divers Jews by nation are called Medes, Elamites, Cretians , &c., Act 2:9-11 , because they were born and bred there.

Poole: 1Sa 1:2

He had two wives ; as divers other good men had in those ages. And it is probable that he took a second wife, to wit, Peninnah, because Hannah, who being first named seems to have been his first wife, was barren.

Poole: 1Sa 1:3

Yearly to wit, at one of the solemn feasts, which probably was the passover, when he not only went up himself, but carried his wife and children with him. Compare 1Sa 1:7 . Or, at the appointed days or times ; Heb. from days to days ; or, from time to time , i.e. at the three solemn feasts, when he, together with all other males, were obliged to go to worship God in the place appointed; and at other times, when he as a Levite was to go thither in his course.

To sacrifice not in his own person, which the Levites could not do, but by the priests; in which sense David, and Solomon, and Absalom are said to offer sacrifices , 2Sa 15:8 1Ki 8:63 1Ch 21:26 . In Shiloh ; where the tabernacle had long been, and now was. See Jos 18:1 Jud 18:31 21:19 .

The priests of the Lord were there or, were the priests of the Lord there , to wit, under their father Eli, who is generally conceived to have been the high priest, but being very old and infirm, 1Sa 4:15 , and unfit for service, his sons ministered in his stead, being as it were second priests. See 2Ki 25:18 . And this clause seems to be added, to show that this good man did not run into that vulgar error, of neglecting his duty of offering to God for the wickedness of the priests; of which see 1Sa 2:17,24 .

Poole: 1Sa 1:4

Ver. 4. To wit, out of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings, the greatest part whereof fell to the offerer, and was eaten by him and his friends or guests before the Lord, Le 3 Le 7 De 12:12 16:11 ; and out of this he gave them all parts or portions, as the master of the feast used to do to guests.

Poole: 1Sa 1:5

A worthy portion or, an honourable or select part , such as the master of the feast usually gave to the person most respected or beloved. See Gen 43:34 1Sa 9:23,24 .

He loved Hannah with a singular and eminent love. Compare Gen 29:30 .

Poole: 1Sa 1:6

Her adversary or, her troubler , or vexer , or enemy ; for so her envy or jealousy made her, though so nearly related. Compare Gen 29:30 Lev 18:18 .

To make her fret against her husband, or against God, or within herself.

Poole: 1Sa 1:7

As he did so i.e. either as oft as he went and carried them with him to worship; or as Elkanah expressed peculiar kindness to Hannah, as was said, 1Sa 1:5 .

Year by year i.e. every year, at the days or times mentioned, 1Sa 1:3 .

When she went up to the house of the Lord This circumstance is noted, first, As the occasion of the contention, because at such times they were forced to more society with one another by the way, and in their lodgings; whereas at home they had distinct apartments, where they might be asunder; and then her husband’ s extraordinary love and kindness was showed to Hannah, whereby Peninnah was the more exasperated; then also Hannah prayed earnestly for a child, which hitherto she had done in vain; and this possibly she reproached her with. Secondly, As the aggravation of her sin, that when she came to worship God, and to offer sacrifices, when she should have been reconciled even to her enemies, Mat 5:23,24 , she did quarrel with so near a relation.

Did not eat either little, or rather nothing at all, as being overwhelmed with grief, and therefore unfit to eat of that sacred food, according to Deu 12:7 .

Poole: 1Sa 1:8

Oughtest thou not to value my hearty love to thee, more than the having of as many sons as Peninnah hath? She would willingly change conditions with thee.

Poole: 1Sa 1:9

After they had eaten i.e. Elkanah and his company, except Hannah. Or, she ; for though at first she eat nothing, yet upon her husband’ s invitation and encouragement she might eat afterwards; though the former may seem more probable.

Upon a seat or throne ; for it is manifest it was raised higher than ordinary, 1Sa 4:18 . Here he might sit, either as the judge, or rather as high priest, to hear and answer such as came to him for advice, and to inspect and direct the worship of God as need was.

By a post of the temple i.e. of the tabernacle, which is called the temple here, and 1Sa 3:3 2Sa 22:7 Psa 27:6 ; as, on the contrary, the temple is called the tabernacle, Jer 10:20 Lam 2:6 . And although this tabernacle was but a tent, yet it was supported by boards and posts, and especially at the entrance, by which Eli sat, even by the entrance into the outward court, otherwise he could not have seen Hannah. See Poole on "1Sa 3:15" .

Poole: 1Sa 1:10

She was in bitterness of soul i.e. oppressed with grief, as that phrase is used, Job 7:11 10:1 Rth 1:20 .

Poole: 1Sa 1:11

She vowed a vow knowing that her husband would willingly consent to it, otherwise she had not power to do it.

If thou wilt indeed look on to wit, favourably, so as to remove it.

The affliction i.e. the barrenness and reproach which attends it.

Give him unto the Lord i.e. consecrate him to God’ s service in his temple, as far as in me lies; for if he had any blemish, she might not do it.

All the days of his life not only from his twenty-fifth to his fiftieth year, as all the Levites, and so he himself, were obliged by God, Num 4:3 8:24 , but for his whole time; which is still to be understood with a reservation of God’ s right, which her now must give place to, as indeed it did; for God called him to be a prophet, and a general of the army, and a judge.

There shall no razor come upon his head i.e. he shall be a perpetual Nazarite; for under this one rule, as the chief, all the rest are contained; as elsewhere the whole Mosaical law is understood, under the title of circumcision.

Poole: 1Sa 1:12

As she continued praying Heb. multiplied to pray . By which it appears that she said much more than is here expressed. And the like you are to judge of the prayers and sermons of other holy persons recorded in Scripture, which gives us only the sum and substance of them; which consideration may help us much in the understanding of some passages of the Bible.

Her mouth i.e. the motion of her lips, as it follows.

Poole: 1Sa 1:13

Her voice was not heard partly, to avoid the suspicion of vain-glory; partly, because she would not have others acquainted with her barrenness, which was matter of reproach; and partly, because she would not disturb others, who at this solemn feast were probably employed there in the same work.

Eli thought she had been drunken because of the multitude of her words, and those uncouth gestures and motions of her face and body, which the vehemency of her passion and her fervency in prayer, caused in her, as it doth frequently in others; and because she was but newly come from a feast, wherein the manner was to eat and drink liberally, (though not to excess.) which he knew very well, both from the general custom of that season, and from the time of the day.

Poole: 1Sa 1:14

Come not before the Lord in thy drunkenness, but go and sleep it out, and repent of this thy sin.

Poole: 1Sa 1:15

I am a women in whom drunkenness is most abominable; so that the Romans punished it with death; therefore judge me not so severely.

Of a sorrowful spirit and therefore not likely to give up myself to drink and jollity, and far from that merry temper which drunkards have: I am drunk with affliction, not with wine, as is said, Isa 51:21 .

I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink to wit, this day: see above, 1Sa 1:7,8 .

Have poured out my soul have been breathing forth the griefs, and perplexities, and desires of my soul. The like phrase is Job 30:16 Psa 62:8 142:2 .

Poole: 1Sa 1:16

For a daughter of Belial for such a wicked monster, as a drunken woman is. The oppression of my spirits hath forced me to speak, and that so liberally at this time, for the case of my sinking heart.

Poole: 1Sa 1:17

Go in peace I recall my censure, and give thee my blessing, and wish thee peace, i.e. a quiet and composed mind, free from whatsoever it is that grieves and oppresses thee; and withal, good success and prosperity in what thou desirest; for peace is a very comprehensive word among the Hebrews.

Grant or will grant ; for it may be either a prayer or a prediction, which he might deliver, either from the consideration of God’ s known goodness and readiness to hear prayers; or he might be directed to say so by a special instinct of God’ s Spirit, which sometimes was given to the high priests, even when they were wicked, as Joh 11:51 , and much more when they were holy men, as Eli was. And some add, that he was a prophet.

Poole: 1Sa 1:18

Grace in thy sight that favourable opinion, and good will, and gracious prayer, which thou hast expressed on my behalf, be pleased to continue toward me.

Her countenance was no more sad her heart being cheered by the priest’ s comfortable words, and especially by God’ s Spirit setting them home upon her, and assuring her that both his and her prayers should be heard, it quickly appeared in her countenance. Heb. her indignation , or vexation , (as the word face is sometimes understood, as Gen 32:20 Psa 21:9 34:16 ) was no more, i.e. it vanished away.

Poole: 1Sa 1:19

They rose up in the morning early partly for their journey, and partly for prayer, as it follows, for which this was a very fit and usual time, Psa 5:3 119:147 .

Remembered her i.e. manifested his remembrance of her by the effect.

Poole: 1Sa 1:20

So the sense is, When the usual time from the conception to the birth was past, she brought forth her son. Heb. in or after the revolution, or expiration of some days, Hannah conceived, and in due time

bare a son . So the meaning is, That although her husband knew her conjugally at his return, and God was minded of her, and intended in his time to give her his blessing, yet she did not conceive at first, but after some days or time afterwards.

And called i.e. she called, not doubting of her husband’ s consent to the name. The names of children were given to them sometimes by their fathers, and sometime by the mothers. See Gen 4:1,26 5:29 21:3 19:37,38 , &c.

Poole: 1Sa 1:21

All his house i.e. his wife Peninnah, and his children, which are ofttimes called a man’ s house in Scripture, Hannah only and her child excepted, as it here follows.

The yearly sacrifice that solemn sacrifice which was offered up once every year; probably the paschal lamb, which is oft called a sacrifice, as Exo 12:27 34:25 .

And his vow by which it appears, though it was not expressed before, that he heard and consented to her vow, which was necessary to make it obligatory, Nu 30 , and that he added a vow of his own, of some singular sacrifice to be offered, if God answered his prayers.

Poole: 1Sa 1:22

Hannah went not up to wit, at that sacred anniversary feast, to which she went up before but now did not, because she could not with satisfaction to her mind and conscience appear before the Lord empty, or without paying her vow; nor bring her child thither to God, and then carry him away from God to her own house. Nor did she sin by not going up; for the women were not obliged go up at the solemn feasts, but the men only, Exo 23:17 .

Until the child be weaned not only from the breast and the milk, which was done within two or three years at most, but also from the mother’ s knee and care, and from childish food; till the child be something grown up, and fit to do some service in the tabernacle for it seems, that as soon as he was brought up, he worshipped God, 1Sa 1:28 , and presently after ministered to Eli, 1Sa 2:11 . And this may further appear from the very nature of the vow, which must needs design a service and an advantage to the tabernacle, and not a burden and encumbrance, as it would have been if a young child had been brought up to it, and left upon it.

That he may appear before the Lord, and there abide forever that when once he is presented to the Lord, he may continue in his service as long as he liveth, as is said 1Sa 1:28 .

Poole: 1Sa 1:23

The Lord establish his word either, first, The word of God made known to them by Eli, above, 1Sa 4:17 , which being delivered by God’ s high priest, and that in answer to his and his wife’ s prayers, he took to be a kind of oracle sent from God. But that word was already fulfilled in the birth of a son. Or, secondly, Some other word or message from God to Elkanah or his wife concerning Samuel; for such revelations were frequent in those ages of the church, and were oft vouchsafed by God, concerning such children as were extraordinary persons, or in a special manner devoted to God; as concerning Isaac, Ge 18 , and Samson, Jud 13:3,4 , and John Baptist, Luk 1:13,14 , &c., and others. And so it might be here, though it were not mentioned before, there being many such things in Scripture omitted in their proper places, which afterwards are expressed or implied upon other occasions. Or rather, thirdly, It may be rendered his matter, or thing, i.e. the business concerning the child, that which thou hast promised or vowed concerning him, that he may grow up, and be accepted and employed by God in his service; and that he, when he is fully grown, may not break thy vow, but confirm it.

Poole: 1Sa 1:24

Three bullocks either, first, One to be offered at that time; the other two presented to the priest, whether for his own use, or to be offered afterwards, as he saw fit. Or, secondly, One for a burnt-offering the second for a sin-offering, the third for a peace-offering, of which they might all feast together; for all these sorts seem expedient for this work and time.

One ephah of flour for the meat-offerings belonging to the principal sacrifices, which to each bullock were three tenth deals, or three tenth parts of an ephah, as appears from Num 15:9 28:12 ; and so nine homers, or nine parts of the ephah, were spent, and the tenth part was either a separate meat-offering, or given to the priest.

A bottle of wine for drink-offerings, according to the manner.

Haydock: 1Sa 1:1

Weaned. The mother of the Machabees weaned her children when they were three years old; (2 Machabees vii. 27.) which Gallien asserts as the proper time, though Avicenna fixes upon two years. See Genesis xxi. 8. Iremellius translates, "till the child be grown up." But we must not allow any long term, since he was very young when he was presented to the Lord, ver. 24.

Haydock: 1Sa 1:1

There. Hebrew, Septuagint, &c., "And there," &c. The books of Scripture are thus frequently connected. The authors present us with a series of events, without prefixing any title, or their own names, that our attention may be wholly fixed on what we read. The birth of Samuel being so miraculous, deserves to be recorded, as he was the last judge of Israel, and had so much to do under the first of their kings, whose election and misconduct brought a great change into the state of the commonwealth. (Calmet) ---

Ramathaimsophim. Rama, or Ramatha, "a height," and the environs were occupied by the family of Suph, a descendant of Core; (1 Paralipomenon vi. 29.) though the place did not properly belong to the Levites. It lay probably between Gabaa and Bethel, where Samuel spent much of his time, while he was judge, and obliged to be frequently absent from the tabernacle. (Calmet) ---

Ragusinus and Prince Radzivil think it was afterwards called Arimathea, the birth-place of Joseph, and now Ramula. (Tirinus) (Chap. ii. 11.) ---

Ephraimite. He was of the tribe of Levi, (1 Paraliponmenon vi. 34.) but is called an Ephraimites from dwelling in Mount Ephraim. (Challoner) ---

So we read of Cretan Jews, Acts ii. 11. (Tirinus)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:2

Phenenna. She was only of inferior dignity. At that time polygamy was lawful, (Menochius) as Moses insinuates, if he do not expressly allow it.

Haydock: 1Sa 1:3

Days, the three great festivals. His family accompanied him, though the law only lays an express injunction upon the males to attend. We find, however, that females did not neglect to come. (Calmet) ---

Hosts. Hebrew ( Tsebaoth ) of "armies," both of angels and of Israel. God is attended by myriads of angels, and decides the fate of armies. (Haydock) ---

This title has not appeared in the former books. The pagans took occasion from it to form their Jupiter Sabazius. (Calmet) ---

Elcana might go up from the height of Ramatha to Silo, which was the highest mountain round Jerusalem of all in the holy land. (Adrichomius) (Tirinus)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:4

Sacrificed, by the hand of the priests, (Menochius) who had the breast and right shoulder; the rest was given back to the person who had presented the fattened victim, that he might feast with his friends. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:5

With sorrow. Hebrew apayim, "of faces, indignation, (Calmet) sorrow;" (Menochius) or that was presented before him. Chaldean and many others translate, "a chosen:" (Calmet) Protestants, "a worthy portion." (Haydock) ---

The shew-bread is called, "the bread of the face," because it stood before the Lord. Joseph sent to each of his brethren, "a portion of his faces," as the Hebrew expresses it; (Genesis xliii. 33.) or of such meat as was placed upon his table. In the East, the master of a family has all set before him, and he sends to each his portion, to the place where he is sitting. (Chardin, Perse.) ---

Thus Elcana sent some more excellent, or "double," part to his beloved Anna, (Calmet) grieving inwardly that she had no children, to whom he might also send. (Haydock) ---

By this distinction, he wished to alleviate the sorrow of his wife. (Menochius) ---

Womb. Sterility was deemed a curse, and a mark of God's displeasure, with which women were often reproached. Hence Anna prays so earnestly that God would be mindful of her, ver. 11-19. The power of the Almighty, in giving children to the barren, is frequently mentioned, Genesis xxviii. 13., and Psalm cxii. 9. (Calmet) ---

Luke i. 25., &c. (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:6

Insomuch. Hebrew, "to make her fret, or rage; because the Lord," &c. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:7

Lord. Then they could hardly avoid being together on the road, and Anna was accustomed to pray earnestly (Menochius) to be delivered from her reproach. (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:9

Silo; either in some private house, or in the porch before the tabernacle. She complied with the entreaty of her husband. (Menochius) ---

Stool. Hebrew, "Heli was sitting upon a throne, near the steps, leading to the palace of the Lord." It is also called the temple, or the house of God, though it was only a tent, Matthew xii. 4., &c. Perhaps women were not allowed to go beyond the porch.

Haydock: 1Sa 1:11

A vow; rightly trusting that her husband would give his consent, Numbers xxx. 7. ---

Razor. Hebrew mora, "scissors." Septuagint, "iron." Some copies add, "he shall not drink wine, nor any intoxicating drink." In quality of Levite, Samuel was bound to serve the tabernacle from 25 or 30 years of age till he was 50, Numbers iv. 2. Anna consecrates him to the Lord for life, and promises that he shall be a Nazarite, like Samson, and St. John the Baptist. The law prescribes no rules for these perpetual Nazarites, Numbers vi. 3. Many of the ancients believe that Samuel always observed the prescriptions of Moses, and abstained from intoxicating liquors; though the Hebrew and Vulgate are silent on this head. We find that during his administration as Judge, he was not able to continue always near the tabernacle. (Calmet) ---

When he came to years of discretion, he might depart if he thought proper, like other Levites. Had he been of another tribe, he must have been redeemed. (Worthington) ---

Esther, Elcana, or Samuel, might have annulled this vow. (Salien, the year of the world 2900.)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:12

Prayers, out of fervour; not through vain superstition and ostentation, as the Pharisees and pagans did, Matthew xxiii. 14. Christ does not condemn many, or long prayers, since he prayed whole nights for our instruction, Luke xxi. 43., and vi. 12., and 1 Thessalonians v. 17. ---

Mouth. He tried, but could not hear what she said. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:14

Much. Heli's "son or servant," ( Greek: paidarion, according to the Septuagint) addressed these words to Anna. Her going to pray immediately after a feast, instead of taking recreation, increased the suspicion. (St. Chrysostom, hom. 1.) ---

Salien (the year before Christ 1153) observes the many instances of patience which Anna exhibits on this occasion. (Haydock) ---

She teaches us not to answer the unjust reproaches of our superiors with haughtiness. (Du Hamel)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:15

My lord. She gives him this title, though he had called her a drunken woman. (Haydock) ---

Unhappy. Hebrew, "of a hard (or afflicted) spirit." See Canticle of Canticles viii. 6. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:16

Belial; "without restraint;" abandoned. (Haydock) ---

Septuagint, "pestiferous." ---

Sorrow. Hebrew, "meditation;" (Calmet) what preys upon my spirits. (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:17

Peace, with all blessings. (Menochius)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:18

Eyes: that thou wouldst lay aside thy suspicions against my character, and pray (Calmet) that I may obtain so great a happiness. ---

Changed. Hebrew, "no more," as it had been sad, and defaced with tears. (Haydock) ---

She was now full of hope and joy. (Menochius) ---

Septuagint, "her countenance fell not." She was not moved with anger or with jealousy, Genesis iv. 6. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:20

About, at the expiration of the year, which term the ancients frequently allowed between the conception and the nativity, Genesis xviii. 10. ---

Samuel. This name imports, asked of God. (Challoner) ---

Some letters are omitted for the easier pronunciation, as the Hebrews would now write it, Saul-meel; (Calmet) or it may signigy, "God placed him," sum-hal. (Tirinus) ---

Shaal means, "to ask." But Vatable thinks that Anna retained only the first letter. (Menochius)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:21

Vow, in consequence of his son's nativity. The sacrifice might be of precept, such as the paschal lamb, or for his wife's purification and the redemption of his first-born, as they could not attend in person. (Calmet) ---

Hebrew, "the victim of days and his vow," which he had probably made in conjunction with Anna. (Menochius)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:23

Word, by preserving the life of the child, (Calmet) and enabling him to serve according to our engagement. (Haydock) ---

Word is often put for "a thing," in Hebrew. May God perfect his own work. (Menochius)

Haydock: 1Sa 1:24

Three calves. Septuagint, "a calf three years old," such as Abraham sacrificed, Genesis xv. 9. We only find one offered up, ver. 25. ---

Bushels. Hebrew epha, (Calmet) each of which contained three bushes or measures, Ruth ii. 17. (Haydock) ---

Bottle. Hebrew nebel, a large measure containing above 87 pints. (Calmet) ---

The sacrifices seem to have been for thanksgiving, accompanied with an ephi for each calf, and with wine, Numbers xv., and Ezechiel xlvi. 7.

Gill: 1Sa 1:1

Now there was a man of Ramathaimzophim, of Mount Ephraim,.... Ramathaim is a word of the dual number, and signifies two Ramahs; the city consisted of two parts, being built perhaps on two hills, and were called Zophim; because, as the Rabbins say, they looked one to another; or rather, because situated on eminences, there were watchtowers in them, where watchmen were placed; or because they were inhabited by prophets, who were sometimes called watchmen, Eze 3:17 and here is thought to be a school of the prophets, see 1Sa 19:19 and which seems to be countenanced by the Targum, in which the words are paraphrased thus, "and there was one" man of Ramatha, of the disciples of the prophets; or, as others think, the sense is this, this man was one of the Ramathites, the inhabitants of Ramah, and of the family of Zuph, or the Zuphites, which gave the name to the land of Zuph, and the grand ancestor of Elkanah is in this verse called Zuph, see 1Sa 9:5. According to Jerom ^e, this is the same with Arimathaea, of which Joseph was, Mat 27:57 for thus he writes,"Armatha Sophim, the city of Helcanah and Samuel, in the Thamnitic region near Diospolis (or Lydda), from whence was Joseph, who in the Gospels is said to be of Arimathaea;''but Reland ^f thinks it cannot be the same that was about Lydda, which was all a champaign country; whereas this was in the mountains of Ephraim, which must be sought to the north of Jerusalem, and not the west, and so it follows:

of Mount Ephraim: which is added to distinguish it from other Ramahs in several tribes, as in Benjamin, Naphtali, &c. though this may refer not to the situation of Ramathaim, but to the country of this man, who was originally of Mount Ephraim, as was the Levite in Jdg 19:1 who was the cause of much evil to Israel, as this was of great good, as Kimchi observes:

and his name was Elkanah; which signifies "God hath possessed"; that is, possessed him, or he was in possession of God; he had an ancestor of the same name, 1Ch 6:23. This man was a Levite, one of the Kohathites, and a descendant of Korah; so that the famous prophet Samuel was of the sons of Korah:

the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph; the three last of these names are somewhat differently read in 1Ch 6:26, where they are Eliab, Nahath, Zophai; and in 1Ch 6:34. Eliel, Toah, Zuph:

an Ephrathite; which appellation is to be connected, according to Kimchi, not with Elkanah, but with Zuph; though neither of them were so called from Bethlehemjudah, the inhabitants of which were indeed called Ephrathites from Ephratah, another name of it; so Elimelech, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion, being of that city, were so called, Rth 1:2 not from their being of the tribe of Ephraim, as Jeroboam of that tribe is called an Ephrathite, 1Ki 11:26, see Jdg 12:5 for these were Levites, the descendants of Kohath, in the line of Korah; but because they sojourned in Mount Ephraim, or dwelt there, as Elkanah did; and it is well known that the Kohathites had cities given them in the tribe of Ephraim, Jos 21:5.

Gill: 1Sa 1:2

And he had two wives,.... Which, though connived at in those times, was contrary to the original law of marriage; and for which, though a good man, he was chastised, and had a great deal of vexation and trouble, the two wives not agreeing with each other; perhaps not having children by the one so soon as he hoped and wished for, he took another:

the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah; the first name signifies "grace" or "gracious", and she was a woman who had the grace of God, and very probably was also very comely, beautiful, and acceptable, as she was in the sight of her husband; the other signifies a cornered gem, a precious stone or jewel, as the pearl, ruby, amethyst, &c. Very likely Hannah was his first wife, and having no children by her, he took Peninnah, who proved to be a rough diamond: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children; how many Peninnah had is not said, perhaps ten; see 1Sa 1:8 and that Hannah had none was not because she was naturally barren, but because the Lord had shut up her womb, or restrained her from bearing children, to put her upon praying for one, and that the birth of Samuel might be the more remarkable: see 1Sa 1:5.

Gill: 1Sa 1:3

This man went up out of his city yearly,.... From year to year; or, as the Targum, from the time of the solemn appointed feast to the solemn appointed feast, from one to another; there were three of them in the year, at which all the males in Israel were to appear at the tabernacle; and being a Levite, this man was the more careful to observe this rule. He is said to "go up" out of his city, which was Ramathaim or Ramah; for though it was built on an eminence, from whence it had its name, yet Shiloh, whither he went, was higher; that being, as Adrichomius says ^a, on the highest mountain of all round about Jerusalem, and the highest of all the mountains of the holy land. So that as he first went down the hill from Ramah, he went up an high ascent to Shiloh, which is the place he went up to as follows:

to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh; where the tabernacle was, the place of worship, and the altar of burnt offerings, on which sacrifices were offered. This place, according to Bunting ^b, was twelve miles from Ramah, though others say it was not more than seven miles from it; hither he went to worship, or bow before the Lord; to pray unto him, as it is commonly interpreted; and being put before sacrifice, is said to be preferable to that, and more acceptable to God, and more eligible to be done in the tabernacle or temple than at home; see Luk 18:10 and though he is said to go up to sacrifice, it is not to be understood of his performing it himself, but by others, by the priest; for he himself was a Levite and could not offer sacrifices. This is the first time that mention is made of this title of Jehovah, Lord of hosts, of all the hosts and armies in heaven and in earth, the Lord of Sabaoth, as in Jam 5:4 from צבא, an "host", or army; and from hence the Heathens called some of their deities by the name of Sabazius, as Jupiter Sabazius ^c; and the Phrygians and Thracians used to call Bacchus Sabazius, and other Grecians following them did the same ^d:

and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas the priests of the Lord, were there; Eli was the next judge of Israel after Samson, and who also was the high priest, as is generally supposed; but when and how the high priesthood came into his family is nowhere said, who was a descendant of Ithamar, the younger son of Aaron, in whose line it continued to the time of Solomon; and Josephus ^e places three between Phinehas and Eli, who were all of the line of Eleazar, whom he calls Abiezer, Bouci, and Ozis; but their Scripture names are Abishua, Bukki, and Uzzi, 1Ch 6:50. And according to him, after Uzzi came Eli to be high priest, and therefore must be the first of the line of Ithamar that was in that office. His two sons are mentioned as officiating as priests in Shiloh, at the time Elkanah used to go yearly thither to worship and sacrifice; who were very wicked men, as appears by an after account of them; and it is generally thought that this is observed here, to show that the wickedness of these priests did not hinder this good man from doing his duty; nor did he make use of it as an excuse for not attending the worship of the sanctuary.

Gill: 1Sa 1:4

And when the time was that Elkanah offered,.... That is, brought his offering to the priest, to offer it for him, which was at one of the three festivals. According to R. Joshua Ben Levi ^f, this was at the time of Pentecost; but Abarbinel thinks it was at the time of the ingathering of the fruits of the earth, which was a time of rejoicing, even the feast of tabernacles, and which is most likely:

he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions; parts of the offering, everyone a part, or portion; by which it appears, that this was a peace offering he offered, the greater part of which belonged to the owner, and which he made a feast of for his family and friends; see Deu 12:5. Jerom ^g interprets these portions of garments.

Gill: 1Sa 1:5

But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion,.... Or, one choice portion, as the Targum; the best part or portion in the peace offering, of what the priest had not; he had the breast and the right shoulder, the next best piece he gave to Hannah; and the word being of the dual number, some render it a double portion; others, "one part of two faces" ^h; which Jerom interprets, which might be received with a cheerful countenance, it was so good and excellent in its kind; others interpret it that he gave it with a sorrowful ⁱ and displeased countenance, because of the reason following, that she had no children; but Ben Gersom understands it of a part or portion of meat that had two faces or appearances; that he gave her one of the pieces, one part of which was very fat, and the other had no fat on it, so that she might choose what she liked best:

for he loved Hannah; loved her best, and therefore did everything to please her, and make her comfortable under her affliction for want of children, and to express his tender affection for her:

but the Lord had shut up her womb; restrained her from conception, and bearing children; see Gen 20:18 or "though the Lord had shut up her womb" ^k; this did not abate his love to her.

Gill: 1Sa 1:6

And her adversary also provoked her sore,.... That is, Peninnah, the other wife of Elkanah; for when a man had more wives, two or more, they were usually at enmity to one another, as the two wives of Socrates were, being always jealous lest one should have more love and respect than the other from the husband; and this woman provoked Hannah one time after another, and continually, by upbraiding her with her barrenness; and this was another reason why Elkanah did all he could to comfort her, not only because the Lord had restrained her from bearing children, but because also she that envied and emulated her sadly provoked her:

for to make her fret; and be uneasy, and murmur at and complain of her unhappy circumstances: some render it, "because she thundered" ^l against her; that is, Peninnah was exceeding loud and clamorous with her reproaches and scoffs, which were grievously provoking to Hannah. So said Socrates, when Xantippe first scolded at him, and then poured foul water on him: did not I say, says he, that Xantippe first thunders, and then rains ^m?

because the Lord had shut up her womb; it was this Peninnah upbraided her with, and at which Hannah fretted and grieved.

Gill: 1Sa 1:7

And as he did so year by year,.... Elkanah went up every year to Shiloh, and offered sacrifices, taking his family with him, and gave to Peninnah and her children their portion, and to Hannah a double portion, or if but one yet the best:

when she went up to the house of the Lord; that is, Peninnah, along with her husband, with whom she went every year to the tabernacle at Shiloh:

so she provoked her; her rival Hannah, upbraiding her with her barrenness; to which she was stirred up by seeing her husband on these festivals take so much notice of her, and show so much love and respect for her, as always to give her the best portion. Abarbinel thinks that Peninnah and Hannah lived at two separate places, the one at Ramah and the other at Ramatha, which both together are called Ramathaim; and that they only met with and saw one another at these festivals, and then it was that the one was so very insulting and provoking to the other:

therefore she wept and did not eat; that is, Hannah wept at the insults, reproaches, and scoffs, cast at her by her antagonist; insomuch that she could not eat of the peace offerings, though her husband always gave her the best part and portion of them; but her grief took away her stomach and appetite, that she could not eat; see Psa 42:3.

Gill: 1Sa 1:8

Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou?.... Since it was a time of rejoicing, as every festival was, especially at the ingathering of the fruits of the earth:

and why eatest thou not? since they were at a feast, and she had the best part and portion of the provision:

and why is thy heart grieved? to such a degree that she could neither eat nor drink:

am not I better to thee than ten sons? which, as Jarchi says, Peninnah had borne to him; his meaning is, that the share she had in his love and affections ought to have been esteemed by her more than if she had ten or many children by him; and it suggests that Peninnah would have been glad to have such a share in his affections as Hannah had; and it would have been more eligible to her, than to have borne him so many children as she had.

Gill: 1Sa 1:9

So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drank,.... After dinner, after Elkanah and Peninnah, and their children, had eaten heartily, and drank freely, and made a comfortable meal, and even a feast of it, at the place where the tabernacle and altar were, and their peace offerings were offered up, part of which they had been regaling themselves with. The Targum is,"after she had eaten in Shiloh, and after she had drank;''for upon the entreaty of her husband, and to make him easy, she might be prevailed upon to eat somewhat, though it might be but little; and to drink, though it was but water; for as for wine and strong drink, she declares afterwards she had not drank, 1Sa 1:15.

now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord; for so the tabernacle was called, and sometimes the temple is called a tabernacle, Jer 10:20. Now at the door posts and side of the threshold of the temple of the Lord, as the Targum; at the entrance of the great court of the Israelites, Eli had a seat placed, on which he sat; this must be at the gate of the court of the tabernacle, by the pillars of it; for in the court itself none afterwards might sit but kings of the family David ⁿ; here Eli sat as an high priest and judge, give advice in difficult cases, and to try and judge all causes that were brought before him; some say ^o that he was on this day constituted an high priest, and others say ^q he was now made a judge; but no doubt he was both high priest and judge before this time.

Gill: 1Sa 1:10

And she was in bitterness of soul,.... Because of her barrenness, and the taunts and reflections she had met with on that account; her life was bitter to her, she could take no pleasure in any of the comforts of it:

and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore; her prayer was with strong crying and tears; it was very fervent and affectionate; she prayed most vehemently, and wept bitterly. This perhaps was about the time of the evening sacrifice, about three or four o'clock in the afternoon; seeing it was after dinner that she arose up and went to prayer in the house of God, at the door of the tabernacle, or near it, as it should seem by the notice Eli took of her, who sat there.

Gill: 1Sa 1:11

And she vowed a vow,.... Which might be confirmed by her husband; otherwise the vow of a woman, if disapproved of by her husband, was not valid, Num 30:8 and Elkanah might make the same vow his wife did, and so it stood; for as this was a vow of Nazariteship, it is a tradition of the Jews ^r, that a man may vow his son to be a Nazarite, but a woman may not; but as this instance contradicts the tradition, they endeavour to explain away this vow, as it may respect a Nazarite, as will be observed hereafter:

and said, O Lord of hosts; this is properly the first time this title was used by any that we know of; for though it is expressed in 1Sa 1:3 there it is used as the words of the writer of this history, and so long after this prayer was put up; See Gill on 1Sa 1:3; and it is an observation in the Talmud ^s, that from the day God created the world, no man called him the Lord of hosts till Hannah came and called him so:

if thou wilt indeed look upon the affliction of thine handmaid the sorrow of heart she had, the reproach she met with, on account of her having no children:

and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid; which petitions are the same in other words, and are repeated to denote her vehemence and importunity in prayer, and may allude to usages among men, that will look upon a person in distress, and turn away and forget them, and never think of them more; which she deprecates may not be her case with God:

but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child; or, "a seed of men" ^t; a son in the midst of men, as the Targum; such as is desirable by men, as a male child for the most part is; though some Jewish writers interpret it of the seed of righteous, wise, and understanding men, such as be fit to serve the Lord, which seems to be a sense foreign to the text; a man child she asks, because no other could serve the Lord in the temple; and that she meant by this phrase such an one is clear, because she vowed that a razor should not come on its head, which is never said of females, as Kimchi observes:

then will I give him unto the Lord all the days of his life; to serve him, and minister unto him in the sanctuary; being born a Levite, it was incumbent on him to serve the Lord, and he had a right to his service; but then a common Levite did not enter on it until twenty five or thirty years of age, and was not always serving, but was dismissed from it at fifty Num 8:24; but the child she vows, if the Lord would give her such an one, should be trained up in his service from his infancy, and continue it all the days of his life; and was to be also a perpetual Nazarite, as Samson was, as follows:

and there shall no razor come upon his head; as was not to come upon a Nazarite, during his Nazariteship, Num 6:5 and as such a vow made by a woman contradicts the tradition of the Jews before mentioned, they give another sense of this clause; as the Targum, which paraphrases it,"and the fear of man shall not be upon him;''but about this there is a division ^u; but that Samuel was Nazarite, and a perpetual one, is the sense of their best interpreters.

Gill: 1Sa 1:12

And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord,.... Being very earnest and importunate with him to grant her request, and therefore repeated her petition, and prolonged her prayer, being unwilling to let the Lord go, until she had a promise, or some satisfaction, that she should have the thing she liked; some think she continued an hour in prayer:

that Eli marked her mouth; observed the motion of her lips, and no doubt her distorted countenance, and uplifted eyes and hands, but chiefly the former; not knowing what the woman was at, and what could be the meaning of such motions.

Gill: 1Sa 1:13

Now Hannah, she spake in her heart,.... It was mental prayer she used, some ejaculations of her mind she sent up to God, which she was sensible were well known to him, and she needed not to express vocally:

only her lips moved; as her heart spoke, and sent up her petitions, as if she had used words and phrases in form:

but her voice was not heard: that she might not seem to be ostentatious in her prayer, and that she might not interrupt others in their devotions; and she knew that her voice was not necessary with respect to God:

therefore Eli thought she had been drunken; by the motions she made, and gestures she used, as if she was muttering something to herself, and by her long continuance therein, and it being after a feast she had been at with her husband, and the rest of the family; from all which Eli concluded this must be her case.

Gill: 1Sa 1:14

And Eli said unto her, how long wilt thou be drunken?.... What, every day drunk? what, continually in this wicked practice? when will it be stopped? for Eli might have observed on other days, and at other times, odd looks, and a strange behaviour in her, which he took for the effects of drinking too much wine: or how long will this drunken fit last? she had been a considerable time as he thought in it, and it was not gone off yet: the Targum is,"how long wilt thou behave like a fool, or a mad woman?''as drunken people generally do act, as if they were fools, or mad:

put away thy wine from thee; not as if she had any with her there to drink of, but he advises her, since it had such an effect upon her, to abstain from it, and wholly disuse it, and so break off such an habit and custom she had got into; or he would have her go home and sleep it out, and wait till she had digested it, and the strength of it was gone off, before she came to such a place of devotion and worship; from hence the Jews say ^w it may be learnt, that a drunken person ought not to pray.

Gill: 1Sa 1:15

And Hannah answered and said, no, my lord,.... That is not my case, you have greatly mistaken it; she answered with great mildness and meekness, without falling into a passion at such a scandalous imputation upon her, and with great respect and reverence to Eli, suitable to his office; so in later times the high priest used to be addressed after this manner, particularly on the day of atonement, "Lord high priest", do so and so ^x; indeed these words of Hannah are interpreted as not so very respectful, as if the sense was, not a lord art thou in this matter; nor does the Holy Ghost dwell upon thee ^y; which thou hast sufficiently shown, or thou wouldest never have suspected me of drunkenness:

I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: depressed with trouble and grief on account of afflictions; if she was drunk, it was not with wine, but with sorrow: or "a woman of a hard spirit" ^z; which is sometimes taken in an ill sense, and, according to Abarbinel, is here denied by her, who connects this clause with the preceding thus; not, my lord, am I a woman of a hard spirit, or such a hardened wretch, and such an impudent woman, as I must be, were it so, to come drunk into the house of God, and pretend to pray unto him:

I have drank neither wine nor strong drink; not any sort of intoxicating liquors that day, neither wine new or old, as the Targum:

but have poured out my soul before the Lord: the affliction of it, as the same paraphrase; the grievances and distresses, the complaints of her soul, which were many, and which she had poured out before the Lord freely and plentifully, and which had taken up some time to do it; see Psa 42:8 where phrases similar to this are used, and which seem to be taken from hence.

Gill: 1Sa 1:16

Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial,.... A yokeless, a lawless, impudent, and abandoned creature; one of the most wicked, vilest, and most profligate wretches; as she must be to come drunk into the sanctuary of God; see 1Sa 25:17. Drunkenness in man is au abominable crime, but much more in a woman. The Romans ^a forbad wine to women, and drunkenness in them was a capital crime, as adultery, or any other; and indeed a drunken woman is liable to all manner of sin:

for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto; out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak, whether it is matter of trouble or of joy; the heart of Hannah was full of grief, and her mouth full of complaints, on which she long dwelt, in order to give vent thereunto, and ease herself.

Gill: 1Sa 1:17

Then Eli answered and said, go in peace,.... He found he was mistaken in her, and that her discourse was not only sober and rational, but religious and spiritual; and therefore dismisses her in peace, and bids her not distress herself with what he had said to her, nor with anything she had met with from others, or from the Lord; but expect peace and prosperity, and particularly success in what she had been engaged, and had been solicitous for:

and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him; which may be considered either as a prayer for her, he joining with her in a request to the Lord, that what she had asked might be granted; or as a prophecy that so it would be, it being revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, as the high priest of the Lord; or impressed by an impulse upon his spirit that the favour asked would be given; and therefore she might go home in peace, and with satisfaction of mind.

Gill: 1Sa 1:18

And she said, let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight,.... She had found favour in his sight she perceives, and she desires it might be continued and increased; and that as he had prayed for her, he would still use his interest at the throne of grace for her:

so the woman went her way; took her leave of Eli, and went from the tabernacle to her husband: and did eat; what remained of the peace offerings, which were to be eaten that night, and not left till the morning; and though she would not eat her dinner, her heart was so full of grief, yet she could now make a good supper, being eased and relieved in her mind:

and her countenance was no more sad; sorrowful and dejected, but cheerful, brisk, and lively; believing that her prayers, and those of the high priest, would be answered.

Gill: 1Sa 1:19

And they rose up in the morning early,.... Partly for devotion, and partly for the sake of their journey:

and worshipped before the Lord; went up to the tabernacle, and prayed with their faces towards that part of it, the western part, where stood the ark of the Lord, the symbol of the divine Presence; and when they no doubt gave thanks for all the favours they had received there, and prayed for a safe and prosperous journey home, committing themselves to the care of divine Providence:

and returned, and came to their house to Ramah; or "Ramatha", the same with Ramathaim, 1Sa 1:1. Abarbinel thinks that Elkanah had two houses, one at Ramah for Peninnah, and another at Ramatha for Hannah; and that this was Hannah's house, to which they returned and came:

and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife: cohabited with her as a man with his wife; it is a modest expression of the conjugal act; see Gen 4:1 and is observed to show that the conception and birth of Samuel were not in a supernatural way, but in the ordinary way and manner of generation:

and the Lord remembered her; the prayer she had made to him, opened her womb, as he had before shut it, and gave her power to conceive.

Gill: 1Sa 1:20

Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about, after Hannah had conceived,.... Or, "at the revolutions of days" ^b; at the end of a year, of a complete year, as Ben Melech, from their return from Shiloh; for it might be some time after their return that she conceived; or rather the sense is, that at nine months' end, the usual time of a woman's going with child from her conception, which is the date here given:

that she bare a son: was brought to bed of a son:

and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord; one would think rather his name should have been Saul, for the reason given; but, as Ben Gersom observes, givers of names are not always grammatically strict and critical in them, or in the etymology of them, as in the names of Reuben and Noah, in which he instances; and this may be the rather overlooked in a woman, than in a man of learning. According to Kimchi, it is as if it was Saulmeel; that is, "asked of God", and by contraction Samuel; but Hillerus ^c gives a better account of this name, and takes it to be composed of Saul-mul-el, "asked before God", "in the sight of God", "before the ark of God". This name Hannah gave her son (for sometimes the father, and sometimes the mother, gave the name) in memory of the wonderful favour and goodness of God in granting her request; and to impress her own mind with a sense of the obligation she lay under, to perform her vow, and to engage her son the more readily to give up himself to the service of God, when he reflected on his name, and the reason of it.

Gill: 1Sa 1:21

And the man Elkanah, and all his house,.... All his family, excepting Hannah, and her son Samuel; or all the men of his house, as the Targum; for only the males were obliged to appear at the three festivals:

went up to Shiloh; to the house of God there:

to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice; either the passover, to which men commonly went up with their families: see Luk 2:41, or rather it may be what was offered at the feast of tabernacles, as Abarbinel thinks, the time of the ingathering the fruits of the earth, when men went up with their families to offer sacrifice, and express their joy on that account, Deu 16:10.

and his vow: which he had made between feast and feast; for whatever vows men made at home, on any account, they paid them at the yearly festivals; and this vow might be on the account of the birth of his son, by way of thanksgiving for that.

Gill: 1Sa 1:22

But Hannah went not up,.... For women, though they might go if they pleased to the yearly feasts, yet they were not obliged to it; whether she went up at the time for her purification, and for the presenting and redemption of the firstborn, is not certain; some say the Levites were not obliged by that law, the perquisites of it falling to them, and so did not go up; others that she did, though it is not expressed, the Scriptures not relating all facts that were done; though by what follows it looks as if she did not:

for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned: which, according to Jarchi, was at the end of twenty two months; but others say at the end of twenty four months, or two years, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; and sometimes a child was three years old before it was weaned, and sometimes longer, which very probably was the case here; See Gill on Gen 21:8. Comestor ^d observes, there was a three fold weaning of children in old times; the first from their mother's milk, when three years old; the second from their tender age, and care of a dry nurse, when seven years old; the third from childish manners, when at twelve years of age; and that it is this last and metaphorical weaning which is here meant, when Samuel was twelve years of age, and fit to serve in the temple; but the proper sense is best, since she is said to bring him when weaned: her reason for it seems to be this, because had she went up with her sucking child, she must have brought him back again, since he would not be fit to be left behind, and would be entirely incapable of any kind of service in the sanctuary; and according to the nature of her vow, she could not think of bringing him back again, after she had once entered him there:

and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord; and minister in the service of the sanctuary in what might be suitable to his age; there and then she would present him, and give him up to the Lord, as she had promised she would:

and there abide for ever; that is, as long as he lived; for her vow was that he should be a Nazarite all the days of his life, and be separated to the service of God as long as he had a being in the world.

Gill: 1Sa 1:23

And Elkanah her husband said unto her, do what seemeth thee good,.... He spake like a kind and indulgent husband, knowing that she would not thereby break any law of God; and it might be more for her own health, and the health of the child, to stay longer:

tarry till thou have weaned him; when he would be more fit for the journey, and to be left behind:

only the Lord establish his word; which some understand of the prophecy of Eli that God would grant her request, which being delivered under the direction of the Spirit of God, is called his word; but this was already fulfilled, and established by Hannah's bearing a son: or the word "his" refers not to the Lord, but to Samuel, and so may respect the word which his mother spake concerning him; either when she made her vow, as Abendana, that he should be a perpetual Nazarite, and the Lord's as long as he lived: and so Elkanah wishes that he might have health and grow strong, and be fit for the service of the Lord, and live many years to perform it; or what she had just now said, as Abarbinel, that he should abide in the house of God for ever, or as long as he lived:

so the woman abode; at home, while Elkanah and his family went up to Shiloh:

and gave her son suck until she weaned him; did not put him out to a wet or dry nurse, but suckled him herself with what nature had provided for his nourishment, as becomes women to do, if their circumstances of health, and the provisions of nature, will admit of it.

Gill: 1Sa 1:24

And when she had weaned him,.... At the usual time of weaning children; See Gill on 1Sa 1:23 some refer this not only to the milk of the breast, from which he was weaned, but to such food as was common to children, and so supposes him grown up to nine or ten years of age:

she took him up with her; to the tabernacle at Shiloh, at a yearly festival: with three bullocks; for three sorts of offerings, burnt offering, sin offering, and peace offering; or since one only is spoken of as slain, that is, for sacrifice, the other two might be for food to entertain her family and friends with while there; or as a present to the high priest, to whose care she committed her son:

and one ephah of flour; if the bullocks were all sacrificed, three tenth deals, or three tenth parts of the ephah, went for a meat offering to each bullock, which made nine parts out of ten, and the tenth part she had to dispose of at pleasure; see Num 15:9, though that seems to be restrained to a burnt offering only:

and a bottle of wine; part of which might be for the drink offering which always attended a meat offering, and the rest for her own use, and that of her friends:

and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: the tabernacle there, and delivered him up to the care of the high priest, to be trained up in the service of God:

and the child was young; a very child, very young in years, a little infant; not a sucking child, as the Targum, because weaned, otherwise of a very tender age; though some think this expresses that he was a well grown lad, and was sharp and acute, and could well distinguish between good and evil.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:1

¹ tc The translation follows the MT. The LXX reads “a man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite”; this is followed by a number of recent English translations. It is possible the MT reading צוֹפִים (tsofim) arose from dittography of the mem (מ) at the beginning of the following word.

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:3

¹ tn Heb “from days to days.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:5

¹ tn The exact sense of the Hebrew word אַפָּיִם (’appayim, “two faces”) is not certain here. It is most likely used with the preceding expression (“one portion of two faces”) to mean a portion double than normally received. Although evidence for this use of the word derives primarily from Aramaic rather than from Hebrew usage, it provides an understanding that fits the context here better than other suggestions for the word do. The meaning “double” is therefore adopted in the present translation. Other possibilities for the meaning of the word include the following: “heavily” (cf. Vulg., tristis) and “worthy” or “choice” (cf. KJV and Targum). Some scholars have followed the LXX here, emending the word to אֶפֶס (’efes) and translating it as “but” or “however.” This seems unnecessary. The translators of the LXX may simply have been struggling to make sense of the word rather than following a Hebrew text that was different from the MT here.

² tn Heb “for Hannah he loved.” Repetition of the proper name would seem redundant in contemporary English, so the pronoun (“her”) has been used here for clarity. The translation also adds the adverb “especially” to clarify the meaning of the text. Without this addition one might get the impression that only Hannah, not Peninnah, was loved by her husband. But the point of the text is that Hannah was his favorite.

³ tn Heb “and the Lord had closed her womb.” So also in v. 6. The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is pertinent to the story.

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:6

¹ tn Heb “and her rival wife grieved her, even [with] grief so as to worry her.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:7

¹ tn The MT has a masculine form of the verb here יַעֲשֶׂה (ya’aseh, “he used to do”); the subject in that case would presumably be Elkanah. But this leads to an abrupt change of subject in the following part of the verse, where the subject is the rival wife who caused Hannah anxiety. In light of v. 6 one expects the statement of v. 7 to refer to the ongoing actions of the rival wife: “she used to behave in this way year after year.” Some scholars have proposed retaining the masculine form but changing the vocalization of the verb so as to read a Niphal rather than a Qal (i.e., יֵעֲשֶׂה, ye’aseh, “so it used to be done”). But the problem here is lack of precedent for such a use of the Niphal of this verb. It seems best in light of the context to understand the reference to be to Hannah’s rival Peninnah and to read here, with the Syriac Peshitta, a feminine form of the verb (“she used to do”). In the translation the referent (Peninnah) has been specified for clarity.

² tn Heb “she”; the referent (Hannah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Peninnah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:8

¹ tn Heb “why is your heart displeased?”

² sn Like the number seven, the number ten is sometimes used in the OT as an ideal number (see, for example, Dan 1:20, Zech 8:23).

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:9

¹ tc The LXX adds “and stood before the Lord,” but this is probably a textual expansion due to the terseness of the statement in the Hebrew text.

² tn Or perhaps, “on his throne.” See Joüon 2:506-7 §137.f.

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:10

¹ tn Heb “she [was in] bitterness of soul.”

² tn Heb “and weeping, she was weeping.” The infinitive absolute emphasizes the extent of her sorrow. The imperfect verbal form emphasizes the continuation of the action in past time.

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:11

¹ tn Heb “if looking you look.” The expression can refer, as here, to looking favorably upon another, in this case with compassion.

² tn Heb “handmaid.” The use of this term (translated two more times in this verse and once each in vv. 16, 17 simply as “servant” for stylistic reasons) is an expression of humility.

³ tn Heb “seed of men.”

⁴ tn Heb “a razor will not go up upon his head.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:12

¹ tc Heb “before.” Many medieval Hebrew manuscripts read “to.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:14

¹ tn Heb “Eli.” The pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:15

¹ tn Heb “No.”

² tn Heb “I am a woman difficult of spirit.” The LXX has “for whom the day is difficult,” apparently mistaking the Hebrew word for “spirit” רוּחַ (ruakh) to be the word for “day” יוֹם (yom).

³ tn Heb “before.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:16

¹ tn Heb “daughter of worthlessness.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:18

¹ tc Several medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta lack the words “and got something to eat.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:19

¹ tn Heb “Elkanah knew his wife.” The Hebrew expression is a euphemism for sexual relations.

² sn The Lord “remembered” her in the sense of granting her earlier request for a child. The Hebrew verb is often used in the OT for considering the needs or desires of people with favor and kindness.

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:20

¹ tn Heb “because from the Lord I asked him.” The name “Samuel” sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “asked.” The explanation of the meaning of the name “Samuel” that is provided in v. 20 is not a strict etymology. It seems to suggest that the first part of the name is derived from the Hebrew root שׁאל (sh’l, “to ask”), but the consonants do not support this. Nor is it likely that the name comes from the root שׁמא (shm’, “to hear”), for the same reason. It more probably derives from שֶׁם (shem, “name”), so that “Samuel” means “name of God.” Verse 20 therefore does not set forth a linguistic explanation of the meaning of the name, but rather draws a parallel between similar sounds. This figure of speech is known as paronomasia.

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:22

¹ tn The disjunctive clause is contrastive here. The words “with them” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:23

¹ tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”

² tn Heb “establish his word.” This apparently refers to the promise inherent in Eli’s priestly blessing (see v. 17).

NET Notes: 1Sa 1:24

¹ sn The ephah was a standard dry measure in OT times; it was the equivalent of one-tenth of the OT measure known as a homer. The ephah was equal to approximately one-half to two-thirds of a bushel.

² tn The Hebrew term translated “container” may denote either a clay storage jar (cf. CEV “a clay jar full of wine”) or a leather container (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “a skin of wine”; NCV “a leather bag filled with (full of TEV) wine.”

³ tc Heb “and the boy was a boy.” If the MT is correct the meaning apparently is that the boy was quite young at the time of these events. On the other hand, some scholars have suspected a textual problem, emending the text to read either “and the boy was with them” (so LXX) or “and the boy was with her” (a conjectural emendation). In spite of the difficulty it seems best to stay with the MT here.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 1:1

Now there was a certain man of ^{( a )} Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name [was] Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:

The Argument - As God had ordained in (Deu 17:14), that when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, he would appoint a king for them: so here in the first book of Samuel the state of the people under their first king Saul is declared. Not content with the order that God had temporarily appointed for the government of his Church, they demanded a king, so that they might be as other nations. As well they thought they would be better off, not because they could serve God better by it, but because they would be under the safeguard of him who represented Jesus Christ the true deliverer. Therefore God gave them a tyrant and a hypocrite to rule over them, so that they might learn that a king is not sufficient to defend them, unless God by his power preserves and keeps them. Therefore he punishes the ingratitude of his people, and sends them continual wars both at home and abroad. Also, because Saul, whom God had given to the honour of a king out of nothing, did not acknowledge God's mercy to him, but rather disobeyed the word of God and was not zealous of his glory, he was removed from his estate by God, and David the true figure of Messiah was placed in his stead. His patience, modesty, constancy, persecution by open enemies, feigned friends, and deceitful flatterers, is left to the Church and to every member of it, as a pattern and example of their state and calling.

^{( a )} There were two Ramatus, so that in this city in mount Ephraim were Zophim, that is, the learned men and prophets.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 1:3

And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in ^{( b )} Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, [were] there.

^{( b )} For the ark was there at that time.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 1:5

But unto Hannah he gave a worthy ^{( c )} portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.

^{( c )} Some read, a portion with a hearty cheer.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 1:8

Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? [am] not I better to thee than ten ^{( d )} sons?

^{( d )} Let this comfort you, that I love you no less than if you had many children.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 1:9

So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the ^{( e )} temple of the LORD.

^{( e )} That is of the house where the ark was.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 1:18

And she said, Let thine handmaid find ^{( f )} grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more [sad].

^{( f )} That is, pray to the Lord for me.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 1:19

And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD ^{( g )} remembered her.

^{( g )} According to her petition.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 1:21

And the man ^{( h )} Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

^{( h )} This Elkanah was a Levite, (1Ch 6:27), and as some write once a year they were accustomed to appear before the Lord with their families.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 1:23

And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his ^{( i )} word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.

^{( i )} Because her prayer took effect, therefore it was called the Lord's promise.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 1Sa 1:1-28

1 Elkanah, a Levite, having two wives, worships yearly at Shiloh.

4 He cherishes Hannah, though barren, and provoked by Peninnah.

9 Hannah in grief prays for a child.

12 Eli first rebuking her, afterwards blesses her.

19 Hannah, having born Samuel, stays at home till he is weaned.

24 She presents him, according to her vow, to the Lord.

MHCC: 1Sa 1:1-8

Elkanah kept up his attendance at God's altar, notwithstanding the unhappy differences in his family. If the devotions of a family prevail not to put an end to its divisions, yet let not the divisions put a stop to the devotions. To abate our just love to any relation for the sake of any infirmity which they cannot help, and which is their affliction, is to make God's providence quarrel with his precept, and very unkindly to add affliction to the afflicted. It is evidence of a base disposition, to delight in grieving those who are of a sorrowful spirit, and in putting those out of humour who are apt to fret and be uneasy. We ought to bear one another's burdens, not add to them. Hannah could not bear the provocation. Those who are of a fretful spirit, and are apt to lay provocations too much to heart, are enemies to themselves, and strip themselves of many comforts both of life and godliness. We ought to notice comforts, to keep us from grieving for crosses. We should look at that which is for us, as well as what is against us.

MHCC: 1Sa 1:9-18

Hannah mingled tears with her prayers; she considered the mercy of our God, who knows the troubled soul. God gives us leave, in prayer, not only to ask good things in general, but to mention that special good thing we most need and desire. She spoke softly, none could hear her. Hereby she testified her belief of God's knowledge of the heart and its desires. Eli was high priest, and judge in Israel. It ill becomes us to be rash and hasty in censures of others, and to think people guilty of bad things while the matter is doubtful and unproved. Hannah did not retort the charge, and upbraid Eli with the wicked conduct of his own sons. When we are at any time unjustly censured, we have need to set a double watch before the door of our lips, that we do not return censure for censure. Hannah thought it enough to clear herself, and so must we. Eli was willing to acknowledge his mistake. Hannah went away with satisfaction of mind. She had herself by prayer committed her case to God, and Eli had prayed for her. Prayer is heart's ease to a gracious soul. Prayer will smooth the countenance; it should do so. None will long remain miserable, who use aright the privilege of going to the mercy-seat of a reconciled God in Christ Jesus.

MHCC: 1Sa 1:19-28

Elkanah and his family had a journey before them, and a family of children to take with them, yet they would not move till they had worshipped God together. Prayer and provender do not hinder a journey. When men are in such haste to set out upon journeys, or to engage in business, that they have not time to worship God, they are likely to proceed without his presence and blessing. Hannah, though she felt a warm regard for the courts of God's house, begged to stay at home. God will have mercy, and not sacrifice. Those who are detained from public ordinances, by the nursing and tending of little children, may take comfort from this instance, and believe, that if they do that duty in a right spirit, God will graciously accept them therein. Hannah presented her child to the Lord with a grateful acknowledgment of his goodness in answer to prayer. Whatever we give to God, it is what we have first asked and received from him. All our gifts to him were first his gifts to us. The child Samuel early showed true piety. Little children should be taught to worship God when very young. Their parents should teach them in it, bring them to it, and put them on doing it as well as they can; God will graciously accept them, and will teach them to do better.

Matthew Henry: 1Sa 1:1-8

We have here an account of the state of the family into which Samuel the prophet was born. His father's name was Elkanah, a Levite, and of the family of the Kohathites (the most honourable house of that tribe) as appears, 1Ch 6:33, 1Ch 6:34. His ancestor Zuph was an Ephrathite, that is, of Bethlehem-Judah, which was called Ephrathah, Ruth, Rth 1:2. There this family of the Levites was first seated, but one branch of it, in process of time, removed to Mount Ephraim, from which Elkanah descended. Micah's Levite came from Bethlehem to Mount Ephraim, Jdg 17:8. Perhaps notice is taken of their being originally Ephrathites to show their alliance to David. This Elkanah lived at Ramah, or Ramathaim, which signifies the double Ramah, the higher and lower town, the same with Arimathea of which Joseph was, here called Ramathaim-zophim. Zophim signifies watchmen; probably they had one of the schools of the prophets there, for prophets are called watchmen: the Chaldee paraphrase calls Elkanah a disciple of the prophets. But it seems to me that it was in Samuel that prophecy revived, before his time there being, for a great while, no open vision, 1Sa 3:1. Nor is there any mention of a prophet of the Lord from Moses to Samuel, except Jdg 6:8. So that we have no reason to think that there was any nursery or college of prophets here till Samuel himself founded one, Jdg 19:19, Jdg 19:20. This is the account of Samuel's parentage, and the place of his nativity. Let us now take notice of the state of the family.

I. It was a devout family. All the families of Israel should be so, but Levites' families in a particular manner. Ministers should be patterns of family religion. Elkanah went up at the solemn feasts to the tabernacle at Shiloh, to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts. I think this is the first time in scripture that God is called the Lord of hosts - Jehovah Sabaoth, a name by which he was afterwards very much called and known. Probably Samuel the prophet was the first that used this title of God, for the comfort of Israel, when in his time their hosts were few and feeble and those of their enemies many and mighty; then it would be a support to them to think that the God they served was Lord of hosts, of all the hosts both of heaven and earth; of them he has a sovereign command, and makes what use he pleases of them. Elkanah was a country Levite, and, for aught that appears, had not any place or office which required his attendance at the tabernacle, but he went up as a common Israelite, with his own sacrifices, to encourage his neighbours and set them a good example. When he sacrificed he worshipped, joining prayers and thanksgivings with his sacrifices. In this course of religion he was constant, for he went up yearly. And that which made it the more commendable in him was, 1. That there was a general decay and neglect of religion in the nations. Some among them worshipped other gods, and the generality were remiss in the service of the God of Israel, and yet Elkanah kept his integrity; whatever others did, his resolution was that he and his house should serve the Lord. 2. That Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were the men that were now chiefly employed in the service of the house of God; and they were men that conducted themselves very ill in their place, as we shall find afterwards; yet Elkanah went up to sacrifice. God had then tied his people to one place and one altar, and forbidden them, under any pretence whatsoever, to worship elsewhere, and therefore, in pure obedience to that command, he attended at Shiloh. If the priests did not do their duty, he would do his. Thanks be to God, we, under the gospel, are not tied to any one place or family; but the pastors and teachers whom the exalted Redeemer has given to his church are those only whose ministration tends to the perfecting of the saints and the edifying of the body of Christ, Eph 4:11, Eph 4:12. None have dominion over our faith; but our obligation is to those that are the helpers of our holiness and joy, not to any that by their scandalous immoralities, like Hophni and Phinehas, make the sacrifices of the Lord to be abhorred, though still the validity and efficacy of the sacraments depend not on the purity of him that administers them.

II. Yet it was a divided family, and the divisions of it carried with them both guilt and grief. Where there is piety, it is a pity but there should be unity. The joint-devotions of a family should put an end to divisions in it.

1. The original cause of this division was Elkanah's marrying two wives, which was a transgression of the original institution of marriage, to which our Saviour reduces it. Mat 19:5, Mat 19:8, From the beginning it was not so. It made mischief in Abraham's family, and Jacob's, and here in Elkanah's. How much better does the law of God provide for our comfort and ease in this world than we should, if we were left to ourselves! It is probable that Elkanah married Hannah first, and, because he had not children by her so soon as he hoped, he married Peninnah, who bore him children indeed, but was in other things a vexation to him. Thus are men often beaten with rods of their own making.

2. That which followed upon this error was that the two wives could not agree. They had different blessings: Peninnah, like Leah, was fruitful and had many children, which should have made her easy and thankful, though she was but a second wife, and was less beloved; Hannah, like Rachel, was childless indeed, but she was very dear to her husband, and he took all occasions to let both her and others know that she was so, and many a worthy portion he gave her (1Sa 1:5), and this should have made her easy and thankful. But they were of different tempers: Peninnah could not bear the blessing of fruitfulness, but she grew haughty and insolent; Hannah could not bear the affliction of barrenness, but she grew melancholy and discontented: and Elkanah had a difficult part to act between them.

(1.) Elkanah kept up his attendance at God's altar notwithstanding this unhappy difference in his family, and took his wives and children with him, that, if they could not agree in other things, they might agree to worship God together. If the devotions of a family prevail not to put an end to its divisions, yet let not the divisions put a stop to the devotions.

(2.) He did all he could to encourage Hannah, and to keep up her spirits under her affliction, 1Sa 1:4, 1Sa 1:5. At the feast he offered peace-offerings, to supplicate for peace in his family; and when he and his family were to eat their share of the sacrifice, in token of their communion with God and his altar, though he carved to Peninnah and her children competent portions, yet to Hannah he gave a worthy portion, the choicest piece that came to the table, the piece (whatever it was) that used to be given on such occasions to those that were most valued; this he did in token of his love to her, and to give all possible assurances of it. Observe, [1.] Elkanah loved his wife never the less for her being barren. Christ loves his church, notwithstanding her infirmities, her barrenness; and so ought men to love their wives, Eph 5:25. To abate our just love to any relation for the sake of any infirmity which they cannot help, and which is not their sin but their affliction, is to make God's providence quarrel with his precept, and very unkindly to add affliction to the afflicted. [2.] He studied to show his love so much the more because she was afflicted, insulted, and low-spirited. It is wisdom and duty to support the weakest, and to hold up those that are run down. [3.] He showed his great love to her by the share he gave her of his peace-offerings. Thus we should testify our affection to our friends and relations, by abounding in prayer for them. The better we love them the more room let us give them in our prayers.

(3.) Peninnah was extremely peevish and provoking. [1.] She upbraided Hannah with her affliction, despised her because she was barren, and gave her taunting language, as one whom Heaven did not favour. [2.] She envied the interest she had in the love of Elkanah, and the more kind he was to her the more was she exasperated against her, which was all over base and barbarous. [3.] She did this most when they went up to the house of the Lord, perhaps because then they were more together than at other times, or because then Elkanah showed his affection most to Hannah. But it was very sinful at such a time to show her malice, when pure hands were to be lifted up at God's altar without wrath and quarrelling. It was likewise very unkind at that time to vex Hannah, not only because then they were in company, and others would take notice of it, but then Hannah was to mind her devotions, and desired to be most calm and composed, and free from disturbance. The great adversary to our purity and peace is then most industrious to ruffle us when we should be most composed. When the sons of God come to present themselves before the Lord Satan will be sure to come among them, Job 1:6. [4.] She continued to do this from year to year, not once or twice, but it was her constant practice; neither deference to her husband nor compassion to Hannah could break her of it. [5.] That which she designed was to make her fret, perhaps in hopes to break her heart, that she might possess her husband's heart solely, or because she took a pleasure in her uneasiness, nor could Hannah gratify her more than by fretting. Note, It is an evidence of a base disposition to delight in grieving those that are melancholy and of a sorrowful spirit, and in putting those out of humour that are apt to fret and be uneasy. We ought to bear one another's burdens, not add to them.

(4.) Hannah (poor woman) could not hear the provocation: She wept, and did not eat, 1Sa 1:7. It made her uneasy to herself and to all her relations. She did not eat of the feast; her trouble took away her appetite, made her unfit for any company, and a jar in the harmony of family-joy. It was of the feast upon the sacrifice that she did not eat, for they were not to eat of the holy things in their mourning, Deu 26:14; Lev 10:19. Yet it was her infirmity so far to give way to the sorrow of the world as to unfit herself for holy joy in God. Those that are of a fretful spirit, and are apt to lay provocations too much to heart, are enemies to themselves, and strip themselves very much of the comforts both of life and godliness. We find that God took notice of this ill effect of discontents and disagreements in the conjugal relation, that the parties aggrieved covered the altar of the Lord with tears, insomuch that he regarded not the offering, Mal 2:13.

(5.) Elkanah said what he could to her to comfort her. She did not upbraid him with his unkindness in marrying another wife as Sarah did, nor did she render to Peninnah railing for railing, but took the trouble wholly to herself, which made her an object of much compassion. Elkanah showed himself extremely grieved at her grief (1Sa 1:8): Hannah, why weepest thou? [1.] He is much disquieted to see her thus overwhelmed with sorrow. Those that by marriage are made one flesh ought thus far to be of one spirit too, to share in each other's troubles, so that one cannot be easy while the other is uneasy. [2.] He gives her a loving reproof for it: Why weepest thou? And why is thy heart grieved? As many as God loves he rebukes, and so should we. He puts her upon enquiring into the cause of her grief. Though she had just reason to be troubled, yet let her consider whether she had reason to be troubled to such a degree, especially so much as to be taken off by it from eating of the holy things. Note, Our sorrow upon any account is sinful and inordinate when it diverts us from our duty to God and embitters our comfort in him, when it makes us unthankful for the mercies we enjoy and distrustful of the goodness of God to us in further mercies, when it casts a damp upon our joy in Christ, and hinders us from doing the duty and taking the comfort of our particular relations. [3.] He intimates that nothing should be wanting on his part to balance her grief: " Am not I better to thee than ten sons? Thou knowest thou hast my entire affection, and let that comfort thee."Note, We ought to take notice of our comforts, to keep us from grieving excessively for our crosses; for our crosses we deserve, but our comforts we have forfeited. If we would keep the balance even, we must look at that which is for us, as well as at that which is against us, else we are unjust to Providence and unkind to ourselves. God hath set the one over-against the other (Ecc 7:14) and so should we.

Matthew Henry: 1Sa 1:9-18

Elkanah had gently reproved Hannah for her inordinate grief, and here we find the good effect of the reproof.

I. It brought her to her meat. She ate and drank, 1Sa 1:9. She did not harden herself in sorrow, nor grow sullen when she was reproved for it; but, when she perceived her husband uneasy that she did not come and eat with them, she cheered up her own spirits as well as she could, and came to table. it is as great a piece of self-denial to control our passions as it is to control our appetites.

II. It brought her to her prayers. It put her upon considering, "Do I well to be angry? Do I well to fret? What good does it do me? Instead of binding the burden thus upon my shoulders, had I not better easy myself of it, and cast it upon the Lord by prayer?"Elkanah had said, Am not I better to thee than ten sons? which perhaps occasioned her to think within herself, "Whether he be so or no, God is, and therefore to him will I apply, and before him will I pour out my complaint, and try what relief that will give me."If ever she will make a more solemn address than ordinary to the throne of grace upon this errand, now is the time. They are at Shiloh, at the door of the tabernacle, where God had promised to meet his people, and which was the house of prayer. They had recently offered their peace-offerings, to obtain the favour of God and all good and in token of their communion with him; and, taking the comfort of their being accepted of him, they had feasted upon the sacrifice; and now it was proper to put up her prayer in virtue of that sacrifice, for the peace-offerings, for by it not only atonement is made for sin, but the audience and acceptance of our prayers and an answer of peace to them are obtained for us: to that sacrifice, in all our supplications, we must have an eye. Now concerning Hannah's prayer we may observe,

1. The warm and lively devotion there was in it, which appeared in several instances, for our direction in prayer. (1.) She improved the present grief and trouble of her spirit for the exciting and quickening of her pious affections in prayer: Being in bitterness of soul, she prayed, 1Sa 1:10. This good use we should make of our afflictions, they should make us the more lively in our addresses to God. Our blessed Saviour himself, being in an agony, prayed more earnestly, Luk 22:44. (2.) She mingled tears with her prayers. It was not a dry prayer: she wept sore. Like a true Israelite, she wept and made supplication (Hos 12:4), with an eye to the tender mercy of our God, who knows the troubled soul. The prayer came from her heart, as the tears from her eyes. (3.) She was very particular, and yet very modest, in her petition. She begged a child, a man-child, that it might be fit to serve in the tabernacle. God gives us leave, in prayer, not only to ask good things in general, but to mention that special good thing which we most need and desire. Yet she says not, as Rachel, Give me children, Gen 30:1. She will be very thankful for one. (4.) She made a solemn vow, or promise, that if God would give her a son she would give him up to God, 1Sa 1:11. He would be by birth a Levite, and so devoted to the service of God, but he should be by her vow a Nazarite, and his very childhood should be sacred. It is probable she had acquainted Elkanah with her purpose before, and had had his consent and approbation. Note, Parents have a right to dedicate their children to God, as living sacrifices and spiritual priests; and an obligation is thereby laid upon them to serve God faithfully all the days of their life. Note further, It is very proper, when we are in pursuit of any mercy, to bind our own souls with a bond, that, if God give it us, we will devote it to his honour and cheerfully use it in his service. Not that hereby we can pretend to merit the gift, but thus we are qualified for it and for the comfort of it. In hope of mercy, let us promise duty. (5.) She spoke all this so softly that none could hear her. Her lips moved, but her voice was not heard, 1Sa 1:13. Hereby she testified her belief of God's knowledge of the heart and its desires. Thoughts are words to him, nor is he one of those gods that must be cried aloud to, 1Ki 18:27. It was likewise an instance of her humility and holy shamefacedness in her approach to God. She was none of those that made her voice to be heard on high, Isa 58:4. It was a secret prayer, and therefore, though made in a public place, yet was thus made secretly, and not, as the Pharisees prayed, to be seen of men. It is true prayer is not a thing we have reason to be ashamed of, but we must avoid all appearances of ostentation. Let what passes between God and our souls be kept to ourselves.

2. The hard censure she fell under for it. Eli was now high priest, and judge in Israel; he sat upon a seat in the temple, to oversee what was done there, 1Sa 1:9. The tabernacle is here called the temple, because it was now fixed, and served all the purposes of a temple. There Eli sat to receive addresses and give direction, and somewhere (it is probable in a private corner) he espied Hannah at her prayers, and by her unusual manner fancied she was drunken, and spoke to her accordingly (1Sa 1:14): How long wilt thou be drunken? - the very imputation that Peter and the apostles fell under when the Holy Ghost gave them utterance, Act 2:13. Perhaps in this degenerate age it was no strange thing to see drunken women at the door of the tabernacle; for otherwise, one would think, the vile lust of Hophni and Phinehas could not have found so easy a prey there, 1Sa 2:22. Eli took Hannah for one of these. It is one bad effect of the abounding of iniquity, and its becoming fashionable, that it often gives occasion to suspect the innocent. When a disease is epidemical every one is suspected to be tainted with it. Now, (1.) This was Eli's fault; and a great fault it was to pass so severe a censure without better observation or information. If his own eyes had already become dim, he should have employed those about him to enquire. Drunkards are commonly noisy and turbulent, but this poor woman was silent and composed. His fault was the worse that he was the priest of the Lord, who should have had compassion on the ignorant, Heb 5:2. Note, It ill becomes us to be rash and hasty in our censures of others, and to be forward to believe people guilty of bad things, while either the matter of fact on which the censure is grounded is doubtful and unproved or is capable of a good construction. Charity commands us to hope the best concerning all, and forbids censoriousness. Paul had very good information when he did but partly believe (1Co 11:18), hoping it was not so. Especially we ought to be cautious how we censure the devotions of others, lest we call that hypocrisy, enthusiasm, or superstition, which is really the fruit of an honest zeal, and it is accepted of God. (2.) It was Hannah's affliction; and a great affliction it was, added to all the rest, vinegar to the wounds of her spirit. She had been reproved by Elkanah because she would not eat and drink, and now to be reproached by Eli as if she had eaten and drunk too much was very hard. Note, It is no new thing for those that do well to be ill thought of, and we must not think it strange if at any time it be our lot.

3. Hannah's humble vindication of herself from this crime with which she was charged. She bore it admirably well. She did not retort the charge and upbraid him with the debauchery of his own sons, did not bid him look at home and restrain them, did not tell him how ill it became one in his place thus to abuse a poor sorrowful worshipper at the throne of grace. When we are at any time unjustly censured we have need to set a double watch before the door of our lips, that we do not recriminate, and return censure for censure. Hannah thought it enough to vindicate herself, and so must we, 1Sa 1:15, 1Sa 1:16. (1.) In justice to herself, she expressly denies the charge, speaks to him with all possible respect, calls him, My lord, intimates how very desirous she was to stand right in his opinion and how loth to lie under his censure. "No, my lord, it is not as you suspect; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, not any at all"(though it was proper enough to be given to one of such a heavy heart, Pro 31:6), "much less to any excess; therefore count not thy handmaid for a daughter of Belial. "Note, Drunkards are children of Belial (women-drunkards, particularly), children of the wicked one, children of disobedience, children that will not endure the yoke (else they would not be drunk), more especially when they are actually drunk. Those that cannot govern themselves will not bear that any one else should. Hannah owns that the crime would have been very great if she had indeed been guilty of it, and he might justly have shut her out of the courts of God's house; but the very manner of her speaking in her own defence was sufficient to demonstrate that she was not drunk. (2.) In justice to him, she gives an account of her present behaviour, which had given occasion to his suspicion: " I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit, dejected and discomposed, and that is the reason I do not look as other people; the eyes are red, not with wine, but with weeping. And at this time I have not been talking to myself, as drunkards and fools do, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord, who hears and understands the language of the heart, and this out of the abundance of my complaint and grief."She had been more than ordinarily fervent in prayer to God, and this, she tells him, was the true reason of the transport and disorder she seemed to be in. Note, When we are unjustly censured we should endeavour, not only to clear ourselves, but to satisfy our brethren, by giving them a just and true account of that which they misapprehended.

4. The atonement Eli made for his rash unfriendly censure, by a kind and fatherly benediction, 1Sa 1:17. He did not (as many are apt to do in such a case) take it for an affront to have his mistake rectified and to be convinced of his error, nor did it put him out of humour. But, on the contrary, he now encouraged Hannah's devotions as much as before he had discountenanced them; not only intimated that he was satisfied of her innocency by those words, Go in peace, but, being high priest, as one having authority he blessed her in the name of the Lord, and, though he knew not what the particular blessing was that she had been praying for, yet he puts his Amen to it, so good an opinion had he now conceived of her prudence and piety: The God of Israel grant thee thy petition, whatever it is, that thou hast asked of him. Note, By our meek and humble carriage towards those that reproach us because they do not know us, we may perhaps make them our friends, and turn their censures of us into prayers for us.

5. The great satisfaction of mind with which Hannah now went away, 1Sa 1:18. She begged the continuance of Eli's good opinion of her and his good prayers for her, and then she went her way and did eat of what remained of the peace-offerings (none of which was to be left until the morning), and her countenance was no more sad, no more as it had been, giving marks of inward trouble and discomposure; but she looked pleasant and cheerful, and all was well. Why, what had happened? Whence came this sudden happy change? She had by prayer committed her case to God and left it with him, and now she was no more perplexed about it. She had prayed for herself, and Eli had prayed for her; and she believed that God would either give her the mercy she had prayed for or make up the want of it to her some other way. Note, Prayer is heart's-ease to a gracious soul; the seed of Jacob have often found it so, being confident that God will never say unto them, Seek you me in vain, see Phi 4:6, Phi 4:7. Prayer will smooth the countenance; it should do so.

Matthew Henry: 1Sa 1:19-28

Here is, I. The return of Elkanah and his family to their own habitation, when the days appointed for the feast were over, 1Sa 1:19. Observe how they improved their time at the tabernacle. Every day they were there, even that which was fixed for their journey home, they worshipped God; and they rose up early to do it. It is good to begin the day with God. Let him that is the first have the first. They had a journey before them, and a family of children to take with them, and yet they would not stir till they had worshipped God together. Prayer and provender do not hinder a journey. They had spent several days now in religious worship, and yet they attended once more. We should not be weary of well-doing.

II. The birth and name of this desired son. At length the Lord remembered Hannah, the very thing she desired (1Sa 1:11), and more she needed not desire, that was enough, for then she conceived and bore a son. Though God seem long to forget his people's burdens, troubles, cares, and prayers, yet he will at length make it to appear that they are not out of his mind. This son the mother called Samuel, 1Sa 1:20. Some make the etymology of this name to be much the same with that of Ishmael - heard of God, because the mother's prayers were remarkably heard, and he was an answer to them. Others, because of the reason she gives for the name, make it to signify asked of God. It comes nearly to the same; she designed by it to perpetuate the remembrance of God's favour to her in answering her prayers. Thus she designed, upon every mention of his name, to take the comfort to herself and to give God the glory of that gracious condescension. Note, Mercies in answer to prayer are to be remembered with peculiar expressions of thankfulness, as Psa 116:1, Psa 116:2. How many seasonable deliverances and supplies may we call Samuels, asked of God; and whatever is so we are in a special manner engaged to devote to him. Hannah intended by this name to put her son in mind of the obligation he was under to be the Lord's, in consideration of this, that he was asked of God and was at the same time dedicated to him. A child of prayer is in a special manner bound to be a good child. Lemuel's mother reminds him that he was the son of her vows, Pro 31:2.

III. The close attendance Hannah gave to the nursing of him, not only because he was dear to her, but because he was devoted to God, and for him she nursed him herself, and did not hang him on another's breast. We ought to take care of our children, not only with an eye to the law of nature as they are ours, but with an eye to the covenant of grace as they are given up to God. See Eze 16:20, Eze 16:21. This sanctifies the nursing of them, when it is done as unto the Lord. Elkanah went up every year to worship at the tabernacle, and particularly to perform his vow, perhaps some vow he had made distinct from Hannah's if God would give him a son by her, 1Sa 1:21. But Hannah, though she felt a warm regard for the courts of God's house, begged leave of her husband to stay at home; for the women were not under any obligation to go up to the three yearly feasts, as the men were. However Hannah had been accustomed to go, but now desired to be excused, 1. Because she would not be so long absent from her nursery. Can a woman forget her sucking child? We may suppose she kept constantly at home, for, if she had gone any where, she would have gone to Shiloh. Note, God will have mercy and not sacrifice. Those that are detained from public ordinances by the nursing and tending of little children may take comfort from this instance, and believe that, if they do that with an eye to God, he will graciously accept them therein, and though they tarry at home they shall divide the spoil. 2. Because she would not go up to Shiloh till her son was big enough, not only to be taken thither, but to be left there; for, if once she took him thither, she thought she could never find in her heart to bring him back again. Note, Those who are stedfastly resolved to pay their vows may yet see good cause to defer the payment of them. Every thing is beautiful in its season. No animal was accepted in sacrifice till it had been for some time under the dam, Lev 22:27. Fruit is best when it is ripe. Elkanah agrees to what she proposes (1Sa 1:23): Do what seemeth thee good. So far was he from delighting to cross her that he referred it entirely to her. Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is, when yoke-fellows thus draw even in the yoke, and accommodate themselves to one another, each thinking well of what the other does, especially in works of piety and charity. He adds a prayer: Only the Lord establish his word, that is, "God preserve the child through the perils of his infancy, that the solemn vow which God signified his acceptance of, by giving us the child, may be performed in its season, and so the whole matter may be accomplished."Note, Those that have in sincerity devoted their children to God may with comfort pray for them, that God will establish the word sealed to them at the same time that they were sealed for him.

IV. The solemn entering of this child into the service of the sanctuary. We may take it for granted that he was presented to the Lord at forty days old, as all the first-born were (Luk 2:22, Luk 2:23): but this is not mentioned, because there was nothing in it singular; but now that he was weaned he was presented, not to be redeemed. Some think it was as soon as he was weaned from the breast, which, the Jews say, was not till he was three years old; it is said she gave him suck till she had weaned him, 1Sa 1:23. Others think it was not till he was weaned from childish things, at eight or ten years old. But I see no inconvenience in admitting such an extraordinary child as this into the tabernacle at three years old, to be educated among the children of the priests. It is said (1Sa 1:24), The child was young, but, being intelligent above his years, he was no trouble. None can begin too soon to be religious. The child was a child, so the Hebrew reads it, in his learning-age. For whom shall he teach knowledge but those that are newly weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts? Isa 28:9. Observe how she presented her child, 1. With a sacrifice; no less than three bullocks, with a meat-offering for each, 1Sa 1:24. A bullock, perhaps, for each year of the child's life. Or one for a burnt-offering, another for a sin-offering, and the third of a peace-offering. So far was she from thinking that, by presenting her son to God, she made God her debtor, that she thought it requisite by these slain offerings to seek God's acceptance of her living sacrifice. All our covenants with God for ourselves and ours must be made by sacrifice, the great sacrifice. 2. With a grateful acknowledgement of God's goodness in answer to prayer. This she makes to Eli, because he had encouraged her to hope for an answer of peace (1Sa 1:26, 1Sa 1:27): " For this child I prayed. Here it was obtained by prayer, and here it is resigned to the prayer-hearing God. You have forgotten me, my lord, but I who now appear so cheerful am the woman, the very same, that three years ago stood by thee here weeping and praying, and this was the child I prayed for."Answers of prayer may thus be humbly triumphed in, to the glory of God. Here is a living testimony for God. "I am his witness that he is gracious (see Psa 66:16-19); for this mercy, this comfort, I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition. "See Psa 34:2, Psa 34:4, Psa 34:6. Hannah does not remind Eli of it by adverting to the suspicion he had formerly expressed; she does not say, "I am the woman whom you passed that severe censure upon; what do you think of me now?"Good men ought not to be upbraided with their infirmities and oversights. They have themselves repented of them; let them hear no more of them. 3. With a full surrender of all her interest in this child unto the Lord (1Sa 1:28): I have lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth. And she repeats it, because she will never revoke it: He shall be (a deodand) lent or given to the Lord. Not that she designed to call for him back, as we do what we lend, but she uses this word Shaol , lent, because it is the same word that she had used before (1Sa 1:20, I asked him of the Lord), only in another conjugation. And (1Sa 1:27) the Lord gave me the petition which I asked ( Shaalti , in Kal), therefore I have lent him ( Hishilti , the same word in Hiphil), and so it gives another etymology of his name Samuel, not only asked of God, but lent to God. And observe, (1.) Whatever we give to God, it is what we have first asked and received from him. All our gifts to him were first his gifts to us. Of thy own, Lord, have we given thee, 1Ch 29:14, 1Ch 29:16. (2.) Whatever we give to God may upon this account be said to be lent to him, that though we may not recall it, as a thing lent, yet he will certainly repay it, with interest, to our unspeakable advantage, particularly what is given to his poor, Pro 19:17. When by baptism we dedicate our children to God, let us remember that they were his before by a sovereign right, and that they are ours still so much the more to our comfort. Hannah resigns him to the Lord, not for a certain term of years, as children are sent apprentices, but durante vita - as long as he liveth, he shall be lent unto the Lord, a Nazarite for life. Such must our covenant with God be, a marriage-covenant; as long as live we must be his, and never forsake him.

Lastly, The child Samuel did his part beyond what could have been expected from one of his years; for of him that seems to be spoken, He worshipped the Lord there, that is he said his prayers. He was no doubt extraordinarily forward (we have known children that have discovered some sense of religion very young), and his mother, designing him for the sanctuary, took particular care to train him up to that which was to be his work in the sanctuary. Note, Little children should learn betimes to worship God. Their parents should instruct them in his worship and bring them to it, put them upon engaging in it as well as they can, and God will graciously accept them and teach them to do better.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 1:1-8

Samuel's pedigree . - 1Sa 1:1. His father was a man of Ramathaim-Zophim, on the mountains of Ephraim, and named Elkanah. Ramathaim-Zophim , which is only mentioned here, is the same place, according to 1Sa 1:3(comp. with 1Sa 1:19 and 1Sa 2:11), which is afterwards called briefly ha-Ramah , i.e., the height. For since Elkanah of Ramathaim-Zophim went yearby year out of his city to Shiloh, to worship and sacrifice there, and afterhe had done this, returned to his house to Ramah (1Sa 1:19; 1Sa 2:11), therecan be no doubt that he was not only a native of Ramathaim-Zophim, butstill had his home there; so that Ramah, where his house was situated, isonly an abbreviated name for Ramathaim-Zophim.

(Note: The argument lately adduced by Valentiner in favour of thedifference between these two names, viz., that "examples are notwanting of a person being described according to his original descent,although his dwelling-place had been already changed,"and theinstance which he cites, viz., Jdg 19:16, show that he has overlookedthe fact, that in the very passage which he quotes the temporarydwelling-place is actually mentioned along with the native town. Inthe case before us, on the contrary Ramathaim-Zophim is designated,by the use of the expression "from his city,"in 1Sa 1:3, as the placewhere Elkanah lived, and where "his house"(1Sa 1:19) was still standing.)

This Ramah (which is invariably written with the article, ha-Ramah), where Samuel was not only born (1Sa 1:19.), but lived, laboured, died (1Sa 7:17; 1Sa 15:34; 1Sa 16:13; 1Sa 19:18-19, 1Sa 19:22-23), and was buried (1Sa 25:1;1Sa 28:3), is not a different place, as has been frequently assumed,

(Note: For the different views which have been held upon this point,see the article "Ramah,"by Pressel, in Herzog's Cyclopaedia .)

from the Ramah in Benjamin (Jos 18:25), and is not to be sought for inRamleh near Joppa ( v. Schubert , etc.), nor in Soba on the north-west ofJerusalem ( Robinson , Pal . ii. p. 329), nor three-quarters of an hour to thenorth of Hebron (Wolcott, v. de Velde), nor anywhere else in the tribe ofEphraim, but is identical with Ramah of Benjamin, and was situated uponthe site of the present village of er-Râm, two hours to the north-west ofJerusalem, upon a conical mountain to the east of the Nablus road (see atJos 18:25). This supposition is neither at variance with the account in 1 Samuel 9-10 (see the commentary upon these chapters), nor with the statementthat Ramathaim-Zophim was upon the mountains of Ephraim, since themountains of Ephraim extended into the tribe-territory of Benjamin, as isindisputably evident from Jdg 4:5, where Deborah the prophetess is saidto have dwelt between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. The name Ramathaim-Zophim, i.e., "the two heights (of the) Zophites"appear to have been given to the town to distinguish it from otherRamah's, and to have been derived from the Levitical family of Zuph orZophai (see 1Ch 6:26, 1Ch 6:35), which emigrated thither from the tribe ofEphraim, and from which Elkanah was descended. The full name,therefore, is given here, in the account of the descent of Samuel's father;whereas in the further history of Samuel, where there was no longer thesame reason for giving it, the simple name Ramah is invariably used.

(Note: The fuller and more exact name, however, appears to havebeen still retained, and the use of it to have been revived after thecaptivity, in the Ῥαμαθέμ of 1 Macc. 11:34, for which the Codd. have Ῥαθαμεΐ́ν and Ῥαμαθαΐ́μ , and Josephus Ῥαμαθά , and inthe Arimathaea of the gospel history (Mat 27:57). "For the opinionthat this Ramathaim is a different place from the city of Samuel, andis to be sought for in the neighbourhood of Lydda, which Robinson advocates ( Pal . iii. p. 41ff.), is a hasty conclusion, drawn from theassociation of Ramathaim with Lydda in 1 Macc. 11:34, - the verysame conclusion which led the author of the Onomasticon to transferthe city of Samuel to the neighbourhood of Lydda"(Grimm on 1Macc. 11:34).

The connection between Zophim and Zuph is confirmed by the fact thatElkanah's ancestor, Zuph, is called Zophai in 1Ch 6:26, and Zuph orZiph in 1Ch 6:35. Zophim therefore signifies the descendants of Zuphor Zophai, from which the name "land of Zuph,"in 1Sa 9:5, was alsoderived (see the commentary on this passage). The tracing back ofElkanah's family through four generations to Zuph agrees with the familyregisters in 1 Chron 6, where the ancestors of Elkanah are mentionedtwice, - first of all in the genealogy of the Kohathites (1Ch 6:26), and then inthat of Heman, the leader of the singers, a grandson of Samuel (1Ch 6:33), - except that the name Elihu, Tohu, and Zuph, are given as Eliab, Nahath,and Zophai in the first instance, and Eliel, Toah, and Ziph (according tothe Chethibh ) in the second, - various readings, such as often occur in thedifferent genealogies, and are to be explained partly from the use ofdifferent forms for the same name, and partly from their synonymousmeanings. Tohu and Toah , which occur in Arabic, with the meaning topress or sink in, are related in meaning to nachath or nuach , to sink orsettle down.

From these genealogies in the Chronicles, we learn that Samuel wasdescended from Kohath, the son of Levi, and therefore was a Levite. It isno valid objection to the correctness of this view, that his Levitical descentis never mentioned, or that Elkanah is called an Ephrathite. The former ofthese can very easily be explained from the fact, that Samuel's work as areformer, which is described in this book, did not rest upon his Leviticaldescent, but simply upon the call which he had received from God, as theprophetic office was not confined to any particular class, like that ofpriest, but was founded exclusively upon the divine calling andendowment with the Spirit of God. And the difficulty which Nägelsbachexpresses in Herzog's Cycl ., viz., that "as it was stated of those twoLevites (Jdg 17:7; Jdg 19:1), that they lived in Bethlehem and Ephraim, butonly after they had been expressly described as Levites, we should haveexpected to find the same in the case of Samuel's father,"is removed bythe simple fact, that in the case of both those Levites it was of greatimportance, so far as the accounts which are given of them are concerned,that their Levitical standing should be distinctly mentioned, as is clearlyshown by Jdg 17:10, Jdg 17:13, and Jdg 19:18; whereas in the case of Samuel, as wehave already observed, his Levitical descent had no bearing upon the callwhich he received from the Lord. The word Ephrathite does not belong, sofar as the grammatical construction is concerned, either to Zuph or Elkanah , but to "a certain man," the subject of the principal clause, andsignifies an Ephraimite, as in Jdg 12:5 and 1Ki 11:26, and not aninhabitant of Ephratah, i.e., a Bethlehemite, as in 1Sa 17:12 and Rth 1:2; for in both these passages the word is more precisely defined by theaddition of the expression "of Bethlehem-Judah,"whereas in this verse theexplanation is to be found in the expression "of Mount Ephraim."Elkanahthe Levite is called an Ephraimite, because, so far as his civil standing wasconcerned, he belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, just as the Levite in Jdg 17:7 is described as belonging to the family of Judah. The Levites werereckoned as belonging to those tribes in the midst of which they lived, sothat there were Judaean Levites, Ephraimitish Levites, and so on (seeHengstenberg, Diss . vol. ii. p. 50). It by no means follows, however, from the application of this term toElkanah, that Ramathaim-Zophim formed part of the tribe-territory ofEphraim, but simply that Elkanah's family was incorporated in this tribe,and did not remove till afterwards to Ramah in the tribe of Benjamin. Onthe division of the land, dwelling-places were allotted to the Levites of thefamily of Kohath, in the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and Manasseh (Jos 21:5, Jos 21:21.). Still less is there anything at variance with the Leviticaldescent of Samuel, as Thenius maintains, in the fact that he was dedicatedto the Lord by his mother's vow, for he was not dedicated to the service ofJehovah generally through this view, but was set apart to a lifelong serviceat the house of God as a Nazarite (1Sa 1:11, 1Sa 1:22); whereas other Levites werenot required to serve till their twenty-fifth year, and even then had not toperform an uninterrupted service at the sanctuary. On the other hand, the Levitical descent of Samuel receives a very strongconfirmation from his father's name. All the Elkanahs that we meet with inthe Old Testament, with the exception of the one mentioned in 2Ch 28:7, whose genealogy is unknown, can be proved to have been Levites;and most of them belong to the family of Korah, from which Samuel wasalso descended (see Simonis, Onomast . p. 493). This is no doubtconnected in some way with the meaning of the name Elkanah , the manwhom God has bought or acquired; since such a name was peculiarlysuitable to the Levites, whom the Lord had set apart for service at thesanctuary, in the place of the first-born of Israel, whom He had sanctifiedto himself when He smote the first-born of Egypt (Num 3:13., Num 3:44.; seeHengstenberg, ut sup .).

1Sa 1:2-3

Elkanah had two wives, Hannah (grace or gracefulness) andPeninnah (coral), the latter of whom was blessed with children, whereasthe first was childless. He went with his wives year by year ( ימימה מיּמים , as in Exo 13:10; Jdg 11:40), according to theinstructions of the law (Exo 34:23; Deu 16:16), to the tabernacle at Shiloh(Jos 18:1), to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts. " JehovahZebaoth "is an abbreviation of "Jehovah Elohe Zebaoth," or הצּבאות אלהי יהוה ; and the connection of Zebaoth with Jehovah is not to be regarded as the construct state, nor is Zebaoth tobe taken as a genitive dependent upon Jehovah . This is not only confirmedby the occurrence of such expressions as " Elohim Zebaoth "(Psa 59:6;Psa 80:5, Psa 80:8,Psa 80:15, 20; Psa 84:9) and " Adonai Zebaoth "(Isa 10:16), but also by thecircumstance that Jehovah , as a proper name, cannot be construed with agenitive. The combination "Jehovah Zebaoth"is rather to be taken as anellipsis, where the general term Elohe (God of), which is implied in theword Jehovah , is to be supplied in thought (see Hengstenberg, Christol . i. p. 375, English translation); for frequently as this expression occurs,especially in the case of the prophets, Zebaoth is never used alone in theOld Testament as one of the names of God. It is in the Septuagint that theword is first met with occasionally as a proper name ( Σαβαώθ ),viz., throughout the whole of the first book of Samuel, very frequently inIsaiah, and also in Zec 13:2. In other passages, the word is translatedeither κύριος , or θεὸς τῶν δυνάμεων , or παντοκράτωρ ; whilst the other Greek versions use the more definitephrase κύριος στρατιῶν instead.

This expression, which was not used as a divine name until the age ofSamuel, had its roots in Gen 2:1, although the title itself was unknown inthe Mosaic period, and during the times of the judges. Itrepresented Jehovah as ruler over the heavenly hosts (i.e., the angels,according to Gen 32:2, and the stars, according to Isa 40:26), who arecalled the "armies"of Jehovah in Psa 103:21; Psa 148:2; but we are not tounderstand it as implying that the stars were supposed to be inhabited byangels, as Gesenius ( Thes. s. v. ) maintains, since there is not the slightesttrace of any such notion in the whole of the Old Testament. It is simplyapplied to Jehovah as the God of the universe, who governs all the powersof heaven, both visible and invisible, as He rules in heaven and on earth. Itcannot even be proved that the epithet Lord, or God of Zebaoth, referschiefly and generally to the sun, moon, and stars, on account of their beingso peculiarly adapted, through their visible splendour, to keep alive theconsciousness of the omnipotence and glory of God ( Hengstenberg on Psa 24:10). For even though the expression צבאם (their host), in Gen 2:1,refers to the heavens only, since it is only to the heavens (vid., Isa 40:26),and never to the earth, that a "host"is ascribed, and in this particularpassage it is probably only the stars that are to be thought of, the creationof which had already been mentioned in Gen 1:14.; yet we find the ideaof an army of angels introduced in the history of Jacob (Gen 32:2-3),where Jacob calls the angels of God who appeared to him the "camp ofGod,"and also in the blessing of Moses (Deu 33:2), where the "tenthousands of saints"( Kodesh ) are not stars, but angels, or heavenlyspirits; whereas the fighting of the stars against Sisera in the song ofDeborah probably refers to a natural phenomenon, by which God hadthrown the enemy into confusion, and smitten them before the Israelites(see at Jdg 5:20). We must also bear in mind, that whilst on the one hand the tribes of Israel,as they came out of Egypt, are called Zebaoth Jehovah, "the hosts ofJehovah"(Exo 7:4; Exo 12:41), on the other hand the angel of the Lord, whenappearing in front of Jericho in the form of a warrior, made himself knownto Joshua as "the prince of the army of Jehovah,"i.e., of the angelic hosts. And it is in this appearance of the heavenly leader of the people of God tothe earthly leader of the hosts of Israel, as the prince of the angelic hosts,not only promising him the conquest of Jericho, but through themiraculous overthrow of the walls of this strong bulwark of theCanaanitish power, actually giving him at the same time a practical proofthat the prince of the angelic hosts was fighting for Israel, that we have thematerial basis upon which the divine epithet "Jehovah God of hosts"wasfounded, even though it was not introduced immediately, but only at alater period, when the Lord began to form His people Israel into akingdom, by which all the kingdoms of the heathen were to be overcome. It is certainly not without significance that this title is given to God for thefirst time in these books, which contain an account of the founding of thekingdom, and (as Auberlen has observed) that it was by Samuel's mother,the pious Hannah, when dedicating her son to the Lord, and prophesyingof the king and anointed of the Lord in her song of praise (1Sa 2:10),that this name was employed for the first time, and that God wasaddressed in prayer as "Jehovah of hosts"(1Sa 1:11). Consequently, if thisname of God goes hand in hand with the prophetic announcement and theactual establishment of the monarchy in Israel, its origin cannot beattributed to any antagonism to Sabaeism, or to the hostility of piousIsraelites to the worship of the stars, which was gaining increasing groundin the age of David, as Hengstenberg (on Psa 24:10) and Strauss (on Zep 2:9) maintain; to say nothing of the fact, that there is no historicalfoundation for such an assumption at all. It is a much more naturalsupposition, that when the invisible sovereignty of Jehovah received avisible manifestation in the establishment of the earthly monarchy, thesovereignty of Jehovah, if it did possess and was to possess any reality atall, necessarily claimed to be recognised in its all-embracing power andglory, and that in the title "God of (the heavenly hosts"the fittingexpression was formed for the universal government of the God-king ofIsrael, - a title which not only serves as a bulwark against any eclipsing ofthe invisible sovereignty of God by the earthly monarchy in Israel, butoverthrew the vain delusion of the heathen, that the God of Israel wassimply the national deity of that particular nation.

(Note: This name of God was therefore held up before the people ofthe Lord even in their war-songs and paeans of victory, but still moreby the prophets, as a banner under which Israel was to fight and toconquer the world. Ezekiel is the only prophet who does not use it,simply because he follows the Pentateuch so strictly in his style. Andit is not met with in the book of Job, just because the theocraticconstitution of the Israelitish nation is never referred to in theproblem of that book.)

The remark introduced in 1Sa 1:3 , "and there were the two sons of Eli,Hophni and Phinehas, priests of the Lord," i.e., performing the duties ofthe priesthood, serves as a preparation for what follows. This reason forthe remark sufficiently explains why the sons of Eli only are mentionedhere, and not Eli himself, since, although the latter still presided over thesanctuary as high priest, he was too old to perform the duties connectedwith the offering of sacrifice. The addition made by the lxx, Ἡλὶ καὶ , is an arbitrary interpolation, occasioned by a misapprehensionof the reason for mentioning the sons of Eli.

1Sa 1:4-5

" And it came to pass, the day, and he offered sacrifice "(for,"on which he offered sacrifice"), that he gave to Peninnah and her childrenportions of the flesh of the sacrifice at the sacrificial meal; but to Hannahhe gave אפּים אחת מגה , "one portion for twopersons," i.e., a double portion, because he loved her, but Jehovah hadshut up her womb: i.e., he gave it as an expression of his love to her, toindicate by a sign, "thou art as dear to me as if thou hadst born me a child"( O. v. Gerlach ). This explanation of the difficult word אפּים , ofwhich very different interpretations have been given, is the one adoptedby Tanchum Hieros., and is the only one which can be grammaticallysustained, or yields an appropriate sense. The meaning face ( facies ) isplaced beyond all doubt by Gen 3:19 and other passages; and the use of לאפּי as a synonym for לפני in 1Sa 25:23, alsoestablishes the meaning "person,"since פּנים is used in thissense in 2Sa 17:11. It is true that there are no other passages that can be adduced to prove thatthe singular אף was also used in this sense; but as the word wasemployed promiscuously in both singular and plural in the derivativesense of anger, there is no reason for denying that the singular may alsohave been employed in the sense of face ( πρόσωπον ). Thecombination of אפּים with אחת מגה in theabsolute state is supported by many other examples of the same kind (see Ewald , §287, h ). The meaning double has been correctly adopted in theSyriac, whereas Luther follows the tristis of the Vulgate, and renders theword traurig , or sad. But this meaning, which Fr. Böttcher has lately takenunder his protection, cannot be philologically sustained either by theexpression פניך נפלוּ (Gen 4:6), or by Dan 11:20,or in any other way. אף and אפּים do indeed signifyanger, but anger and sadness are two very different ideas. But whenBöttcher substitutes "angrily or unwillingly"for sadly, the incongruitystrikes you at once: "he gave her a portion unwillingly, because he lovedher!"For the custom of singling out a person by giving double or evenlarge portions, see the remarks on Gen 43:34.

1Sa 1:6

" And her adversary (Peninnah) also provoked her withprovocation, to irritate her ."The גּם is placed before the nounbelonging to the verb, to add force to the meaning. רעם ( Hiphil ),to excite, put into (inward) commotion, not exactly to make angry.

1Sa 1:7

" So did he (Elkanah) from year to year (namely give to Hannah adouble portion at the sacrificial meal), as often as she went up to the houseof the Lord. So did she (Peninnah) provoke her (Hannah), so that shewept, and did not eat ."The two כּן correspond to one another. Just as Elkanah showed his love to Hannah at every sacrificial festival, sodid Peninnah repeat her provocation, the effect of which was that Hannahgave vent to her grief in tears, and did not eat.

1Sa 1:8

Elkanah sought to comfort her in her grief by the affectionateappeal: " Am I not better to thee ( טּוב , i.e., dearer) than tenchildren ?" Ten is a found number for a large number.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 1:9-11

Hannah's prayer for a son . - 1Sa 1:9-11. "After the eating at Shiloh, and afterthe drinking," i.e., after the sacrificial meal was over, Hannah rose up witha troubled heart, to pour out her grief in prayer before God, whilst Eli wassitting before the door-posts of the palace of Jehovah, and vowed thisvow: "Lord of Zebaoth, if Thou regardest the distress of Thy maiden, andgivest men's seed to Thy maiden, I will give him to the Lord all his lifelong, and no razor shall come upon his head." The choice of the infinitiveabsolute שׁתה instead of the infinitive construct is analogous tothe combination of two nouns, the first of which is defined by a suffix, andthe second written absolutely (see e.g., וזמרת עזּי , Exo 15:2; cf. 2Sa 23:5, and Ewald , §339, b ). The words from ועלי onwards to נפשׁ מרת form two circumstantial clausesinserted in the main sentence, to throw light upon the situation and thefurther progress of the affair. The tabernacle is called " the palace of Jehovah "(cf. 1Sa 2:22), not onaccount of the magnificence and splendour of the building, but as thedwelling-place of Jehovah of hosts, the God-king of Israel, as in Psa 5:8,etc. מזוּזה is probably a porch, which had been placed beforethe curtain that formed the entranced into the holy place, when thetabernacle was erected permanently at Shiloh. נפשׁ מרת , troubled in soul (cf. 2Ki 4:27). תבכּה וּבכה is really subordinate to תּתפּלּל , in the sense of "weeping muchduring her prayer."The depth of her trouble was also manifest in thecrowding together of the words in which she poured out the desire of herheart before God: "If Thou wilt look upon the distress of Thine handmaid,and remember and not forget," etc. " Men's seed "( semen virorum ), i.e., amale child. אנשׁים is the plural of אישׁ , a man (see Ewald , §186-7), from the root אשׁ , which combines the two ideas offire, regarded as life, and giving life and firmness. The vow contained twopoints:(1) she would give the son she had prayed for to be the Lord's all the daysof his life, i.e., would dedicate him to the Lord for a lifelong service, which,as we have already observed at 1Sa 1:1, the Levites as such were not boundto perform; and (2) no razor should come upon his head, by which he wasset apart as a Nazarite for his whole life (see at Num 6:2., and Jdg 13:5). The Nazarite, again, was neither bound to perform a lifelong servicenor to remain constantly at the sanctuary, but was simply consecrated fora certain time, whilst the sacrifice offered at his release from the vowshadowed forth a complete surrender to the Lord. The second point,therefore, added a new condition to the first, and one which was notnecessarily connected with it, but which first gave the true consecration tothe service of the Lord at the sanctuary. At the same time, the qualificationof Samuel for priestly functions, such as the offering of sacrifice, canneither be deduced from the first point in the vow, nor yet from thesecond. If, therefore, at a later period, when the Lord had called him to be aprophet, and had thereby placed him at the head of the nation, Samuelofficiated at the presentation of sacrifice, he was not qualified to performthis service either as a Levite or as a lifelong Nazarite, but performed itsolely by virtue of his prophetic calling.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 1:12-14

But when Hannah prayed much (i.e., a long time) before the Lord, and Elinoticed her mouth, and, as she was praying inwardly, only saw her lipsmove, but did not hear her voice, he thought she was drunken, and calledout to her: " How long dost thou show thyself drunken ? put away thywine from thee ,"i.e., go away and sleep off thine intoxication (cf. 1Sa 25:37). לבּהּ על מדבּרת , lit . speaking to her heart. על is not to be confounded with אל (Gen 24:45), but has thesubordinate idea of a comforting address, as in Gen 34:3, etc.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 1:15-16

Hannah answered: " No, my lord, I am a woman of an oppressed spirit. Ihave not drunk wine and strong drink, but have poured out my soul beforethe Lord (see Psa 42:5). Do not count thine handmaid for a worthlesswoman, for I have spoken hitherto out of great sighing and grief ." לפני נתן , to set or lay before a person, i.e., generally to give aperson up to another; here to place him in thought in the position ofanother, i.e., to take him for another. שׂיה , meditation, inwardmovement of the heart, sighing.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 1:17

Eli then replied: " Go in peace, and the God of Israel give (grant) thyrequest ( שׁלתך for שׁאלתך ), which thou hastasked of Him ."This word of the high priest was not a prediction, but apious wish, which God in His grace most gloriously fulfilled.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 1:18

Hannah then went her way, saying, "Let thine handmaid find grace in thineeyes," i.e., let me be honoured with thy favour and thine intercession, andwas strengthened and comforted by the word of the high priest, whichassured her that her prayer would be heard by God; and she did eat, "andher countenance was no more," sc., troubled and sad, as it had been before. This may be readily supplied from the context, through which the wordcountenance ( פּנים ) acquires the sense of a troubledcountenance, as in Job 9:27.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 1:19-20

Samuel's birth, and dedication to the Lord . - 1Sa 1:19, 1Sa 1:20. The next morningElkanah returned home to Ramah (see at 1Sa 1:1) with his two wives, havingfirst of all worshipped before the Lord; after which he knew his wifeHannah, and Jehovah remembered her, i.e., heard her prayer. "In therevolution of the days," i.e., of the period of her conception andpregnancy, Hannah conceived and bare a son, whom she called Samuel;" for (she said) I have asked him of the Lord ."The name שׁמוּאל ( Σαμουήλ , lxx) is not formed from שׁמוּ = שׁם and אל , name of God ( Ges. Thes . p. 1434), but from אל שׁמוּע , heard of God , a Deo exauditus , with an elision of the ע (see Ewald , §275, a ., Not. 3); and the words " because I have asked him of the Lord "are notan etymological explanation of the name, but an exposition founded uponthe facts. Because Hannah had asked him of Jehovah, she gave him thename, "the God-heard," as a memorial of the hearing of her prayer.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 1:21-22

When Elkanah went up again with his family to Shiloh, to present hisyearly sacrifice and his vow to the Lord, Hannah said to her husband thatshe would not go up till she had weaned the boy, and could present him tothe Lord, that he might remain there for ever. הימים זבח , the sacrifice of the days, i.e., which he was accustomed to offer onthe days when he went up to the sanctuary; really, therefore, the annualsacrifice. It follows from the expression "and his vow," that Elkanah hadalso vowed a vow to the Lord, in case the beloved Hannah should have ason. The vow referred to the presentation of a sacrifice. And this explainsthe combination of את־נדרו with לזבּח .

(Note: The lxx add to τὰς εὐχὰς αὐτοῦ the clause καὶ πάσας τὰς δεκάτας τῆς γῆς αὐτοῦ ("and allthe tithes of his land"). This addition is just as arbitrary as thealteration of the singular נדרו into the plural τὰς εὐχὰς αὐτοῦ . The translator overlooked the special reference of the word נדרו to the child desired by Elkanah, and imagined - probablywith Deu 12:26-27 in his mind, where vows are ordered to be paid atthe sanctuary in connection with slain offerings and sacrificial meals - that when Elkanah made his annual journey to the tabernacle hewould discharge all his obligations to God, and consequently would payhis tithes. The genuineness of this additional clause cannot besustained by an appeal to Josephus ( Ant . v. 10, 3), who also has δεκάτας τε ἔφερον , for Josephus wrote his work uponthe basis of the Alexandrian version. This statement of Josephus isonly worthy of notice, inasmuch as it proves the incorrectness of theconjecture of Thenius, that the allusion to the tithes wasintentionally dropped out of the Hebrew text by copyists, whoregarded Samuel's Levitical descent as clearly established by 1Ch 6:7-13 and 1Ch 6:19-21. For Josephus ( l . c . §2) expressly describes Elkanahas a Levite, and takes no offence at the offering of tithes attributedto him in the Septuagint, simply because he was well acquainted withthe law, and knew that the Levites had to pay to the priests a tenthof the tithes that they received from the other tribes, as a heave-offering of Jehovah (Num 18:26.; cf. Neh 10:38). Consequently thepresentation of tithe on the part of Elkanah, if it were really wellfounded in the biblical text, would not furnish any argument againsthis Levitical descent.)

Weaning took place very late among the Israelites. According to 2 Macc. 7:28, the Hebrew mothers were in the habit of suckling their children forthree years. When the weaning had taken place, Hannah would bring herson up to the sanctuary, to appear before the face of the Lord, and remainthere for ever, i.e., his whole life long. The Levites generally were onlyrequired to perform service at the sanctuary from their twenty-fifth totheir fiftieth year (Num 8:24-25); but Samuel was to be presented to theLord immediately after his weaning had taken place, and to remain at thesanctuary for ever, i.e., to belong entirely to the Lord. To this end he wasto receive his training at the sanctuary, that at the very earliest waking upof his spiritual susceptibilities he might receive the impressions of thesacred presence of God. There is no necessity, therefore, to understand theword גּמל (wean) as including what followed the weaning,namely, the training of the child up to his thirteenth year (Seb. Schmidt),on the ground that a child of three years old could only have been a burdento Eli: for the word never has this meaning, not even in 1Ki 11:20; and,as O. v. Gerlach has observed, his earliest training might have beensuperintended by one of the women who worshipped at the door of thetabernacle (1Sa 2:22).

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 1:23

Elkanah expressed his approval of Hannah's decision, and added, "only theLord establish His word," i.e., fulfil it. By "His word"we are not tounderstand some direct revelation from God respecting the birth anddestination of Samuel, as the Rabbins suppose, but in all probability theword of Eli the high priest to Hannah, "The God of Israel grant thypetition"(1Sa 1:17), which might be regarded by the parents of Samuel afterhis birth as a promise from Jehovah himself, and therefore might naturallyexcite the wish and suggest the prayer that the Lord would graciously fulfilthe further hopes, which the parents cherished in relation to the son whomthey had dedicated to the Lord by a vow. The paraphrase of דּברו in the rendering given by the lxx, τὸ ἐξελθὸν ὲκ τοῦ στόματός σου , is the subjective view of the translatorhimself, and does not warrant an emendation of the original text.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 1:24-25

As soon as the boy was weaned, Hannah brought him, although still a נער , i.e., a tender boy, to Shiloh, with a sacrifice of three oxen, anephah of meal, and a pitcher of wine, and gave him up to Eli when the ox(bullock) had been slain, i.e., offered in sacrifice as a burnt-offering. Thestriking circumstance that, according to 1Sa 1:24, Samuel's parents broughtthree oxen with them to Shiloh, and yet in 1Sa 1:25 the ox ( הפּר )alone is spoken of as being slain (or sacrificed), may be explained verysimply on the supposition that in 1Sa 1:25 that particular sacrifice is referredto, which was associated with the presentation of the boy, that is to say,the burnt-offering by virtue of which the boy was consecrated to the Lordas a spiritual sacrifice for a lifelong service at His sanctuary, whereas theother two oxen served as the yearly festal offering, i.e., the burnt-offeringsand thank-offerings which Elkanah presented year by year, and thepresentation of which the writer did not think it needful to mention,simply because it followed partly from 1Sa 1:3 and partly from the Mosaiclaw.

(Note: The interpretation of שׁלשׁה בּפרים by ἐν μόσχῳ τριετίζοντι (lxx), upon which Thenius would found analteration of the text, is proved to be both arbitrary and wrong by thefact that the translators themselves afterwards mention the θυσία , which Elkanah brought year by year, and the μόσχος ,and consequently represent him as offering at least two animals, indirect opposition to the μόσχῳ τριετίζοντι . This discrepancycannot be removed by the assertion that in 1Sa 1:24 the sacrificialanimal intended for the dedication of the boy is the only onementioned; and the presentation of the regular festal sacrifice is takenfor granted, for an ephah of meal would not be the proper quantity tobe offered in connection with a single ox, since, according to the lawin Num 15:8-9, only three-tenths of an ephah of meal were requiredwhen an ox was presented as a burnt-offering or slain offering. Thepresentation of an ephah of meal presupposes the offering of threeoxen, and therefore shows that in 1Sa 1:24 the materials are mentionedfor all the sacrifices that Elkanah was about to offer.)

Constable: 1Sa 1:1--3:21

I. ELI AND SAMUEL chs. 1--3

First Samuel first contrasts Israel's last two judges (Eli, a failure, and Samuel, a success) and then Israel's first two kings (Saul, a failure, and David, a success).¹¹

The first major section of Samuel sharply contrasts obedience and disobedience to the will of God as God expressed that for Israel in the Mosaic Covenant. This contrast is clear in all seven major sections of 1 and 2 Samuel. The events in this section took place during Eli's 40-year judgeship (4:18; 1144-1104 B.C.).¹²

Constable: 1Sa 1:1--2:11

A. The Change from Barrenness to Fertility 1:1-2:10

In the first subsection (1:1-2:10) we have the joyful story of Samuel's miraculous birth and his mother's gratitude to God for reversing her barrenness and making her fertile. The significance of this story is not only that it gives us the record of how Samuel was born and that his mother was a godly woman. It also shows how God, in faithfulness to His promise to bless those who put Him first (Deut. 28), did so even for a despised woman in Israel (cf. Rahab and Ruth). He brought blessing to all Israel because of her faith.

Constable: 1Sa 1:1-28

1. Hannah's deliverance ch. 1

"I Samuel 1 is presented as a conventional birth narrative which moves from barrenness to birth. Laid over that plot is a second rhetorical strategy which moves from complaint to thanksgiving. With the use of this second strategy, the birth narrative is transposed and becomes an intentional beginning point for the larger Samuel-Saul-David narrative. Hannah's story begins in utter helplessness (silence); it anticipates Israel's royal narrative which also begins in helplessness. As Hannah moves to voice (2, 1-10), so Israel's narrative moves to power in the historical process. Both Hannah's future and Israel's future begin in weakness and need, and move toward power and well-being. The narrative of I Samuel 1 functions to introduce the theological theme of cry-thanks' which appears in the larger narrative in terms of Israelite precariousness and Yahweh's powerful providence. Our chapter corresponds canonically to II Samuel 24 which portrays David in the end (like Hannah) as a needy, trusting suppliant. The two chapters, witnesses to vulnerable faith, together bracket Israel's larger story of power."¹³

Constable: 1Sa 1:1-2

The problem 1:1-2

Samuel's parents lived near Ramathaim-zopphim (lit. two heights, elsewhere called Ramah, e.g., v. 19, lit. height) in Ephraim in central Canaan.¹⁴ Samuel's father, Elkanah, was an Ephraimite by residence. He was really a Levite by blood (1 Chron. 6:33-38). Ramah was not one of the Levitical towns in Ephraim. Elkanah's residence raises initial questions about his commitment to the Mosaic Law. Was he really where he should have been, and does this indicate that the will of God may not have been very important for him? In the story that follows it is Hannah rather than Elkanah who emerges as the person of outstanding faith.

In the Hebrew Bible the description of Samuel's father and Samson's father are almost identical (cf. Judg. 13:2). The Holy Spirit may have written this to remind us of the unusual Nazirite status of both judges.¹⁵

Hannah's problem was that she was barren (v. 2).

Constable: 1Sa 1:3-8

Hannah's barrenness 1:3-8

Elkanah was a bigamist, a condition forbidden by God (Gen. 2:24). However, he loved Hannah dearly and gave her special consideration since she was infertile (v. 5; cf. Jacob's relationship with Rachel and Leah). Hannah's sterility may have prompted Elkanah to take Peninnah as a second wife.¹⁶

God had promised to bless His people with many descendants if they obeyed Him (Deut. 28:11). Consequently many Israelites saw a woman's inability to bear children not just as a natural handicap but also as a curse from God. Peninnah, her "rival" (v. 6), may have accused Hannah of some sin in her life that had apparently brought God's curse on her (v. 6; cf. Hagar's treatment of Sarai). >From the context we learn that Hannah was an unusually godly woman. Probably her barrenness was not a divine punishment for sin. It appears to have been a natural condition that God placed on her for His own purposes some of which become clear as this story unfolds (cf. John 9:1-3).

Elkanah was careful to observe some of the statutes in the Mosaic Law such as worshipping God yearly at Shiloh. However, he seems to have been somewhat insensitive to the depth of Hannah's suffering as a barren Israelite woman (v. 8).

The name "Lord of hosts" occurs first in the Old Testament in verse 3.¹⁷ This is a very commonly used divine name in the rest of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and the prophetic books. The "hosts" are the armies of the sovereign God and consist of humans (17:45), angels (Josh. 5:14), and stars (Isa. 40:26). This name expresses the infinite resources and power at God's disposal as He fights for His people.

"Three dramatic elements in the scene make the problem of barrenness more poignant for the narrative.

"First, we are told twice that The Lord had closed her womb' (v. 5, 6). . . . Second, while it is Yahweh who has created Hannah's problem, Hannah's response is not against Yahweh, but against Peninnah (v. 6-7). . . .

"Third, the scene ends with Elkanah's four-fold question, three times lameh, why,' plus a concluding question about his own value to Hannah (v. 8). Elkanah's questions are voiced in pathos. He does not understand Hannah's response; moreover he is helpless to change Hannah's situation. Elkanah is helpless about the problem of barrenness caused by Yahweh, and he is helpless in the destructive interaction between his wives. Hannah is deeply needy and immobilized, and her husband is helpless. The family system seems desperately closed. The only opening is that every year Elkanah goes up to sacrifice to Yahweh, the very one who has closed Hannah's womb."¹⁸

Constable: 1Sa 1:9-18

Hannah's lament and Eli's response 1:9-18

These verses provide some insight into the godly character of Samuel's mother and her personal relationship with Yahweh. That she would offer her son to God's service for life was similar to asking that God would lead your child into "the ministry." Asking that he would be a lifetime Nazarite was similar to asking that your child would dedicate himself completely to God, not just by profession but also by conviction. Hannah showed that she desired the honor of Yahweh more than simply gaining relief from her abusers. She wanted to make a positive contribution to God's program for Israel by providing a godly leader, not just to bear a child.¹⁹

The record of Eli's observations of and dialogue with Hannah (vv. 12-17) confirms the sincerity and appropriateness of her petition. Eli did not rebuke Hannah but commended her.²⁰ However, Eli's response to Hannah reveals his instability. He misunderstood Hannah because he did not perceive her correctly. This weakness surfaces again later and accounts for his demise. Prayer in the ancient world was usually audible (cf. Ps. 3:4; 4:1; 6:9; et al.; Dan. 6:10-11).²¹

Pouring out one's soul before God (v. 15) graphically describes earnest burdened praying.²² This kind of praying frequently results in a release of anxiety as it did in Hannah's case (v. 18; cf. Phil. 4:6-7).

"The issues now turn not on barrenness and birth, but upon submission to Yahweh and trust in Yahweh. Thus while the two scenes share a common problem, they approach the problem very differently. Scene 1 [vv. 3-8] treats the problem of barrenness as a matter of family struggle. In scene 2 [vv. 9-18] the same problem has been redefined in Yahwistic categories of need, submission, and trust."²³

When believers find ourselves in difficult situations, we should commit our desires to God in prayer. In prayer we should seek what is best for God primarily (cf. Matt. 6:9-10). The purpose of prayer is to enable us to accomplish God's will, not to get Him to do our will. We should also pray earnestly. When we pray this way, God will enable us to feel peace in our problem (cf. Phil. 4:6-7).

Constable: 1Sa 1:19-20

A birth announcement 1:19-20

Hannah's godly character surfaces again in the naming of Samuel. His name means "heard of God" or "God hears." Hannah, whose name means "grace" or "graciousness," recognized that Samuel's birth was not just a coincidence but an answer to prayer and a supernatural gift from God.

"Yahweh is the key actor in the narrative. Hannah could speak complaint and petition only because she submitted to Yahweh. Eli could give assurance to her only because he spoke on behalf of Yahweh. The son is born only because Yahweh remembered. Everything depends on asking Yahweh and being answered by Yahweh. Thus scene 3 [vv. 19-20] resolves scene 1 [vv. 3-8], but only by way of the decisive intrusion of Yahweh through scene 2 [vv. 9-18]."²⁴

Constable: 1Sa 1:21-28

The parents' thanksgiving 1:21-28a

"Scenes 3 [vv. 19-20] and 4 [vv. 21-28a] are a pair, not unlike the pairing of 1 [vv. 3-8] and 2 [vv. 9-19]. They are the two scenes of resolution. . . . These two scenes are concerned not with the birth, but with Hannah coming to terms with the reality of Yahweh. She is portrayed as the one who is needy, trustful, submissive, and grateful. She is a model of fidelity."²⁵

The Mosaic Law required an offering to God when He granted a vow (Lev. 27:1-8). Elkanah went to the central sanctuary to make this offering shortly after Samuel's birth (v. 21). The text refers to Hannah's vow as Elkanah's (v. 21). It was his vow in this sense: since he did not cancel it when he heard about it, he became responsible for it as Hannah's husband (cf. Num. 30:1-8).

Samuel may have been as old as three years before Hannah weaned him and brought him to the sanctuary (v. 23; cf. 2 Maccabees 7:27). The three-year-old bull and the flour (v. 24) were evidently for a burnt offering (an offering that represented the worshipper's total dedication to God, Lev. 1) and for food respectively.²⁶ Hannah could have offered a less expensive animal sacrifice (Lev. 12:6), but she was very grateful.

Guzik: 1Sa 1:1-28

1 Samuel 1 - The Birth of Samuel

1 and 2 Samuel form one book in the ancient Hebrew manuscripts. They were not divided into two books until the Old Testament was translated into Greek. We don't know who wrote the books; certainly, Samuel was a major contributor, but much of the book takes place after his death in 1 Samuel 25. They are called the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, not because he wrote all of them, but because they describe his great ministry in Israel and the legacy of it.

"Samuel the Prophet" thus practically bridges the gulf between Samson the Judge and David the King: and there is deep significance in the fact that his name is identified with the two Books of Scripture which describe this great transitional period, every event of which was affected by his influence. (F.B. Meyer)

A. Hannah's barrenness and her vow.

1. (1-2) The family of Elkanah.

Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

a. Now there was a certain man: The book begins with a certain man, living at a certain time in Israel. This was a critical time in Israel's history, because of the rising power of the Philistines, who were becoming stronger and stronger because of their more modern Greek military technology. Israel could compete on more equal terms with Moab and Ammon, but Greek military equipment (helmets, shields, coats of mail, swords and spears) made the Philistines much more formidable opponents.

i. The Philistines were an immigrant people from the military aristocracy of the island of Crete (Amos 9:7). Small numbers of Philistines were in the land at the time of Abraham; but they only came in force soon after Israel came to Canaan from Egypt. They were organized into five city-states. Archaeologists tell us two other things about the Philistines: they were hard drinkers, and they were the first in the region to effectively use iron, and they made the most of it.

ii. "Never did time seem more hopeless than when Samuel arose. The Philistines, strengthened not merely by a constant influx of immigrants, but by the importation of arms from Greece, were fast reducing Israel to the condition of a subject race." (Smith, Pulpit Commentary)

b. A certain man: At this strategic time and place, God begins His plan as He almost always does - with a person, a man or a woman He will use. God could accomplish His work all by Himself, or by using angels, or by any number of other means, but His normal way of working is to find a certain man and work through them.

c. Elkanah was a descendant of Zuph, and his family line shows he was a Levite (1 Chronicles 6:16-30). He is called an Ephraimite here because his family lived in a Levitical city in boundaries of Ephraim, not because he was of the tribe of Ephraim.

d. Elkanah . . . had two wives: The certain man mentioned in verse one, whose name was Elkanah, had two wives. Polygamy was a fact of life in that whole part of the ancient world. However, the Bible never puts polygamy in a favorable light; strife and conflict always characterize polygamous families in the Bible.

i. In this account, we will see an intense, competitive relationship between the two wives, Peninnah (who had children) and Hannah, who did not.

ii. "The custom of those times permitted polygamy; but wherever there was more than one wife, we find the peace of the family greatly disturbed by it." (Clarke)

iii. "Polygamy was ever a sin, though in the patriarchs and ancient saints, a sin of ignorance. 'It was not so from the beginning.' (Matt. xix. 8; Mal. ii. 15) . . . And although before the law given by Moses, polygamy is not reprehended." (Trapp)

2. (3-7) Elkanah and his family journey to the tabernacle.

This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD had closed her womb. And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.

a. This man went up from his city: According to the law of Moses, Israelites were not to worship God through sacrifice any time and any way they pleased. They were to bring their sacrifices to the tabernacle of God, and the priests of God, which at this time, were at Shiloh.

i. Shiloh was the central city of Israel, the religious center, for almost four hundred years. The tabernacle - the majestic tent God command Moses to build when they came out of Egypt, was erected there, and in it sat the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was the symbolic throne of God among Israel, the sacred chest containing the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. At the Ark, once a year, the high priest would make atonement for the sins of the nation. Though it was hidden, it was a powerful and important part of Israel's religious life.

ii. Today, if you visit Shiloh, you can see the bare, ancient outline of ruined walls of stone, walls that had once surrounded Israel's tabernacle for almost 400 years. On the heights you can see desolate, fruitless hills all around; rocky and bare, except for a distant Israeli neighborhood.

iii. Shiloh enjoyed all this glory for hundreds of years, but it came to an end abruptly. Hundreds of years later, through the prophet Jeremiah, God used Shiloh as a lesson. "Go to Shiloh," He says. "Look what happened to a place of spiritual privilege and glory when they forgot about Me. The same will happen to you if you do not turn again to Me" (a paraphrase of Jeremiah 7:12-14).

b. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there: These priests are mentioned by name because they were known among Israel as notoriously wicked priests (as will be shown in 1 Samuel 2:17, 24). Their mention here is to show how godly Elkanah was - even though the priests were wicked, he still offered sacrifices to the LORD, knowing that the wickedness of the priest did not make his own service to the LORD invalid.

i. "This good man did not run into that vulgar error, of neglecting his duty of offering to God for the wickedness of the priests." (Poole)

c. He would give portions: Every year, when Elkanah brought his family to the tabernacle for sacrifice, he would eat a ceremonial meal at the tabernacle with his family, giving portions to his wives and their children. He showed his favor and love to Hannah by giving her a double portion.

i. No one who offered a sin offering ate any portion of it; but of the peace offerings or offerings of thanksgiving, the offerer received a substantial portion.

ii. "The sacrifices which were made were probably peace-offerings, of which the blood was poured out at the foot of the altar; the fat was burnt on the fire; the breast and right shoulder were the portion of the priest; and the rest belonged to him who made the offering; on it he and his family feasted, each receiving his portion." (Clarke)

d. Yet, because of the conflict between the two wives, Hannah could not enjoy this display of love and favor from Elkanah: therefore she wept and did not eat.

i. It is possible for problems at home to make your time at the house of God miserable. There is Hannah, at the house of the LORD, with a full, blessed, double portion in front of her, and she can't enjoy it at all!

e. Despite the pain of Hannah, God had a purpose in it all: the LORD had closed her womb. God would use the closed womb of Hannah, and the pain from being childless, to accomplish something great in her life and in the whole plan of salvation. Even though things were hard, God was still in charge.

i. God's sovereignty over the womb is a familiar theme in the Bible (Genesis 20:18; 29:31; 30:22). Though many couples today experience the same pain of childlessness, God has a plan and a purpose for something good - though not easy - in it all.

ii. "It was a great reproach to a woman among the Jews to be barren; because, say some, everyone hoped that the Messiah should spring forth from her line." (Clarke)

iii. "Barrenness in ancient times was the ultimate tragedy for a married woman, since her husband's hopes and dreams depended on her providing him with a son to perpetuate his name and inherit his estate." (Youngblood)

iv. Why should Peninnah (who seems of a bad character) be blessed with children, and Hannah (who seems of a good character) be cursed with barrenness? Often, we don't understand God's ways, until He has finished accomplishing His purpose. Hannah (her name means grace) has a barren womb, but a fruitful spirit. God is going to use this woman!

3. (8-11) Hannah's godly vow.

Then Elkanah her husband said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?" So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the LORD. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head."

a. Hannah, why do you weep? . . . Am I not better to you than ten sons? In Elkanah's response to Hannah's sorrow, we see that he really does love her; yet, as many men, he is at least somewhat insensitive to her. He does not recognize that she had needs that he could not fulfill (such as the desire to be a mother).

b. Hannah was in bitterness of soul and great anguish; yet she did the right thing. Hannah took those bitter and anguished feelings to God honestly in prayer.

i. Most people know a time of bitterness of soul and anguish at some time in their lives. Thomas Sutherland said that he lost his faith during his time as a hostage in Lebanon. "God, I prayed so many times and prayed so hard - so hard! - and nothing happened. After thinking about it deeply, I'm not so sure there is a God." He added, "But I never felt abandoned by my country." The headline to this story read: Sutherland Tells of Captivity Without Bitterness. But what about his bitterness towards God?

ii. Hannah had many problems. Her husbands heart was divided. Her home, instead of being a place of refuge from trials, was a place of trials. Her hope had been disappointed. She was misunderstood by her husband. Yet in all those things, Hannah did the right things: she wept, she prayed, and she committed the whole situation to the LORD.

c. O LORD of hosts: Hannah begins her prayer by calling on the LORD of hosts. The title LORD of hosts is used some 260 times in the Old Testament, and has the idea "LORD of the Mighty Armies." Hannah feels attacked by her rival, and so calls on the LORD of Mighty Armies to be her protector!

d. She made a vow: Hannah promises her son to the work of the LORD, vowing that he will be a Nazirite from birth (I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head). According to Numbers 6, the vow of a Nazirite included the following:

i. Abstinence from any product from a grape vine, signifying distance from all fleshly pleasures.

ii. Taking no part in any mourning for the dead, nor to come near a dead body, because the dead show the corruption and the fruit of sin. Also, because the Nazirite had greater concerns than the ordinary joys and sorrows of life.

iii. Never cutting the hair, because it was a public, visible sign to others of the vow.

iv. Typically, the vow of a Nazirite was taken for a set and rather short period of time. Samuel and Samson (Judges 13:5) were unique, because they were Nazirites from birth.

e. I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life: The child born would be a Levite, and being of that tribe, would be already dedicated unto the LORD, because God regarded the tribe of Levi as His own special possession. But the time of a Levite's special dedication to the LORD only lasted from the age of 30 to 50 (Numbers 4:2-3). Here, Hannah was taking something that already belonged to the LORD in some sense, and gave it again to the LORD in a greater way - for the whole life, and in a the dedication of a Nazirite, which was a greater consecration than a Levite.

i. Even so, we may be dedicated unto the LORD - but is there a greater dedication God wants from us? It would have been easy for Hannah to say, "I don't need to dedicate my child to the LORD, because he is already dedicated." But there was a deeper dedication the LORD was trying to draw out of Hannah. Is there a deeper dedication the LORD is trying to draw out of you?

f. It is difficult, even impossible to understand all the reasons and dynamics behind the plan of God; but certainly, if God wanted this little boy to be dedicated to Him in this special way, He had to allow Hannah to come to this place of desperation.

i. Certainly, this was not the first time Hannah had prayed for a child. But perhaps this was the first time she prayed, truly giving the child to the LORD - not just in her heart, but in this vow as well.

ii. "Prayers and tears are the saints' best weapons." (Trapp) But Hannah - just as many of us - would not resort to these best weapons until bitterness and anguish forced her.

4. (12-14) Eli, the high priest, watches Hannah's silent prayer.

And it happened, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!"

a. As she continued praying is literally, "as she multiplied to pray." We have recorded only a bare summary of Hannah's prayer. As is the case with most all of the prayers and speeches of the Bible, all we have recorded is a portion or a summary of what was said.

b. Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: It is often good to pray aloud, because it can help us to better focus our thoughts. Yet this passage shows that prevailing prayer doesn't need to be vocal, it can be silent in the heart.

c. How long will you be drunk? Of course, Eli misunderstands Hannah here. But the fact that he would even suspect that she was drunk shows that it may not have been all that unusual for people to be drunk at the "fellowship meals" they would have in sacrificing to the LORD at the tabernacle. The fact that Eli suspected Hannah of drunkenness doesn't speak well for what he had seen around the tabernacle area previously!

i. "The fact that Eli supposed her to be drunken, and the other of the conduct of Eli's sons already mentioned, prove that religion was at this time at a very low ebb in Shiloh; for it seems drunken women did come to the place, and lewd women were to be found there." (Clarke)

d. Hannah suffers from being misunderstood by both her husband and her high priest; our High Priest never misunderstands us (Hebrews 4:14-16).

5. (15-18) Hannah responds to Eli's accusation; Eli answers back with a blessing.

And Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. "Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now." Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him." And she said, "Let your maidservant find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

a. No, my lord: Hannah will not accept Eli's accusation, but she will not respond in a haughty or an arrogant tone. She will explain herself, but will do it remembering that he is her high priest.

b. I have poured out my soul before the LORD: This is exactly what Hannah needed to do. Instead of keeping the bitterness of soul and the anguish in her heart, she poured it out of her soul before the LORD. Don't hold it in, pour it out before the LORD! The bitterness and anguish is like an acid that will eat up your insides, unless you pour it out before the LORD.

c. The God of Israel grant your petition: Eli may have spoken this only as a pious wish; but it was in fact a word from the LORD.

i. Caiaphas is an example of a high priest who was not godly, yet spoke a word from the LORD (John 11:49-52).

d. Her face was no longer sad: The change in Hannah's countenance shows that she received the promise with faith, something necessary if we will inherit the promises of God (Hebrews 6:12).

i. Hannah shows how we can regain the joy of fellowship in the house of the LORD again: by pouring out our heart before the LORD and by, receiving His word with faith.

B. The birth and dedication of Samuel.

1. (19-20) Samuel's miraculous conception is evidence of God's special call on his life.

Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked for him from the LORD."

a. Then they arose early in the morning and worshipped: Hannah could genuinely worship the LORD in faith, while the promise was still not yet fulfilled. What a glorious pattern of faith!

b. And the LORD remembered her: To use the term remembered is an anthropomorphism, a way of explaining God's actions in human terms that we can understand, even if it doesn't perfectly describe God's action. It isn't as if God ever forgot Hannah.

c. It came to pass in the process of time: It didn't happen right away. Hannah had reason enough to be discouraged, but when the promise of God came, she did not lose faith in the promise, even when it took some time. She is a great example of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12).

i. "So the meaning is, That although her husband knew her conjugally at his return, and God was mindful of her, and intended in his time to give her his blessing, yet she did not conceive at first, but after some days or time afterwards." (Poole)

2. (21-23) Hannah keeps the child until he is weaned.

Now the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the LORD and remain there forever." And Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the LORD establish His word." So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

a. Until the child is weaned: In that culture, a child was not weaned until two years old, or sometimes three. It is reasonable to assume that Hannah was in no hurry to wean Samuel!

b. Only let the LORD establish His word: This is wonderful counsel from Elkanah. He is saying, "do everything in obedience to God so we may see His word established among us."

3. (24-28) Hannah dedicates Samuel to God's service.

Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, "O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the LORD. For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the LORD." So they worshiped the LORD there.

a. She took him up with her: How difficult this must have been! Not only hard for Hannah, but hard for Elkanah also. Their willingness to fulfill the vow, even at great personal cost, is evidence of godliness in both Elkanah and Hannah.

b. The fact that 1 Samuel 1:24 mentions three bulls brought to Shiloh, but 1 Samuel 1:25 mentions only one being sacrificed (with some of the meat available for a fellowship meal) emphasizes that one of the bulls was specifically made as a burnt offering for the cleansing and consecration of little Samuel.

i. The magnitude of Elkanah's offering when Samuel was dedicated to the LORD - offering an entire bull - shows that a "grown up" offering for sin was made at his dedication, even though Samuel was only about three years old. This is a subtle reference to the inherited nature of our sinfulness. Though Samuel has not sinned as much as an adult, he is still a guilty sinner, because he has inherited a sinful nature from Adam - as we all have.

c. Literally, I also have lent him to the LORD could be translated, "And I also made myself to ask him for the LORD." The idea is not that Hannah "owns" the child and is "lending" him to the LORD. Instead, the idea is that the child is her "prayer," or the fulfillment of her prayer to the LORD.

i. The name Samuel means "Name of God" but Hannah - as was common among the Hebrews - made a pun on the name by saying that she had "asked the LORD for him." Asked in Hebrew sounds like Samuel.

d. So they worshipped the LORD there: Worship is a repeated characteristic of this family (1 Samuel 1:3, 19, 28). Even in difficult situations, they can worship the LORD. Praising God on the day you give your little son away may not be easy, but it is praise God is pleased with, even as we are to bring a sacrifice of praise to God (Hebrews 13:15).

© 2001 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: 1Sa 1:1

1 SAMUEL 1:1 —Was Elkanah, the father of Samuel, an Ephraimite or was he a Levite as indicated in 1 Chronicles 6:16-30 ?

PROBLEM: In the short genealogical note in 1 Samuel 1:1 , Elkanah is said to be from the mountains of Ephraim. However, in 1 Chronicles 6:16-23 , the longer genealogical record indicates that Elkanah was a Levite. Which is correct?

SOLUTION: Both are correct. The fact that Eli took Samuel into the temple service as an apprentice, and that Samuel later carried out the functions of the priesthood, substantiate the genealogical report that Samuel, and his father Elkanah, were of the tribe of Levi. The statement in 1 Samuel 1:1 simply points out that Elkanah lived in the mountains of Ephraim. All the Levites were assigned to dwell in certain cities that were scattered throughout the tribes of Israel ( Num. 35:6 ). It is quite probable that Ramathaim Zophim, the city where Elkanah lived, was one of these appointed cities. Elkanah was a Levite by tribal descent and an Ephraimite by geographical location.   

Introduction / Outline

JFB: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF SAMUEL. The two were, by the ancient Jews, conjoined so as to make one book, and in that form could be called the Book of Samuel with more propriety than now, the second being wholly occupied with the relation of transactions that did not take place till after the death of that eminent judge. Accordingly, in the Septuagint and the Vulgate, it is called the First and Second Books of Kings. The early portion of the First Book, down to the end of the twenty-fourth chapter, was probably written by Samuel; while the rest of it and the whole of the Second, are commonly ascribed to Nathan and Gad, founding the opinion on 1Ch 29:29. Commentators, however, are divided about this, some supposing that the statements in 1Sa 2:26; 1Sa 3:1, indicate the hand of the judge himself, or a contemporary; while some think, from 1Sa 6:18; 1Sa 12:5; 1Sa 27:6, that its composition must be referred to a later age. It is probable, however, that these supposed marks of an after-period were interpolations of Ezra. This uncertainty, however, as to the authorship does not affect the inspired authority of the book, which is indisputable, being quoted in the New Testament (1Sa 13:14 in Act 13:22, and 2Sa 7:14 in Heb 1:5), as well as in many of the Psalms.

JFB: 1 Samuel (Outline)

• OF ELKANAH AND HIS TWO WIVES. (1Sa 1:1-8)
• HANNAH'S PRAYER. (1Sa 1:9-18)
• SAMUEL BORN. (1Sa 1:20)
• HANNAH'S SONG IN THANKFULNESS TO GOD. (1Sa 2:1-11)
• THE SIN OF ELI'S SONS. (1Sa 2:12-17)
• SAMUEL'S MINISTRY. (1Sa 2:18-26)
• A PROPHECY AGAINST ELI'S HOUSE. (1Sa 2:27-35)
• THE LORD APPEARS TO SAMUEL IN A VISION. (1Sa 3:1-10)
• ISRAEL OVERCOME BY THE PHILISTINES. (1Sa 4:1-11)
• ELI HEARING THE TIDINGS. (1Sa 4:12-22)
• THE PHILISTINES BRING THE ARK INTO THE HOUSE OF DAGON. (1Sa 5:1-2)
• DAGON FALLS DOWN. (1Sa 5:3-5)
• THE PHILISTINES ARE SMITTEN WITH EMERODS. (1Sa 5:6-12)
• THE PHILISTINES COUNSEL HOW TO SEND BACK THE ARK. (1Sa 6:1-9)
• THE ARK AT KIRJATH-JEARIM. (1Sa 7:1-2)
• THE ISRAELITES, THROUGH SAMUEL'S INFLUENCE, SOLEMNLY REPENT AT MIZPEH. (1Sa 7:3-6)
• WHILE SAMUEL PRAYS, THE PHILISTINES ARE DISCOMFITED. (1Sa 7:7-14)
• OCCASIONED BY THE ILL-GOVERNMENT OF SAMUEL'S SONS, THE ISRAELITES ASK A KING. (1Sa. 8:1-18)
• SAUL, DESPAIRING TO FIND HIS FATHER'S ASSES, COMES TO SAMUEL. (1Sa 9:1-14)
• GOD REVEALS TO SAMUEL SAUL'S COMING, AND HIS APPOINTMENT TO THE KINGDOM. (1Sa 9:15-27)
• SAMUEL ANOINTS SAUL, AND CONFIRMS HIM BY THE PREDICTION OF THREE SIGNS. (1Sa. 10:1-27)
• NAHASH OFFERS THEM OF JABESH-GILEAD A REPROACHFUL CONDITION. (1Sa 11:1-4)
• THEY SEND TO SAUL, AND ARE DELIVERED. (1Sa 11:5-11)
• SAUL CONFIRMED KING. (1Sa 11:12-15)
• SAMUEL TESTIFIES HIS INTEGRITY. (1Sa 12:1-5)
• HE TERRIFIES THEM WITH THUNDER IN HARVEST-TIME. (1Sa 12:17-25)
• SAUL'S SELECTED BAND. (1Sa 13:1-2)
• HE CALLS THE HEBREWS TO GILGAL AGAINST THE PHILISTINES. (1Sa 13:3-4)
• THE PHILISTINES' GREAT HOST. (1Sa 13:5)
• THE ISRAELITES' DISTRESS. (1Sa 13:6-8)
• SAUL, WEARY OF WAITING FOR SAMUEL, SACRIFICES. (1Sa 13:9-16)
• JONATHAN MIRACULOUSLY SMITES THE PHILISTINES' GARRISON. (1Sa 14:1-14)
• SAUL SENT TO DESTROY AMALEK. (1Sa 15:1-6)
• HE SPARES AGAG AND THE BEST OF THE SPOIL. (1Sa 15:7-9)
• GOD REJECTS HIS FOR DISOBEDIENCE. (1Sa 15:10-11)
• SAMUEL SENT BY GOD TO BETHLEHEM. (1Sa 16:1-10)
• HE ANOINTS DAVID. (1Sa 16:11-14)
• THE ISRAELITES AND PHILISTINES BEING READY TO BATTLE. (1Sa 17:1-3)
• GOLIATH CHALLENGES A COMBAT. (1Sa 17:4-11)
• DAVID ACCEPTS THE CHALLENGE, AND SLAYS HIM. (1Sa. 17:12-58)
• JONATHAN LOVES DAVID. (1Sa 18:1-4)
• SAUL ENVIES HIS PRAISE. (1Sa 18:5-9)
• SEEKS TO KILL HIM. (1Sa 18:10-12)
• FEARS HIM FOR HIS GOOD SUCCESS. (1Sa 18:13-16)
• HE OFFERS HIM HIS DAUGHTER FOR A SNARE. (1Sa 18:17-21)
• JONATHAN DISCLOSES HIS FATHER'S PURPOSE TO KILL DAVID. (1Sa 19:1-7)
• SAUL'S MALICIOUS RAGE BREAKS OUT AGAINST DAVID. (1Sa 19:8-17)
• DAVID FLEES TO SAMUEL. (1Sa 19:18-23)
• SAUL PROPHESIES. (1Sa 19:24)
• DAVID CONSULTS WITH JONATHAN FOR HIS SAFETY. (1Sa 20:1-10)
• THEIR COVENANT RENEWED BY OATH. (1Sa 20:11-23)
• SAUL, MISSING DAVID, SEEKS TO KILL JONAHAN. (1Sa. 20:24-40)
• JONATHAN AND DAVID LOVINGLY PART. (1Sa 20:41-42)
• DAVID, AT NOB, OBTAINS OF AHIMELECH HALLOWED BREAD. (1Sa 21:1-7)
• HE TAKES GOLIATH'S SWORD. (1Sa 21:9)
• AT GATH HE FEIGNS HIMSELF MAD. (1Sa 21:10-15)
• DAVID'S KINDRED AND OTHERS RESORT TO HIM AT ADULLAM. (1Sa 22:1-8)
• DOEG ACCUSES AHIMELECH. (1Sa 22:9-16)
• SAUL COMMANDS TO KILL THE PRIESTS. (1Sa 22:17-19)
• ABIATHAR ESCAPES AND FLEES AFTER DAVID. (1Sa 22:20-23)
• DAVID RESCUES KEILAH. (1Sa 23:1-6)
• SAUL'S COMING, AND TREACHERY OF THE KEILITES. (1Sa 23:7-13)
• DAVID ESCAPES TO ZIPH. (1Sa 23:14-18)
• SAUL PURSUES HIM. (1Sa 23:19-29)
• DAVID IN A CAVE AT ENGEDI CUTS OFF SAUL'S SKIRT, BUT SPARES HIS LIFE. (1Sa 24:1-7)
• HE URGES THEREBY HIS INNOCENCY. (1Sa 24:8-15)
• SAMUEL DIES. (1Sa 25:1-9)
• THE CHURLISH ANSWER PROVOKES HIM. (1Sa 25:10-13)
• ABIGAIL PACIFIES HIM. (1Sa. 25:14-35)
• NABAL'S DEATH. (1Sa 25:36-44)
• SAUL COMES TO THE HILL OF HACHILAH AGAINST DAVID. (1Sa 26:1-4)
• DAVID STAYS ABISHAI FROM KILLING SAUL, BUT TAKES HIS SPEAR AND CRUSE. (1Sa. 26:5-25)
• SAUL HEARING THAT DAVID WAS FLED TO GATH, SEEKS NO MORE FOR HIM. (1Sa 27:1-4)
• DAVID BEGS ZIKLAG OF ACHISH. (1Sa 27:5-12)
• ACHISH'S CONFIDENCE IN DAVID. (1Sa 28:1-6)
• SAUL SEEKS A WITCH, WHO, BEING ENCOURAGED BY HIM, RAISES UP SAMUEL. (1Sa. 28:7-25)
• DAVID MARCHING WITH THE PHILISTINES TO FIGHT WITH ISRAEL. (1Sa 29:1-5)
• THE AMALEKITES SPOIL ZIKLAG. (1Sa 30:1-5)
• BUT DAVID, ENCOURAGED BY GOD, PURSUES THEM. (1Sa 30:6-15)
• AND RECOVERS HIS TWO WIVES AND ALL THE SPOIL. (1Sa. 30:16-31)
• SAUL HAVING LOST HIS ARMY AT GILBOA, AND HIS SONS BEING SLAIN, HE AND HIS ARMOR-BEARER KILL THEMSELVES. (1Sa 31:1-7)
• THE PHILISTINES TRIUMPH OVER THEIR DEAD BODIES. (1Sa 31:8-10)
• THE MEN OF JABESH-GILEAD RECOVER THE BODIES AND BURY THEM AT JABESH. (1Sa 31:11-13)

TSK: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

The First Book of SAMUEL, otherwise called " The First Book of the KINGS."

TSK: 1 Samuel 1 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

1Sa 1:1, Elkanah, a Levite, having two wives, worships yearly at Shiloh; 1Sa 1:4, He cherishes Hannah, though barren, and provoked by Peninnah; 1Sa 1:9, Hannah in grief prays for a child; 1Sa 1:12, Eli first rebuking her, afterwards blesses her; 1Sa 1:19, Hannah, having born Samuel, stays at home till he is weaned; 1Sa 1:24, She presents him, according to her vow, to the Lord.

Poole: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL OTHERWISE CALLED

THE FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS.

THE ARGUMENT.

IT is not certainly known who was the penman of this Book, or whether it was written by one or more hands; nor is it or any great importance; for since there are sufficient evidences that God was the chief author of it, it matters not who was the instrument. As when it appears that such a thing was really an act of parliament, or of the council-table, it is not considerable who was the clerk or which was the pen that wrote it. And this is the less material in such historical hooks, wherein there is but little which concerns the foundation of faith and good life, and therefore it was not necessary to name the writer of them. It may abundantly suffice that there were in these times divers prophets and holy men of God; as Samuel, and Nathan, and Gad, and David himself, who might each of them write some part of this and the following book. But if any man will out of perverseness doubt or deny that these wrote it, yet this I suppose no discreet and impartial man will deny, that it is wholly incredible that such books should be written in their times, and recommended to the church as a part of the Holy Scriptures, and so received by the succeeding generation, without their approbation, who had so great a power and authority in the church and commonwealth of Israel.

Poole: 1 Samuel 1 (Chapter Introduction)

1 SAMUEL CHAPTER 1 .

Elkanah goeth yearly up to the feast at Shiloh with his two wives: Hannah is barren; Peninnah upbraideth her, 1Sa 1:1-6 . Hannah prayeth fervently to the Lord for a son; promising to separate him a Nazarite unto God, 1Sa 1:7-12 . Eli thinking her drunk rebuketh her; upon her answer, blesseth her, 1Sa 1:13-18 . She returneth home with Elkanah, and conceiveth; beareth Samuel; offereth her sacrifice; performs her promise concerning him, 1Sa 1:19-28 .

MHCC: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

In this book we have an account of Eli, and the wickedness of his sons; also of Samuel, his character and actions. Then of the advancement of Saul to be the king of Israel, and his ill behaviour, until his death made way for David's succession to the throne, who was an eminent type of Christ. David's patience, modesty, constancy, persecution by open enemies and feigned friends, are a pattern and example to the church, and to every member of it. Many things in this book encourage the faith, hope, and patience of the suffering believer. It contains also many useful cautions and awful warnings.

MHCC: 1 Samuel 1 (Chapter Introduction)

(1Sa 1:1-8) Elkanah and his family.

(1Sa 1:9-18) Hannah's prayer.

(1Sa 1:19-28) Samuel, Hannah presents him to the Lord.

Matthew Henry: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The First Book of Samuel

This book, and that which follows it, bear the name of Samuel in the title, not because he was the penman of them (except of so much of them as fell within his own time, to the twenty-fifth chapter of the first book, in which we have an account of his death), but because the first book begins with a large account of him, his birth and childhood, his life and government; and the rest of these two volumes that are denominated from him contains the history of the reigns of Saul and David, who were both anointed by him. And, because the history of these two kings takes up the greatest part of these books, the Vulgar latin calls them the First and Second Books of the Kings, and the two that follow the Third and Fourth, which the titles in our English Bibles take notice of with an alias: otherwise called the First Book of the Kings, etc. The Septuagint calls them the first and second Book of the Kingdoms. It is needless to contend about it, but there is no occasion to vary from the Hebrew verity. These two books contain the history of the last two of the judges, Eli and Samuel, who were not, as the rest, men of war, but priests (and so much of them is an appendix to the book of Judges), and of the first two of the kings, Saul and David, and so much of them is an entrance upon the history of the kings. They contain a considerable part of the sacred history, are sometimes referred to in the New Testament, and often in the titles of David's Psalms, which, if placed in their order, would fall in these books. It is uncertain who was the penman of them; it is probable that Samuel wrote the history of his own time, and that, after him, some of the prophets that were with David (Nathan as likely as any) continued it. This first book gives us a full account of Eli's fall and Samuel's rise and good government, ch. 1-8. Of Samuel's resignation of the government and Saul's advancement and mal-administration, ch. 9-15. The choice of David, his struggles with Saul, Saul's ruin at last, and the opening of the way for David to the throne, ch. 16-31. And these things are written for our learning.

Matthew Henry: 1 Samuel 1 (Chapter Introduction)

The history of Samuel here begins as early as that of Samson did, even before he was born, as afterwards the history of John the Baptist and our blessed Saviour. Some of the scripture-worthies drop out of the clouds, as it were, and their first appearance is in their full growth and lustre. But others are accounted for from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. What God says of the prophet Jeremiah is true of all: " Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee," Jer 1:5. But some great men were brought into the world with more observation than others, and were more early distinguished from common persons, as Samuel for one. God, in this matter, acts as a free agent. The story of Samson introduces him as a child of promise, Jdg. 13. But the story of Samuel introduces him as a child of prayer. Samson's birth was foretold by an angel to his mother; Samuel was asked of God by his mother. Both together intimate what wonders are produced by the word and prayer. Samuel's mother was Hannah, the principal person concerned in the story of this chapter. I. Here is her affliction - she was childless, and this affliction aggravated by her rival's insolence, but in some measure balanced by her husband's kindness (1Sa 1:1-8). II. The prayer and vow she made to God under this affliction, in which Eli the high priest at first censured her, but afterwards encouraged her (1Sa 1:9-18). III. The birth and nursing of Samuel (1Sa 1:19-23) IV. The presenting of him to the Lord (1Sa 1:24-28).

Constable: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

First and Second Samuel were originally one book called the Book of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament (made ca. 250 B.C.) was the first to divide it into two books. The Septuagint translators titled these books 1 and 2 Kingdoms. That division has persisted ever since and has even been incorporated into subsequent editions of the Hebrew Bible (since A.D. 1517). The title "Samuel" was given by Jerome in his Latin translation, the Vulgate (ca. A.D. 400).

The Jews gave the name "Samuel" to it because Samuel is the first major character in the book. Samuel anointed both Saul and David, so in this respect he was superior to them both.

Date and Writer

Statements in the Book of Samuel imply that someone who had witnessed at least some of the events recorded wrote it. However the original writer must have written most of it after Samuel's death (i.e., -1 Sam. 25-2 Sam. 24) and some of it even after the division of the kingdom following Solomon's death (e.g., 1 Sam. 27:6). These features have made it difficult to date the book.

"Our guess is that the author was a high state official in frequent attendance at the court, enjoying the full confidence of David and his household, who served David throughout his reign in Jerusalem and also Solomon during the early years of his reign, and whose duties may have been connected with literary work."¹

Most conservative scholars prefer the view that Samuel may have written or been responsible for noting the record of earlier events in the book (chs. 1-24). Then some unidentifiable writer put it in its final form later, perhaps soon after Solomon's death.

Rationalistic critics of the book tend to believe it was the result of much more piecing together, and some of them date its final form as late as 500 B.C.²

Scope

The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.³ David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11; 5:5). This means he came to power in 1011 B.C. Saul also reigned for 40 years (Acts 13:21) so he became king in 1051 B.C. We can estimate the date of Samuel's birth fairly certainly on the basis of chronological references in the text to have been about 1121 B.C.⁴ Thus the Book of Samuel covers about 1121-971 B.C., or about 150 years of history.

We should note that the first part of 1 Samuel overlaps historically with the end of the judges period that we find in the Book of Judges. Apparently Samson was born just a few years before Samuel. Samson's 20-year judgeship evidently began shortly before the battle of Aphek (1104 B.C.) at which time Eli died (1 Sam. 4:18). It ended not many years before the battle of Mizpah (1084 B.C.) when the Philistine domination of Israel ceased temporarily (1 Sam. 7:13). Samuel's ministry therefore probably ran concurrent with that of Samson until Samson died. Saul began to reign about 35 years after Samson died (i.e., 1051 B.C.). Samuel evidently lived about 30 years after that.⁵

Old Testament History
Events	Biblical References
Creation to Israel's move to Egypt	Genesis 1-50
The Exodus	Exodus 1-18
Israel at Mt. Sinai	Exodus 19--Numbers 10
The Wilderness Wanderings	Numbers 11-21
Israel on the Plains of Moab	Numbers 22--Joshua 2
The Conquest and Division of Canaan	Joshua 3-24
The Amphictyony	-Judges 1-1 Samuel 7
The Reign of Saul	1 Samuel 8-31; 1 Chronicles 10
The Reign of David	2 Samuel 1-24; 1 Chronicles 11-29
The Reign of Solomon	1 Kings 1-11; 2 Chronicles 1-9
The Divided Monarchy	-1 Kings 12-2 Kings 17; 2 Chronicles 10-31
The Surviving Kingdom of Judah	2 Kings 18-25; 2 Chronicles 32-36
The Return under Zerubbabel	Ezra 1-6
The Return under Ezra	Ezra 7-10
The Return under Nehemiah	Nehemiah 1-13

Message⁶

First and 2 Samuel are really one story. The translators divided them into two books for convenience, not because of subject matter.

First Samuel records Israel's transition from amphictyony to monarchy.

The key passage that explains this transition is 8:4-7. Two statements from this passage are especially significant.

The human desire that produced the transition expressed itself in verse 5: "Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations." God had brought Israel into existence as a nation to be unlike all the nations (Exod. 19:5-6). The essence of its uniqueness was Yahweh's rule over it as King. God wanted Israel to be a demonstration for all the world to see how glorious it can be to live under the authority of God.

The real meaning of the people's request comes out in verse 7: ". . . they have rejected me from being king over them." During the period of the judges, religious apostasy spread and characterized Israel. The people refused to obey their King. It is this attitude that finds expression in verse 5. The people wanted to substitute the false for the true. This is the essence of sin, and it results in idolatry. Every idol is a witness to man's need of God. When people reject the true God they must put something in His place to meet that need. Human beings must have a god.

Israel turned from God as her King in 1 Samuel. She desired a king like the other nations. This book shows the immediate effects of that desire.

One of the great revelations of 1 Samuel is how from the human viewpoint God adapts to continue His reign.

This statement appears to contradict 8:7, but it does not. The people rejected Yahweh, but they did not dethrone Him. The first act is possible, the second is not. This is a major lesson of 1 Samuel. The great revelation of this book is not primarily its three central figures: Samuel, Saul, and David. It is Yahweh reigning by adapting to human situations and moving surely and steadily toward the fulfillment of His purposes. In spite of disobedience or obedience, failure or success, rebellious or loyal people, the reign of God moves on. We see this great lesson in the history of 1 Samuel's three central figures: Samuel, Saul, and David.

The writer introduced Samuel's story with his mother Hannah's experience with God. Hannah was a great woman of faith who lived in the judges period. Her faith became God's foothold for advance. Her song reveals a profound appreciation for Yahweh as the God who reigns over all (2:6-8, 10). The similarities between this prayer and Mary's Magnificat in Luke 1 are interesting and noteworthy.

Samuel was a prophet. In one sense he was the first of the prophets (Acts 3:24). Of course, Moses was a prophet and so was Abraham, but Samuel was the first of the order of prophets who mediated between God and the Israelites during the monarchy. The kings of Israel and Judah were never mediators between God and the people in the sense of speaking for God to the people. When the Israelites rejected Yahweh as their king, He withdrew from close communion and intimate fellowship with them. He never recognized their kings as standing between Himself and them to mediate His Word to the people. He chose their kings for them. He allowed their desire for a human king to work itself out in ultimate disaster through the centuries that followed. Yet He never spoke to the people through the king. He always spoke to them through the prophets. Samuel was the first of these. David, of course, was a king and a prophet. The role of the kings was to govern the people. The role of the prophets was to reveal God's will to them.

With Samuel the office of prophet in Israel emerges as that of Yahweh's authoritative representative to His people. Samuel became the king-maker finding and anointing both Saul and David. >From now on when God had a message for the people it normally did not come directly to the king but to the king and the people through the prophet. The prophet's office was always superior to that of Israel's kings. (You have the privilege of speaking for God to your generation. You have a high calling similar to that of Israel's prophets.) When Israel rejected Yahweh as her king, God chose Samuel, the child of a woman's simple faith, trained him in the tabernacle, and called him when he was only a boy. Then He gave him a message to deliver and sent him to anoint Saul as the king after the people's own heart, and David as the king after God's own heart. The prophets became God's mediators, His messengers, and the interpreters of His law. Thus Yahweh reigned though He adapted His methods of ruling by raising up the prophets. He called Samuel as the first of these mediators. During the monarchy God provided guidance through two offices rather than through one as He had done previously. The kings provided political leadership, and the prophets gave the people spiritual leadership. God had previously provided both types of leadership through single individuals namely Moses, Joshua, and the judges.

Saul's story is one of the most tragic in Scripture. It is unusually fascinating and has tremendous power in its appeal to our lives. When God placed Saul on Israel's throne He answered the prayer of His rebellious people in 8:5. God "gave them their request, but sent a wasting disease among them" (Ps. 106:15; NASB).

Saul was a revelation to the Israelites of what the possession of "a king like the nations" really meant. He had unusual physical strength, but he was fitful and he failed the people. He had mental acumen, but he was moody and eventually turned into a madman. He was sluggish and dull spiritually lacking in spiritual insight and power, and eventually he abandoned Yahweh for a witch.

His reign was also a disaster. At the beginning of his reign, Israel was virtually without a leader. At its end it was under the control of an enemy neighbor. Saul was never able to expand the borders of Israel because he never was strong enough to dominate his enemy neighbors. David on the other hand did both of these things. At the end of Saul's reign, Israel had almost destroyed itself through its wars with the Philistines.

David's story is one of the most glorious in Scripture. After Saul, God gave His people another king, but this time he was a man after God's own heart.

God prepared David for the throne by putting him through training as a shepherd in the fields, a courtier in the palace, and an "outlaw" in exile. (By "outlaw" I do not mean David was lawless but that he lived outside Saul's control.) His shepherd training prepared him to care for and protect the Israelites under his charge. His courtier experience prepared him to deal with high governmental leaders. His "outlaw" years perfected the disciplines that enabled him to become a strong ruler. These disciplines included relying on God in every situation, practicing self-restraint, and leading his people.

In all David's training God was reigning, moving forward to the fulfillment of His plans and purposes. God had previously done this by making the child of faith, Samuel, His prophet. He had also done this by making outwardly promising Saul a revelation to the nation of her sins in turning away from God.

The second great revelation of this book is that people cooperate with God by either being loyal or by being disloyal to Him.

In Samuel's case he had opportunity to glorify God because of his parentage, his call by God, and his appointment as God's prophet. He responded obediently, with loyalty to God. Consequently God's messages got delivered, and God's work moved ahead. Samuel was an instrument of blessing.

In Saul's case he had opportunity to glorify God too. His opportunity came in his call by God, his anointing by Samuel, his friendship with Samuel, his popularity with the people, and his personal abilities. He responded disobediently, with disloyalty to God as seen in his vacillating and self-will. Consequently he failed as a king, and he died under the judgment of God. His life was a failure.

In David's case his opportunities were his call, his anointing, his waiting, and his suffering. He responded obediently, with loyalty to God. Consequently he became God's instrument of progress and blessing. He was a success.

Each man had his opportunity, made his response, and experienced the consequences of his response. Two obeyed, one disobeyed. All cooperated with God in fulfilling His ultimate purposes either to his own blessing or to his own blasting.

As a result of these two major revelations I would summarize the message of 1 Samuel as follows. God will accomplish His purposes regardless of man's personal response to Him. However man's response to God's revealed will determines a person's own success or failure in life.

First Samuel teaches us the methods of the sovereign God. All territory is within God's jurisdiction, every person is under His control, and all events are in His hands. All of God's plans and purposes are moving toward accomplishment. He makes use of all antagonistic facts and forces as well as all positive facts and forces. He also makes use of all the agents He has chosen to use regardless of their responses. Paul's comments in 2 Tim. 2:20-21 are very much to the point here.

First Samuel also teaches us that God's ultimate victory is independent of the attitudes and actions of individuals and groups of people (e.g., Israel) toward Him. Nevertheless the ultimate destiny of individuals and groups of people depends on their attitudes and actions toward Him.

Samuel was obedient, was God's instrument, and experienced deliverance. Saul was disobedient, was God's instrument, and experienced destruction. David was obedient, was God's instrument, and experienced deliverance. My attitudes and actions do not determine God's ultimate victory, but they do determine my ultimate destiny. Everything depends on my choices and me regarding my earthly destiny. Nothing depends on me regarding God's ultimate victory. God uses all people, loyal and rebellious, to produce His ultimate purposes. However we determine the outcome of our lives by our attitudes and responses to Him. We see these principles working themselves out around us all the time. Dr. Walvoord is an example of a Samuel or a David in our day. The DTS graduates in prison are examples of the Sauls of our day.

Constable: 1 Samuel (Outline)

Outline

I. Eli and Samuel chs. 1-3

A. The change from barrenness to fertility 1:1-2:10

1. Hannah's condition 1:1-8

2. Hannah's vow 1:9-18

3. Hannah's obedience 1:19-28

4. Hannah's song 2:1-10

B. The contrast between Samuel and Eli's sons 2:11-36

1. Eli's sons' wickedness 2:11-17

2. Hannah's godly influence on Samuel and its effect 2:18-21

3. Eli's lack of influence on his sons and its effect 2:22-26

4. The oracle against Eli's house 2:27-36

C. God's first revelation to Samuel ch. 3

1. Samuel's call 3:1-18

2. Samuel's ministry 3:19-4:1a

II. The history of the ark of the covenant 4:1b-7:1

A. The capture of the ark 4:1b-22

1. The battle of Aphek 4:1b-11

2. The response of Eli 4:12-18

3. The response of Phinehas' wife 4:19-22

B. Pagan fertility foiled by God ch. 5

C. The ark returned to Israel by God 6:1-7:1

1. The plan to terminate God's judgment 6:1-9

2. The return of the ark to Bethshemesh 6:10-18

3. The removal of the ark to Kiriath-jearim 6:19-7:1

III. Samuel and Saul 7:2-15:35

A. Samuel's ministry as Israel's judge 7:2-17

1. Samuel's spiritual leadership 7:2-4

2. National repentance and deliverance 7:5-14

3. Samuel's regular ministry 7:15-17

B. Kingship given to Saul chs. 8-12

1. The demand for a king ch. 8

2. The anointing of Saul 9:1-10:16

3. The choice of Saul by lot 10:17-27

4. Saul's effective leadership in battle 11:1-11

5. The confirmation of Saul as king 11:12-12:25

C. Kingship removed from Saul chs. 13-15

1. Saul's disobedience at Gilgal 13:1-15

2. Saul's struggle against the Philistines 13:16-14:23

3. Saul's cursing of Jonathan 14:24-46

4. Saul's limited effectiveness in battle 14:47-52

5. Yahweh's final rejection of Saul ch. 15

IV. Saul and David 1 Sam. 16-31

A. David's rise as the new anointed 16:1-18:5

1. God's selection of David for kingship ch. 16

2. The reason for God's selection of David ch. 17

3. The results of God's selection of David ch. 18:1-19:17

B. David driven out by Saul 19:18-20:42

1. God's deliverance in Ramah 19:18-24

2. Jonathan's advocacy for David ch. 20

C. David in exile chs. 21-31

1. David's initial movements chs. 21-22

2. Saul's pursuit of David ch. 23

3. David's goodness to two fools ch. 24-26

4. The end of Saul's reign 27-31

(Continued in notes on 2 Samuel)

Constable: 1 Samuel

1 Samuel

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL;

otherwise called,

THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS.

INTRODUCTION.

This and the following Book are called by the Hebrews, the Books of Samuel, because they contain the history of Samuel, and of the two kings, Saul and David, whom he anointed. They are more commonly named by the Fathers, the First and Second Book of Kings. As to the writer of them, it is the common opinion that Samuel composed the first book, as far as the twenty-fifth chapter; and that the prophets Nathan and Gad finished the first and wrote the second book. See 1 Paralipomenon, alias 1 Chronicles, xxix. 19. (Challoner) --- The authors of the Third and Fourth Books of Kings were also prophets, but we know not exactly their names. These works have nevertheless been always esteemed authentic (Haydock) and canonical. (Worthington) --- Ven. Bede takes occasion to observe, from the Books of Kings (or as the Septuagint read, "of kingdoms;" Haydock) being placed after that of Judges, that the everlasting kingdom of Christ will succeed the general judgment. The translation of the priesthood and of the regal dignity, recorded in these books, denote also that Christ would united both in his own person; as the two wives of Eleana intimated, that both Jews and Gentiles would acknowledge the same Lord. (St. Jerome; St. Augustine; &c.) --- The transactions of Heli, Samuel and Saul, and the persecutions which David sustained from the latter, form the subject of the first book, (Haydock) during the space of 100 years. All the four books carry down the sacred history near 600 years, from the year of the world 2849 till the transmigration of Juda, in the year 3420. (Calmet) (Usher)

Gill: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 SAMUEL

This book, in the Hebrew copies, is commonly called Samuel, or the Book of Samuel; in the Syriac version, the Book of Samuel the Prophet; and in the Arabic version, the Book of Samuel the Prophet, which is the First Book of the Kings; and the Septuagint version, the Book of the Kingdom: it has the name of Samuel, because it contains an history of his life and times; and the Jews say ^a it was written by him; and as it may well enough be thought to be, to the end of the twenty fourth chapter; and the rest might be written by Nathan and Gad, as may he gathered from 1Ch 29:29 as also the following book that bears his name; and both may be called the Books of Kings, because they give an account of the rise of the kings in Israel, and of the two first of them; though some think they were written by Jeremiah, as Abarbinel; and others ascribe them to Ezra: however, there is no doubt to be made of it that this book was written by divine inspiration, when we consider the series of its history, its connection and harmony with other parts of Scripture; the several things borrowed from it, or alluded to in the book of Psalms, particularly what is observed in Psa 113:7, seems to be taken out of 1Sa 2:8, and the sanction which the Lord gives to it, by referring to a fact in it, whereby he stopped the mouths of the Scribes and Pharisees cavilling at his disciples, Mat 12:3, compared with 1Sa 21:3, yea, even, as Huetius ^b observes, some Heathen writers have by their testimonies confirmed some passages in these books, which they seem to have been acquainted with, as Nicolaus of Damascus ^c, and Eupolemus ^d; it contains an history of the government of Eli, and of the birth of Samuel, and his education under him; of the succession of Samuel in it, and the resignation of it to Saul, when he was chosen king; of his administration of his office, and of things done in the time of it, both before and after his rejection, and of the persecution of David by Saul, and is concluded with his death.

Gill: 1 Samuel 1 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 1

This chapter gives an account of the parents of Samuel, of the trouble his mother met with from her rival, and comfort from her husband, 1Sa 1:1, of her prayer to God for a son, and of her vow to him, should one be given her, 1Sa 1:9 of the notice Eli took of her, and of his censure on her, which he afterwards retracted, and comforted her, 1Sa 1:12 of her conception and the birth of her son, the nursing and weaning of him, 1Sa 1:19 and of the presentation of him to the Lord, with a sacrifice, 1Sa 1:24.