1 Samuel 1:13

13 porro Anna loquebatur in corde suo tantumque labia illius movebantur et vox penitus non audiebatur aestimavit igitur eam Heli temulentam

1 Samuel 1:13 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 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.

1 Samuel 1:13 In-Context

11 et votum vovit dicens Domine exercituum si respiciens videris adflictionem famulae tuae et recordatus mei fueris nec oblitus ancillae tuae dederisque servae tuae sexum virilem dabo eum Domino omnes dies vitae eius et novacula non ascendet super caput eius

12 factum est ergo cum illa multiplicaret preces coram Domino ut Heli observaret os eius

13 porro Anna loquebatur in corde suo tantumque labia illius movebantur et vox penitus non audiebatur aestimavit igitur eam Heli temulentam

14 dixitque ei usquequo ebria eris digere paulisper vinum quo mades

15 respondens Anna nequaquam inquit domine mi nam mulier infelix nimis ego sum vinumque et omne quod inebriare potest non bibi sed effudi animam meam in conspectu Domini