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 F24; 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 F25; 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" F26; 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 ( Psalms 42:8 ) (
102:1
) where phrases similar to this are used, and which seem to be
taken from hence.