1 Samuel 2:21

21 And the Lord had mercy on Hannah and she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the young Samuel became older before the Lord.

1 Samuel 2:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 2:21

And the Lord visited Hannah
In a way of mercy, approving and confirming the blessing of Eli; or rather granting the blessing he prayed for, by giving her power to conceive, bear, and bring forth children, as the following words explain it:

so that she conceived and bare three sons and two daughters;
whereby the prophecy of Hannah was fulfilled, ( 1 Samuel 2:5 ) , and was no doubt matter of great joy to her, though of these children we nowhere else read, nor even of their names. Josephus ^F19 says, Elkanah had other sons by Hannah, and three daughters; which agrees not with the text:

and the child Samuel grew before the Lord:
in age and stature, in grace and goodness, and improved much in the worship and service of God, both in the theory and practice of it; or became great with him, high in his esteem and favour, and was blessed with much of his presence, and with large gifts of his grace.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 10. sect. 3.

1 Samuel 2:21 In-Context

19 And his mother made him a little robe and took it to him every year when she came with her husband for the year's offering.

20 And every year Eli gave Elkanah and his wife a blessing, saying, May the Lord give you offspring by this woman in exchange for the child you have given to the Lord. And they went back to their house.

21 And the Lord had mercy on Hannah and she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the young Samuel became older before the Lord.

22 Now Eli was very old; and he had news from time to time of what his sons were doing to all Israel.

23 And he said to them, Why are you doing such things? for from all this people I get accounts of your evil ways.