1 Samuel 1:15-25

15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but ¹I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.

16 Do not regard your servant as ²a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation. ”

17 Then Eli answered, ³“Go in peace, and the God of Israel ⁴grant your petition that you have made to him. ”

18 And she said, ⁵“Let your servant find favor in your eyes. ” Then the woman ⁶went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at ⁷Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord ⁸remembered her.

20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord. ” ^[a]

Samuel Given to the Lord

21 The man Elkanah and all his house ⁹went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.

22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord ¹⁰and dwell there forever. ”

23 ¹¹Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; ¹²only, may the Lord establish his word. ” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.

24 And when she had weaned him, ¹³she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, ^[b] an ephah^[c] of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to ¹⁴the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young.

25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli.

1 Samuel 1:15-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL

\\OTHERWISE CALLED\\ \\THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS\\

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 Ps 113:7,8, 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, Mt 12:3,4, compared with 1Sa 21:3-6, 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.

{a} T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 14. 2. {b} Demonstrat. Evangel. Prop. 4. p. 199. {c} Apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 2. {d} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 30.

\\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 1:1-8, of her prayer to God for a son, and of her vow to him, should one be given her, 1Sa 1:9-11 of the notice Eli took of her, and of his censure on her, which he afterwards retracted, and comforted her, 1Sa 1:12-18 of her conception and the birth of her son, the nursing and weaning of him, 1Sa 1:19-23 and of the presentation of him to the Lord, with a sacrifice, 1Sa 1:24-28.

Cross References

• 1. 1:15 Job 30:16; Ps. 42:4; Lam. 2:19; [Ps. 62:8]
• 2. 1:16 ch. 2:12; Judg. 19:22
• 3. 1:17 ch. 20:42; Judg. 18:6; 2 Kgs. 5:19; Mark 5:34
• 4. 1:17 Ps. 20:4, 5
• 5. 1:18 Gen. 33:15; Ruth 2:13
• 6. 1:18 [Eccles. 9:7]
• 7. 1:19 ch. 2:11; [ver. 1]
• 8. 1:19 ver. 11
• 9. 1:21 ver. 3
• 10. 1:22 ver. 11, 28; [ch. 2:11, 18; 3:1]
• 11. 1:23 [Num. 30:7]
• 12. 1:23 2 Sam. 7:25
• 13. 1:24 Deut. 12:5, 6, 11
• 14. 1:24 ver. 3, 9; [Josh. 18:1]

Footnotes

• [a] 1:20 'Samuel' sounds like the Hebrew for 'heard of God'
• [b] 1:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac; Masoretic Text 'three bulls'
• [c] 1:24 An 'ephah' was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters