1 Samuel 2:19

19 His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

1 Samuel 2:19 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 2:19

Moreover, his mother made him a little coat
Suitable to his stature; this was an outer coat to wear over others, and this also was such an one as the priests wore; it is the same word that is used for the priest's robe, ( Exodus 28:4 ) , and this, it is very likely, was altogether of her own spinning, and weaving, and making up; which were works women did in those times: and this Hannah did partly out of her great love to her son Samuel, and partly to lessen the expense that Eli, or the congregation, were at in the maintenance of him; and the Talmudists F17 observe, that a priest might wear a garment, and minister in it, if his mother made it; and they give instances of priests, Ishmael and Eleazar, for whom their mothers made garments:

and brought it to him from year to year;
for it seems this was only to be worn at festivals, and not on common days; and therefore she did not leave it with him, but took it home with her, and brought it again at the returning festival:

when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice:
whether at the passover, or at Pentecost, or at the feast of tabernacles; and it is very probable she came with her husband at them all, yearly; for though she was not by the law obliged thereunto, yet her religious zeal and devotion, and her great desire to see her son as often as she could, induced her to come.


FOOTNOTES:

F17 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 25. 1.

1 Samuel 2:19 In-Context

17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord; for they treated the offerings of the Lord with contempt.
18 Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod.
19 His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord"; and then they would return to their home.
21 And the Lord took note of Hannah; she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.