1 Samuele 1:13

13 Anna parlava in cuor suo; e si movevano soltanto le sue labbra ma non si sentiva la sua voce; onde Eli credette ch’ella fosse ubriaca;

1 Samuele 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 Samuele 1:13 In-Context

11 E fece un voto, dicendo: "O Eterno degli eserciti! se hai riguardo all’afflizione della tua serva, e ti ricordi di me, e non dimentichi la tua serva, e dài alla tua serva un figliuolo maschio, io lo consacrerò all’Eterno per tutti i giorni della sua vita, e il rasoio non passerà sulla sua testa".

12 E, com’ella prolungava la sua preghiera dinanzi all’Eterno, Eli stava osservando la bocca di lei.

13 Anna parlava in cuor suo; e si movevano soltanto le sue labbra ma non si sentiva la sua voce; onde Eli credette ch’ella fosse ubriaca;

14 e le disse: "Quanto durerà cotesta tua ebbrezza? Va’ a smaltire il tuo vino!"

15 Ma Anna, rispondendo, disse: "No, signor mio, io sono una donna tribolata nello spirito, e non ho bevuto né vino né bevanda alcoolica, ma stavo spandendo l’anima mia dinanzi all’Eterno.