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New American Standard Bible
1 Samuel 1:1
Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
1 Samuel 1:2
He had two wives: the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
1 Samuel 1:3
Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD there.
1 Samuel 1:4
When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters;
1 Samuel 1:5
but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had closed her womb.
1 Samuel 1:6
Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.
1 Samuel 1:7
It happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat.
1 Samuel 1:8
Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
1 Samuel 1:9
Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:10
She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.
1 Samuel 1:11
She made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”
1 Samuel 1:12
Now it came about, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli was watching her mouth.
1 Samuel 1:13
As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk.
1 Samuel 1:14
Then Eli said to her, “How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.”
1 Samuel 1:15
But Hannah replied, “No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:16
Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation.”
1 Samuel 1:17
Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.”
1 Samuel 1:18
She said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
1 Samuel 1:19
Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.
1 Samuel 1:20
It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the LORD.”
1 Samuel 1:21
Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow.
1 Samuel 1:22
But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD and stay there forever.”
1 Samuel 1:23
Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the LORD confirm His word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.
1 Samuel 1:24
Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh, although the child was young.
1 Samuel 1:25
Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli.
1 Samuel 1:26
She said, “Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:27
For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him.
1 Samuel 1:28
So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.
Cross References
1 Samuel 1:1: 1 Samuel 1:19; Joshua 17:17, 18; 24:33; 1 Chronicles 6:22-28, 33-38; 1 Samuel 1:2 : Deuteronomy 21:15-17; Luke 2:36; 1 Samuel 1:3 : Exodus 34:23; 1 Samuel 1:21; Luke 2:41; Exodus 23:14; Deuteronomy 12:5-7; 16:16; Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 1:4: Deuteronomy 12:17, 18; 1 Samuel 1:5: Genesis 16:1; 30:1; 1 Samuel 1:6 : Job 24:21; 1 Samuel 1:8: Ruth 4:15; 1 Samuel 1:9 : 1 Samuel 3:3; 1 Samuel 1:11: Numbers 30:6-11; Genesis 29:32; Numbers 6:5; Judges 13:5; 1 Samuel 1:13 : Genesis 24:42-45; 1 Samuel 1:14 : Acts 2:4, 13; 1 Samuel 1:15 : Job 30:16; Psalm 42:4; 62:8; Lamentations 2:19; 1 Samuel 1:17 : Judges 18:6; 1 Samuel 25:35; 2 Kings 5:19; Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50; Psalm 20:3-5; 1 Samuel 1:18: Genesis 33:15; Ruth 2:13; Romans 15:13; 1 Samuel 1:19 : 1 Samuel 1:1; 2:11; Genesis 21:1; 30:22; 1 Samuel 1:20: Genesis 41:51, 52; Exodus 2:10, 22; Matthew 1:21; 1 Samuel 1:21: Deuteronomy 12:11; 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 1:22: Luke 2:22; 1 Samuel 1:11, 28; 1 Samuel 1:23: Numbers 30:7, 10, 11; 1 Samuel 1:17; 1 Samuel 1:24: Numbers 15:9, 10; Deuteronomy 12:5, 6; Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 4:3, 4; 1 Samuel 1:25 : Leviticus 1:5; Luke 2:22; 1 Samuel 1:26: 2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6; 4:30; Samuel 1:27: 1 Samuel 1:11-13; Psalm 6:9; 66:19, 20; 1 Samuel 1:28: 1 Samuel 1:11, 22; Genesis 24:26, 52
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Baal
The name appropriated to the principal male god of the Phoenicians. It is found in several places in the plural BAALIM. Baal is identified with Molech. It was known to the Israelites as Baal-peor, was worshipped till the time of Samuel, and was afterwards the religion of the 10 tribes in the time of Ahab. It prevailed also for a time in the kingdom of Judah, till finally put an end to by the severe discipline of the Captivity. The priests of Baal were in great numbers, and of various classes.
Their mode of offering sacrifices. The sun god, under the general title of Baal, or lord, was the chief object of worship of the Canaanites. Each locality had its special Baal, and the various local Baals were summed up under the name of Baalim or lords. Each Baal had a wife, who was a colorless reflection of himself. A Benjamite, son of Jehiel, the progenitor of the Gibeonites. The name of a place inhabited by the Simeonites, the same probably as Baal-ath-beer.
Barren
For a woman to be barren was accounted a severe punishment among the Jews.
Bethlehem
House of bread. A city in the hill country of Judah. It was originally called Ephrath. It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah, Beth-lehem-judah, and the city of David. It is first noticed in Scripture as the place where Rachel died and was buried by the wayside, directly to the north of the city. The valley to the east was the scene of the story of Ruth the Moabitess. There are the fields in which she gleaned, and the path by which she and Naomi returned to the town.
Here was David's birthplace, and here also, in after years, he was anointed as king by Samuel; and it was from the well of Bethlehem that three of his heroes brought water for him at the risk of their lives when he was in the cave of Adullam. But it was distinguished above every other city as the birth-place of Him whose goings forth have been of old.
Afterwards Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, sent and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under. Bethlehem bears the modern name of Beit-Lahm, house of flesh. It is about five miles south of Jerusalem, standing at an elevation of about 2,550 feet above the sea, thus 100 feet higher than Jerusalem.
There is a church still existing, built by Constantine the Great, called the Church of the Nativity, over a grotto or cave called the holy crypt, and said to be the stable in which Jesus was born. This is perhaps the oldest existing Christian church in the world. Close to it is another grotto, where Jerome the Latin father is said to have spent thirty years of his life in translating the Scriptures into Latin.
Child
This word has considerable latitude of meaning in Scripture. Thus Joseph is called a child at the time when he was probably about sixteen years of age; and Benjamin is so called when he was above thirty years. Solomon called himself a little child when he came to the kingdom. The descendants of a man, however remote, are called his children; as, the children of Edom, the children of Moab, the children of Israel. In the earliest times mothers did not wean their children till they were from thirty months to three years old; and the day on which they were weaned was kept as a festival day.
At the age of five, children began to learn the arts and duties of life under the care of their fathers. To have a numerous family was regarded as a mark of divine favor. Figuratively the name is used for those who are ignorant or narrow minded. When I was a child, I spake as a child. Brethren, be not children in understanding. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro. Children are also spoken of as representing simplicity and humility. Believers are children of light and children of obedience.
Coat
Tunic is worn like the shirt next the skin. The coats of skins prepared by God for Adam and Eve were probably nothing more than aprons. This tunic was sometimes woven entire without a seam; it was also sometimes of many colors, a long garment with sleeves. The fisher's coat was obviously an outer garment or cloak, as was also the coat made by Hannah for Samuel.
Eli
Ascent, the high priest when the ark was at Shiloh. He was the first of the line of Ithamar, Aaron's fourth son, who held that office. The office remained in his family till the time of Abiathar, whom Solomon deposed, and appointed Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, in his stead.
He acted also as a civil judge in Israel after the death of Samson, and judged Israel for forty years. His sons Hophni and Phinehas grossly misconducted themselves, to the great disgust of the people. They
were licentious reprobates. He failed to reprove them so sternly as he ought to have done, and so brought upon his house the judgment of God.
The Israelites proclaimed war against the Philistines, whose army was encamped at Aphek. The battle, fought a short way beyond Mizpeh, ended in the total defeat of Israel. Four thousand of them fell in battle array. They now sought safety in having the ark of the covenant of the Lord among them.
They fetched it from Shiloh, and Hophni and Phinehas accompanied it. This was the first time since the settlement of Israel in Canaan that the ark had been removed from the sanctuary. The Philistines put themselves again in array against Israel, and in the battle which ensued Israel was smitten, and there was a very great slaughter.
The tidings of this great disaster were speedily conveyed to Shiloh, about 20 miles distant, by a messenger, a Benjamite from the army. There Eli sat outside the gate of the sanctuary by the wayside, anxiously waiting for tidings from the battlefield.
The full extent of the national calamity was speedily made known to him: Israel is fled before the Philistines, there has also been a great slaughter among the people, thy two sons Hophni and Phinehas are dead, and the ark of God is taken. When the old man, whose eyes were stiffened with age, heard this sad story of woe, he fell backward from off his seat and died, being ninety and eight years old.
Elkanah
God created. The second son of Korah, more correctly his grandson. Another Levite of the line of Heman the singer, although he does not seem to have performed any of the usual Levitical offices. He was father of Samuel the prophet. He was an Ephrathite, but lived at Ramah, a man of wealth and high position. He had two wives, Hannah, who was the mother of Samuel, and Peninnah.
Entertain
Entertainments, feasts, were sometimes connected with a public festival, and accompanied by offerings, in token of alliances; sometimes in connection with domestic or social events, as at the weaning of children, at weddings, on birthdays, at the time of sheep shearing, and of vintage, and at funerals. The guests were invited by servants, who assigned them their respective places.
Like portions were sent by the master to each guest, except when special honor was intended, when the portion was increased. The Israelites were forbidden to attend heathenish sacrificial entertainments, because these were in honor of false gods, and because at such feast they would be liable to partake of unclean flesh. In the entertainments common in apostolic times among the Gentiles were frequent partying against which Christians were warned.
Fast
The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement. It is called the fast. The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old Testament, from which it appears that during their captivity the Jews observed four annual fasts. The fast of the fourth month, kept on the seventeenth day of Tammuz, the anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; to commemorate also the incident. The fast of the fifth month, kept on the ninth of Ab, to commemorate the burning of the city and temple.
The fast of the seventh month, kept on the third of Tisri, the anniversary of the murder of Gedaliah. The fast of the 10th month, to commemorate the beginning of the siege of the holy city by Nebuchadnezzar. There was in addition to these the fast appointed by Esther. Public national fasts on account of sin or to supplicate divine favor were sometimes held. There were also local fasts. There are many instances of private occasional fasting. Moses fasted 40 days and so also did Elijah.
Our Lord fasted 40 days in the wilderness. In the lapse of time the practice of fasting was lamentably abused. Our Lord rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocritical fasting. He himself appointed no fast. The early Christians, however, observed the ordinary fasts according to the law of their fathers.
Festivals
There were daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly festivals, and great stress was laid on the regular observance of them in every particular. The festivals were the weekly Sabbath. The seventh new moon or the feast of Trumpets. The Sabbatical year. The year of Jubilee. The great feasts were the Passover. The feast of Pentecost or of weeks. The feast of Tabernacles or of ingathering. On each of these occasions every male Israelite was commanded to appear before the Lord. The attendance of women was voluntary. The promise that God would protect their homes while all the males were absent in Jerusalem at these feasts was always fulfilled.
During the whole period between Moses and Christ we never read of an enemy invading the land at the time of the three festivals. The first instance on record is 33 years after they had withdrawn from themselves the divine protection by imbruing their hands in the Savior's blood, when Cestius, the Roman general, slew 50 of the people of Lydda while all the rest had gone up to the feast of Tabernacles, 66 AD.
These festivals, besides their religious purpose, had an important bearing on the maintenance among the people of the feeling of a national unity. The times fixed for their observance were arranged so as to interfere as little as possible with the industry of the people. The Passover was kept just before the harvest commenced, Pentecost at the conclusion of the corn harvest and before the vintage, the feast of Tabernacles after all the fruits of the ground had been gathered in the Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month.
Hannah
Favor, grace, one of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel. Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been pitched by Joshua, to attend the offering of sacrifices there according to the law, probably at the feast of the Passover.
On occasion of one of these yearly visits, being grieved by reason of Peninnah's conduct toward her, she went forth alone, and kneeling before the Lord at the sanctuary she prayed inaudibly. Eli the high priest, who sat at the entrance to the holy place, observed her, and misunderstanding her character he harshly condemned her conduct.
Idol
Nothingness; vanity, naught; contempt, gods of terror, in allusion to the hideous form of idols, a fright; horror, shame; shameful thing; as characterizing the obscenity of the worship of Baal, a word of contempt, dung; refuse, filth; impurity, likeness; a carved image, a shadow, as distinguished from the likeness, or the exact counterpart, similitude. Moses forbids the several forms of Gentile idolatry.
Mourn
Frequent references are found in Scripture to Mourning for the dead. Abraham mourned for Sarah; Jacob for Joseph; the Egyptians for Jacob; Israel for Aaron, for Moses, and for Samuel; David for Abner; Mary and Martha for Lazarus; devout men for Stephen. For calamities, Job; Israel; the Ninevites; Israel, Penitential mourning, by the Israelites on the day of atonement; under Samuel's ministry; predicted in Zechariah; in many of the psalms.
Nazarite
The name of such Israelites as took on them the vow. The word denotes generally one who is separated from others and consecrated to God. Although there is no mention of any Nazarite before Samson, yet it is evident that they existed before the time of Moses. The vow of a Nazarite involved these three things, abstinence from wine and strong drink, refraining from cutting the hair off the head during the whole period of the continuance of the vow, and the avoidance of contact with the dead. When the period of the continuance of the vow came to an end, the Nazarite had to present himself at the door of the sanctuary with a he lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, a ewe lamb of the first year for a sin offering, and a ram for a peace offering.
After these sacrifices were offered by the priest, the Nazarite cut off his hair at the door and threw it into the fire under the peace offering. For some reason, probably in the midst of his work at Corinth, Paul took on himself the Nazarite vow. This could only be terminated by his going up to Jerusalem to offer up the hair which till then was to be left uncut.
Prayer
Converse with God; the relationship of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or formal.
It is a beseeching the Lord; pouring out the soul before the Lord; praying and crying to heaven; seeking unto God and making supplication; drawing near to God; bowing the knees. Prayer presupposes a belief in the personality of God, his ability and willingness to hold intercourse with us, his personal control of all things and of all his creatures and all their actions.
Acceptable prayer must be sincere, offered with reverence and godly fear, with a humble sense of our own insignificance as creatures and of our own unworthiness as sinners, with earnest importunity, and with unhesitating submission to the divine will.
Samuel
Heard of God. The peculiar circumstances connected with his birth. Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who came up to Shiloh to worship before the Lord, earnestly prayed to God that she might become the mother of a son. Her prayer was graciously granted; and after the child was weaned she brought him to Shiloh consecrated him to the Lord as a perpetual Nazarite.
Here his bodily wants and training were attended to by the women who served in the tabernacle, while Eli cared for his religious culture. Thus, probably, 12 years of his life passed away. The child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men. It was a time of great and growing degeneracy in Israel. The Philistines, who of late had greatly increased in number and in power, were practically masters of the country, and kept the people in subjection. At this time new communications from God began to be made to the pious child.
A mysterious voice came to him in the night season, calling him by name, and, instructed by Eli, he answered, Speak, Lord; for thy servant. The message that came from the Lord was one of woe and ruin to Eli and his profligate sons. Samuel told it all to Eli, whose only answer to the terrible denunciations was, It is the Lord; let him do what seems him good, the passive submission of a weak character, not, in his case, the expression of the highest trust and faith.
The Lord revealed himself now in divers manners to Samuel, and his fame and his influence increased throughout the land as of one divinely called to the prophetical office. A new period in the history of the kingdom of God now commenced. The Philistine yoke was heavy, and the people, groaning under the widespread oppression, suddenly rose in revolt, and went out against the Philistines to battle. A fierce and disastrous battle was fought at Aphek, near to Ebenezer.
The Israelites were defeated, leaving 4,000 dead in the field. The chiefs of the people thought to repair this great disaster by carrying with them the ark of the covenant as the symbol of Jehovah's presence. They accordingly, without consulting Samuel, fetched it out of Shiloh to the camp near Aphek. At the sight of the ark among them the people shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
A second battle was fought, and again the Philistines defeated the Israelites, stormed their camp, slew 30,000 men, and took the sacred ark. The tidings of this fatal battle was speedily conveyed to Shiloh; and so soon as the aged Eli heard that the ark of God was taken, he fell backward from his seat at the entrance of the sanctuary, and his neck brake, and he died. The tabernacle with its furniture was probably, by the advice of Samuel, now about 20 years of age, removed from Shiloh to some place of safety, and finally to Nob, where it remained many years.
The Philistines followed up their advantage, and marched upon Shiloh, which they plundered and destroyed. This was a great epoch in the history of Israel. For twenty years after this fatal battle at Aphek the whole land lay under the oppression of the Philistines. During all these dreary years Samuel was a spiritual power in the land.
From Ramah, his native place, where he resided, his influence went forth on every side among the people. With unwearied zeal he went up and down from place to place, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting the people, endeavoring to awaken in them a sense of their sinfulness, and to lead them to repentance. His labors were so far successful that all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
Samuel summoned the people to Mizpeh, one of the loftiest hills in Central Palestine, where they fasted and prayed, and prepared themselves there, under his direction, for a great war against the Philistines, who now marched their whole force toward Mizpeh, in order to crush the Israelites once for all.
At the intercession of Samuel God interposed in behalf of Israel. Samuel himself was their leader, the only occasion in which he acted as a leader in war. The Philistines were utterly routed. They fled in terror before the army of Israel, and a great slaughter ensued. This battle, fought probably about 1095 BC, put an end to the 40 years of Philistine oppression.
Saul
Asked for. A king of Edom; called Shaul. The son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, the first king of the Jewish nation. The singular providential circumstances connected with his election as king are recorded. His father's she asses had strayed, and Saul was sent with a servant to seek for them.
Leaving his home at Gibea, the hill of God, Gibeah of God, Saul and his servant went toward the northwest over Mount Ephraim, and then turning northeast they came to the land of Shalisha, and eastward to the land of Shalim, and at length came to the district of Zuph, near Samuel's home at Ramah. At this point Saul proposed to return from the three days' fruitless search, but his servant suggested that they should first consult the seer.
Hearing that he was about to offer sacrifice, the two hastened into Ramah, and behold, Samuel came out against them, on his way to the bamah, the height, where sacrifice was to be offered; and in answer to Saul's question, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is, Samuel made himself known to him.
Samuel had been divinely prepared for his coming, and received Saul as his guest. He took him with him to the sacrifice, and then after the feast communed with Saul upon the top of the house of all that was in his heart.
On the morrow Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and anointed Saul as king over Israel, giving him three signs in confirmation of his call to be king. When Saul reached his home in Gibeah the last of these signs was fulfilled, and the Sprit of God came upon him, and he was turned into another man.
The simple countryman was transformed into the king of Israel, a remarkable change suddenly took place in his whole demeanor, and the people said in their astonishment, as they looked on the stalwart son of Kish, Is Saul also among the prophets a saying which passed into a proverb.
The relationship between Saul and Samuel was as yet unknown to the people. The anointing had been in secret. But now the time had come when the transaction must be confirmed by the nation.
Samuel accordingly summoned the people to a solemn assembly before the Lord at Mizpeh. Here the lot was drawn, and it fell upon Saul, and when he was presented before them, the stateliest man in all Israel, the air was rent for the first time in Israel by the loud cry, God save the king! He now returned to his home in Gibeah, attended by a kind of bodyguard, a band of men whose hearts God had touched. On reaching his home he dismissed them, and resumed the quiet toils of his former life.
Soon after this, on hearing of the conduct of Nahash the Ammonite at Jabeshgilead, an army out of all the tribes of Israel rallied at his summons to the trysting place at Bezek, and he led them forth a great army to battle, gaining a complete victory over the Ammonite invaders at Jabesh.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Elkanah and his family. Elkanah kept up his attendance at God's altar, notwithstanding the unhappy differences in his family. If the devotions of a family prevail not to put an end to its divisions, yet let not the divisions put a stop to the devotions.
To abate our just love to any relation for the sake of any infirmity which they cannot help, and which is their affliction, is to make God's providence quarrel with his precept, and very unkindly to add affliction to the afflicted. It is evidence of a base disposition, to delight in grieving those who are of a sorrowful spirit, and in putting those out of humor who are apt to fret and be uneasy.
We ought to bear one another's burdens, not add to them. Hannah could not bear the provocation. Those who are of a fretful spirit, and are apt to lay provocations too much to heart, are enemies to themselves, and strip themselves of many comforts both of life and godliness. We ought to notice comforts, to keep us from grieving for crosses. We should look at that which is for us, as well as what is against us.
Hannah's prayer. Hannah mingled tears with her prayers; she considered the mercy of our God, who knows the troubled soul. God gives us leave, in prayer, not only to ask good things in general, but to mention that special good thing we most need and desire.
She spoke softly, none could hear her. Hereby she testified her belief of God's knowledge of the heart and its desires. Eli was high priest, and judge in Israel. It ill becomes us to be rash and hasty in censures of others, and to think people guilty of bad things while the matter is doubtful and unproved.
Hannah did not retort the charge, and upbraid Eli with the wicked conduct of his own sons. When we are at any time unjustly censured, we have need to set a double watch before the door of our lips, that we do not return censure for censure. Hannah thought it enough to clear herself, and so must we.
Eli was willing to acknowledge his mistake. Hannah went away with satisfaction of mind. She had herself by prayer committed her case to God, and Eli had prayed for her. Prayer is heart's ease to a gracious soul. Prayer will smooth the countenance; it should do so. None will long remain miserable, who use aright the privilege of going to the mercy seat of a reconciled God in Christ Jesus.
Samuel, Hannah presents him to the Lord. Elkanah and his family had a journey before them, and a family of children to take with them, yet they would not move till they had worshipped God together. Prayer and provender do not hinder a journey. When men are in such haste to set out upon journeys, or to engage in business, that they have not time to worship God, they are likely to proceed without his presence and blessing. Hannah, though she felt a warm regard for the courts of God's house, begged to stay at home. God will have mercy, and not sacrifice.
Those who are detained from public ordinances, by the nursing and tending of little children, may take comfort from this instance, and believe, that if they do that duty in a right spirit, God will graciously accept them therein. Hannah presented her child to the Lord with a grateful acknowledgment of his goodness in answer to prayer. Whatever we give to God, it is what we have first asked and received from him. All our gifts to him were first his gifts to us. The child Samuel early showed true piety.
Little children should be taught to worship God when very young. Their parents should teach them in it, bring them to it, and put them on doing it as well as they can; God will graciously accept them, and will teach them to do better.
1 Samuel 1:1
Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
1 Samuel 1:2
He had two wives: the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
1 Samuel 1:3
Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD there.
1 Samuel 1:4
When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters;
1 Samuel 1:5
but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had closed her womb.
1 Samuel 1:6
Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.
1 Samuel 1:7
It happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat.
1 Samuel 1:8
Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
1 Samuel 1:9
Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:10
She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.
1 Samuel 1:11
She made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”
1 Samuel 1:12
Now it came about, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli was watching her mouth.
1 Samuel 1:13
As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk.
1 Samuel 1:14
Then Eli said to her, “How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.”
1 Samuel 1:15
But Hannah replied, “No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:16
Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation.”
1 Samuel 1:17
Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.”
1 Samuel 1:18
She said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
1 Samuel 1:19
Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.
1 Samuel 1:20
It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the LORD.”
1 Samuel 1:21
Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow.
1 Samuel 1:22
But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD and stay there forever.”
1 Samuel 1:23
Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the LORD confirm His word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.
1 Samuel 1:24
Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh, although the child was young.
1 Samuel 1:25
Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli.
1 Samuel 1:26
She said, “Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:27
For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him.
1 Samuel 1:28
So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.
Cross References
1 Samuel 1:1: 1 Samuel 1:19; Joshua 17:17, 18; 24:33; 1 Chronicles 6:22-28, 33-38; 1 Samuel 1:2 : Deuteronomy 21:15-17; Luke 2:36; 1 Samuel 1:3 : Exodus 34:23; 1 Samuel 1:21; Luke 2:41; Exodus 23:14; Deuteronomy 12:5-7; 16:16; Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 1:4: Deuteronomy 12:17, 18; 1 Samuel 1:5: Genesis 16:1; 30:1; 1 Samuel 1:6 : Job 24:21; 1 Samuel 1:8: Ruth 4:15; 1 Samuel 1:9 : 1 Samuel 3:3; 1 Samuel 1:11: Numbers 30:6-11; Genesis 29:32; Numbers 6:5; Judges 13:5; 1 Samuel 1:13 : Genesis 24:42-45; 1 Samuel 1:14 : Acts 2:4, 13; 1 Samuel 1:15 : Job 30:16; Psalm 42:4; 62:8; Lamentations 2:19; 1 Samuel 1:17 : Judges 18:6; 1 Samuel 25:35; 2 Kings 5:19; Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50; Psalm 20:3-5; 1 Samuel 1:18: Genesis 33:15; Ruth 2:13; Romans 15:13; 1 Samuel 1:19 : 1 Samuel 1:1; 2:11; Genesis 21:1; 30:22; 1 Samuel 1:20: Genesis 41:51, 52; Exodus 2:10, 22; Matthew 1:21; 1 Samuel 1:21: Deuteronomy 12:11; 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 1:22: Luke 2:22; 1 Samuel 1:11, 28; 1 Samuel 1:23: Numbers 30:7, 10, 11; 1 Samuel 1:17; 1 Samuel 1:24: Numbers 15:9, 10; Deuteronomy 12:5, 6; Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 4:3, 4; 1 Samuel 1:25 : Leviticus 1:5; Luke 2:22; 1 Samuel 1:26: 2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6; 4:30; Samuel 1:27: 1 Samuel 1:11-13; Psalm 6:9; 66:19, 20; 1 Samuel 1:28: 1 Samuel 1:11, 22; Genesis 24:26, 52
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Baal
The name appropriated to the principal male god of the Phoenicians. It is found in several places in the plural BAALIM. Baal is identified with Molech. It was known to the Israelites as Baal-peor, was worshipped till the time of Samuel, and was afterwards the religion of the 10 tribes in the time of Ahab. It prevailed also for a time in the kingdom of Judah, till finally put an end to by the severe discipline of the Captivity. The priests of Baal were in great numbers, and of various classes.
Their mode of offering sacrifices. The sun god, under the general title of Baal, or lord, was the chief object of worship of the Canaanites. Each locality had its special Baal, and the various local Baals were summed up under the name of Baalim or lords. Each Baal had a wife, who was a colorless reflection of himself. A Benjamite, son of Jehiel, the progenitor of the Gibeonites. The name of a place inhabited by the Simeonites, the same probably as Baal-ath-beer.
Barren
For a woman to be barren was accounted a severe punishment among the Jews.
Bethlehem
House of bread. A city in the hill country of Judah. It was originally called Ephrath. It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah, Beth-lehem-judah, and the city of David. It is first noticed in Scripture as the place where Rachel died and was buried by the wayside, directly to the north of the city. The valley to the east was the scene of the story of Ruth the Moabitess. There are the fields in which she gleaned, and the path by which she and Naomi returned to the town.
Here was David's birthplace, and here also, in after years, he was anointed as king by Samuel; and it was from the well of Bethlehem that three of his heroes brought water for him at the risk of their lives when he was in the cave of Adullam. But it was distinguished above every other city as the birth-place of Him whose goings forth have been of old.
Afterwards Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, sent and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under. Bethlehem bears the modern name of Beit-Lahm, house of flesh. It is about five miles south of Jerusalem, standing at an elevation of about 2,550 feet above the sea, thus 100 feet higher than Jerusalem.
There is a church still existing, built by Constantine the Great, called the Church of the Nativity, over a grotto or cave called the holy crypt, and said to be the stable in which Jesus was born. This is perhaps the oldest existing Christian church in the world. Close to it is another grotto, where Jerome the Latin father is said to have spent thirty years of his life in translating the Scriptures into Latin.
Child
This word has considerable latitude of meaning in Scripture. Thus Joseph is called a child at the time when he was probably about sixteen years of age; and Benjamin is so called when he was above thirty years. Solomon called himself a little child when he came to the kingdom. The descendants of a man, however remote, are called his children; as, the children of Edom, the children of Moab, the children of Israel. In the earliest times mothers did not wean their children till they were from thirty months to three years old; and the day on which they were weaned was kept as a festival day.
At the age of five, children began to learn the arts and duties of life under the care of their fathers. To have a numerous family was regarded as a mark of divine favor. Figuratively the name is used for those who are ignorant or narrow minded. When I was a child, I spake as a child. Brethren, be not children in understanding. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro. Children are also spoken of as representing simplicity and humility. Believers are children of light and children of obedience.
Coat
Tunic is worn like the shirt next the skin. The coats of skins prepared by God for Adam and Eve were probably nothing more than aprons. This tunic was sometimes woven entire without a seam; it was also sometimes of many colors, a long garment with sleeves. The fisher's coat was obviously an outer garment or cloak, as was also the coat made by Hannah for Samuel.
Eli
Ascent, the high priest when the ark was at Shiloh. He was the first of the line of Ithamar, Aaron's fourth son, who held that office. The office remained in his family till the time of Abiathar, whom Solomon deposed, and appointed Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, in his stead.
He acted also as a civil judge in Israel after the death of Samson, and judged Israel for forty years. His sons Hophni and Phinehas grossly misconducted themselves, to the great disgust of the people. They
were licentious reprobates. He failed to reprove them so sternly as he ought to have done, and so brought upon his house the judgment of God.
The Israelites proclaimed war against the Philistines, whose army was encamped at Aphek. The battle, fought a short way beyond Mizpeh, ended in the total defeat of Israel. Four thousand of them fell in battle array. They now sought safety in having the ark of the covenant of the Lord among them.
They fetched it from Shiloh, and Hophni and Phinehas accompanied it. This was the first time since the settlement of Israel in Canaan that the ark had been removed from the sanctuary. The Philistines put themselves again in array against Israel, and in the battle which ensued Israel was smitten, and there was a very great slaughter.
The tidings of this great disaster were speedily conveyed to Shiloh, about 20 miles distant, by a messenger, a Benjamite from the army. There Eli sat outside the gate of the sanctuary by the wayside, anxiously waiting for tidings from the battlefield.
The full extent of the national calamity was speedily made known to him: Israel is fled before the Philistines, there has also been a great slaughter among the people, thy two sons Hophni and Phinehas are dead, and the ark of God is taken. When the old man, whose eyes were stiffened with age, heard this sad story of woe, he fell backward from off his seat and died, being ninety and eight years old.
Elkanah
God created. The second son of Korah, more correctly his grandson. Another Levite of the line of Heman the singer, although he does not seem to have performed any of the usual Levitical offices. He was father of Samuel the prophet. He was an Ephrathite, but lived at Ramah, a man of wealth and high position. He had two wives, Hannah, who was the mother of Samuel, and Peninnah.
Entertain
Entertainments, feasts, were sometimes connected with a public festival, and accompanied by offerings, in token of alliances; sometimes in connection with domestic or social events, as at the weaning of children, at weddings, on birthdays, at the time of sheep shearing, and of vintage, and at funerals. The guests were invited by servants, who assigned them their respective places.
Like portions were sent by the master to each guest, except when special honor was intended, when the portion was increased. The Israelites were forbidden to attend heathenish sacrificial entertainments, because these were in honor of false gods, and because at such feast they would be liable to partake of unclean flesh. In the entertainments common in apostolic times among the Gentiles were frequent partying against which Christians were warned.
Fast
The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement. It is called the fast. The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old Testament, from which it appears that during their captivity the Jews observed four annual fasts. The fast of the fourth month, kept on the seventeenth day of Tammuz, the anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; to commemorate also the incident. The fast of the fifth month, kept on the ninth of Ab, to commemorate the burning of the city and temple.
The fast of the seventh month, kept on the third of Tisri, the anniversary of the murder of Gedaliah. The fast of the 10th month, to commemorate the beginning of the siege of the holy city by Nebuchadnezzar. There was in addition to these the fast appointed by Esther. Public national fasts on account of sin or to supplicate divine favor were sometimes held. There were also local fasts. There are many instances of private occasional fasting. Moses fasted 40 days and so also did Elijah.
Our Lord fasted 40 days in the wilderness. In the lapse of time the practice of fasting was lamentably abused. Our Lord rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocritical fasting. He himself appointed no fast. The early Christians, however, observed the ordinary fasts according to the law of their fathers.
Festivals
There were daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly festivals, and great stress was laid on the regular observance of them in every particular. The festivals were the weekly Sabbath. The seventh new moon or the feast of Trumpets. The Sabbatical year. The year of Jubilee. The great feasts were the Passover. The feast of Pentecost or of weeks. The feast of Tabernacles or of ingathering. On each of these occasions every male Israelite was commanded to appear before the Lord. The attendance of women was voluntary. The promise that God would protect their homes while all the males were absent in Jerusalem at these feasts was always fulfilled.
During the whole period between Moses and Christ we never read of an enemy invading the land at the time of the three festivals. The first instance on record is 33 years after they had withdrawn from themselves the divine protection by imbruing their hands in the Savior's blood, when Cestius, the Roman general, slew 50 of the people of Lydda while all the rest had gone up to the feast of Tabernacles, 66 AD.
These festivals, besides their religious purpose, had an important bearing on the maintenance among the people of the feeling of a national unity. The times fixed for their observance were arranged so as to interfere as little as possible with the industry of the people. The Passover was kept just before the harvest commenced, Pentecost at the conclusion of the corn harvest and before the vintage, the feast of Tabernacles after all the fruits of the ground had been gathered in the Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month.
Hannah
Favor, grace, one of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel. Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been pitched by Joshua, to attend the offering of sacrifices there according to the law, probably at the feast of the Passover.
On occasion of one of these yearly visits, being grieved by reason of Peninnah's conduct toward her, she went forth alone, and kneeling before the Lord at the sanctuary she prayed inaudibly. Eli the high priest, who sat at the entrance to the holy place, observed her, and misunderstanding her character he harshly condemned her conduct.
Idol
Nothingness; vanity, naught; contempt, gods of terror, in allusion to the hideous form of idols, a fright; horror, shame; shameful thing; as characterizing the obscenity of the worship of Baal, a word of contempt, dung; refuse, filth; impurity, likeness; a carved image, a shadow, as distinguished from the likeness, or the exact counterpart, similitude. Moses forbids the several forms of Gentile idolatry.
Mourn
Frequent references are found in Scripture to Mourning for the dead. Abraham mourned for Sarah; Jacob for Joseph; the Egyptians for Jacob; Israel for Aaron, for Moses, and for Samuel; David for Abner; Mary and Martha for Lazarus; devout men for Stephen. For calamities, Job; Israel; the Ninevites; Israel, Penitential mourning, by the Israelites on the day of atonement; under Samuel's ministry; predicted in Zechariah; in many of the psalms.
Nazarite
The name of such Israelites as took on them the vow. The word denotes generally one who is separated from others and consecrated to God. Although there is no mention of any Nazarite before Samson, yet it is evident that they existed before the time of Moses. The vow of a Nazarite involved these three things, abstinence from wine and strong drink, refraining from cutting the hair off the head during the whole period of the continuance of the vow, and the avoidance of contact with the dead. When the period of the continuance of the vow came to an end, the Nazarite had to present himself at the door of the sanctuary with a he lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, a ewe lamb of the first year for a sin offering, and a ram for a peace offering.
After these sacrifices were offered by the priest, the Nazarite cut off his hair at the door and threw it into the fire under the peace offering. For some reason, probably in the midst of his work at Corinth, Paul took on himself the Nazarite vow. This could only be terminated by his going up to Jerusalem to offer up the hair which till then was to be left uncut.
Prayer
Converse with God; the relationship of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or formal.
It is a beseeching the Lord; pouring out the soul before the Lord; praying and crying to heaven; seeking unto God and making supplication; drawing near to God; bowing the knees. Prayer presupposes a belief in the personality of God, his ability and willingness to hold intercourse with us, his personal control of all things and of all his creatures and all their actions.
Acceptable prayer must be sincere, offered with reverence and godly fear, with a humble sense of our own insignificance as creatures and of our own unworthiness as sinners, with earnest importunity, and with unhesitating submission to the divine will.
Samuel
Heard of God. The peculiar circumstances connected with his birth. Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who came up to Shiloh to worship before the Lord, earnestly prayed to God that she might become the mother of a son. Her prayer was graciously granted; and after the child was weaned she brought him to Shiloh consecrated him to the Lord as a perpetual Nazarite.
Here his bodily wants and training were attended to by the women who served in the tabernacle, while Eli cared for his religious culture. Thus, probably, 12 years of his life passed away. The child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men. It was a time of great and growing degeneracy in Israel. The Philistines, who of late had greatly increased in number and in power, were practically masters of the country, and kept the people in subjection. At this time new communications from God began to be made to the pious child.
A mysterious voice came to him in the night season, calling him by name, and, instructed by Eli, he answered, Speak, Lord; for thy servant. The message that came from the Lord was one of woe and ruin to Eli and his profligate sons. Samuel told it all to Eli, whose only answer to the terrible denunciations was, It is the Lord; let him do what seems him good, the passive submission of a weak character, not, in his case, the expression of the highest trust and faith.
The Lord revealed himself now in divers manners to Samuel, and his fame and his influence increased throughout the land as of one divinely called to the prophetical office. A new period in the history of the kingdom of God now commenced. The Philistine yoke was heavy, and the people, groaning under the widespread oppression, suddenly rose in revolt, and went out against the Philistines to battle. A fierce and disastrous battle was fought at Aphek, near to Ebenezer.
The Israelites were defeated, leaving 4,000 dead in the field. The chiefs of the people thought to repair this great disaster by carrying with them the ark of the covenant as the symbol of Jehovah's presence. They accordingly, without consulting Samuel, fetched it out of Shiloh to the camp near Aphek. At the sight of the ark among them the people shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
A second battle was fought, and again the Philistines defeated the Israelites, stormed their camp, slew 30,000 men, and took the sacred ark. The tidings of this fatal battle was speedily conveyed to Shiloh; and so soon as the aged Eli heard that the ark of God was taken, he fell backward from his seat at the entrance of the sanctuary, and his neck brake, and he died. The tabernacle with its furniture was probably, by the advice of Samuel, now about 20 years of age, removed from Shiloh to some place of safety, and finally to Nob, where it remained many years.
The Philistines followed up their advantage, and marched upon Shiloh, which they plundered and destroyed. This was a great epoch in the history of Israel. For twenty years after this fatal battle at Aphek the whole land lay under the oppression of the Philistines. During all these dreary years Samuel was a spiritual power in the land.
From Ramah, his native place, where he resided, his influence went forth on every side among the people. With unwearied zeal he went up and down from place to place, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting the people, endeavoring to awaken in them a sense of their sinfulness, and to lead them to repentance. His labors were so far successful that all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
Samuel summoned the people to Mizpeh, one of the loftiest hills in Central Palestine, where they fasted and prayed, and prepared themselves there, under his direction, for a great war against the Philistines, who now marched their whole force toward Mizpeh, in order to crush the Israelites once for all.
At the intercession of Samuel God interposed in behalf of Israel. Samuel himself was their leader, the only occasion in which he acted as a leader in war. The Philistines were utterly routed. They fled in terror before the army of Israel, and a great slaughter ensued. This battle, fought probably about 1095 BC, put an end to the 40 years of Philistine oppression.
Saul
Asked for. A king of Edom; called Shaul. The son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, the first king of the Jewish nation. The singular providential circumstances connected with his election as king are recorded. His father's she asses had strayed, and Saul was sent with a servant to seek for them.
Leaving his home at Gibea, the hill of God, Gibeah of God, Saul and his servant went toward the northwest over Mount Ephraim, and then turning northeast they came to the land of Shalisha, and eastward to the land of Shalim, and at length came to the district of Zuph, near Samuel's home at Ramah. At this point Saul proposed to return from the three days' fruitless search, but his servant suggested that they should first consult the seer.
Hearing that he was about to offer sacrifice, the two hastened into Ramah, and behold, Samuel came out against them, on his way to the bamah, the height, where sacrifice was to be offered; and in answer to Saul's question, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is, Samuel made himself known to him.
Samuel had been divinely prepared for his coming, and received Saul as his guest. He took him with him to the sacrifice, and then after the feast communed with Saul upon the top of the house of all that was in his heart.
On the morrow Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and anointed Saul as king over Israel, giving him three signs in confirmation of his call to be king. When Saul reached his home in Gibeah the last of these signs was fulfilled, and the Sprit of God came upon him, and he was turned into another man.
The simple countryman was transformed into the king of Israel, a remarkable change suddenly took place in his whole demeanor, and the people said in their astonishment, as they looked on the stalwart son of Kish, Is Saul also among the prophets a saying which passed into a proverb.
The relationship between Saul and Samuel was as yet unknown to the people. The anointing had been in secret. But now the time had come when the transaction must be confirmed by the nation.
Samuel accordingly summoned the people to a solemn assembly before the Lord at Mizpeh. Here the lot was drawn, and it fell upon Saul, and when he was presented before them, the stateliest man in all Israel, the air was rent for the first time in Israel by the loud cry, God save the king! He now returned to his home in Gibeah, attended by a kind of bodyguard, a band of men whose hearts God had touched. On reaching his home he dismissed them, and resumed the quiet toils of his former life.
Soon after this, on hearing of the conduct of Nahash the Ammonite at Jabeshgilead, an army out of all the tribes of Israel rallied at his summons to the trysting place at Bezek, and he led them forth a great army to battle, gaining a complete victory over the Ammonite invaders at Jabesh.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Elkanah and his family. Elkanah kept up his attendance at God's altar, notwithstanding the unhappy differences in his family. If the devotions of a family prevail not to put an end to its divisions, yet let not the divisions put a stop to the devotions.
To abate our just love to any relation for the sake of any infirmity which they cannot help, and which is their affliction, is to make God's providence quarrel with his precept, and very unkindly to add affliction to the afflicted. It is evidence of a base disposition, to delight in grieving those who are of a sorrowful spirit, and in putting those out of humor who are apt to fret and be uneasy.
We ought to bear one another's burdens, not add to them. Hannah could not bear the provocation. Those who are of a fretful spirit, and are apt to lay provocations too much to heart, are enemies to themselves, and strip themselves of many comforts both of life and godliness. We ought to notice comforts, to keep us from grieving for crosses. We should look at that which is for us, as well as what is against us.
Hannah's prayer. Hannah mingled tears with her prayers; she considered the mercy of our God, who knows the troubled soul. God gives us leave, in prayer, not only to ask good things in general, but to mention that special good thing we most need and desire.
She spoke softly, none could hear her. Hereby she testified her belief of God's knowledge of the heart and its desires. Eli was high priest, and judge in Israel. It ill becomes us to be rash and hasty in censures of others, and to think people guilty of bad things while the matter is doubtful and unproved.
Hannah did not retort the charge, and upbraid Eli with the wicked conduct of his own sons. When we are at any time unjustly censured, we have need to set a double watch before the door of our lips, that we do not return censure for censure. Hannah thought it enough to clear herself, and so must we.
Eli was willing to acknowledge his mistake. Hannah went away with satisfaction of mind. She had herself by prayer committed her case to God, and Eli had prayed for her. Prayer is heart's ease to a gracious soul. Prayer will smooth the countenance; it should do so. None will long remain miserable, who use aright the privilege of going to the mercy seat of a reconciled God in Christ Jesus.
Samuel, Hannah presents him to the Lord. Elkanah and his family had a journey before them, and a family of children to take with them, yet they would not move till they had worshipped God together. Prayer and provender do not hinder a journey. When men are in such haste to set out upon journeys, or to engage in business, that they have not time to worship God, they are likely to proceed without his presence and blessing. Hannah, though she felt a warm regard for the courts of God's house, begged to stay at home. God will have mercy, and not sacrifice.
Those who are detained from public ordinances, by the nursing and tending of little children, may take comfort from this instance, and believe, that if they do that duty in a right spirit, God will graciously accept them therein. Hannah presented her child to the Lord with a grateful acknowledgment of his goodness in answer to prayer. Whatever we give to God, it is what we have first asked and received from him. All our gifts to him were first his gifts to us. The child Samuel early showed true piety.
Little children should be taught to worship God when very young. Their parents should teach them in it, bring them to it, and put them on doing it as well as they can; God will graciously accept them, and will teach them to do better.
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