Hannah's Prayer For A Son And How She Became Confident That YHWH Had Answered Her Prayer (1 Samuel 1:9-18).
In this passage Hannah prays desperately for a son, and promises YHWH that if He will grant her a son she will give him to YHWH for as long as he lives. And when Eli ‘the Priest' (the High Priest) has blessed her she knows that God has heard her prayer.
Analysis.
a So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk (1 Samuel 1:9 a).
b Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the door-post of the temple of YHWH (1 Samuel 1:9 b).
c And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to YHWH, and cried bitterly (1 Samuel 1:10).
d And she vowed a vow, and said, “O YHWH of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a man-child, then I will give him to YHWH all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come on his head” (1 Samuel 1:11).
e And it came about that, as she continued praying (‘multiplied to pray') before YHWH, Eli noted carefully her mouth (1 Samuel 1:12).
f Now Hannah, she spoke in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard, Eli therefore thought she was drunk (1 Samuel 1:13).
e And Eli said to her, ‘How long will you go on being drunk? Put away your wine from you” (1 Samuel 1:14).
d And Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before YHWH” (1 Samuel 1:15).
c “Do not count your handmaid as a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken prior to this” (1 Samuel 1:16).
b Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have requested from him” (1 Samuel 1:17).
a And she said, “Let your handmaid find favour in your sight.” So the woman went her way, and ate, and her countenance was sad no more (1 Samuel 1:18).
Note that in ‘a' Hannah rises up so that she may approach the Sanctuary in order to pray, and in the parallel she makes her way from the Sanctuary with joy in her heart because her prayer is heard. In ‘b' Eli sits at the Temple entrance, and in the parallel it is he who tells Hannah to ‘Go in peace”. In ‘c' she prays in bitterness of soul, and in the parallel she explains her bitterness of soul. In ‘d' she pours out her soul to YHWH and in the parallel informs Eli that that is what she has done. In ‘e' Eli notes the movement of her mouth, and in the parallel accuses her of being drunk. Centrally in ‘f' we learn that far from being drunk she is praying from the heart.
‘ So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the door-post of the temple of YHWH.'
The time came when Hannah could bear it no longer. And when they had eaten and drunk their festival meal she rose up and made her way to the door of the sanctuary. She may well have done it many times before, but this time she was particularly distressed. The old priest Eli was there, sitting on his seat by the doorpost of ‘the temple', watching as the people approached to worship, faithful to his duty. In spite of his sons he would appear to have been a godly man, and he appears to have grieved over his sons, and over the state of the people. Especially it grieved him how lax the people had become in their approach to YHWH. And when he saw this woman approaching he thought that here was such a one. How careful we should be in our judgments.
The description of the Tabernacle as ‘the temple' illustrates how it had come to be seen by the people. It had been surrounded by buildings, and had been given a grand entrance. And the result was that people saw it as ‘a temple' (the normal name for a place of worship of the time). It would seem a natural description to them. Compare also 1 Samuel 3:3 and Psalms 5:7.
Eli was descended from Ithamar, Aaron's fourth son. The previous Priest of the sanctuary of whom we have information had been Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, Aaron's third son, in Judges 20:28. (Aaron's first two sons had been slain for sacrilege - Leviticus 10:1-2). Why the position had passed to the line of Ithamar we do not know. Perhaps when the need had arisen for a priest there had not been a mature male of the house of Eleazar, and thus someone of the line of Ithamar had been appointed. The privilege would eventually return to the line of Eleazar because of God's penalty on the failure of Eli's two sons (1 Samuel 2:31-34).
‘ And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to YHWH, and cried bitterly.'
And there before the Temple, in great bitterness of soul, Hannah prayed silently to YHWH, mouthing her words noiselessly and weeping bitterly as she did so.
‘ And she vowed a vow, and said, “O YHWH of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a man-child, then I will give him to YHWH all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come on his head.'
From the bottom of her heart she vowed a vow. She vowed that if the great YHWH would look on her affliction (was that not what He did best?) and would remember her, and not forget her (as He had seemed to do up to this point), and would give her a son, a male child, that most desired of gifts to a woman, then she would give him back to YHWH so that the whole of his life might be dedicated to YHWH in the most solemn way. He would be so dedicated that no razor should touch his hair. Unshaven hair was the sign of a Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:5; Judges 13:5). A Nazirite vow was usually temporary, but here it was to be a permanent vow, as with Samson. It would presumably include abstinence from wine and strong drink. Perhaps indeed she had in mind what she had heard about Samson in a similar situation (Judges 13:2-5).
It is extremely probable that she had discussed the matter with her husband before making her vow. Certainly such a vow would not have been binding on her husband if he did not agree with it (Numbers 30:6-7). It is true that as a Levite Samuel would enter Tabernacle service anyway (although not as a priest) when he was twenty five years of age, but this vow went far deeper than that. Now that the Sanctuary was settled in one place Levite service was limited to three times a year at the Sanctuary, and it was otherwise exercised in other duties to be performed on behalf of the people among whom they lived, such as teaching the Law, gathering tithes, ministering tithes to the poor, and advising people about God's requirements. But Samuel was not being set aside for this. He was being devoted to YHWH for ever. He was to be a child of the Sanctuary to live only to do YHWH's will.
That this was taken totally seriously comes out in that later we find that Samuel is operating within the sanctuary, probably as having been adopted by Eli (or by YHWH) and thus being now of priestly stock. This would explain why he could operate within the sanctuary and why later he could offer sacrifices. But no great emphasis would be laid on this by the writer. To him what was important was that Samuel was a prophet of YHWH (1 Samuel 3:20). Here was a prophet like unto Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18). The voice of prophecy had begun to speak again.
‘ And it came about that, as she continued praying (‘multiplied to pray') before YHWH, Eli noted carefully her mouth. Now Hannah, she spoke in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard, Eli therefore thought she was drunk.'
What happened here speaks volumes about spiritual conditions in Israel at the time. It is clear that Eli's expectations had sunk so low that when he saw a woman standing before the sanctuary with her lips moving up and down he did not even consider that she might be praying. (Silent prayer was probably not common at the time). He thought rather that she was drunk. This was what he had come to expect of worshippers at the sanctuary.
But Hannah was praying earnestly before YHWH, at the door of the sanctuary. She could not, of course, enter it. That was for heads of families who brought sacrifices and offerings, and also for the priests. But she had come as near to God as she could. And humbly she spoke in her heart. Her lips moved but there was no sound. It is clear that in those times this was so unusual that Eli failed to recognise what she was doing.
“Continued praying.” Literally ‘she multiplied to pray'. Thus, she prayed long and earnestly.
‘ And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put away your wine from you.” '
Thinking that she was drunk Eli called to her roughly. ‘How long are you going to go on in your drunkenness?' he asked. ‘Get rid of your wine and sober up.' He must have been sad at heart to see the condition of those who were supposed to be God's people. But he was to receive a pleasant surprise in response to his rough words.
‘ And Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before YHWH.” '
Hannah addressed him respectfully as ‘my lord', and pointed out that she was not drunk. Rather, she pointed out, she was a woman of sorrowful spirit (‘heavy of spirit'). She had drunk neither wine nor strong drink. Rather she had poured out her soul to YHWH. There may be an intended play on ideas in that she had not poured out drink for herself, but had rather poured out her soul to YHWH.
“ Do not count your handmaid as a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken prior to this.”
She pleaded with him not to think of her as a godless person (a ‘daughter of worthlessness (belial)'). Rather her behaviour was as a result of the fact that she had a complaint about how God had treated her, and because she had been driven to it by provocation. It was that that had driven her to behave as she had up to this point.
‘ Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have requested from him”.'
Recognising her genuineness Eli blessed her and told her to go in peace, and asked that the God of Israel would grant what she had asked of Him. This is the only reference in Samuel to YHWH solely as ‘the God of Israel' (usually it is ‘YHWH, the God of Israel') apart from on the lips of the Philistines in 1 Samuel 5-6. This may indicate that through Eli the writer wants us immediately to recognise the significance of this child as the one appointed by the God of Israel to deliver the whole of Israel from the Philistines.
‘ And she said, “Let your handmaid find favour in your sight.” So the woman went her way, and ate, and her countenance was sad no more.'
Encouraged by his words and now confident that God had heard her, Hannah politely and humbly bade him farewell and went her way. She was no longer sad and so she began to enjoy the feast for the first time for many years.
Note the threefold evidence of her complete faith. She ‘went her way -- ate -- her countenance was sad no more'. Contrast the threefold signs of distress in verse 8.