And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home.
Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife. This blessing like that which he had formerly pronounced, had a prophetic virtue, which ere long appeared in the increase of Hannah's family (1 Samuel 2:21: the word "visited" is generally significant of a blessing, Genesis 21:1-34; Exodus 13:19; Jeremiah 15:15) and the growing qualifications of Samuel for the service of the sanctuary.