thonuh, even nfter the massacres 11t Shiloh leave her without this mark of affection), and Nob, hiR grandson Ahimelech was still though Jehovah had shut up her womb." powerful (1 Chrnn. xxiv. 3), ancl one of his These portions were of course taken from <lcsccnclnnts returned from Babylon as jointly those parts of the victim which formed a high priest with a descendant of Phinehas feast for the offerers, after Jehovah and the (Ezra viii. 2). How long a. space of time priests had had their dues. It is plain from elapsed between the rude heroism of Sam- this feast that Elkanah's annual sacrifice son's days and Eli's orderly government in was a peace offering, for the law of which Church and State we do not know, but the see Lev. vii. 11-21. difference in the condition of things is vast. Vers. 6, 7, 8.-Her adversary also pro- Nor do we know the steps by which Eli rose voked her sore. The pleasure of this to power, but he must have been a man of no domestic festival was spoiled by the discord common ability. Warrior as well as states- of the wives. Peninnah, triumphant in her man, he had delivered the people from the fruitfulness, is yet Hannah's aifversary, be- danger of bec·oming enslaved to the Philis- cause, in spite of her barrenness, she has the tines. In his own family alone he failed. larger portion of the husband's low ; while His sons, allowed to riot in licentiousness, Hannah is so sorely vexed at the taunts of ruined the stately edifice of the father's her rival, that she weeps from sheer vex- fortunes, and the Philistines, taking ad- ation. In vain Elkanah tries to give her vantage of the general discontent caused comfort. The husband really is not " better by their vices, succeeded in once again than ten sons," for the joy of motherhood putting the yoke on Israel's neck. is quite distinct from that of conjugal affec- Ver. 5. -A worthy portion. This render- tion , and especially to a Hebrew woman, ing is based upon the idea that the Hebrew, who had special hopes from which she was which is literally "one portion of two faces," cut off by barrenness. In ver. 7 there is a may mean "one portion. enough for two strange confusion of subject, owing to the persons." But fo1· this there is no sufficient first verb having been read as an active authority, and though the word is a dual, it insteacl of a passive. It should be, "Arnl really signifies the two sides of the face, or so it happened year by year; when she more exactly " the two nostrils," and so (Hannah) went up to the house of Jehornh simply the countenimce. The Syriac trims- she (Peninnah) thus provoked her, allll she lation, "a double portion," is based upon wept and ,lid not eat." It must be re- an accidental resemblance between the membered that the Hebrews had no written words. As the term sometimes signifies vo,vels, but only consonants ; the vowels were anger from the swelling of the ·noshils of addc,d in Christian times, many centuries an enraged person, the Vulgate translates, after the coming of our Lord, and represent " And Elkanah was sad when. he gave the traditional manner of reading of one Hannah her portion ; for ... " . The Sep- great Jewish school. They are to be treated tuagint has a different reading, epes for with the greatest respect, because as a rule apairn, and though the words look different they give us a sense confirmed by the best in Olll' writing, they are nearly identical in authorities ; but they are human, and form no Hebrew. This is probably the true reading, part of Holy Scripture. The ancient versions, and the translation would then be, "And the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Vulgate, to Hannah ·he gave one po1·tio'li only (because which are all three older than the Masorctic she had no child, while 'Peninnah had many vowels, translate, "And so she (Peninnah) portions, as e11ch son and daug11 ter had a did year by year ; " but this requires a slight share); foi• he [<Fl!ed Hannah (and did not change of the consonants.
HOMILETICS. Vers, I-3.-Transitions. The main facts implied or expressed in this section are-1. A state of national degeneracy. 2. A scarcity of spiritual illumination. 3. A family morally imperfect and troubled, yet rigidly observant of religious duties. 4. A Divine will using that family for the further unfolding of Messianic purpos~s. I. An uN'nlioKEN ·coNTINUITY runs through the revelations of the Old Testament, analogous to that of the physical order and the education of the individual. It is only,ignorance of the Bible that can suppose it to be destitute of the unity in variety which is known ,to characterise the material creation. Separate books, like diverse strata in the crust of the earth, nre preliminary tv what i~ to fai1ow ; and• the character of the events recorded, and the condition of mornlity and religious light referred to, must be considered ns related to the one general purpose. Sometimes the transition tieems to be sudde~ and abrupt, and a totally new set of subjects appears; but, as in B2 THE FIRST DOOK OF SAMUEL. [cu. 1. 1-8;