EXPOSITION. HANNAH's PRAYER FOil A SON (nrs. 9- grief before God. There Eli, th~ priest, i. e. 18). Ver. 9.- After they had eaten . .. after the high priest, as in Num. :uvi. l ; xxvii. 2, they had drunk. The Hebrtw favours the was seated upon, not a seat, but the ponti- translation, "Arter she had eaten in Shilol1, fical throne, placed at the entrance leading and after she had dnmk;" the somewhat into the inner court of the tabernacle, so forced rendering of the A. V. having arisen that all who came to worship must pass from a supposed discrepancy between this before him. It is remarkable that the taber- verse and ver. 7. Really there is none. The nacle is called the temple (so 1 Sam. iii. 3 ; words simply mean that Hannah took part Ps. v. 7), or, more literally, the "palace" of in the sacrificial banquet, though she ,lid so Jehovah, his royal residence; and it thus without appetite or pleasure ; and thus they appears that the name had rome into use connect her visit to tke temple and her prayer before Solomon's building was erected. The with the most solemn religious service of the curtains (Exod. xxvi. I) also had given place year. To take part in this banquet was a to n n.iezuzah, translated. a post, but really a. duty, but as soon as she hnd fulfilled it sort of porch, with doors, as appears from eh. she withdrew to the temple to pour ont her iii. 15 (comp. Exod. xxi. 6 ; 1 Kings vii. 5)- 12 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. [en. I, 9-28.
As the tabernacle remained stationary at (comp. l\fatt. viii. 8-10). Nnturnlly men Shiloh for 300 years, naturally numerous think that they shall be heard for their ·lmildings of a more solid nature grew up much speaking, an,l for speaking aloud. around it. Unused then to such real prayer, Eli ns ha Yers. 10, 11.-She . . , prayed unto the marked the quivering lips, the p1~strato .LORD. Kneeling down in the inner court, form, the face flushed with earnestness, camo but within sigl,t of Eli, whose throne in to the coarse conclusion that she was drunken the porch probably o'l"erlooked the whole and with equal coarseness l.iids her ff put inner space, Hannah prays unto "Jehovah away her wine from her," that is, go and of Sabaoth " for a male child. Her humility sleep off the effects of her debauch. Hannah appears in her thrice calling herself J eho- ans\\·ers indignantly, "No, my lord." She vah's handmai<l ; her earnestness in the is "a woman hard of spirit" (see marg. ), threefold repetition of the entreaty that heavy-hearted, ns we s_hould say, and she .Jeho,ah would look on her, and remember had been lightening her heart by pouring ·her, and not forget her. With her prayer out her troubles before Jehovah. She is ,she also makes a tTI·ofold vow in case her no " worthless woman ; " for Belial is not request is granted. The son given her is, a proper name, though gradually it became first, to se1Te not for a stipulated number of one (2 Cor. vi. 15), but means worthlessness, years, as was the law Tiith the Levites (Num. and ff a daughter of worthlessness" means a iv. 3), but for life ; and, secondly, he is to bad woman. "Grief" is rather p1·ovocation, -be a Nazarite. We gather from Num. "Vi. 2 i•exation. Hannah cannot forget the triumph --that Moses found this singular institution of her rival, exulting over her many por- in existence, and only regulated it, and tions, while for her there had been only one. admitted it into the circle of established and Convinced by the modesty and earnestness legalised ordinances. Essentially it was a of her answer, Eli retracts his accusation, consecration to God, a holy priesthood, but gives her his blessing, and prays that her not a sacrificing priesthood, nor one by right petition may be granted. .A.nd Hannal1, com- of bi1th, as the .A.aronic, but personal, and forted by such words spoken by the high -either for a limited period, or for life. priest (John xi. 51), returned to the sacri- During the continuance of the vow, a Naza- ficial feast, which apparently was not yet rite might (1) partake of no produce of the finished, and joined in it, for "she did eat, vine, signifying thereby abstinence from self- and her countenance was to her no more," indulgence and carnal pleasure. He might that fa, the grieved and depressed look which (2) take no part in mourning for the dead, she had so long borne had now departed from even though they were his nearest relatives, her. There is no reason for the insertion of because his holier duties raised him above the word sad. the ordinary joys and sorrows, the cares and HANNAH's PRAYER ANSWERED (vers.19, 20). occupations of every-day life. Lastly, no Vers. 19, 20.-They rose up, .A.fter solemn razor might come upon his head, the free worship early the next morning Elkanah growing hair being at once the distinctive returned to his home at Ramah, and God mark by which all men would recognise his answered Hannah's prayer, and gave her the 118.Cred calling, and also a sign that he was wished-for son. She calls him Samuel, lit. .not bound by the usual customs of life. Shemuel (Nu.m. xxxiv. 20 ; 1 Chron. vii. 2), By Hannah's first vow Samuel was devoted which was an ordinary Hebrew name, and to service in the sanctuary, by the second means '' heard of God," not '' asked of God," to a holy consecrated life. This institution as in the margin of the A. V. It seems to have remained in existence unto our Lord's days; been the mother's right to give names to her for John the Baptist was also consecrated to children (Luke i. 60), and Hannah saw in -God as a N azarite b_y his mo~h~r, t~ough Samuel, whom she had asked of God, a :not as Samuel, also given to m1mster J..il the living proof that she had been heard by :temple. him. The name, therefore, is of fuller signi• Vers. 12-18. - She continued praying. ficance than the reason given for it. Ishmael Hannah's prayer was long and earnest, but has virtually the same meaning, sigi1ifying 'i1 silence. She spake not in, but "to her " God heareth." ~olilrt," to herself. It was an inward sup- THE vow FULFILLED (vers. 21- 28). 1lication, which only her own heart and Ver. 21.-Elkanah , .. went up. When _;od heard. Eli watched, and was displeased. at the return of the year Elkanah went up Possibly silent prayer was something unusual. as usual to Shiloh, Hannah remained at lt requires a certain ad van cc in civilisation home, purposing to wait. there till her son and refinement to enable a supplicant to was old enough to bo given to the Lord. separate the petition from the outward ex- This followed soon after his weaning, which pression of it in spoken words, and a strong in the East iR '1elayed much longer than .faith Lefore any one can feel that God hears with us. In 2 ]\[acc. vii. 27 we find three ,and ku-:iws the silent uttcrancee of. the hea.-t yeare mentioned as the usual period of lacta- CR, I. 0-28. j THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.