1 Samuel 1:1-28

The first Book of Samuel covers a period of transition in the history of the nation, dealing with the process from the judges to the kings. The condition of the people under the Judges, as we have seen, was one of degeneracy.

It was during this period that they practically rejected God as their one King. The clamor for an earthly king which followed was the natural outcome of this practical rejection. The first movement of the Book deals with the story of Samuel, the last, and in some senses, the best of the judges.

It opens with a simple story, full of ordinary human emotion. Polygamy was still practiced. Elkanah was the husband of two wives, Peninnah, and Hannah. Hannah, persecuted by Peninnah, prayed earnestly that she might no longer be childless, making a vow that if a boy were granted to her he would be consecrated to the Lord. The promised consecration was twofold. It was to be life-long. As a Levite, and the son of a Levite, he would be called on to render a certain period of service, but before his birth his mother dedicated him for life. Her vow, moreover, covered not only the length of this service, but its character, as she promised that he would be a Nazarite. Her prayer was answered, and she fulfilled her vow by presenting the boy to Jehovah.