Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Samuel 1:19-26
They Return Home and Samuel Is Born, And When He Is Weaned He Is Given To YHWH (1 Samuel 1:21).
In accordance with Hannah's faith she bears a son, and will not again go up to the Temple until she can fulfil her vow and present him to YHWH. Then upon his being weaned off his mother's milk she and Elkanah again go to the Temple together and she presents her son to YHWH.
Analysis.
a And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before YHWH, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah, and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and YHWH remembered her. And it came about that when the time was come about, Hannah conceived, and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of YHWH” (1 Samuel 1:19).
b And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to YHWH the yearly sacrifice, and his vow (1 Samuel 1:21).
c But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child be weaned; and then I will bring him, that he may appear before YHWH, and there abide for ever” (1 Samuel 1:22).
d And Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him. Only YHWH establish his word.” So the woman waited and breast fed her son, until she weaned him (1 Samuel 1:23).
c And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of meal, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of YHWH in Shiloh, and the child was young (1 Samuel 1:24).
b And they slew the bullock, and brought the child to Eli (1 Samuel 1:25).
a And she said, “Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to YHWH. For this child I prayed; and YHWH has given me my petition which I asked of him, therefore also I have granted him to YHWH. As long as he lives he is granted to YHWH.” And he worshipped YHWH there (1 Samuel 1:26).
Note that in ‘a' YHWH responds to Hannah's prayer and gives her a son, and she calls him ‘asked of GOD', and in the parallel she informs Eli of the fact and grants him to YHWH. In ‘b' Elkanah and his house go up to offer the yearly sacrifice, and in the parallel they offer a sacrifice and bring the child to YHWH. In ‘c' Hannah will not go up until the child is weaned, and in the parallel the child is weaned and she takes him up with her. In ‘d' Elkanah is satisfied with whatever she does but stresses that YHWH's word must be made sure.
‘ And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before YHWH, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah, and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and YHWH remembered her.'
Next morning, following her prayer, they rose early and worshipped before YHWH, after which they returned home to their house at Ramah. There they renewed normal sexual relations and ‘YHWH remembered her' (compare Genesis 30:22).
‘ And it came about that when the time was come about, Hannah conceived, and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of YHWH.” '
And when the time that He had planned came Hannah conceived, and she bore a son and called his name Shemuel because she had asked him of YHWH. The name means ‘El has heard'. Thus the name was a commemoration of the fact that she had asked for a son from YHWH, and He had heard.
‘ And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to YHWH the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child be weaned; and then I will bring him, that he may appear before YHWH, and there abide for ever.” '
The time came for the next visit to the Sanctuary at Shiloh at which ‘the yearly sacrifice' might be offered to YHWH. This may have been the Passover, or it may have been an offering to be offered at the Feast of Tabernacles. And with it Elkanah was to make a sacrifice in respect of a vow. This may have been the vow described in verse 11, which he had taken on himself. Or it may have been some other vow. But either way Hannah would not go up with them. This was probably because she felt that she could not visit the Sanctuary with her vow uncompleted. She would not go until she could give her son to YHWH after weaning. It was not seen as necessary that women attend at the Sanctuary so that this would not have been seen as unusual.
The weaning of a child (bringing him off breast feeding) normally took two to three years. Then, said Hannah, she would bring him so that he might appear before YHWH and abide there ‘for ever' (i.e. as long as he lived). There is pathos in the words. As far as she was concerned she really was losing him ‘for ever'. We must not overlook the huge cost to Hannah of what she was doing. She knew that once Samuel was a child of the Sanctuary she would see little of him. She would have relinquished all rights to him. And yet she was not hesitating. Rather she wanted to ensure that she did the right thing. That was why she did not want to appear ‘before YHWH' until she could honour her vow to Him.
‘ And Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him. Only YHWH establish his word.” So the woman waited and breast fed her son, until she weaned him.'
Elkanah was happy for her to do what she wished. She could wait until the child was weaned. But note that he was determined that YHWH's word must be established. YHWH had spoken by granting them their son. Now His will must be done with regard to him. Thus neither Elkanah nor Hannah had any thought of disobedience to God's will. So Hannah waited and breast fed her son until she had weaned him.
‘ And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of meal, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of YHWH in Shiloh: and the child was young. And they slew the bullock, and brought the child to Eli.'
Once Samuel was weaned she took him ‘up' with her to Shiloh. (Shiloh was on a high place). And with him she took three bullocks, an ephah of meal and a wineskin of wine. The size of the offering suggests that they were a well-to-do family. Three bullocks was a considerable offering for an individual family to make. It may be that one was for a burnt offering, one for a votive offering in respect of the vow, and one a peace offering (compare Numbers 15:8). Three tenths part of an ephah of meal, together with some wine, had to be offered with each offering (Numbers 15:9) Taking these offerings with her she, with Elkanah, went with her son to the house of YHWH in Shiloh. And once there they slew a bullock and brought the child personally to Eli.
“And the child was young.” Some have doubted whether such a young child would have been accepted at the Tabernacle. But there were women there ‘who did service at the door of the Tent of Meeting' (1 Samuel 2:22) who would be well able to look after him, and such a gift could not be spurned. Samuel belonged to YHWH. He was ‘holy'. So he would immediately begin to serve in any way that he could, growing up to know that he belonged wholly to YHWH.
‘ And she said, “Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to YHWH. For this child I prayed; and YHWH has given me my petition which I asked of him, therefore also I have granted him to YHWH. As long as he lives he is granted to YHWH.” And he worshipped YHWH there.'
Approaching Eli, Hannah introduced her son. She reminded him of when they had last met, and how she had prayed to YHWH for a child. Then she informed him about her vow. She told him that YHWH had given her a son, and that now she was in turn giving him back to YHWH as she had promised. As long as he lived he would belong to YHWH. It was a most solemn moment.
“And he worshipped YHWH there.” This almost certainly indicates the acceptance of Samuel as belonging to YHWH. From now on into the future Samuel worshipped YHWH in his Sanctuary. The deed was done. Some, however, see it as referring to Eli or Elkanah in the light of the circumstances. The reference to Samuel seems more likely (‘he, him' referring to Samuel is the only real close antecedent). Whichever way we take it, however, it indicates the solemnity of the occasion.