1 Samuel 1

Hannah, a childless woman who is mocked year after year, pours out her heart to God at Shiloh and vows to give any son back to Him. God remembers her, and Samuel is born. She keeps her promise and brings the weaned boy to serve at the house of the LORD.

1 Samuel 1:1

The book opens in a quiet family in Ephraim’s hill country. Elkanah’s ancestors are listed, so we know he is a real man in a real place. God’s great work in Israel is about to begin in an ordinary household.

BSA: hill country (“mountainous region, highlands”): The story starts in rugged upland farm country, far from any center of power.

1 Samuel 1:2

Elkanah has two wives, which brings rivalry and pain into the home. Scripture reports this without approving it. Peninnah has many children, while Hannah has none. In that world, childlessness brought deep sorrow and shame.

BSA: Hannah (“grace, favor”): Her name means grace, and grace is just what God will show her.

See also: Genesis 30:1.

1 Samuel 1:3

Every year Elkanah takes his family up to Shiloh, where the tabernacle stood, to worship. He is faithful even though the priesthood there is corrupt, since Eli’s sons serve at the altar. ‘LORD of Hosts’ names God as ruler over every power in heaven and earth.

BSA: Hosts (“armies, heavenly forces”): Hannah will soon pray to this God of vast power, and nothing is too hard for Him. Shiloh (“place of rest”): The name suggests a place of rest, and Hannah will find rest for her soul there.

1 Samuel 1:4-5

At the sacrificial meal Elkanah gives Peninnah’s family their shares. To Hannah he gives a double portion because he loves her. His love is real, yet it cannot fill her longing. The text says plainly that the LORD had closed her womb.

BSA: double portion (“a worthy share, an extra amount”): The larger share was a visible sign of his special affection for her. loved (“had affection for, cherished”): Elkanah’s love was tender and sincere, even though it could not remove her grief.

1 Samuel 1:6-7

Peninnah uses Hannah’s sorrow as a weapon. She cuts hardest at the very time the family goes to worship. Year after year Hannah weeps and cannot eat. Cruelty is especially painful when it follows us into the place where we hoped for comfort.

BSA: rival (“adversary, vexer”): Peninnah acts as an enemy within the household, set on provoking Hannah. taunted (“provoked, vexed”): The taunting was constant and meant to wear Hannah down.

1 Samuel 1:8

Elkanah notices her tears and asks four tender questions. His last one shows he does not fully understand. He thinks his love should be enough, but her need is deeper than a husband can meet. Still, he cares, and he does not scold her.

BSA: grieved (“sorrowful, afflicted”): Her heart was truly afflicted, which is more than a passing mood.

1 Samuel 1:9

After the meal, Hannah rises and goes to pray. Eli sits by the doorpost of the sanctuary, watching the worshipers come and go. She leaves the table of feasting to take her grief to God instead.

BSA: temple (“house of God, sacred dwelling”): Though the tabernacle was a tent, it is called the LORD’s house, the place where He meets His people.

Hebrew: הֵיכַל (hêkal, H1964) — “palace, large sanctuary.” The Hebrew word often means a great house or palace. It pictures God as the King who dwells among His people at Shiloh.

1 Samuel 1:10

Hannah’s prayer is raw and honest. She is bitter in soul and weeps freely before God. She does not put on a polite face. The Lord invites us to bring Him our deepest pain just as it is.

BSA: bitter (“deeply troubled”): Her soul was heavy and sore, and she did not hide it from God.

See also: Psalm 62:8.

1 Samuel 1:11

Hannah prays and makes a vow. She asks God to see, to remember, and not to forget her. If He gives a son, she will give him back for life. The uncut hair marks a Nazirite, a person set apart to God. Her gift is costly.

BSA: affliction (“misery, trouble”): She asks God to look at her real suffering, not just hear her words. dedicate (“consecrate, set apart”): She promises that the child will belong wholly to God. remember (“recall, bring to mind”): To remember in the Bible means to act in kindness, not just to think of someone.

Hebrew: נָדַר (nādar, H5087) — “to vow.” A vow was a solemn promise made to God and was never to be taken lightly. Hannah binds herself to keep her word, and she does.

See also: Numbers 6:1-5; Genesis 8:1.

1 Samuel 1:12-14

Eli sees her lips moving but hears nothing, and he assumes she is drunk. The sad truth is that a priest could not recognize deep prayer. His rebuke is harsh, and it must have hurt a woman already broken. Yet God was listening to her all along.

BSA: heart (“her innermost being, mind, and spirit”): Her prayer came from the deepest part of her, which is why it made no sound.

1 Samuel 1:15-16

Hannah answers gently and respectfully. She denies the charge and explains that she has been pouring out her soul to the LORD. Prayer, in her words, is like emptying a vessel. She asks only not to be counted a worthless woman.

BSA: poured out (“shed, emptied”): She pictures prayer as emptying everything inside her before God, holding nothing back. anguish (“sorrow, complaint”): She admits that her prayer was full of heartfelt complaint, and God did not reject it.

See also: Psalm 42:4; Psalm 142:2.

1 Samuel 1:17-18

Eli realizes his mistake and blesses her. He does not know what she asked, but he prays that God will grant it. She believes the word and goes away at peace. She eats, and her face is no longer sad, though nothing outward has changed yet.

BSA: peace (“completeness, wellness, friendship”): Shalom means wholeness, and Hannah leaves with a settled heart before her prayer is answered. downcast (“sad, sorrowful”): Her face had told of her grief, and now it shows relief.

See also: Philippians 4:6-7.

1 Samuel 1:19

The family rises early and worships before going home. Nothing is said of an instant miracle. Then comes the quiet, powerful line: the LORD remembered her. God’s remembering is His loving action on behalf of someone He has not forgotten.

BSA: remembered (“recalled, marked”): God had not forgotten her at all; here He moves to act on her behalf. bow (“to worship, prostrate themselves”): They worshiped before the answer came, which shows trust.

Hebrew: זָכַר (zākar, H2142) — “to remember.” In Hebrew, to remember means to act on someone’s behalf, not just to recall them. When God remembers, help follows.

See also: Genesis 30:22.

1 Samuel 1:20

In due time Hannah has a son. She names him Samuel, which sounds like ‘heard by God’ or ‘asked of God.’ His very name tells the story of an answered prayer. Each time his name was spoken, it reminded her that God hears.

BSA: Samuel (“heard by God”): His name keeps alive the memory that God listened to a weeping woman. asked (“requested, inquired of”): The child is a gift received in answer to asking.

Hebrew: שָׁאַל (shā’al, H7592) — “to ask.” This verb is tied to the sound of the name Samuel. Hannah hears in her son’s name the story of her asking.

See also: Psalm 116:1-2.

1 Samuel 1:21-23

Hannah stays home with the baby and promises to bring him once he is weaned. Elkanah supports her and asks that the LORD confirm His word. Weaning in that day often came later than today. She uses those years to nurse and love the boy she will give away.

BSA: weaned (“taken from the breast, no longer nursing”): Weaning marked the point when the child could be left in others’ care. confirm (“establish, fulfill”): Elkanah wants God to make His word stand and come to pass.

1 Samuel 1:24-25

Hannah keeps her vow. She brings a three-year-old bull, flour and wine for the offering, and her young son. The sacrifice is made, and the boy is brought to Eli. She gives both a costly offering and her most precious gift.

BSA: bull (“young ox, a bullock”): A fine animal in its prime shows that she gave generously, not grudgingly. boy (“youth, child”): He was very young, which makes her faithfulness to the vow all the more moving.

See also: Ecclesiastes 5:4-5.

1 Samuel 1:26-28

Hannah reminds Eli that she is the woman he saw praying. She gives her testimony: she asked, and the LORD gave. Now she gives the child back for life. What God gave in answer to prayer, she returns in worship. They worship there together.

BSA: dedicate (“give, lend, or grant”): The word carries the sense of something lent over to God for good. worshiped (“bowed down, or showed reverence”): The chapter ends with worship, not with a lament.

Hebrew: שָׁאוּל (shā’ûl, H7592) — “asked, lent.” The same root as ‘ask’ appears again in ‘dedicate.’ The child who was asked for is now given back, so the word links her asking and her giving.

See also: Luke 2:22-24.