1 Samuel 1:9 Commentary and Bible Study

It has just been said that she did not eat, but it seems that after the comfort that her husband gave her, she must have said to herself, ‘Yes I shouldn't come before the Lord in mourning, even though I am grieved at not having a Levite boy to give to the service of the Lord. I have got a very loving and supportive husband, and I shouldn't grieve unduly.’ It appears from verse 9, that she did eat after all, so she wasn't one to hang on to her mournful demeanour and let it spoil the day for others and spoil the family sacrifices. But, although she tried to not be miserable for her husband’s sake, for the time being the grief was still there.‘Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.’ Whether he always did so, or happened to be there that day, the great man was actually there where Hannah was about to pray. The house of God is now called a temple. It isn't the temple yet, but it is given that name; it is a solid house. As she came to the temple Hannah remembered her great trial, and her hope, and she brought everything before the Lord on this special opportunity; she ‘vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.’ All she would do is raise him as a small child, and wean him, and then part with him. But that was in the heart all along; this is what she prayed for. That was certainly an unselfish prayer. That was certainly a prayer for the glory of the Lord. She could see the state of the land. She could shocking things happening even at the house of God, where the sons of the high priest behaved disgracefully and immorally. There was disorder everywhere, and she believed in the Lord, and she believed that such a man would be raised up as high priest. So she prays this very personal prayer. ‘Oh Lord of hosts.’ That’s a beautiful term. In fact this term first appears in the Book of Samuel. They are an oppressed people remember: the Philistines are still there. There is going to be a tremendous a battle with the Philistines which Israel will lose initially, and this Book of Samuel overlaps with the Book of Judges. Sampson is in another part of the land, even while Samuel was growing up and beginning to officiate. This book doesn't tell us that, but that's the case. And here she vowed a vow: ‘Oh Lord of hosts.’ What a name! We may be an oppressed people – Philistines are around – but I believe in the Lord who has a mighty host of angels, and a power greater than any number of armies at his disposal, and he will keep his people. It's a wonderful term of trust. ‘if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid,’ – not just the fact that she is being criticised and scorned, but that she wanted to do something for the Lord – ‘and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.’ He will be dedicated under a Nazarite vow, given over entirely to the Lord. She only asks for one child. She is going to receive more in the Lord's goodness, but she asks for just one, and not for herself, but so that he can serve the Lord. So she receives a beautiful and pious child.At the same time she makes this request to God, she binds herself with a vow, and she takes this vow with the utmost seriousness. Not a word that has gone out of her mouth must be allowed to fail.