1 Samuel 2:19 Commentary and Bible Study

Hannah may have come more often than annually, but annually there was a complete outfit for the young man. She loved him and though she had given him to the Lord, she continued to pour out a mother’s love on him as best she could. Eli could see what it had cost her, and asked for the Lord’s blessing on Elkanah and her through the gift of further children. Although she had been barren, the Lord now blessed her with five more children. What had been a place of sorrow now became a family blessed by the Lord, in spite of the great aberation of polygamy. As for Samuel, on whom the narrative is focused, he grew before the LORD, another phrase which indicates that he was already a spiritual young man. We are to understand that he did not just grow physically, but intellectually, morally, and spiritually. He must have carried out many of the tasks in the temple that Eli could not longer perform because of hs advanced years. He was careful to be diligent in all that was given him, and this brought its own further reward. God was preparing for a great ministry in his adult life. Hannah’s initial prayer and her continuing prayer for her son was being answered. Eli would have loved this child as his own, expecially as he knew his own children were so wayward.