I Samuel 1:26

When the boy was presented, his mother made herself known to the high priest as the woman who had previously prayed to the Lord at that place (see Sa1 1:11.), and said, "For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath granted me my request which I asked of Him: therefore I also make him one asked of the Lord all the days that he liveth; he is asked of the Lord." וגם אנכי: I also; et ego vicissim (Cler.). השׁאיל, to let a person ask, to grant his request, to give him what he asks (Exo 12:36), signifies here to make a person "asked" (שׁאוּל). The meaning to lend, which the lexicons give to the word both here and Exo 12:36, has no other support than the false rendering of the lxx, and is altogether unsuitable both in the one and the other. Jehovah had not lent the son to Hannah, but had given him (see Sa1 1:11); still less could a man lend his son to the Lord. The last clause of Sa1 1:28, "and he worshipped the Lord there," refers to Elkanah, qui in votum Hannae consenserat, and not to Samuel. On a superficial glance, the plural ישׁתּחווּ, which is found in some Codd., and in the Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic, appears the more suitable; but when we look more closely at the connection in which the clause stands, we see at once that it does not wind up the foregoing account, but simply introduces the closing act of the transference of Samuel. Consequently the singular is perfectly appropriate; and notwithstanding the fact that the subject is not mentioned, the allusion to Samuel is placed beyond all doubt. When Hannah had given up her son to the high priest, his father Elkanah first of all worshipped before the Lord in the sanctuary, and then Hannah worshipped in the song of praise, which follows in Sa1 2:1-10.

The history of Samuel here begins as early as that of Samson did, even before he was born, as afterwards the history of John the Baptist and our blessed Saviour. Some of the scripture-worthies drop out of the clouds, as it were, and their first appearance is in their full growth and lustre. But others are accounted for from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. What God says of the prophet Jeremiah is true of all: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee," Jer 1:5. But some great men were brought into the world with more observation than others, and were more early distinguished from common persons, as Samuel for one. God, in this matter, acts as a free agent. The story of Samson introduces him as a child of promise, Jdg. 13. But the story of Samuel introduces him as a child of prayer. Samson's birth was foretold by an angel to his mother; Samuel was asked of God by his mother. Both together intimate what wonders are produced by the word and prayer. Samuel's mother was Hannah, the principal person concerned in the story of this chapter. I. Here is her affliction - she was childless, and this affliction aggravated by her rival's insolence, but in some measure balanced by her husband's kindness (Sa1 1:1-8). II. The prayer and vow she made to God under this affliction, in which Eli the high priest at first censured her, but afterwards encouraged her (Sa1 1:9-18). III. The birth and nursing of Samuel (Sa1 1:19-23) IV. The presenting of him to the Lord (Sa1 1:24-28).