1 Samuel 1:19 - Meaning and Application

Here we see, first, Elkanah and his family returning home when the feast days were over (1 Samuel 1:19). Notice how they made good use of their time at the tabernacle. Every day they were there, even the day they were to travel home, they worshiped God, and they rose early to do it. It is good to begin the day with God. Let God have the first place. They had a long trip ahead of them, and children to take with them, yet they would not leave until they had worshiped together. Prayer and travel do not get in each other’s way. They had already spent several days in worship, yet they joined in once more. We should never grow tired of doing good.

Next comes the birth and naming of the much desired son. At last the Lord remembered Hannah, just as she had asked in prayer (1 Samuel 1:11), and that was all she needed. She conceived and gave birth to a son. Even when God seems to have forgotten his people’s burdens, troubles, cares, and prayers, he will in time show that they were never out of his mind. Hannah named the child Samuel (1 Samuel 1:20). Some take the name to mean “heard by God,” much like Ishmael, because her prayers had been clearly heard. Others take it to mean “asked of God,” because she gives that reason for the name. In either case, the point is the same. She wanted the name to keep fresh the memory of God’s kindness in answering her prayers. Every time she said his name, she could remember God’s mercy and give him glory for it.

Mercies granted in answer to prayer should be remembered with special thanks, as in Psalm 116:1, Psalm 116:2. Many timely rescues and supplies could be called our Samuels, things asked of God. Whatever comes to us that way should be especially devoted to him. Hannah also meant for this name to remind her son that he belonged to the Lord, since he had been asked of God and was dedicated to him. A child given in prayer is under a special duty to be a good child. Lemuel’s mother reminds him that he was the son of her vows (Proverbs 31:2).

Then we see Hannah’s careful attention to nursing the child. She did this not only because she loved him, but because she had devoted him to God, and she nursed him herself rather than giving him to another woman. We should care for our children not only as our own by nature, but also as those given up to God under the covenant of grace. See Ezekiel 16:20, Ezekiel 16:21. This makes the work of nursing holy when it is done for the Lord.

Elkanah went up every year to worship at the tabernacle and to carry out his vow, perhaps a vow he had made on his own if God would give him a son by Hannah (1 Samuel 1:21). But Hannah, though she still loved God’s house, asked her husband for leave to stay home. Women were not required to attend the three yearly feasts the way men were. She had gone before, but now she wanted to be excused for two reasons.

First, she did not want to stay away from her nursing child too long. Can a mother forget her nursing baby? We may think she stayed home all the time then, for if she had gone anywhere, she would have gone to Shiloh. God desires mercy, not sacrifice. Those kept from public worship because they are caring for young children may take comfort from this example. If they do that duty with an eye toward God, he will accept it kindly, and though they stay at home, they will share in the reward.

Second, she did not want to go up to Shiloh until her son was old enough, not only to go there, but also to remain there. If she took him then, she thought she could never bear to bring him back. Those who are firmly determined to keep their vows may still see good reason to wait before paying them. Everything is beautiful in its proper time. An animal was not accepted for sacrifice until it had been with its mother for a time (Leviticus 22:27). Fruit is best when it is ripe.

Elkanah agreed to what she proposed, saying, “Do what seems good to you” (1 Samuel 1:23). He was far from wanting to oppose her. He left the matter fully to her. This is a good and pleasant thing, when husband and wife move together in the same yoke, yielding to one another and approving what the other does, especially in works of faith and kindness. He also adds a prayer: “Only the Lord establish his word.” That is, may God preserve the child through the dangers of infancy, so that the solemn vow, which God had shown his acceptance of by giving them the child, may be carried out in its time, and the whole matter may be completed. Those who have sincerely given their children to God may pray with comfort that he will make firm the word he has sealed to them when they were set apart for him.

Finally, the child was brought into the service of the sanctuary. We may assume he was first presented to the Lord at forty days old, as all firstborn sons were (Luke 2:22, Luke 2:23), but that was ordinary and so is not mentioned here. Now that he was weaned, he was presented, not to be bought back. Some think he was brought as soon as he was weaned from the breast, which the Jews say was not until he was three years old, since the text says she gave him milk until he weaned him (1 Samuel 1:23). Others think he was not brought until he was weaned from childish ways, at eight or ten years old. But there is no problem in admitting such an unusual child into the tabernacle at three years old, to be taught among the priests’ children. The text says the child was young (1 Samuel 1:24), but he was wise beyond his years and not difficult to care for. No one can begin too early to be religious. The Hebrew wording suggests he was still a child in his learning years. For whom should God teach knowledge, if not those who have just left milk and been taken from the breasts? (Isaiah 28:9)

Notice how she presented her child, with a sacrifice and with thankful speech. She brought three bulls, with a grain offering for each (1 Samuel 1:24). Perhaps one bull was for each year of the child’s life. Or one may have been a burnt offering, one a sin offering, and one a peace offering. She did not think that giving her son to God made God owe her anything. Instead, she thought it fitting to seek God’s favor for her living sacrifice through these slain offerings. All our promises to God, for ourselves and for our children, must be made through sacrifice, through the great sacrifice.

She also gave a grateful testimony of God’s goodness in answer to prayer. She said this to Eli because he had encouraged her to hope for a peaceful answer (1 Samuel 1:26, 1 Samuel 1:27): “For this child I prayed.” Here he was gained by prayer, and here he is handed over to the God who hears prayer.

You have forgotten me, my lord, but I am the same woman who stood here three years ago, weeping and praying. This child is the one I prayed for. Answers to prayer can be spoken of humbly, and still bring glory to God. Hannah gives a living witness to God’s goodness. She is saying, in effect, “I am proof that he is gracious” (Psalm 66:16-19). For this mercy and comfort, I prayed, and the Lord gave me what I asked for (Psalm 34:2, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 34:6).

Hannah does not remind Eli of the earlier suspicion he had shown. She does not say, “I am the woman you sharply judged, so what do you think of me now?” Good people should not keep being reproached for their weaknesses and mistakes. They have already repented of them, so they should not hear them thrown back at them again.

She also gives up her full claim to this child and offers him to the Lord for all his life, as 1 Samuel 1:28 says: “I have lent him to the Lord as long as he lives.” She repeats this because she never means to take it back. The word she uses is the same one she used before for asking the child from the Lord, but in a different form. In this way, Samuel’s name gets another meaning: he is not only “asked of God,” but also “given back to God.”

We should notice two things here. First, whatever we give to God is first something we have received from him. All our gifts to him were first his gifts to us. “Of your own have we given you” (1 Chronicles 29:14, 1 Chronicles 29:16). Second, whatever we give to God may be called a loan, because even if we cannot call it back, he will surely repay it, with great gain for our good, especially when we give to the poor (Proverbs 19:17).

When we dedicate our children to God in baptism, we should remember that they were already his by his own right, and that this makes them even more ours for our comfort. Hannah gives Samuel to the Lord, not for a set number of years, like an apprentice. She gives him for life. He is to be lent to the Lord as long as he lives, a Nazarite for life.

Our covenant with God must be like a marriage covenant. As long as we live, we must belong to him and never turn away from him. Samuel also did his part better than could be expected for a child so young. It seems to say of him that he worshiped the Lord there, which means he prayed. He was no doubt unusually ready for this, and his mother, since she meant him for the sanctuary, took special care to train him for the work he would do there.

Little children should learn early to worship God. Their parents should teach them how to worship, bring them to it, and encourage them to take part as well as they can. God will kindly receive them and teach them to do better.