And they rose up in the morning early,.... Partly for devotion, and partly for the sake of their journey: and worshipped before the Lord; went up to the tabernacle, and prayed with their faces towards that part of it, the western part, where stood the ark of the Lord, the symbol of the divine Presence; and when they no doubt gave thanks for all...
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about, after Hannah had conceived,.... Or, "at the revolutions of days" (b); at the end of a year, of a complete year, as Ben Melech, from their return from Shiloh; for it might be some time after their return that she conceived; or rather the sense is, that at nine months' end, the usual time of a...
And the man Elkanah, and all his house,.... All his family, excepting Hannah, and her son Samuel; or all the men of his house, as the Targum; for only the males were obliged to appear at the three festivals: went up to Shiloh; to the house of God there: to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice; either the passover, to which men commonly went up...
But Hannah went not up,.... For women, though they might go if they pleased to the yearly feasts, yet they were not obliged to it; whether she went up at the time for her purification, and for the presenting and redemption of the firstborn, is not certain; some say the Levites were not obliged by that law, the perquisites of it falling to them,...
And Elkanah her husband said unto her, do what seemeth thee good,.... He spake like a kind and indulgent husband, knowing that she would not thereby break any law of God; and it might be more for her own health, and the health of the child, to stay longer: tarry till thou have weaned him; when he would be more fit for the journey, and to be left...
And when she had weaned him,.... At the usual time of weaning children; [See comments on 1 Samuel 1:23] some refer this not only to the milk of the breast, from which he was weaned, but to such food as was common to children, and so supposes him grown up to nine or ten years of age: she took him up with her; to the tabernacle at Shiloh, at a...
And they slew a bullock,.... One of the three Hannah brought, unless the singular is put for the plural, and so all three were slain, some for sacrifice, and some for food perhaps; or if only one was slain, it might be offered as a sacrifice previous to the presentation of Samuel; or else was made a present of to Eli, at the introduction of Samuel...
And she said, O my lord,.... According to the Targum, it is a supplication or request, I beseech thee, my lord; that is, to look upon her son, and take him under his care as his disciple or scholar, to instruct him in the law of God, and enter him into his service; to which Eli might be very backward and indifferent, and even treat it with some...
For this child I prayed,.... Which she now had in her hand, and was presenting to Eli: and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him; and which he also desired might be granted her, or foretold that it would be, 1 Samuel 1:17 though perhaps he knew not then particularly what it was she asked; nor did she acquaint him with it at...
Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord,.... To be employed in his service, not for a few days, months, or years, but for his whole life. The Targum is, "I have delivered him, that he may minister before the Lord;'' as she had received him front him as an answer of prayer, she gave him up to him again according to her vow: as long as he liveth...