1 Samuel Chapter 1

Tears at Shiloh
A Devotional Meditation on 1 Samuel 1

“Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.”
Psalm 126 : 5 (New International Version)

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  1. The Story in its Setting
    The book we call 1 Samuel opens while Israel is still in the chaotic era of the Judges. The nation has no king, the word of the Lord is “rare” (3 : 1), and the spiritual center is the tabernacle at Shiloh, roughly 20 miles north of Jerusalem. Modern digs at Khirbet Seilun have uncovered large storage rooms and pottery from the 12th–11th centuries B.C., supporting the Bible’s description of Shiloh as a bustling pilgrimage site. Into that world steps one grieving woman whose prayer will shape a nation.

Relevant passages
• Judges 21 : 19–24 (pilgrims at Shiloh)
• Deuteronomy 12 : 5–7 (central sanctuary)

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  1. Two Wives, One Ache (1 : 1–8)
    Elkanah of Ephraim follows a sadly common custom of the ancient Near East: he has two wives. Peninnah bears children; Hannah does not. Scripture lets us feel the ache with a simple clause: “the Lord had closed her womb” (v. 5). Barrenness carries heavy social shame in the ancient world; children are a family’s future work force, retirement plan, and legacy.

Cultural note
At feast time Elkanah gives Hannah a “double portion” (v. 5). The Hebrew phrase is rare; some manuscripts read “a portion for two persons,” picturing Elkanah treating Hannah as though she already had the child she longs for.

Cross-reference
• Genesis 30 : 1–2; Luke 1 : 7—other waiting women

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  1. Bitter Tears and Silent Lips (1 : 9–18)
    After the sacrificial meal, Hannah rises and stands “before the Lord.” The Hebrew calls her “marat nefesh”—“bitter of soul.” She weeps much and prays, yet her lips move without sound. In the noisy sacrificial courts, such silent prayer is unusual enough that old Eli mistakes it for drunkenness.

Key word
sha’al (שָׁאַל) = to ask, request. Hannah “asks” a son (vv. 17, 20). The name she later gives him, “Samuel” (שְׁמוּאֵל), sounds like “heard by God.” Every time she calls him, she remembers both the asking and the answer.

The vow
She promises that her son will be given to the Lord “all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head” (v. 11). This echoes the Nazirite vow of Numbers 6, yet with lifelong force normally reserved for figures like Samson and John the Baptist.

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  1. The Birth and the Letting Go (1 : 19–28)
    “Early the next morning” Elkanah’s family worships again—an understated act of trust before any womb has opened. The text then says, “The Lord remembered her” (v. 19). In Hebrew narrative, “remember” signals divine action after a waiting period (cf. Genesis 8 : 1; Exodus 2 : 24).

When Samuel is weaned—likely at two to three years of age in that culture—Hannah brings him back to Shiloh along with a generous offering, and she repeats her earlier words almost verbatim. Biblical writers use repetition as a literary device to underline fulfillment. The chapter ends with a simple, aching sentence: “And he worshiped the Lord there” (v. 28, New American Standard Bible). Mother and toddler bow together; she leaves, he stays.

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  1. Themes for the Soul
  1. God Hears the Powerless
    In a climate of priestly corruption (Eli’s sons, ch. 2), God begins renewal not with the powerful but with a barren woman in tears. The pattern points forward to Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1 : 46-55).

  2. Prayer that Pours Out the Heart
    Hannah’s prayer is raw, specific, and self-forgetting. Augustine said, “She spoke in her heart; God listened with His.”¹

  3. Surrender and Stewardship
    Hannah does not clutch the gift once received; she gives him back. John Calvin wrote that true faith “receives in order to return.”

  4. The Birth of Leadership in Obscure Places
    Israel’s transition from judges to monarchy will hinge on Samuel. The story reminds us that God often begins great movements in hidden corners—wombs, stables, empty tombs.

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  1. Western Blind Spots

• Weaning Age
In modern settings weaning happens early; in the ancient Near East it could be as late as age four. Hannah’s sacrifice is therefore larger than many Western readers assume.

• Pilgrim Feasts
The “yearly sacrifice” (v. 21) is probably the Feast of Tabernacles, a week-long celebration of God’s provision. The timing underscores the irony of Hannah’s emptiness amid national rejoicing.

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  1. Echoes in the Wider Canon

Barrenness to Birth
• Sarah—Genesis 21
• Rebekah—Genesis 25
• Rachel—Genesis 30
• Manoah’s wife—Judges 13
• Elizabeth—Luke 1

Reversal Songs
• Hannah’s own song—1 Samuel 2 : 1-10
• Mary’s song—Luke 1 : 46-55
• Psalm 113 : 7-9

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  1. Voices from History

• Gregory the Great (6th c.) saw Hannah as an icon of contemplative prayer: “Her lips moved, yet her voice was not heard—thus must the heart pray.”
• Martin Luther loved Hannah’s vow as an example of “taking God at His word, then letting God take what is most precious.”
• John Wesley used Hannah to teach prevenient grace: even her desire to pray was “a whisper of the divine Spirit.”

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  1. For Personal Reflection

  2. When has unanswered prayer shaped rather than shattered my faith?

  3. What gifts have I “weaned” and returned to God lately?

  4. How might silent, wordless prayer become part of my walk this week?

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  1. A Hymn to Carry with You
    “Take My Life and Let It Be” (Frances R. Havergal, 1874) sings the very surrender Hannah lived—hands, voice, will, child, all consecrated.

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  1. Prayer

Father who remembers,
You saw Hannah’s tears in the shadows of Shiloh
and turned her anguish into a nation’s hope.
Look on the silent prayers we dare not speak aloud.
Hear us, hold us, shape us.
Give us grace to receive every gift with open hands
and faith to return each gift for Your glory.
Through Jesus Christ, the One long-promised and well-given.
Amen.

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¹ Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 37.

Narrated version of this devotional on 1 Samuel Chapter 1