And she took him up with her when she had weaned him, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a flask of wine, and brought him to the house of Jehovah to Shiloh; and the boy was young.
Hannah had promised her son to God before he was born. This verse is the moment she keeps that promise. She walks up to Shiloh, where the house of the LORD stood, with the child, a bull, flour and wine. Two small details carry the weight: she waited until he was weaned, and she did not come empty-handed.
Hannah could have kept her vow the week Samuel was born. She chose the slower road, and those years of feeding and holding him made the parting cost more.
It would have been very easy for her to give the child at once. "No," she said, "I will wean the child." Mothers know that weaning takes a long time. In those years the child takes root in the mother's affections. The child becomes part of the mother. I believe this shows how great a sacrifice Hannah made. She handed him over to the Lord thoroughly weaned.
The animals, flour and wine are not travel supplies. Commentators read them as the standard offerings, each one picturing something of Christ.
When Hannah had weaned the child, she took him to Shiloh, and on the ground of sacrifice dedicated him to the Lord. The slain bullock for the burnt offering speaks of Christ in the complete devotedness of His death. The ephah of flour speaks of what He was in His lowly manhood under the eye of God. The bottle of wine speaks of the joy that God always found in Him. So, in this picture, the boy Samuel was presented to the Lord in the value of all that Christ is to God.
(The older translation quoted here says "three bullocks." The ESV says "a three-year-old bull.")
Why does a bull have to die before Eli the priest can take the child? Because this child, however much prayed for, comes to God on the same ground as everyone else.
One of the bullocks is sacrificed and the child brought to Eli. She knew this was important. We never read of a child rightly presented to the Lord without some symbol of the death of Christ going with it. Only on the ground of that death can any human being be acceptable to God.
Once the son was in her arms, she still did not take the promise back. Set beside the child, the offerings are almost nothing.
When God answers her request with the gift of Samuel, she does not take back her offer. This humble wife of Elkanah the Levite brings a costly sacrifice to the Lord: "three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a flask of wine." Yet it is nothing beside the gift of Samuel. She parts with her only son, the son God Himself had given her, the one she had "asked of God." So she shows that God was more precious to her than the son she had wanted so much.
The weaning and the offerings belong together. What fills God's house is a heart no longer feeding on other things.
Hannah waited until Samuel was weaned. How blessed to bring into the house of God affections which are weaned from the resources of this world. Look at the fullness of what she brings in: "three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine." No wonder worship follows. That is the highest service of all.
Beside the weaned child stands Eli, the aging priest at Shiloh. Age and standing do not wean a person.
There were two things very striking in the case of Samuel. He had been first weaned before he was presented to the Lord in Shiloh. You see that man of importance, who fails to hear the voice of the Lord in the assembly gathered to Him in Shiloh. Ah, he never was weaned. Have you been weaned, or did you take a place at Shiloh with your heart still linked with the world and like it in your ways?
Israel's revival did not begin in public. It began in a home, with one woman's hidden grief.
Away in Mount Ephraim a man named Elkanah lived with his wife Hannah. They were deeply attached to each other. Their one sorrow at home was that Hannah had no children. This godly, unknown woman went through hidden and bitter struggles of soul. In those struggles lay the beginning of revival for Israel. A praying woman brought in, in the ways of God, a new era.
- Asked — Hannah prayed for a son, and her hidden struggle became the start of a new era for Israel.
- Weaned — she did not hand over an infant. The waiting years wound the child into her affections, and that measures what the gift cost.
- Sacrificed — the bull, flour and wine picture Christ's death, His lowly manhood, and God's joy in Him. No one comes to God rightly except on the ground of that death.
- Returned — the offerings were costly, yet nothing beside Samuel himself. Handing him over showed that God mattered more to her than the son she had begged for.
- Worship — affections weaned from the world are what fill God's house, and worship is the result. The question the passage leaves is whether we have been weaned, or come with hearts still tied to the world.
And they slaughtered the bullock, and brought the boy to Eli.
Hannah comes to the house of the Lord at Shiloh with her weaned son and with offerings. Before she hands the boy over to Eli the priest, an animal dies — and commentators treat that death as the hinge of the whole scene.
The verse puts the death first. Mawson says why:
Blood had to be shed for Samuel so that he might be before God.
Mawson then turns the scene on his readers:
So we see that Samuel was not only CALLED, but CLEANSED. Before God could call any of us, blood had to be shed — not the blood of a bull, but the blood of Jesus. And all need to be cleansed by His precious blood. There is no salvation apart from it. Nothing else can take away your sins.
Grant reads the same detail as a rule that holds right through Scripture:
Hannah knew this was important. We never read of any child being rightly presented to the Lord without some symbol of the death of Christ. Only on the ground of that death can any human being be acceptable to God.
Willis notes that both parents act here. Giving a child back to God is an admission as much as a gift:
Notice, too, that the parents "slaughtered the bull and brought the child to Eli." We can only give our children back to the Lord through death. It is an admission that they deserve only death, but that Another died for them.
Hannah does not come with the boy alone. Fereday reads the animal, the flour and the wine as three pictures of Christ:
The slain bull for the burnt offering speaks of Christ in the absolute devotedness of His death. The ephah of flour speaks of what He was in His lowly manhood under the eye of God. The bottle of wine speaks of the joy that God ever found in Him. So, in picture, the boy Samuel was presented to Jehovah in the value of all that Christ is to God.
Kelly reads the size of Hannah's gift as a measure of her heart. (He follows an older translation of verse 24, which reads "three bulls"; the ESV has "a three-year-old bull.")
"She took him up with her, with three bulls, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine... And they slaughtered a bull." There was openness of heart: did anything seem too good for the Lord?
Wallace reads the weaning the same way — as the cost, not just the timing:
Mothers know that weaning a child is a long process. The child gets entwined in the affections... I believe this shows the extent of the sacrifice that Hannah made. She handed him over to the Lord fully weaned.
Hannah leaves the boy with Eli. Grant does not pretend this was ideal:
She was returning him to the Lord, not for a time only, but permanently. We may well doubt that Eli could give him the same solid moral training and care that Hannah could. But by faith she was putting him into the Lord's hands, and the Lord cared for him despite Eli's inadequacy. In fact, the short time that Hannah had him no doubt left a lasting impression on his young heart that affected his whole life.
Stanley turns this into a warning for readers today:
Hannah not only brought him to the place, but also to the Lord. Many in this day may have been brought to the place, but not to the Person of the Lord.
The chapter closes not with loss but with worship, and Wallace notes that it spread beyond Hannah's own family:
Here is worship, fellowship in worship. Hannah and her husband worshipped; Eli, as he saw the result of the prayer, worshipped. What a wonderful thing prayer is.
- Blood first. The bull dies before the boy changes hands. Samuel could only stand before God on the ground of a death.
- Blood fulfilled. The animal was only a picture. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can cleanse anyone God calls.
- Blood applied. Parents give a child back to God on the same ground. The child deserves death, and Another died instead.
- Given whole. Hannah brings a weaned son and generous offerings — nothing seemed too good for the Lord.
- Ends in worship. Hannah leaves the boy with a weak priest, but puts him into the Lord's hands — and even Eli worships.
And she said, Oh my lord, [as] thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here to pray to Jehovah.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
For this boy I prayed; and Jehovah has granted me my petition which I asked of him.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And also I have lent him to Jehovah all the days that he lives, he is lent to Jehovah. And he worshipped Jehovah there.
Hannah stands in front of Eli with the son she once begged God for, and hands him over. It is the same child, given back in the same place where she asked for him. The verse turns on one word, translated "lent," and on the small act of worship that closes it.
Her word here goes back to a vow she made before Samuel was born:
She vowed that if God would hear her prayer and give her a son, she would give him to Jehovah all the days of his life, and no razor would ever touch his head. God heard her prayer, and she became the mother of Samuel (which means "asked of God"). When he was weaned, she gave him to serve Eli the priest. He was "lent" or "returned" to the Lord who gave him: see 1 Sam. 1:28, margin.
Commentators differ on the best English word here. One writer looks at how Hannah parted from her son:
"Lent" is better translated "given." She did not selfishly cling to him, nor make a scene at her parting with the loved and lovable "son of her vows" (Prov. 31:2). She gives him up freely, gladly, for was it not for this very purpose that she waited long and prayed earnestly? She was not one of those who make a vow and later go back on it (Eccl. 5:4–5).
Hannah's affection for Samuel is not in doubt; what she does with him is the point.
Here was a true heart. To such a person, blessing from God was only the occasion, as it was the means, of returning that blessing to Him. Jehovah was the object of her soul. Who can suppose that there was any lack of affection for Samuel? … She could well conclude that such a child was not born for nothing — that hers was a son given for the purposes of God in Israel. And she was right, for the secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him.
One writer weighs how young Samuel may have been:
Three years old is said to have been the age of weaning among the Hebrews. If this was Samuel's age when Hannah left him with Eli, then leaving her child at the tabernacle so young shows how deeply devoted she was to the interests of Jehovah and His worship. But "all things are possible for one who believes," and faith rises above nature. She gave him gladly, and surely with the assurance that the Lord had need of him, and would use him to honour His great and glorious name in Israel.
One writer draws from this a pattern for every parent:
These precious gifts must be given back — "loaned" (see New Translation) "to the Lord" as long as they live. … Then, as we realise Whose they are, we will feel our responsibility more solemnly. We will also know more deeply the One Who is ready and willing to give the infinite grace, patience and wisdom needed to train them for Himself. Notice, too, that the parents "slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli." We can only give our children back to the Lord through death, an acknowledgement that they only deserve death, but that Another died for them.
One writer marks where this happened, and what mattered more than the place:
So Samuel was dedicated to the Lord, at the place the Lord had chosen for His name — a place that had been almost forgotten. Hannah not only brought him to the place, but also to the Lord. Many in this day may have been brought to the place, but not to the Person of the Lord.
Who worshipped — the child, or the group around him? Commentators differ, and one lays out both readings:
If this refers to Samuel, it would argue that he was considerably more than three years old. The Revised Version notes that several ancient copies read they instead of he. If that is correct, it gives a beautiful picture of the whole company — Eli, Hannah, her husband, and others — praising the God of Israel together for this gift of His love to the nation.
If Samuel is the one worshipping, his service opens with worship. One writer notes how it ends:
The first expression of his service had been to worship before the Lord (1 Sam. 1:28); the worshipper's altar is the last expression of his service. Is not this life of faith fittingly framed by these two acts?
- Asked — the name Samuel means "asked of God"; he was an answered prayer before he was a gift given back.
- Returned — "lent" carries the sense of returned to the Lord who gave him; others read it as given outright.
- Freely — she did not cling or repent of her vow; faith rose above nature and gave gladly, not grudgingly.
- Through death — the parents killed a bull first; we hand our children back to God only on the ground that Another died for them.
- Worship — the transaction ends in worship, and worship frames the whole life that follows.