What is the story of Hannah and Samuel?

A pious woman, the wife of Elkanah. She deeply lamented that she had no child, and was on that account provoked by Peninnah, the other wife of Elkanah. She represented the feeble condition of Israel at that time, and in that condition prayer was her resource. In pouring out her soul before the Lord, she vowed that if God would hear her prayer and give her a man-child, she would give him unto Jehovah all the days of his life, and no razor should come upon his head. God heard her prayer, and she became the mother of Samuel (which means 'asked of God'), who, when he had been weaned, was given to be servant of Eli the priest. He was 'lent' or 'returned' to the Lord who gave him: see 1 Sam. 1:28, margin.

Hannah prayed to the Lord, and the joy of her heart flowed out in a beautiful prophetic song, praising and exalting God for His salvation and wonderful doings, which would cause the poor to inherit the throne of glory. Led by the Spirit she spoke of Jehovah giving strength to His king and exalting the horn of His Anointed. Her son Samuel anointed David who was a type of Christ. Thus the prayer of a feeble and barren woman brings in intervention and blessing of God by His Messiah. Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and she became the mother of three sons and two daughters. 1 Sam. 1:1-28; 1 Sam. 2:1-21.

Hannah in her visits to Shiloh presents a sorrowful picture. She is beloved and receives a double portion from Elkanah, while Peninnah, her adversary, provoked her on account of her childless condition, so that she wept and did not eat at the feast. Then she arose from the sacrificial feast which she had not tasted and sought the presence of the Lord. There she wept and vowed a vow that if the Lord of hosts would grant her a man-child she would give him back to the Lord and he should be a Nazarite. She cast herself upon the Lord and laid hold on Him. Samuel therefore was the child of prayer, asked of the Lord; his whole life afterwards manifests the spirit of prayer and dependence.

"And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife: and the Lord remembered her. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord." (1 Sam. 1: 12-20)

They returned to Ramah, and very soon she conceived a child for we are told, "The Lord remembered her." At his birth she named him "Samuel," meaning "asked of God." Though she had waited long, yet faith can afford to wait. God answered in His own time, the evidence being clear that this was His sovereign work.

Following this, when Elkanah and the rest of his household went up to Shiloh for the yearly offering, Hannah remained at home with her little child, deciding that she would go only when Samuel was weaned, in order to leave him there with Eli, for when once she brought him to appear before the Lord, she considered he should remain there always. It is precious to see her purpose of heart in regard to carrying out her vow, for it would be no small sacrifice to give up the child for whom she had so longed, and whom of course she deeply loved. But to her the Lord's interests were first.

His mother, Hannah, had asked for a son, and God had granted her request. She gave him the name ‘Samuel’, which means ‘asked of God’ or ‘heard by God’. Both were true. She asked for him, and God heard and answered her prayer (1:9–20). Further, her appreciation of the value of fervent prayer was passed on to her son. Samuel was a man of prayer, as seen in the occasions on which he interceded for Israel (e.g. 7:5).

In her prayer, Hannah had promised to give her son back to God (1:11). However, until he had grown and was weaned, she kept him with herself. Then she fulfilled her promise and brought him to Eli, who was priest in Israel at that time in Shiloh. There Samuel was to appear before the Lord and abide forever (1 Sam 1:22).

The Lord heard and answered her petition. He gave her a son; and she called his name Samuel, which means, asked of God. Surely Hannah loved the little boy that the Lord had given her, but when Samuel was weaned, she took him up with her to Shiloh; and there she left her darling son, because, as she told Eli, “I have lent him to the Lord.”

"And when she had weaned him she took him up with her; with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh; and the child was young. And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him: therefore also have I lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there."

Hannah's words to Eli on the presentation of her child are in marked keeping with her lovely disposition of meekness and unresentment. She does not say, I am the woman you so rashly misjudged at the tabernacle entrance, and this is the child for which I was praying when you charged me with drunkenness. No, there is nothing of this. Her triumph is in God, as one that knows Him as the bountiful Giver of all good. "I am the woman," she says, "that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him."

"Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord," she adds: "as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord." "Lent," should be, rather, "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 of those who vow and afterwards repent (Ecc. 5:4-5). Like David, of the following generation, she vowed "unto the mighty God of Jacob," and would perform it promptly.

Three years of age is said to have been the time of weaning with Hebrews; if this was Samuel's age when left with Eli, it exhibits to a marked degree the devotion of Hannah to the interests of Jehovah and His worship, to leave her child at the 'tabernacle so young. But "all things are possible to him that believeth," and faith rises above nature; she gave him gladly, and doubtless with assurance that the Lord had need of him, and would use him to the honor of His great and glorious name in Israel.

"And he worshiped the Lord there," we read. If this refers to Samuel, it would argue that he was considerably more than three years old. The Revised Version says in a foot-note, that several ancient authorities read they for he, which, if correct, would present the beautiful picture of the company — Eli, Hannah, her husband, and others — all together in worshipful praise of the God of Israel for this gift of His love to the nation.

When she was blessed, Hannah did not forget the one who blessed her like the chief butler did with Joseph (Gen. 40). She also did not attempt to rewrite her vow. She was faithful to it (1 Sam. 1:26–28). She also ensured that there would be a perpetual testimony to God’s goodness to her in the name which she gave her son (Samuel meaning ‘asked (or given) of God’), a name which is recorded in Scripture for all to read.