Hannah said; “for this child I prayed and the
Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him.”
Hannah is one of the two wives
of Elkanah, but while Peninah has many children, Hannah is childless. It is a
recipe for rivalry and ill-treatment, as we have already discovered in earlier
stories. Desperate, Hannah prays at the shrine at Shiloh. (Jerusalem has not
become the capital yet, and there is no temple.) Her prayers are so intense
that the old priest, Eli, thinks she is drunk. When he hears her story he is
moved and prays that God will grant her prayer. When her child is born, she
names him Samuel, which may be a play on the Hebrew word “listen”.
It may surprise us that, as soon
as the child is weaned, Hannah brings him to Eli to be brought up at the
shrine. He is another ‘nazirite’ , like Samson (see yesterday), with a special
purpose to fulfil. Samuel’s job will be to listen for and proclaim the word of
God to a people who have forgotten what it sounds like.
·
What do you think of Hannah giving Samuel to
Eli to bring up? Why might she feel she needs to do this? Could you have done
it?
·
Are there times in your life when you have
desperately wanted something? Did you get what you wanted? Did you tell anyone
about your desire, or keep it to yourself? Did you tell God about it?
·
Pray for parents and children separated from one another, whether by choice, ( at boarding school for example) or by circumstances beyond their control, through war, poverty, illness or family breakdown.
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