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1 Samuel 1

BLIVRE · Chapter 1/31

1Houve um homem de Ramataim de Zofim, do monte de Efraim, que se chamava Elcana, filho de Jeroão, filho de Eliú, filho de Toú, filho de Zufe, efraimita.

2E tinha ele duas mulheres; o nome da uma era Ana, e o nome da outra Penina. E Penina tinha filhos, mas Ana não os tinha.

3E esse homem subia todos os anos de sua cidade, para adorar e sacrificar ao SENHOR dos exércitos em Siló. E ali estavam os dois filhos de Eli, Hofni e Fineias, sacerdotes do SENHOR.

4E quando vinha o dia, Elcana sacrificava, e dava à sua mulher Penina, e a todos os seus filhos e a todas as suas filhas, a cada um a sua porção.

5Mas a Ana ele dava uma porção selecionada; porque amava a Ana, ainda que o SENHOR houvesse fechado sua madre.

6E sua concorrente a irritava, irando-a e entristecendo-a, porque o SENHOR havia fechado sua madre.

7E assim fazia cada ano: quando subia à casa do SENHOR, irritava assim à outra; pelo qual ela chorava, e não comia.

8E Elcana seu marido lhe disse: Ana, por que choras? Por que não comes? E por que está afligido teu coração? Não te sou eu melhor que dez filhos?

9E levantou-se Ana depois que havia comido e bebido em Siló; e enquanto o sacerdote Eli estava sentado em uma cadeira junto a um pilar do templo do SENHOR,

10Ela com amargura de alma orou ao SENHOR, e chorou abundantemente.

11E fez um voto, dizendo: “SENHOR dos exércitos, se olhares a aflição da tua serva, e te lembrares de mim, e não te esqueceres da tua serva, mas deres à tua serva um filho homem, eu o dedicarei ao SENHOR todos os dias da sua vida, e não subirá navalha sobre sua cabeça”.

12E sucedeu que, enquanto ela continuava a orar diante do SENHOR, Eli observava a sua boca.

13Mas Ana falava em seu coração, e somente se moviam seus lábios, e sua voz não se ouvia; e pensava Eli que ela estava embriagada.

14Então, disse-lhe Eli: “Até quando estarás embriagada? Afasta-te do vinho”.

15E Ana lhe respondeu: Não, meu senhor; eu sou uma mulher sofredora de espírito. Não bebi vinho nem bebida forte, mas tenho derramado minha alma diante do SENHOR.

16Não consideres a tua serva como mulher ímpia, porque é da grandeza das minhas angústias e da minha aflição que tenho falado até agora.

17E Eli respondeu: “Vai em paz, e o Deus de Israel te conceda o pedido que lhe fizeste”.

18E ela disse: “Que a tua serva ache favor diante de teus olhos”. E a mulher se foi seu caminho, e comeu, e não esteve mais triste.

19E levantando-se de manhã, adoraram diante do SENHOR, e voltaram, e vieram a sua casa em Ramá. E Elcana se deitou com sua mulher Ana, e o SENHOR se lembrou dela.

20E sucedeu que, corrido o tempo, depois de Ana haver concebido, deu à luz um filho, e pôs-lhe o nome de Samuel, dizendo: “Pois eu o pedi ao SENHOR”.

21Depois subiu o homem Elcana, com toda sua família, a sacrificar ao SENHOR o sacrifício costumeiro, e seu voto.

22Mas Ana não subiu, mas sim disse a seu marido: Eu não subirei até que o menino seja desmamado; para que o leve e seja apresentado diante do SENHOR, e fique ali para sempre.

23E Elcana seu marido lhe respondeu: Faze o que bem te parecer; fica-te até que o desmames; somente o SENHOR cumpra sua palavra. E ficou a mulher, e creu seu filho até que o desmamou.

24E depois que o desmamou, levou-o consigo, com três bezerros, e um efa de farinha, e uma vasilha de vinho, e trouxe-o à casa do SENHOR em Siló: e o menino era pequeno.

25E matando o bezerro, trouxeram o menino a Eli.

26E ela disse: Oh, senhor meu! Vive tua alma, senhor meu, eu sou aquela mulher que esteve aqui junto a ti orando ao SENHOR.

27Por este menino orava, e o SENHOR me deu o que lhe pedi.

28Eu, pois, o devolvo também ao SENHOR: todos os dias que viver, será do SENHOR. E adorou ali ao SENHOR.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Hannah, the barren wife of Elkanah, prays in anguish for a son and vows to dedicate him to the Lord. God answers her prayer, and she gives birth to Samuel, who after being weaned is brought to the temple to serve.

Explanation

Hannah faces a double sorrow: barrenness in a culture that deeply valued having children, and the constant taunting of Peninnah, Elkanah's other wife, who had children and provoked her. Her silent prayer, so intense that the priest Eli mistakes her for being drunk, reveals a kind of faith that does not depend on public display to be genuine. Hannah's vow to give her son back to the Lord's service, fulfilled literally when she brings young Samuel, still a child, to live at the temple, illustrates a central principle of faith: recognizing that the gifts we receive from God ultimately belong to Him.

Fun facts

  • The name Samuel is explained in the text itself as meaning 'asked of the Lord,' though phonetically it is closer to 'heard by God' (Shama-El) in Hebrew.
  • Shiloh, where Hannah prayed and where Samuel served, was the site of the tabernacle before the temple was built in Jerusalem, functioning as Israel's central religious hub throughout the period of the judges.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Samuel 1:1Elkanah is called an Ephrathite here, a resident of the hill country of Ephraim — but the full genealogy in 1 Chronicles 6 shows he was actually a Levite. Levites had no territory of their own and lived scattered among the other tribes.
  2. 1 Samuel 1:2Having two wives was common in that era, but the text already hands us the story’s conflict: Hannah had no children, which in that culture carried the weight of public shame and uncertainty about the family’s future.
  3. 1 Samuel 1:3Hophni and Phinehas, mentioned here in passing as priests at Shiloh, will later be at the center of the corruption scandal that brings down the house of Eli — the text plants their names before telling their story.
  4. 1 Samuel 1:4Handing out portions of the sacrificed meat to the family was a normal part of the feast at Shiloh: the sacred meal was shared among everyone present after the offering to God.
  5. 1 Samuel 1:5Elkanah gave Hannah a special portion — a sign of his affection for her even without children — but that did not ease the pain of being barren in a culture where bearing children defined a woman’s social worth.
  6. 1 Samuel 1:6Her “adversary” is Peninnah, Elkanah’s other wife: she provoked Hannah on purpose, year after year, precisely because of her barrenness.
  7. 1 Samuel 1:7Peninnah’s taunting repeated every time the family went up to Shiloh — turning the annual pilgrimage, which should have been joyful, into a recurring ordeal for Hannah.
  8. 1 Samuel 1:8Elkanah’s question tries to comfort Hannah, but it shows he does not grasp the depth of her pain: in a culture where bearing children (especially sons) defined a woman, his love could not fill that social void.
  9. 1 Samuel 1:9The “temple of the Lord” at Shiloh was not yet the stone temple Solomon would later build — it was a sanctuary with a fixed structure and doors (see 3:15), built around the tent that housed the ark.
  10. 1 Samuel 1:10Hannah’s silent, prolonged weeping here sets up the next scene: praying without making a sound, she will be mistaken by Eli for a drunken woman.
  11. 1 Samuel 1:11Hannah vows that if she has a son, he will be a Nazirite — the vow “there shall no razor come upon his head” meant he would never cut his hair, never drink wine, and never touch a corpse, a sign of total consecration to God. Samson, and later John the Baptist, followed similar vows. Hannah is offering her son before he is even born.
  12. 1 Samuel 1:12Hannah prays for so long that she catches Eli’s attention — personal, silent prayers like this were not the norm for public worship at Shiloh, which was built on sacrifices and rituals spoken aloud.
  13. 1 Samuel 1:13Moving her lips without making a sound was strange enough for Eli to wrongly conclude that Hannah was drunk — praying silently inside the sanctuary was not the norm in that era.
  14. 1 Samuel 1:14Eli rebukes Hannah, thinking she is drunk, telling her to “put away” her wine — a misunderstanding that is only cleared up after she explains herself.
  15. 1 Samuel 1:15Hannah explains that she has drunk nothing; to have “poured out my soul before the Lord” was a way of saying she was telling God, with no filter, all the anguish she felt.
  16. 1 Samuel 1:16“A daughter of Belial” was a way of saying a worthless or contemptible woman — the same term (“sons of Belial”) returns in the next chapter to describe Eli’s own corrupt sons.
  17. 1 Samuel 1:17Convinced by Hannah’s explanation, Eli shifts from rebuke to blessing, asking that God grant her petition — without yet knowing what that petition was.
  18. 1 Samuel 1:18Hannah’s countenance changes even before she knows whether she will have a son — she eats and moves on in peace simply for having prayed, a sign that she already trusted God had heard her, whatever the answer.
  19. 1 Samuel 1:19“Elkanah knew Hannah his wife” is the polite Hebrew way of speaking of the marital relationship — the text links that very night directly to Samuel’s conception, the answer to the prayer made at Shiloh.
  20. 1 Samuel 1:20The name Samuel sounds in Hebrew like asked of God or heard by God — a wordplay with the phrase Hannah repeats, saying she asked this son of the Lord. Giving names that told the story of a birth was common at the time.
  21. 1 Samuel 1:21Elkanah goes up to Shiloh for the yearly sacrifice and also to fulfill “his vow” — suggesting he himself had made a commitment to God alongside Hannah, even though the original vow had been hers.
  22. 1 Samuel 1:22Hannah stays home instead of going up with the family: she will only bring the boy to Shiloh once he is weaned, to fulfill her vow to give him there “for ever.”
  23. 1 Samuel 1:23Elkanah agrees to Hannah’s plan, asking only that “the Lord establish his word” — a hope that the vow would be fulfilled and everything would go well with the child.
  24. 1 Samuel 1:24Three bulls, a measure of flour, and a skin of wine make up a complete offering: meat for the sacrifice, grain for the meal offering, and wine for the drink offering. Bringing all this when the child was weaned (around age two or three, later than today) shows Hannah kept her vow as soon as the boy no longer depended on her to survive.
  25. 1 Samuel 1:25Slaughtering the bull was the first step of the thanksgiving sacrifice the family offered as they brought Samuel to Eli, fulfilling what Hannah had promised.
  26. 1 Samuel 1:26Hannah reminds Eli who she is: the same woman he saw praying there years before, whom he mistook for a drunk — now she returns to show the result of that prayer.
  27. 1 Samuel 1:27Hannah repeats, almost word for word, the request she made in the previous chapter — making it clear that Samuel is exactly the answer to that specific prayer.
  28. 1 Samuel 1:28“I have lent him to the Lord... as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord” is a wordplay on the name Samuel: the son asked of God is now given back to God, fulfilling the vow completely.

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