The Book of SamuelSample

 Samuel’s Earlier Years: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11

On a large scale, the structure and content of Samuel’s prelude to kingship amounts to two main steps. It begins with Samuel’s earlier years in 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11. It then moves to the transition in Levitical leadership from Eli and his sons to Samuel in 2:12-7:17. During Samuel’s earlier years, our author revealed that, with Samuel’s arrival, God began a new day for Israel.

The account of Samuel’s earlier years focuses on Samuel’s birth and his dedication to the worship of God at the Tabernacle in Shiloh. This single narrative appears in 1 Samuel 1:1-28 with a short conclusion in 2:11. Embedded within this narrative is a lengthy rendition of Hannah’s song of praise in 2:1-10. 

The story of Samuel’s birth and dedication begins with a woman named Hannah. Hannah’s husband, Elkanah, had two wives. Peninnah had several children, but Hannah was barren. Their family regularly attended annual feasts at the Tabernacle in Shiloh. At these feasts, Peninnah would cruelly ridicule Hannah for being childless. Moreover, Elkanah couldn’t understand Hannah’s distress and would complain that he himself should be enough for her. 

At one of these feasts, Hannah was so overwhelmed with sorrow that she withdrew and cried out to the Lord. She promised God that if He would give her a son, then she would give him to the Lord’s service for all the days of his life. In 1:11 she said, “No razor shall touch his head,” meaning that she would follow the Nazarite vow of special dedication to God’s service from Numbers 6:1-21. The priest Eli noticed Hannah’s great grief as she prayed and assumed she was drunk. But Hannah protested her innocence. And, after hearing her story, Eli assured her that God would honor her with a child. 

Not long after this episode, Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, Shemuel in Hebrew. This name probably meant “the name is El,” indicating that she had called on God’s name for him. When Samuel was weaned, Hannah kept her vow and gave him to the Lord’s service as Eli’s personal servant at the Tabernacle. 

Taken by itself, the story of Samuel’s earlier years is an account of a humble Levitical woman who received a miraculous answer to prayer and responded with devotion to God. But Hannah’s experience had significance that went far beyond her personal life. Our author disclosed this larger significance by placing within his narrative of Samuel’s birth and dedication, a record of Hannah’s praise to God.

Hannah’s praise gives special attention to how the curses and blessings of God’s covenant reversed the conditions of the wicked and the humble. In particular, Hannah praised God for what He had done through the birth and dedication of her son. God’s reversing power plays such an important role throughout our book that Hannah’s song actually provides a rough table of contents for the entire book of Samuel.

We see this hope in 2:10, where Hannah closed her praise to God for Samuel’s birth with these words: 

The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them He will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; He will give strength to His king and exalt the horn of His anointed.

At a time when Israel faced internal disarray and trouble from foreign invaders, Hannah displayed remarkable faith. The miraculous birth of Samuel assured her that “the adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces” and that God “will thunder in heaven” against them. And beyond this, Hannah was confident that God “will judge the ends of the earth.” He will spread His royal authority beyond Israel’s borders by judging all nations. But notice also how Hannah believed God was going to extend His kingdom throughout the world. It was by giving “strength to His king” and by “exalting the horn of His anointed” in victory over his enemies. Prior to the time of Samuel, Israel had never had a human king. But through Hannah’s words of praise, our author introduced Samuel’s most significant contribution to the history of Israel. From his birth, Samuel had been called by God to usher Israel into the age of kingship.