1 Samuel 1:21

SAMUEL WAS PRESENTED UNTO THE LORD AT SHILOH

"And the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and abide there forever." Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; only may the Lord establish his word." So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine; and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. Then they slew the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, "Oh my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For the child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me my petition which I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord. And they worshipped the Lord there."

"Elkanah and all his house went up ... to pay his vow." "This shows that Elkanah had ratified Hannah's vow, making it his vow also."[15]

"As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him." From 2 Maccabees 7:27, we learn that the weaning time for children in Palestine and the Mideast was a period of two years, or often, three years.

"She took him up with her, along with a three-year old bull." This does not mean that Hannah, alone, made the trip to Shiloh on this occasion, for 1 Samuel 1:3,21 establish the fact that Elkanah and his whole house made those yearly pilgrimages. Hannah, however, is the principal actor on this particular occasion.

"A three year old bull" We believe that this is an error in the RSV rendition, because the Hebrew has "three bulls," not a three-year old bull. There is no good reason why the Syriac should be preferred here. The argument that only one bull was brought is based upon the mention in 1 Samuel 1:25 that "they slew the bull." Keil gives us what is probably the correct understanding of this passage.

The bull mentioned in 1 Samuel 1:25 was the sacrifice connected with the presentation of Samuel to the Lord - whereas the other two bulls were those brought on the previous two years during the interval when Samuel was being weaned. These were facts which the author did not think it needful to mention, simply because it is implied from 1 Samuel 1:3, and from the provisions of the Law of Moses.[16]

"An ephah of flour" Moffatt rendered this "a bushel of flour," as does the Good News Bible. Other translators usually make it three-fifths of a bushel.

"I am the woman who was standing here ... praying to the Lord." The O.T. reveals no fixed position as a requirement for prayer. Prostration before the Lord, kneeling, lifting up hands or eyes or both toward heaven, and standing are all mentioned. Jonah's position in the belly of the sea-monster was not likely to have been any of these.