1 Samuel 1:11
And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
Hannah's prayer is that of a childless woman deeply grieved by her affliction and taunted for it, pleading in anguish for God to look upon her, to remember her, and to remove her reproach. She asks specifically for a son, and vows that if God grants him she will give, dedicate and consecrate him to the Lord's service from birth for all the days of his life. The promise that no razor shall come upon his head means his hair was to remain uncut as the mark of his consecration.
Her prayer was granted and she received the child as a gift from God, and after his birth she kept her vow by giving him back to God when he was old enough to leave her care. The fulfillment began at home before he was brought to the tabernacle, for during his first three years and from his earliest understanding she trained him to love and reverence God and to see himself as the Lord's. She carefully taught him to distinguish between good and evil, and by every familiar object around him led his thoughts up to the Creator.
With great self-denial she then placed him under the care of Eli the high priest to be trained for service in the house of God. That early training led him to choose to maintain his integrity when his youth was passed at the tabernacle amid evil influences and sinful example. There he did not seek the company of Eli's sons, who feared not God nor honored their father, nor did he follow their evil ways.
She is faithful and self-denying and patient, prayerful, and persevering in fidelity to God, in contrast to Eli's indulgent failure as a father. The verse shows entrusting children to the Lord and regarding it as a great honor if God accepts and uses them in His service. Her reward in Samuel's faithfulness is an encouragement to faithfulness in training children for God. Her example of fidelity is one of the qualities needed for the church, the Sabbath school, and society to prosper.