1 Samuel 1:23
And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.
This verse belongs to the story of Elkanah and Hannah's family and their worship at Shiloh, set in the context of Hannah's childlessness and the distress caused by Peninnah's taunts. In it Elkanah agrees with Hannah that she should keep Samuel with her until he was weaned, leaving the fulfillment of the Lord's word to God, and Hannah stays and nurses her son until he is weaned. Her staying with her son until weaning comes before she carries out her vow to dedicate him to God's service.
While Samuel remained with Hannah until he was weaned, he received his early training from his faithful mother in the home, where home and school were one. Loving father and mother themselves instructed in God's requirements, made children acquainted with His dealings, associated thoughts of God with daily life, and recounted His mighty works of deliverance with eloquence and reverence. They impressed the great truths of God's providence and the future life on the young mind, and by figures and symbols that fixed lessons in memory initiated the child almost from infancy into the mysteries, wisdom and hopes of the fathers, guiding thought and feeling beyond the seen and transitory to the unseen and eternal. As a result youth came forth vigorous in body and mind, quick to perceive and strong to act, with heart prepared like good ground for the precious seed and mind trained to see God in revelation and nature.
The verse is part of Hannah's example of faithfulness and self-denial. It is part of the account of her patient, prayerful, and persevering faithfulness. Hannah's faithfulness stands in contrast to Eli's indulgence and neglect as a father. The opening chapters around the verse present Eli's failure to restrain his sons' wrongdoing as a warning that tolerated sin among those responsible for God's people dishonors God and brings guilt and displeasure upon the community. The fidelity shown by Hannah is the kind needed for the church, the Sabbath school, and society to prosper.