And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.
After they had offered sacrifice at Shiloh, Hannah and her husband slew a bullock as an offering and brought Samuel, weaned in early childhood, to Eli to be left there and trained under the high priest for service in God's house and tabernacle. In doing so Hannah fulfilled her vow to give back to God the child asked of God if her prayer was answered, placing that vow above natural affection for a beloved son. The surrender cost her sorrow and great self-denial in giving up daily care, yet it was made gratefully and joyfully and God accepted the offering for His service. In his first three years his mother had carefully taught him to distinguish good from evil and to see God in creation, providence and daily life, so that home and school were one and his heart was prepared like good ground for precious seed. That faithful training stands in contrast to Eli's failure to restrain his own sons, and it enabled Samuel to keep his integrity amid evil influences at the tabernacle, showing that a child consecrated to God from youth is pure, valuable to Him, and can be used as a channel of light.
Setting and Presentation
The verse belongs to the worship at Shiloh where the family sacrificed and then shared a solemn, joyful feast after presenting thank-offerings. A bullock was slain as an offering in connection with presenting the child, after the parents had offered sacrifice.
After weaning him in early childhood, Hannah with her husband brought Samuel to Eli at Shiloh and left him there to be trained under the high priest for service in God's house and tabernacle. It was a sacrifice in surrendering her beloved child to serve God, requiring her to give up daily care of him, yet done gratefully and joyfully, and God accepted her offering and gift for His service. The bringing was done after his weaning and after his early childhood, in fulfillment of her vow and promise to dedicate him to God's service. By bringing Samuel to the tabernacle and dedicating him to the Lord after his birth, Hannah kept her vow, so that his service to God began while he was still a child.
Dedication and Early Training
The bringing of the child to Eli fulfilled Hannah's vow to dedicate him to the Lord if her prayer for a child was granted, a vow her husband confirmed in worship, and after the answer she named him Samuel, meaning Asked of God, and when he was old enough to be separated she kept her promise by giving the beloved child back to God as a gift entrusted to her, with faith giving strength to place the vow above natural affection. Giving Samuel to Eli meant surrendering the daily care of a beloved child with sorrow and great self-denial in placing him under the high priest to be trained for service in God's house, yet it was done gratefully and joyfully, and God accepted the offering for His service. During his first three years his mother had carefully taught him to distinguish between good and evil, leading his thoughts by every familiar object up to the Creator.
His early training shows that home and school were one, with the loving hearts of father and mother rather than stranger lips giving instruction to the child. It meant teaching God's requirements and acquainting him with God's dealings, associating thoughts of God with all the events of daily life, recounting God's mighty works of deliverance with eloquence and reverential awe, and impressing God's providence and the future life upon the young mind. It meant teaching the true, the good and the beautiful, illustrating lessons by figures and symbols to fix them in memory, initiating the child almost from infancy into the mysteries, wisdom and hopes of his fathers, and guiding thought and feeling and anticipation beyond things seen and transitory to the unseen and eternal, so that youth come forth vigorous in body and mind, quick to perceive and strong to act, with the heart prepared like good ground for precious seed and the mind trained to see God in revelation and nature.
Hannah's faithfulness, firmness and self-denial stand in contrast to Eli, who failed to restrain his sons and to train his own children faithfully, while Samuel was accepted by God for a special work while still young. That early training enabled Samuel, though his youth was passed at the tabernacle amid evil influences and sinful example where Eli's sons feared not God nor honored their father, to refuse their company and evil ways and maintain his integrity. He was given to God as a consecrated offering accepted from childhood because his heart was pure and he revered God, and God made him a channel of light.
Example and Application
Samuel was brought to Eli after he was weaned, in fulfillment of the promise to dedicate him to the Lord, and his upbringing illustrates a mother's powerful influence in a child's earliest years and the importance of faithful parental guidance. Fulfilling the vow meant giving Samuel to the Lord by placing him, with great self-denial, under the care of Eli the high priest to be trained for service in the house of God. During the first three years of his life his mother had carefully taught him to distinguish between good and evil, leading his thoughts by every familiar object up to the Creator. That early training enabled him, though his youth was passed at the tabernacle amid evil influences and sinful example where the sons of Eli feared not God nor honored their father, to refuse their company and evil ways and maintain his Christian integrity, and Hannah's reward in Samuel's faithfulness is an encouragement to parental faithfulness.
Samuel was given to God as a consecrated offering, brought to Eli after his parents offered a sacrifice. He was accepted from childhood because his heart was pure and he revered God, and God made him a channel of light. His life shows that a young person consecrated to God is valuable to Him and can be accepted and used in His work, showing the value of consecrating oneself to God's service from youth.
Hannah's entrusting of Samuel to Eli after his early childhood provides a parallel to giving a child into another family's care while the parents serve God, as in the care of Henry by the Howland family. Her continued care, including her yearly gift to him, belongs to that parallel of entrusting and remembering the child left with others. Hannah stands as one of the faithful saints whose patient, prayerful, and persevering fidelity is needed in the church, Sabbath school, and society.
After they had offered sacrifice at Shiloh, Hannah and her husband slew a bullock as an offering and brought Samuel, weaned in early childhood, to Eli to be left there and trained under the high priest for service in God's house and tabernacle. In doing so Hannah fulfilled her vow to give back to God the child asked of God if her prayer was answered, placing that vow above natural affection for a beloved son. The surrender cost her sorrow and great self-denial in giving up daily care, yet it was made gratefully and joyfully and God accepted the offering for His service. In his first three years his mother had carefully taught him to distinguish good from evil and to see God in creation, providence and daily life, so that home and school were one and his heart was prepared like good ground for precious seed. That faithful training stands in contrast to Eli's failure to restrain his own sons, and it enabled Samuel to keep his integrity amid evil influences at the tabernacle, showing that a child consecrated to God from youth is pure, valuable to Him, and can be used as a channel of light.
Setting and Presentation
The verse belongs to the worship at Shiloh where the family sacrificed and then shared a solemn, joyful feast after presenting thank-offerings. A bullock was slain as an offering in connection with presenting the child, after the parents had offered sacrifice.
After weaning him in early childhood, Hannah with her husband brought Samuel to Eli at Shiloh and left him there to be trained under the high priest for service in God's house and tabernacle. It was a sacrifice in surrendering her beloved child to serve God, requiring her to give up daily care of him, yet done gratefully and joyfully, and God accepted her offering and gift for His service. The bringing was done after his weaning and after his early childhood, in fulfillment of her vow and promise to dedicate him to God's service. By bringing Samuel to the tabernacle and dedicating him to the Lord after his birth, Hannah kept her vow, so that his service to God began while he was still a child.
Dedication and Early Training
The bringing of the child to Eli fulfilled Hannah's vow to dedicate him to the Lord if her prayer for a child was granted, a vow her husband confirmed in worship, and after the answer she named him Samuel, meaning Asked of God, and when he was old enough to be separated she kept her promise by giving the beloved child back to God as a gift entrusted to her, with faith giving strength to place the vow above natural affection.
Giving Samuel to Eli meant surrendering the daily care of a beloved child with sorrow and great self-denial in placing him under the high priest to be trained for service in God's house, yet it was done gratefully and joyfully, and God accepted the offering for His service.
During his first three years his mother had carefully taught him to distinguish between good and evil, leading his thoughts by every familiar object up to the Creator.
His early training shows that home and school were one, with the loving hearts of father and mother rather than stranger lips giving instruction to the child. It meant teaching God's requirements and acquainting him with God's dealings, associating thoughts of God with all the events of daily life, recounting God's mighty works of deliverance with eloquence and reverential awe, and impressing God's providence and the future life upon the young mind. It meant teaching the true, the good and the beautiful, illustrating lessons by figures and symbols to fix them in memory, initiating the child almost from infancy into the mysteries, wisdom and hopes of his fathers, and guiding thought and feeling and anticipation beyond things seen and transitory to the unseen and eternal, so that youth come forth vigorous in body and mind, quick to perceive and strong to act, with the heart prepared like good ground for precious seed and the mind trained to see God in revelation and nature.
Hannah's faithfulness, firmness and self-denial stand in contrast to Eli, who failed to restrain his sons and to train his own children faithfully, while Samuel was accepted by God for a special work while still young. That early training enabled Samuel, though his youth was passed at the tabernacle amid evil influences and sinful example where Eli's sons feared not God nor honored their father, to refuse their company and evil ways and maintain his integrity. He was given to God as a consecrated offering accepted from childhood because his heart was pure and he revered God, and God made him a channel of light.
Example and Application
Samuel was brought to Eli after he was weaned, in fulfillment of the promise to dedicate him to the Lord, and his upbringing illustrates a mother's powerful influence in a child's earliest years and the importance of faithful parental guidance. Fulfilling the vow meant giving Samuel to the Lord by placing him, with great self-denial, under the care of Eli the high priest to be trained for service in the house of God. During the first three years of his life his mother had carefully taught him to distinguish between good and evil, leading his thoughts by every familiar object up to the Creator. That early training enabled him, though his youth was passed at the tabernacle amid evil influences and sinful example where the sons of Eli feared not God nor honored their father, to refuse their company and evil ways and maintain his Christian integrity, and Hannah's reward in Samuel's faithfulness is an encouragement to parental faithfulness.
Samuel was given to God as a consecrated offering, brought to Eli after his parents offered a sacrifice. He was accepted from childhood because his heart was pure and he revered God, and God made him a channel of light. His life shows that a young person consecrated to God is valuable to Him and can be accepted and used in His work, showing the value of consecrating oneself to God's service from youth.
Hannah's entrusting of Samuel to Eli after his early childhood provides a parallel to giving a child into another family's care while the parents serve God, as in the care of Henry by the Howland family. Her continued care, including her yearly gift to him, belongs to that parallel of entrusting and remembering the child left with others. Hannah stands as one of the faithful saints whose patient, prayerful, and persevering fidelity is needed in the church, Sabbath school, and society.