◄ 1 Samuel 1:25 ►
And when they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli.
Study Bible
And when they had slaughtered the bull
This phrase marks a significant moment of sacrifice and dedication. The Hebrew word for "slaughtered" is "שָׁחַט" (shachat), which implies a ritualistic and reverent act of offering. In the ancient Israelite context, sacrifices were central to worship and covenantal relationship with God. The bull, a valuable and substantial offering, signifies the depth of Hannah's gratitude and commitment to God for answering her prayer for a son. This act of sacrifice is a precursor to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ, foreshadowing the giving of something precious to fulfill a divine promise.

they brought the boy to Eli
The act of bringing Samuel to Eli is laden with spiritual significance. The Hebrew word for "brought" is "בּוֹא" (bo), which can also mean to come or to enter. This suggests not just a physical movement but a spiritual transition. Samuel is being introduced into the service of the Lord, marking the beginning of his prophetic ministry. Eli, the high priest, represents the established religious order, and Samuel's introduction to him signifies the passing of spiritual responsibility and the continuation of God's work through new generations. This moment is a testament to Hannah's faithfulness and trust in God's plan, as she fulfills her vow by dedicating her long-awaited son to the Lord's service. It is a powerful reminder of the importance of keeping our promises to God and the blessings that come from faithful obedience.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Hannah
A devout woman who prayed earnestly for a child and vowed to dedicate him to the Lord. Her faith and dedication are central to this account.

2. Elkanah
Hannah's husband, who supports her vow and participates in the offering and dedication of their son to the Lord.

3. Samuel
The boy brought to Eli, who would grow up to be a significant prophet and leader in Israel. His dedication to God from a young age is a pivotal moment in his life.

4. Eli
The high priest at Shiloh, who receives Samuel and plays a role in his early spiritual development.

5. Shiloh
The religious center where the tabernacle was located, and where Hannah and Elkanah brought Samuel to fulfill Hannah's vow.
Teaching Points
Faithful Fulfillment of Vows
Hannah's commitment to her vow teaches us the importance of keeping promises made to God, even when it requires personal sacrifice.

Dedication to God
The act of bringing Samuel to Eli symbolizes dedicating our lives and the lives of our children to God's service, trusting in His plans.

Parental Responsibility
Elkanah and Hannah's actions remind us of the role parents play in guiding their children towards a relationship with God.

Trust in God's Plan
Hannah's account encourages believers to trust in God's timing and purposes, even when they are not immediately apparent.

Spiritual Mentorship
Eli's role in Samuel's life highlights the importance of spiritual mentors in nurturing faith and guiding young believers.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Hannah's fulfillment of her vow to God challenge us in our own commitments to Him?

2. In what ways can we dedicate our children or the next generation to the Lord in today's context?

3. How does the account of Samuel's dedication inspire us to trust in God's plan for our lives, even when it involves personal sacrifice?

4. What role do spiritual mentors play in our faith journey, and how can we seek or become such mentors?

5. How can the themes of faith and obedience in 1 Samuel 1:25 be applied to our daily walk with God?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 22
The account of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac parallels Hannah's dedication of Samuel, highlighting themes of faith and obedience.

Luke 2
Mary and Joseph's presentation of Jesus at the temple echoes Hannah's dedication of Samuel, emphasizing the importance of dedicating children to God.

Psalm 127
This psalm speaks to children as a heritage from the Lord, reinforcing the idea of dedicating them to God's service.
Sermons
Samuel's Birth and InfancyB. Dale 1 Samuel 1:19-28
Of Infant Baptism and of Childlike ChildrenDean Goulburn.1 Samuel 1:24-28
The Duty of Presenting Children to God in the Way of Religious EducationD. Wilson.1 Samuel 1:24-28
People
Eli, Elihu, Elkanah, Ephah, Hannah, Hophni, Jeroham, Peninnah, Phinehas, Samuel, Tohu, Zuph
Places
Ramah, Ramathaim-zophim, Shiloh
Topics
Boy, Bring, Bull, Bullock, Child, Eli, Killed, Offering, Ox, Slain, Slaughter, Slaughtered, Slew, Youth
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Samuel 1:9-28

     5745   women

1 Samuel 1:19-28

     8629   worship, times

1 Samuel 1:21-28

     7775   prophets, lives

Library
Of Self-Annihilation
Of Self-Annihilation Supplication and sacrifice are comprehended in prayer, which, according to S. John, is "an incense, the smoke whereof ascendeth unto God;" therefore it is said in the Apocalypse that "unto the Angel was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints'' (Chap. viii. 3). Prayer is the effusion of the heart in the Presence of God: "I have poured out my soul before God" saith the mother of Samuel. (1 Sam. i. 15) The prayer of the wise men at the feet of …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Prayer and Sacrifice Explained by the Similitude of a Perfume --Our Annihilation in this Sacrifice --Solidity and Fruitfulness of this Prayer as Set Forth in The
Prayer ought to be both petition and sacrifice. Prayer, according to the testimony of St John, is an incense, whose perfume rises to God. Therefore it is said in the Revelation (chap. viii. 3), that an angel held a censer, which contained the incense of the prayers of saints. Prayer is an outpouring of the heart in the presence of God. "I have poured out my soul before the Lord," said the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. i. 15). Thus the prayers of the Magi at the feet of the infant Jesus in the stable of …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Home Dedication.
"The rose was rich in bloom on Sharon's plain, When a young mother with her first born thence Went up to Zion, for the boy was vowed Unto the Temple-service; by the hand She led him, and her silent soul, the while, Oft as the dewy laughter of his eye Met her sweet serious glance, rejoiced to think That aught so pure, so beautiful, was hers, To bring before her God!" Beautiful thought, and thrice beautiful deed,--fresh from the pure fount of maternal piety! The Hebrew mother consecrating her first-born …
Samuel Philips—The Christian Home

John Newton 1Sam 1:10,18
 …
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Hwochow Women's Bible Training School
COURSE OF STUDY FIRST TERM Book of Genesis. Gospel according to St. Luke or St. Mark. Acts of the Apostles, chapters i. to ix. "A Synopsis of the Central Themes of the Holy Bible." Reading Lessons, with necessary Explanation and Writing of Chinese Character. Arithmetic. Singing and Memorisation of Hymns. SECOND TERM Book of Exodus, Numbers, and 1 Samuel i. to xvi. The Gospel according to St. John. The Epistle of St James. "A Synopsis of the Central Themes of the Holy Bible"--(continued). Reading …
A. Mildred Cable—The Fulfilment of a Dream of Pastor Hsi's

The Love of the Holy Spirit in Us.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not."--Matt. xxvii. 37. The Scripture teaches not only that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and with Him Love, but also that He sheds abroad that Love in our hearts. This shedding abroad does not refer to the coming of the Holy Spirit's Person, for a person can not be shed abroad. He comes, takes possession, and dwells in us; but that which is shed abroad …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Prophet Jonah.
It has been asserted without any sufficient reason, that Jonah is older than Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah,--that he is the oldest among the prophets whose written monuments have been preserved to us. The passage in 2 Kings xiv. 25, where it is said, that Jonah, the son of Amittai the prophet, prophesied to Jeroboam the happy success of his arms, and the restoration of the ancient boundaries of Israel, and that this prophecy was confirmed by the event, cannot decide in favour of this assertion, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

And V the Kingdom Undivided and the Kingdom Divided
THE HISTORICAL BOOKS: I and II Samuel. I and II Kings. I and II Chronicles. NOTE.--As these three pairs of books are so closely related in their historical contents, it is deemed best to study them together, though they overlap the two divisions of IV and V. I. CHARTS Chart A. General Contents +--+ " I AND II SAMUEL " +-------------+-----+------+ "Samuel "Saul "David " +-------------+-----+------+----------+ " " " " I AND II KINGS "NOTE.--Biblical …
Frank Nelson Palmer—A Bird's-Eye View of the Bible

Divers Matters.
I. Beth-cerem, Nehemiah 3:14. "The stones, as well of the altar, as of the ascent to the altar, were from the valley of Beth-cerem, which they digged out beneath the barren land. And thence they are wont to bring whole stones, upon which the working iron came not." The fathers of the traditions, treating concerning the blood of women's terms, reckon up five colours of it; among which that, "which is like the water of the earth, out of the valley of Beth-cerem."--Where the Gloss writes thus, "Beth-cerem …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Ramah. Ramathaim Zophim. Gibeah.
There was a certain Ramah, in the tribe of Benjamin, Joshua 18:25, and that within sight of Jerusalem, as it seems, Judges 19:13; where it is named with Gibeah:--and elsewhere, Hosea 5:8; which towns were not much distant. See 1 Samuel 22:6; "Saul sat in Gibeah, under a grove in Ramah." Here the Gemarists trifle: "Whence is it (say they) that Ramah is placed near Gibea? To hint to you, that the speech of Samuel of Ramah was the cause, why Saul remained two years and a half in Gibeah." They blindly …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The King --Continued.
The years thus well begun are, in the historical books, characterized mainly by three events, namely, the bringing up of the ark to the newly won city of David, Nathan's prophecy of the perpetual dominion of his house, and his victories over the surrounding nations. These three hinges of the narrative are all abundantly illustrated in the psalms. As to the first, we have relics of the joyful ceremonial connected with it in two psalms, the fifteenth and twenty-fourth, which are singularly alike not …
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David

Nature of Covenanting.
A covenant is a mutual voluntary compact between two parties on given terms or conditions. It may be made between superiors and inferiors, or between equals. The sentiment that a covenant can be made only between parties respectively independent of one another is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture. Parties to covenants in a great variety of relative circumstances, are there introduced. There, covenant relations among men are represented as obtaining not merely between nation and nation, …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

I Will Pray with the Spirit and with the Understanding Also-
OR, A DISCOURSE TOUCHING PRAYER; WHEREIN IS BRIEFLY DISCOVERED, 1. WHAT PRAYER IS. 2. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT. 3. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING ALSO. WRITTEN IN PRISON, 1662. PUBLISHED, 1663. "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought:--the Spirit--helpeth our infirmities" (Rom 8:26). ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. There is no subject of more solemn importance to human happiness than prayer. It is the only medium of intercourse with heaven. "It is …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Samuel
Alike from the literary and the historical point of view, the book[1] of Samuel stands midway between the book of Judges and the book of Kings. As we have already seen, the Deuteronomic book of Judges in all probability ran into Samuel and ended in ch. xii.; while the story of David, begun in Samuel, embraces the first two chapters of the first book of Kings. The book of Samuel is not very happily named, as much of it is devoted to Saul and the greater part to David; yet it is not altogether inappropriate, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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