1 Samuel 1:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.

NIV: "Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.

NASB: But Hannah answered and said, 'No, my lord, I am a woman despairing in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.

CSB: "No, my lord," Hannah replied. "I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord.

NLT: Oh no, sir!' she replied. 'I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord.

KJV: And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.

NKJV: But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.

Eli, the priest of the temple at Shiloh, has just confronted a woman he believed to be drunk. The woman is Hannah and she is praying fervently to the Lord. Her lips are moving, but her words are silent. Hannah is distressed because she has no children and her husband's second wife, who does have children, intentionally provokes her. She has vowed to God that if He gives her a son, she will give that son to God in service for his life (1 Samuel 1:1–11).

Hannah was in Shiloh with her family for an annual feast, which could be part of the reason Eli assumes she is drunk. After observing her apparently animated silent prayer in the temple, Eli told Hannah to give up the wine (1 Samuel 1:12–14). Here, Hannah explains the situation.

What the priest has seen, Hannah says, is her pouring her soul out before the Lord (Psalm 62:8). She has not had any alcohol that day. Rather, she is "troubled in spirit" and has been baring herself to God in prayer. Hannah does not detail the cause of her trouble, but she does explain she has been talking out of her "anxiety and vexation" (1 Samuel 1:16).

This beautiful expression—pouring out one's soul—captures what the Lord truly desires from those who are His. Hannah expressed everything she was feeling to the Lord. This is often not easy to do, but when we expose our hearts entirely before God, we are demonstrating active faith; we trust His love and His power. Prayer is not about saying a few correct words in the right order to make a request to the Lord. Prayer is communicating with a God who hears (Acts 7:34; Hebrews 4:14–16; 10:19–23). Many times, as in this instance with Hannah, prayer includes gathering up grief and worry and pain and throwing it away from ourselves and onto our good God (1 Peter 5:6–7).

First Samuel 1:1–20 describes how Samuel the prophet came to be born. His mother Hannah was barren and mocked by her husband's other wife, who had many children. During a family feast at Shiloh, Hannah prayed out of her deep despair. She vowed to give her son back to God if He would allow her to conceive. Once Eli, the priest, understood that Hannah was not drunk, he told her the Lord would grant her request. Satisfied, she returned home and soon gave birth to a boy. She named him Samuel.

Elkanah lives in Ephraim with two wives. Hannah is barren, while his other wife has many children. At the annual family sacrifice and feast in Shiloh, Hannah weeps and pours out her grief before the Lord. She vows to give a son to Him for lifelong service if the Lord gives her a boy. After confronting Hannah for drunkenness and then seeing that she was praying from her depth of emotion, Eli the priest blesses Hannah and affirms her prayer. Elkanah and Hannah conceive, and she gives birth to a son that she names Samuel. Once he is weaned, she presents him to Eli at the temple and gives him over to the Lord as long as he lives.

First Samuel 1 begins the story of Samuel with the account of his unlikely-seeming birth. Samuel's mother Hannah is barren. During a family trip to temple of the Lord in Shiloh, she weeps bitterly before the Lord and pours out her grief. She vows to give a son back to the Lord if He will allow her to bear one. Eli the priest blesses her and affirms her prayer. Before long, Samuel is conceived and born. Once he is weaned, Hannah brings the boy and a large sacrifice to the temple. She gives Samuel over to the Lord.

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.