Bible Strands
1 Samuel 1:22
but Hannah did not go. “After the boy is weaned,” she said to her husband, “I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there permanently.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Hannah addresses her husband Elkanah at Shiloh during the annual family pilgrimage, declining to ascend to the sanctuary with the rest of the household. She postpones her departure until her son reaches the stage of weaning.
The words — לֹא עָלָתָה (lo' 'alatâ) literally means "she did not go up," recording her physical refusal to join the immediate sacrifice. עַד יִגָּמֵל ('ad yiggāmēl) translates to "until he is weaned," establishing the concrete deadline for her vow's execution.
The thread — This timeline fulfills the conditional vow she recorded in 1 Samuel 1:11 and directly precedes her permanent dedication statement in 1 Samuel 1:28. The structured presentation of a firstborn after weaning aligns with the later temple presentation described in Luke 2:22.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to recognize that covenant fulfillment operates on a fixed timeline rather than immediate compliance. It demands a commitment to complete the full duration of a promise before claiming its spiritual outcome.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 1:11 And she made a vow, saying, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever touch his head.”
- 1 Samuel 1:28 I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.
- Luke 2:22 And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
- Leviticus 25:23 The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
- Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
- 1 Samuel 2:11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the LORD before Eli the priest.
- 1 Samuel 2:18 Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod.
- 1 Samuel 3:1 And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare, and visions were scarce.
- Luke 2:41 Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.
- Exodus 21:6 then his master is to bring him before the judges. And he shall take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve his master for life.