In those days the word of the Lord was rare. (1 Samuel 3:1)Let's understand the climate into which Samuel is born. We've recently completed Judges, in which the theme was, In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. (Judges 21:25) Whether that statement describes a good or bad state of affairs is open to debate, but consider the conditions that came of it.
Israel was experiencing a spiritual drought. Eli (the High Priest) was a decent sort of fellow, even though his spiritual discernment was weak and his parenting was weaker. Notice that when Hannah was praying at the tabernacle in Shiloh, Eli was so unaware that he mistook the cries of her heart for being drunk and disorderly.
Notice also that here again Hannah is described as barren. In the Bible, this almost always foreshadows that something important is about to happen. So far Joseph, Samson and Samuel all share that distinction of being born of barren women.
Also consider the transitional role that Samuel is about to play. He is the last judge and the first prophet of Israel. He will usher in the nation's monarchial period by anointing not only the first, but also the second king who will rule over Israel.
By the way, in the Jewish scriptures, there is no 1st and 2nd Samuel - there is only Samuel - one uninterrupted story spanning the lives of Samuel, Saul and David. The same is true of Kings and Chronicles.
Doesn't say much for the decorum and order of the temple in Shiloh at the time that he would first assume drunken stupors either... of course, looking at the behavior of his sons, perhaps we should have expected it. Thankfully better days were ahead, even if the way to get to them has some potholes.
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten that Hannah was one of two wives and that her rival wife was being, well, *childish* about her lacking children... also means she didn't leave her husband 'without children' when she dedicated Samuel to the temple, which probably helped the familial situation. - Amy