“Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.”
My Notes
What Does 1 Samuel 1:28 Mean?
Hannah fulfills her vow: "I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD." The child she prayed for with tears, the son she birthed after years of barrenness, the answer to her most desperate prayer—she gives back. To the LORD. For life. The gift that was received becomes the gift that is returned. The answer to prayer is offered as the next prayer.
The word "lent" (sha'al, to ask, to request—the root of Samuel's name) creates a play on words: I asked (sha'al) the LORD for a son. Now I return (sha'al) the son to the LORD. The asking and the returning use the same word. What was requested is returned to the requester. The prayer that produced the child produces the dedication of the child. The cycle is complete: ask, receive, return.
The duration—"as long as he liveth"—means the dedication is permanent. Hannah doesn't lend Samuel for a season or until she needs him back. For life. The child will grow up in the tabernacle under Eli's care. Hannah will visit annually (2:19) with a little coat she makes for him each year. The giving is total. The connection is maintained. But the ownership has been transferred. Samuel belongs to God now. The mother's hands that held him have opened and released him.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Has God asked you to return something precious that He gave you? Can you open your hands?
- 2.The asking and the returning use the same word. How does receiving-and-releasing describe your relationship with God's gifts?
- 3.Hannah's annual coat was love maintained through surrender. How do you stay connected to what you've given back?
- 4.The giving was 'for life'—permanent, total. What would permanent surrender of your most precious gift to God look like?
Devotional
"I have lent him to the LORD." The child she wept for. The son she begged for on the tabernacle steps. The answer to years of barren, bullied, desperate prayer. She holds him. And then she gives him back. To the God who gave him. For life.
The word play is the theology: she asked (sha'al) for Samuel, and now she returns (sha'al) him to God. The asking and the returning are the same word. The prayer that produced the gift produces the surrender of the gift. The receiving and the releasing are the same act, separated only by time. What God gave, Hannah gives back. Not because she doesn't want him. Because he belongs to someone else.
For life. Not for a season. Not until Samuel's old enough to choose. For life. Hannah will visit once a year with a homemade coat—the annual reconnection of a mother whose arms remember holding what they've released. The little coat is love sewn into fabric: I can't hold you. But I can clothe you. The giving was total. The connection is maintained through handmade garments delivered once a year.
If God has given you something precious—answered a prayer you'd almost given up on—and then asked you to give it back, Hannah models the surrender. The thing you received was always His. The child, the calling, the gift, the answered prayer—it came from God and it belongs to God. The receiving was temporary. The returning is the purpose. The mother who asked and received now opens her hands and says: I lent him. To the LORD. For as long as he lives. And she worshipped.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord,.... To be employed in his service, not for a few days, months, or years, but…
Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord - There is here a continual reference to her vow, and to the words which she…
Here is, I. The return of Elkanah and his family to their own habitation, when the days appointed for the feast were…
therefore also, &c. Render, And I on my part have given him to Jehovah as long as he liveth: because he was one asked…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture