{"id":56814,"date":"2019-06-04T15:35:31","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T12:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=56814"},"modified":"2022-12-27T10:44:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T08:44:55","slug":"hannahs-prayer-and-kingship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/hannahs-prayer-and-kingship\/","title":{"rendered":"Hannah\u2019s Prayer And Kingship"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[882,835,470],"acf":{"old_id":"56814","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"234","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Strength to His King: Samuel is the catalyst to redress the state of anarchy into which he was born","content":"

In the previous chapter, Hannah\u2019s request of God for a child is repeatedly called a prayer (v.10, 12, 27). Here, her thanksgiving song in celebration of his birth is identified the same way (v.1). Small wonder, then, that the Talmud (Berakhot, <\/span>passim<\/span><\/em>) regards Hannah\u2019s prayer as so exemplary that it becomes a paradigm for Jewish prayer, in general.<\/span><\/p>\n

A quick perusal of that song reveals that up to the end of its final verse, its theme, fittingly, is the reversal of fortunes. Just as the childless Hannah was blessed with a son (\u201cthe barren bore seven,\u201d v.5), so can the poor anticipate riches (7-8), the pious can expect rescue from the hands of the wicked (9), and even the dead can foresee resurrection (according to an admittedly clumsy reading of v.6: \u201cThe Lord takes life and [then] grants it\u201d). <\/span><\/p>\n

The conclusion, however, appears to be out of sorts. How does the birth of Samuel connect with \u201cHe will give strength unto His king, and exalt the strength of His anointed\u201d (10)?<\/span><\/p>\n

And as long as we are inquiring into dissonant elements in the narrative, why is the uplifting saga of Samuel\u2019s birth followed immediately by the dispiriting notice that \u201cEli\u2019s sons were ignoble men who knew not the Lord\u201d (12)?<\/span><\/p>\n

Since our reading of Samuel follows that of Judges, we already have an answer that will address both our questions. In <\/span>our retrospective on the Book of Judges<\/span><\/a>, we commented:<\/span><\/p>\n

The concluding verse of the book, a repetition of \u201cIn those days there was no king in Israel,\u201d links the two halves of the final portion [of Judges] to one another and also serves as a segue into the Book of Samuel, as we shall shortly see.<\/span><\/p>\n

Samuel was destined to be the catalyst to redress the state of anarchy into which he was born, hence, his mother\u2019s (intuitive? prophetic?) allusion to an Israelite king (God\u2019s anointed). The reference to Eli\u2019s sons\u2019 contemptibility, on the other hand, is a foreshadowing of Samuel\u2019s inability to appoint his own sons as his successors on account of their base character (\u201chis sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after unjust gain, and took bribes, and perverted justice,\u201d 8:3). Thus, God instructed him to coronate Saul as Israel\u2019s first king, (chapter 9).<\/span><\/p>\n

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