What does 1 Samuel 1:13 mean?
Hannah prayed intensely in the temple, moving her lips without making a sound. She had traveled to Shiloh for an annual sacrifice along with her husband, his second wife, and their children. Hannah, herself, had no children, which was an especially bitter situation in that era. Even so, her husband loved her greatly. Yet, Hannah grieved over her lack of children, and her husband's second wife purposely provoked her (1 Samuel 1:1–8). Distraught, Hannah prayed to God and wept (1 Samuel 1:10). She vowed to give a son to the Lord for his entire life if God would make her able to have a son (1 Samuel 1:11).Eli, the high priest of the temple at Shiloh, began to watch her at some point (1 Samuel 1:9, 12). Hannah was apparently so animated in her prayer, even though she was silent, that she appeared drunk to him. This would not have been an outrageous assumption. The annual family feast likely included much eating and drinking, and she had just come to the temple from the feast (1 Samuel 1:9). Hannah, though, had not been drinking (1 Samuel 1:15). The intensity of her grief had compelled her to pour out her request to the Lord with all the emotion she was feeling. It wasn't pretty, but it was real. It was a prayer of genuine faith.
