And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth.
Parallel translations
- WEB As she continued praying before Yahweh, Eli saw her mouth.
- KJV And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.
- BSB As Hannah kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth.
- NASB Now it came about, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth.
- NLT As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
As Hannah kept praying, Eli watched her mouth. The detail prepares for his misjudgment of her silent prayer.
Overview
Hannah's prolonged, earnest prayer drew Eli's attention. Because he could see her lips but hear no words, he misread the scene. The moment exposes both Hannah's persevering devotion and the spiritual dullness of Eli, who failed to recognize true piety when he saw it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 1 Th 5:17Pray without ceasing.
- Jas 5:16Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.
- Luke 18:1He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up,
- Eph 6:18with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints:
- Col 4:2Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
- Luke 11:8–10I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 1:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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