Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk
Parallel translations
- WEB Now Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.
- KJV Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
- NKJV Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.
- NASB As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were quivering, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought that she was drunk.
- NLT Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking.
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
Hannah prayed silently from the heart, her lips moving without sound, so Eli mistook her for drunk. Her inward prayer shows intimacy with God that the priest failed to perceive.
Overview
This is one of Scripture's clearest pictures of silent, heartfelt prayer, where the heart speaks though the voice is unheard. God hears such inward cries even when men misunderstand them. Eli's wrong assumption highlights the spiritual decline at Shiloh, where even the priest could not discern sincere worship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Rom 8:26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
- Gen 24:42–45So when I came to the spring today, I prayed: O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if only You would make my journey a success!
- Acts 2:13But others mocked them and said, “They are drunk on new wine!”
- Ps 25:1Of David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
- Zech 9:15The LORD of Hosts will shield them. They will destroy and conquer with slingstones; they will drink and roar as with wine. And they will be filled like sprinkling bowls, drenched like the corners of the altar.
- Neh 2:4“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven
- 1 Cor 13:7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
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 1:13 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.