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.
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.
- BSB Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk
- NKJV Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought 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 also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered.
- Gen 24:42–45I came today to the spring, and said, ‘Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, if now you do prosper my way which I go —
- Acts 2:13Others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”
- Ps 25:1By David. To you, Yahweh, do I lift up my soul.
- Zech 9:15Yahweh of Armies will defend them; and they will destroy and overcome with sling stones; and they will drink, and roar as through wine; and they will be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar.
- Neh 2:4Then the king said to me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.
- 1 Cor 13:7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.