Hannah's Song & What the Rabbis Do With It

(1) And Hannah prayed: My heart exults in the LORD; I have triumphed through the LORD. I gloat over my enemies; I rejoice in Your deliverance. (2) There is no holy one like the LORD, Truly, there is none beside You; There is no rock like our God. (3) Talk no more with lofty pride, Let no arrogance cross your lips! For the LORD is an all-knowing God; By Him actions are measured. (4) The bows of the mighty are broken, And the faltering are girded with strength. (5) Men once sated must hire out for bread; Men once hungry hunger no more. While the barren woman bears seven, The mother of many is forlorn. (6) The LORD deals death and gives life, Casts down into Sheol and raises up. (7) The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He casts down, He also lifts high. (8) He raises the poor from the dust, Lifts up the needy from the dunghill, Setting them with nobles, Granting them seats of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s; He has set the world upon them. (9) He guards the steps of His faithful, But the wicked perish in darkness— For not by strength shall man prevail. (10) The foes of the LORD shall be shattered; He will thunder against them in the heavens. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. He will give power to His king, And triumph to His anointed one. (11) Then Elkanah [and Hannah] went home to Ramah; and the boy entered the service of the LORD under the priest Eli.

Furthermore, I might have thought that one may make his voice heard in his Amida prayer; it has already been articulated by Hannah in her prayer, as it is stated: “And Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved and her voice could not be heard” (I Samuel 1:13).

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Rav Hamnuna said: How many significant halakhot can be derived from these verses of the prayer of Hannah? As it says: “And Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved and her voice could not be heard, so Eli thought her to be drunk” (I Samuel 1:13).

The Gemara elaborates:

• From that which is stated here: “And Hannah spoke in her heart,” the halakha that one who prays must focus his heart on his prayer is derived.
• And from that which is stated here: “Only her lips moved,” the halakha that one who prays must enunciate the words with his lips, not only contemplate them in his heart, is derived.
• From that which is written here: “And her voice could not be heard,” the halakha that one is forbidden to raise his voice in his Amida prayer as it must be recited silently.
• From the continuation of the verse here: “So Eli thought her to be drunk,” the halakha that a drunk person is forbidden to pray. That is why he rebuked her. On the subject of Eli’s rebuke of Hannah, as it is stated: “And Eli said to her: How long will you remain drunk? Remove your wine from yourself” (I Samuel 1:14); Rabbi Elazar said: From here the halakha that one who sees in another

an unseemly matter, he must reprimand him, is derived. “And Hannah answered and she said no, my master, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit, and I have drunk neither wine nor liquor, but I pour out my soul before the Lord” (I Samuel 1:15).

Regarding the words: “No, my master,” Ulla, and some say Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said that she said to him, in an allusion: With regard to this matter, you are not a master, and the Divine Spirit does not rest upon you, as you falsely suspect me of this.

Some say another version of her response: She said to him, questioning: Aren’t you a master? Aren’t the Divine Presence and Divine Spirit with you that you judged me to be guilty, and you did not judge me to be innocent? Didn’t you know that I am a woman of distressed spirit?

With regard to Hannah’s explanation that “I have drunk neither wine nor liquor,” Rabbi Elazar said:

• From here the halakha is derived that one who is suspected of something of which he is not guilty cannot suffice merely with the personal knowledge of his innocence, but must inform the one who suspects him that he is innocent and clear himself of suspicion. “Do not take your maidservant as a wicked woman [bat beliya’al] for out of the abundance of my complaint and anger have I spoken until now” (I Samuel 1:16).
• Rabbi Elazar said: From here the halakha that when a drunk person prays it is as if he engaged in idol worship is derived as it is written here that Hannah, suspected of praying while drunk, defends herself and says: “Do not take your maidservant as a bat beliya’al”; and it is written there, with regard to a city that has been instigated to engage in idol worship: “Benei beliya’al have gone out from your midst and have lured the inhabitants of their city, saying let us go and serve other gods which we have not known” (Deuteronomy 13:14).
  • By means of this verbal analogy it is derived: Just as there, in the case of the idolatrous city, the term beliya’al indicates idol worship, so too here, in the case of one who prays drunk, beliya’al indicates idol worship. The verse continues: “And Eli answered and said: May you go in peace” (I Samuel 1:17).
• Rabbi Elazar said: From here the halakha is derived that one who suspects another of something that he has not done, he must appease him. Moreover, the one who suspected him must bless him, as Eli continued and offered Hannah a blessing, as it is stated: “And may the God of Israel grant your request that you have asked of Him” (I Samuel 1:17).
  • Incidental to this discussion of Hannah’s prayer, the Gemara explores related topics. In her prayer, Hannah said: “And she swore an oath and said, Lord of Hosts [Tzeva’ot] if You will indeed look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant and will give Your maidservant a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall be no razor come upon his head” (I Samuel 1:11).
• Rabbi Elazar said: From the day that the Holy One of Blessing created the Divine world, there was no person who called the Holy One of Blessing "Eternal of Hosts" until Hannah came and called Him "Eternal of Hosts."
  • This is the first time in the Bible that God is referred to by this name.
  • Rabbi Elazar explains that Hannah said before the Holy One of Blessing: Master of the Universe, are You not the Eternal of the Hosts, and of all of the hosts and hosts of creations that You created in Your world, is it difficult in Your eyes to grant me one son?
  • The Gemara suggests a parable: To what is this similar? ​​​​​​​
    • It is similar to a flesh and blood king who made a feast for his servants. A poor person came and stood at the door. He said to them: Give me one slice of bread! And they paid him no attention. He pushed and entered before the king. He said to him: My lord, the King, from this entire feast that you have prepared, is it so difficult in your eyes to give me a single slice of bread? As for the double language in the verse, “if you will look upon [im ra’o tireh],”
    • Rabbi Elazar said: Hannah said before the Holy One of Blessing: Master of the Universe, if You will look upon [ra’o] me now, fine, and if not, in any case You will see [tireh].
    • (RNH - the rabbis go into an elaborate analysis of Hannah's statement, making the case that no matter what, she would end up having a child.)
• ... Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: From here the halakha that it is forbidden to sit within four cubits of one who is praying is derived.
  • As the verse says: “Who stood here with you,” indicating that Eli stood alongside Hannah because she was praying. Additionally, Hannah’s emphasis in speaking to Eli, “for this youth I prayed” (I Samuel 1:27), indicates that she came to protect him from danger. ​​​​​​​

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​​​​​​​The Gemara continues to deal with Hannah’s prayer. It is said: “And Hannah spoke on her heart.”

Several interpretations are offered to explain her use of the phrase “on her heart” instead of the common phrase to her heart (Maharsha).

Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: Hannah spoke to God concerning matters of her heart.

• She said before Him: Master of the Universe, of all the organs You created in a woman, You have not created one in vain. Every organ fulfills its purpose; eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell, a mouth to speak, hands with which to perform labor, feet with which to walk, breasts with which to nurse. If so, these breasts that You placed upon my heart, to what purpose did You place them? Was it not in order to nurse with them? Grant me a son and I will nurse with them. ​​​​​​​