Citazione Commento su I Samuele 1:3

ויאמר...ונשתחוה, from these words the lads understood that Avraham would not only prostrate himself there in prayer but would offer an animal as part of such prayer. They reasoned this way, having observed that Avraham took kindling and a knife when going up the mountain. Normally, a reference to השתחויה includes slaughtering a sacrificial animal, as we know from Samuel I 1.3, describing Elkanah’s habits.

ושמרת את החוקה הזאת למועדה מימים ימימה, “You shall observe this decree at its designated time from year to year.” The words מימים ימימה mean “annually.” We find the expression מימים ימימה used in the sense of “years” also in Samuel I 1,3 where it describes Elkanah’s annual pilgrimage to the Temple at Shiloh. The same expression is also found in Judges 21,19 where it describes an annual pilgrimage to Shiloh being used to provide the surviving members of the tribe of Binyamin with Jewish girls for marriage. A third time the same expression is used is in connection with the annual pilgrimage to (the grave of?) Yiphtach’s daughter to commemorate what had happened to her (Judges 11,40).

O Lord of hosts: Our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, expounded - since until then, we did not find one person who called the Lord, the Lord of Hosts. For what it stated above (I Samuel 1:3), "to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh," is the narrative from the writer of the book. Hence they said, "Why did this name come specifically here? Channah said before the Holy One, blessed be He, 'You created two hosts in Your world. The heavenly beings neither multiply nor do they die; the earthly beings multiply and die. If I am of the earthly beings, let me multiply, and if I am of the heavenly beings, let me not die." And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, also said, "Rav said, 'The steps of the pilgrims were going up. Channah said before the Holy One, blessed be He, "Master of the worlds, From all of these masses that you have before You, can you not remember me with one of them?"'"

With the joy of his heart. That he rejoiced to do good in his lifetime, and I saw in the Midrash, that this refers to Elkanah, who led Yisroel up to Shiloh on the festivals, and on the route that he brought them up on one year he did not bring them back the following year, in order to publicize the matter and to accustom them. Therefore, Scripture praises him, “This man would go up from his city, etc.”²⁴I Shmuel 1:3. I believe that this Midrash is at the end of the verse, “for God answers [provides] him with the joy of his heart.” This is Elkanah, whom the Holy One, Blessed Is He, established in Scripture, and testifies about him, “this man would go up from his city.”²⁵Ibid.