פּירוש אויף שמואל א 1:9

“Hannah rose” [1:9]. Hannah rose after the meal in the city of Shiloh. Eli the priest was sitting on a chair in the House of God. She was sad and she prayed to God and cried and she made a vow and said, “Lord of Hosts” [1:11]. That is to say, Lord of the Universe, you have created many multitudes of angels in the heaven. None of them have children, but they live forever. You have also created many multitudes on the earth. They do have children, but they die. Therefore, I ask you. Am I one of the angels who have no children, then let me live forever. If I am one of the people who are on the earth who die and have children, then let me have children.⁴Yalkut Shimoni, I Samuel, Remez, 78.

Our sages say. That is why she said, “Lord of Hosts.” Therefore, You, God, have many people and creatures and out of all these people you do not want to give me a son. Hannah said: If you do not want to give me children, then I will conceal myself in a room with a strange man. Then Elkanah will have to bring me to drink the “spell inducing water” [Numbers, 5:24] to test me if I did not sleep with a strange man. If I had not slept with him, the “spell inducing water” will not harm me, and the Holy One will bless me after the drinking that I will have children.⁵B. Berakhot, 31b; Yalkut Shimoni, I Samuel, Remez, 78.

Thus has God promised. When the woman will be just and was put to shame before the people with drinking what the priest gave to drink. Because of this, the Holy One will give her good children. Therefore, Hannah prayed, look at my pain and remember me with a son and with a daughter and You should not forget me. Give me a son, like other people, and I will give him to serve in God’s house forever. It is obvious that he must serve God. He would be a levite? The explanation is that other levites are supposed to serve in God’s house from the age of twenty years. However, I will give my son to serve in the Temple as soon as he is two years old. She prayed this before the Holy One and Eli the priest thought that the woman, Hannah, was drunk. Her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. She was praying very slowly. Eli said to her: you drunken woman, what do you want to do here? Go home to sleep off your drunkenness. Hannah responded to Eli: you are not a proper prophet. You say that I am drunk, but I am a woman who has great troubles and pain. I have not drunk any wine. I was praying to God and do not think about me that I am a loose woman and a slut. Rather, because of the great troubles that Peninah caused me by mocking me with her children. That is why I am praying to God.

Eating in Shilo. The 'ה' is not dotted and the 'א' is voweled with a short kametz and its [meaning is] 'after eating in Shilo and after drinking,'¹⁴Eili therefore suspected that she was drunk because prayer usually takes place before eating or drinking—Da’as Sofrim. and this expression is properly used both for masculine and feminine. After אָכְלָה is a gerund. It is constructed like ,¹⁵Vayikra 25:6.לְאָכְלָה an expression equivalent to an infinitive [i.e., לֶאֶכוֹל].

And Eili the kohen was sitting on the chair. On that day he was seated on a large chair,¹⁶The defective spelling of ישֵׁב [instead of יוֹשֵׁב] indicates that he just recently sat down because he was a newly appointed judge. See Rashi Bereishis 19:1. for he was appointed Judge over Yisroel.

Near the doorpost. [Lit. on the doorpost] meaning near the doorpost.