Hannah's Prayer and the Shortened Years of Samuel the Prophet

Midrash Shmuel 3:3

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

"And it came to pass at the turn of the seasons" (1 Samuel 1:20) — after two seasons "Hannah conceived." "And the man Elkanah went up" (1 Samuel 1:21), "but Hannah did not go up" (1 Samuel 1:22). The teaching of Rabbi Levi is reversed here. There Rabbi Abba the son of Rav Papi and Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: "In all toil there is profit" (Proverbs 14:23) — Hannah, because she multiplied her prayer, shortened the days of Samuel, for she said "and he shall dwell there forever" (1 Samuel 1:22), and the "forever" of the Levites is only fifty years. This is what is written: "And from fifty years old he shall return" (Numbers 8:25). But behold, they are fifty-two! Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Avin said: The two years during which she nursed him are not counted in the reckoning.

Themes

PrayerWomenAdam EveProphecyTribes

Biblical References

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