She vowed a vow, and said, Yahweh of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a man-child, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come on his head.
"The issues now turn not on barrenness and birth, but upon submission to Yahweh and trust in Yahweh. Thus while the two scenes share a common problem, they approach the problem very differently. Scene 1 [1 Samuel 1:3-8] treats the problem of barrenness as a matter of family struggle. In scene 2 [1 Samuel 1:9-18] the same problem has been redefined in Yahwistic categories of need, submission, and trust." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 37.] 