The fact is noteworthy that in no single instance was the Spirit of God pleased to use a woman for the writing of Holy Scripture; neither did the Lord place a woman in the apostolic band, although He was surrounded by women not one whit behind the twelve in love and devotion to His person. But it is also a fact that some of the noblest poems found in the Word of God poured from devout female lips. The utterances of Miriam, Deborah, Hannah and Mary of Nazareth constitute spiritual treasures of priceless value.
Hannah both prayed and sang, and she became the mother of praying Samuel (Psalm 99:6), and the ancestress of Heman the temple singer (1 Chron. 6:33). First, she prayed for a son, in her distress weeping as she prayed (1 Sam. 1:10). The man who, of all people, should have been in close touch with God was so thoroughly out of communion with Him that he could not discern the difference between a sorrowful woman and a drunken woman. God's priest should be both compassionate and sympathetic (Heb. 5:2). The risen Christ is all this and more; Eli, alas, was but a poor foreshadow of Him. Being corrected for his error, he could only vaguely say, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.”