撒上一11　〔哈拿〕许愿说，万军之耶和华啊，你若……赐你的婢女一个男孩，我必将他终身献与耶和华，不用剃刀剃他的头。

　　二35　我要为自己立一个忠信的祭司……。

　　三20　……所有的以色列人都知道，撒母耳被确立为耶和华的申言者。

　　七15　撒母耳一生的日子作以色列的士师。

　　就人一面说，撒母耳是出身于他那敬拜神的父母，特别是出于他那寻求神的母亲及其祷告（参撒上一5注1）。在堕落之以色列的混乱中，以利加拿和哈拿留在神为着祂永远定旨所命定的生命线上（见创二9注3二段）。这条生命线是要产生基督，给神的子民享受（见得四18注1），使神能在地上得着祂的国，就是召会，作基督的身体（太十六18~19，罗十四17，弗一22下~23），也就是三一神的生机体。因着神在哈拿里面的运行，哈拿若不祷告要有一个儿子，就没有平安。哈拿的祷告乃是回应并说出神的心愿，是人与神行动的合作，为要完成神永远的经纶。神能推动哈拿这在生命线上与祂是一的人。只要神能得着这样一个人，祂在地上就有路（圣经恢复本，撒上一10注1）。

　　1 Sam. 1:11 And she made a vow and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if You...give to Your female servant a male child, then I will give him to Jehovah for all the days of his life, and no razor will come upon his head.

　　2:35 And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest...

　　3:20 And all Israel...knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of Jehovah.

　　7:15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

　　On the human side, Samuel's origin was his God-worshipping parents, especially his God-seeking mother with her prayer (cf. 1 Samuel 1:5, footnote 1). In the midst of the chaos of degraded Israel, Elkanah and Hannah remained in the line of life ordained by God for His eternal purpose (see footnote 3, par. 2, on Gen. 2:9). The line of life is a line that brings forth Christ for the enjoyment of God's people (see footnote 1 on Ruth 4:18), that on earth God may have His kingdom, which is the church as the Body of Christ (Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17; Eph. 1:22b-23), the very organism of the Triune God. Because of God's moving in her, Hannah could not have peace until she prayed for a son. Hannah's prayer was an echo, a speaking out, of the heart's desire of God. It was a human cooperation with the divine move for the carrying out of God's eternal economy. God could motivate Hannah as a person who was one with Him in the line of life. As long as God can gain such a person, He has a way on earth. (1 Sam. 1:10, footnote 1)

　　哈拿的祷告指明，神的行动和祂对哈拿祷告的答应（撒上一19~20），乃是要产生一个绝对为着成全神愿望的拿细耳人。拿细耳人是完全奉献给神，接受神作头，以神为丈夫，且对属世享乐没有兴趣的人（民六1~5与注）。撒母耳甚至在出生之前，就被他母亲奉献作这样的人（圣经恢复本，撒上一11注1）。

　　撒上七章二至六节的图画显示一班回转归向神的百姓，以及一个在地上与神是一的人—撒母耳。撒母耳开始尽职，作为在地上代理的神，代表天上的神在地上治理祂的百姓。

　　撒母耳生来是利未人，由极大的背叛者可拉的一个后裔所生（代上六33~38，参民十六1~33）。他以五种身分供职：（一）是拿细耳人，绝对奉献给神，使神得以完成祂的经纶，是自愿者，顶替了任何正式、形式的事奉神者（撒上一11、28上）；（二）是祭司，忠信的代表神行动，甚至为着神在地上的行政，设立并建立君王（二35）；（三）是神所立的申言者（三20），辅助他作为祭司所设立的君王，说神的话，以顶替老旧祭司职分教导神的话语；（四）是由神所立的士师（七15~17），施行神的行政，以顶替老旧祭司职分审断百姓；（五）是祷告的人，为神的选民以色列人祷告（3~14，八6，十五11下，参十二23），使他们蒙保守在神的道路上，与神是一，不落在外邦偶像的网罗里，却享受神作以便以谢（七12），使神对祂选民旨意中的愿望得以成全。神向耶利米承认，撒母耳像摩西一样，是站在神面前为祂百姓代求的人（耶十五1）。摩西是祭司（出二九），申言者（申十八15、18），也是士师（出十八13、16）；他一直为神的百姓祷告（例如，出三二11~13、31~32）。在这些事上，撒母耳也是如此。在旧约里，只有摩西和撒母耳够资格完全有分于祭司职分、申言者职分和士师职分（撒上七3注1）。

　　参读：撒母耳记生命读经，第五篇。

　　Hannah's prayer indicates that God's move with His answer to Hannah's prayer (1 Sam. 1:19-20) was to produce a Nazarite who was absolute for the fulfilling of God's desire. A Nazarite is one who is consecrated to God absolutely, one who takes God as the Head, considering God his Husband, and one who has no interest in the enjoyment of worldly pleasures (Num. 6:1-5 and footnotes). Even before he was born, Samuel was consecrated by his mother to be such a person. (1 Sam. 1:11, footnote 1)

　　The picture in 1 Samuel 7:2-6 shows a people returning to God, and a man, Samuel, who was one with God on earth. As the acting God on earth, the representative of the very God in heaven to rule over His people on earth, Samuel began to minister.

　　Samuel, who was by nature a Levite born of one of the descendants of the great rebel Korah (1 Chron. 6:33-38; cf. Num. 16:1-33), ministered in five statuses: (1) as a Nazarite consecrated to God absolutely for God's fulfillment of His economy, a volunteer to replace any official and formal serving ones of God (1 Sam. 1:11, 28a); (2) as a priest faithful to act on behalf of God, even to appoint and establish kings for the divine government on earth (2:35); (3) as a prophet established by God (3:20) to assist the kings appointed by him as a priest, to speak the word of God to replace the teaching of the word of God by the old priesthood; (4) as a judge (7:15-17) established by God to carry out God's governmental administration, to replace the judging of the people by the old priesthood; and (5) as a man of prayer who prayed for God's elect, the children of Israel (vv. 3-14; 8:6; 15:11b; cf. 12:23), that they would be kept in the way of God, would be one with God, would not be ensnared by the idols of the nations, and would enjoy God as Ebenezer (7:12) that God's desire in His will regarding His elect might be fulfilled. God admitted to Jeremiah that Samuel, like Moses, was a man standing before Him for His people (Jer. 15:1). Moses was a priest (Exo. 29), a prophet (Deut. 18:15, 18), and a judge (Exo. 18:13, 16), and he always prayed for God's people (e.g., Exo. 32:11-13, 31-32). In these matters Samuel was the same. In the Old Testament only Moses and Samuel were qualified to participate fully in the priesthood, the prophethood, and the judgeship. (1 Sam. 7:3, footnote 1)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 5