1:11 vow. On the making of vows by married women, and the husbands’ responsibility to confirm or nullify, see Num. 30:6–15.

remember me. Hannah asks not simply for the Lord to keep her in mind but for Him to do something special to help her.

no razor. Hannah’s vow reflects elements of the Nazirite vow (Num. 6:1–21). Specifically, these are: abstaining from grapes or anything made from grapes, not cutting the hair, and avoiding all contact with anything dead. While such vows were generally made for a limited period of time, Hannah’s was for “all the days” of her son’s life (see Judg. 13:5 note).