In her prayer, Hannah said: “And she swore an oath and said, Lord of Hosts [Tzeva’ot] if You will indeed look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant and will give Your maidservant a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall be no razor come upon his head” (I Samuel 1:11).

Rabbi Elazar said: From the day that the Kadosh Baruch Hu (Holy One, Blessed be He) created His world, there was no person who called the Kadosh Baruch Hu "HaShem Tz'vaot" (Lord of Hosts) until Hannah came and called God "HaShem Tz'vaot". This is the first time in the Bible that God is referred to by this name. Rabbi Elazar explains that Hannah said before the Kadosh Baruch Hu: Ribono Shel Olam (Master of the Universe), are You not HaShem Tz'vaot (the Lord of the Hosts), and of all of the hosts and hosts of creations that You created in Your world, is it difficult in Your eyes to grant me one son?! The Gemara suggests a mashal (parable): To what is this similar? It is similar to a flesh and blood king (melech basar va-dahm) who made a feast for his servants. A poor person came and stood at the door. He said to them: "Give me one slice of bread." And they paid him no attention. He pushed and entered before the king. He said to him: "My lord, the king, from this entire feast that you have prepared, is it so difficult in your eyes to give me a single slice of bread?!"

As for the verb doubling in the biblical verse, "Im ra-oh tir-eh" “If you will look upon" (1 Samuel 1: 11)

Rabbi Elazar said: Hannah said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, if You will look upon (ra-oh) me now, fine, and if not, in any case You will see (tir-eh). What was Hannah threatening? She said: I will go and seclude myself with another man before Elkana, my husband. Since I secluded myself, they will force me to drink the Sotah water to determine whether or not I have committed adultery. I will be found innocent, and since You will not make Your Torah false, I will bear children. With regards to a woman who is falsely suspected of adultery and drank the Sotah water, the Torah says: “And if the woman was not defiled, but was pure, then she shall be acquitted and she shall conceive” (Numbers 5:28).

“And Hannah spoke on her heart (ahl libah).” (1 Samuel 1:13)-

Several interpretations are offered to explain her use of the phrase “on her heart” (ahl libah) instead of the common phrases "to her heart" (el libah) or "in her heart" (b'libah).

Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yossi ben Zimra: Hannah spoke to God concerning matters of her heart. She said before Him:

"Ribono Shel Olam (Master of the Universe), of all the organs You created in a woman, You have not created one in vain. Every organ fulfills its purpose; eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell, a mouth to speak, hands with which to perform labor, feet with which to walk, breasts with which to nurse. If so, these breasts that You placed upon my heart, to what purpose did You place them? Was it not in order to nurse with them? Grant me a son and I will nurse with them.

Rav Hamnuna said: How many significant halachot can be derived from these verses of the prayer of Hannah! As it says: “And Hannah spoke on her heart, only her lips moved and her voice could not be heard, so Eli thought her to be drunk” (I Samuel 1:13).

The Gemara elaborates: From that which is stated here: “And Hannah spoke on her heart" (I Samuel 1:13), the halacha that one who prays must focus his heart on his prayer is derived.

And from that which is stated here, “Only her lips moved,” the halacha that one who prays must enunciate the words with his lips, not only contemplate them in his heart, is derived.

From that which is written here: “And her voice could not be heard,” the halacha that one is forbidden to raise his voice in his Amidah, prayer as it must be recited quietly.

From the continuation of the verse here: “So Eli thought her to be drunk,” the halakha that a drunk person is forbidden to pray. That is why he rebuked her.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Hannah spoke impertinently toward God on High. As it is stated: “And she prayed onto the Lord ("ahl HaShem")" (I Samuel 1:10) as opposed to the common phrase: "To the Lord." This teaches that she spoke impertinently towards the One on High.

And on a similar note, Rabbi Elazar said that Elijah spoke impertinently towards the One on High as well in his prayer at Mount Carmel, as it is stated: “Answer me, HaShem, answer me, that this people will know that You are the Lord, God, and You have turned their hearts backward” (I Kings 18:37), claiming that God caused Israel to sin.

(35) It has been clearly demonstrated to you that the HaShem alone is God; there is none beside Him.