In Genesis 2:23, Adam beholds the woman and declares:
“This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh:
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
This woman symbolises the receptive and dedicating aspect of consciousness. Man represents the conceiver — the originating awareness, the I AM. Woman is the inner faculty that receives an assumption, carries it, and brings it to expression. What begins as archetype in Genesis later unfolds historically in Israel — and is made explicit in the story of Hannah.
Elkanah and the Rival Wife
Hannah was married to Elkanah, who also had a rival wife, Peninnah. Peninnah bore children; Hannah did not. Symbolically, this depicts a divided inner life: one aspect of mind producing outward results according to appearances and worldly methods, while the deeper, truer womb of consciousness remains barren — not because it is incapable, but because it has not yet been fully dedicated.
Peninnah represents mental productivity driven by external validation and repetition. Hannah represents the quieter depth of consciousness that waits to receive from the I AM itself.
Eli and His Sons
At Shiloh presided the priest Eli, whose sons Hophni and Phinehas are described as corrupt. They abused their priestly office while continuing to function within it. Symbolically, these sons represent the old mental administrators — habits of thought, belief systems, and inner judgments that attempt to manage spiritual power according to the world.
They are “priests” in name only: inherited modes of thinking that still occupy authority in the mind but lack dedication to the I AM. They perform rituals, but they do not listen. They attempt manifestation through force, entitlement, or tradition rather than surrender and assumption.
Eli himself represents an aging governing structure of consciousness — not actively malicious, but no longer discerning. Because he does not restrain these inner sons, the entire house is declared to fall. A mind governed by outdated inner authorities cannot sustain true spiritual perception.
Hannah’s Prayer and Vow
Hannah, in bitterness of soul, prays silently — so silently that Eli mistakes her devotion for drunkenness. This detail is crucial. Her prayer is internal, wordless, and directed wholly toward God. She vows that if a son is given, he will be returned entirely to the Lord.
This vow symbolises a decisive inner shift: the receptive consciousness no longer seeks possession of the outcome. The desire is surrendered to the I AM, not used to serve ego or worldly reinforcement.
The name Hannah means favour or grace. Grace here is not reward, but alignment — the state in which consciousness yields completely to its source. This is the woman of Genesis 2:23 in full expression: receptive, faithful, and dedicating the fruit back to the conceiver.
“So I have given him to the Lord; for all his life he is the Lord’s.” — 1 Samuel 1:28
The Birth of Samuel
Hannah gives birth to Samuel, whose name means “heard of God”. Samuel represents a new psychological faculty: the ability to hear and discern inner dialogue.
Where Eli’s sons governed by habit and corruption, Samuel governs by listening. He replaces the old priesthood not by force, but by perception. He stands between Saul and David, hearing, discerning, and mediating between states of consciousness.
Samuel is not the king — he is the listener. He anoints Saul (the reactive, fearful state) and later David (the beloved, trusting state). Through Samuel, the inner world learns to distinguish which voice should rule.
The Fulfilment of the Archetype
- In Genesis, woman is taken out of man — receptivity drawn from awareness.
- In Eli’s house, undedicated mental authorities corrupt perception.
- In Hannah, full surrender gives birth to a new faculty of hearing.
- In Samuel, consciousness learns to discern between Saul and David.
The narrative reveals its inner structure: when the old priesthood of habit and worldly reasoning collapses, a new faculty must be born — one that listens rather than reacts. Hannah’s dedication to the I AM produces Samuel, the inner listener, through whom identity transitions from Saul to David.
Thus, manifestation is not merely assuming an end, but cultivating the capacity to hear rightly. The I AM conceives. Hannah receives. Samuel listens. And through that listening, the beloved state — David — is finally recognised and enthroned.