and ultimate purposes brought about by God.6 This passage also teaches that true power is to be found not in one’s position in society but in one’s posture before God. Accordingly, the motif of appearance versus reality is prominent in this passage. Eli, who possessed “spiritual competence” because of his office, was in fact a spiritual bumbler; the spiritual powerhouse in this narrative was a socially impotent woman from the rural regions of Ephraim. Hannah alone understood the true power of undivided