two trajectories of the story thus far confront each other. The childless laywoman whom sacrifices do not help nevertheless bears a passionate devotion to God; the official priest, father of priestly sons, is unable to recognize genuine faith when it appears directly before him, and thus he disparages it. Yet the text does not for a moment imply that the official religion of the Shiloh cult is irredeemably bad. After all, Hannah’s prayer and vow may be, in a sense, private and personal, but she still