1:3 Elkanah made this trip each year; the law required that people attend three annual festivals (Exod 23:14-17). • According to God’s law, Israelites were to sacrifice at God’s chosen sanctuary (Deut 12:1-28). From the days of Joshua (Josh 18:1) through Samuel’s era, God’s sanctuary—the Tabernacle—was at Shiloh, a town in Ephraim some 8.5 miles north of Bethel en route to Shechem. King David eventually moved it to Jerusalem (2 Sam 6). • the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: Throughout the Hebrew Old Testament, God is often referred to as Yahweh Tseba’oth or ’Elohim Tseba’oth. Traditionally, these titles have been translated “Lord of hosts” and “God of hosts.” The term “hosts” (Hebrew tseba’oth, traditionally “sabaoth”) usually means “armies.” It can refer to human armies, such as the armies of Israel (e.g., 1 Sam 17:45), or foreign armies sent to fulfill the Lord’s purposes (e.g., Isa 9:11-13). However, most often it refers to God’s angelic armies sent from heaven to do his bidding and wage war on earth (e.g., 2 Kgs 6:17). This designation anticipates God’s role as a mighty warrior in the episode involving the Ark of the Covenant and the Philistines (1 Sam 4–6).