I Samuel 1, Hannah's Prayer

The people of Israel will transition from the chaos of Judges to the kingdom of David.  That story is covered by the book of Samuel.

I Samuel 1: 1-5, Hannah's sorrow

There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.  

Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD. Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb.

Note the significant lineage of Elkanah. An earlier Elkanah appears in Exodus 6: 24, in the descendants of Levi.

Although polygamy was part of the culture of the ancient Near East (ANE), it required significant resources. Elkanah is likely to have been fairly well off.

The name Hannah persists into New Testament times. A woman named Hannah served in the temple at the time of the birth of the Messiah Yeshua. In her brief appearance in Luke 2: 36-38, her named is transcribed into Greek as Anna.

At this time the central meeting place for worship was still Shiloh. According to the covenant (Exodus 34: 23), Israelite men were to go to the tabernacle three times a year to offer sacrifices.

I Samuel 1: 6-8, Hannah's pain

And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.  

Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"  

As was common in the ANE and in Israelite culture, women longed to be mothers and, in particular, to give their husbands sons. Elkanah cares deeply for Hannah but, like any husband, he does not quite understand her strong desire to be a mother.

Peninnah, like Sarah's maidservant long ago (Genesis 16: 3-5), enjoys her status as mother and lords it over Hannah. 

It is possible that Hannah was Elkanah's first wife but that her barrenness led him to find a second wife. (This a claimed of the midrash, says a Wikipedia page on Peninnah.)

The name Peninnah is probably a feminine form of "rubies" -- see Proverbs 3:15 for a form of that Hebrew word.

I Samuel 1: 9-11, Hannah's prayer

Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD's temple. In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD.  And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."

Hannah brings her pain personally to YHWH in the temple and pours out her soul there.  Although this is not explicitly said in the Masoretic text, Hannah is offering her first son as a Nazirite. (The Nazirite commitment is described in Numbers 6.) The Septuagint adds the rest of the Nazirite requirements: "he will not drink wine or any intoxicating beverage" and, says Youngblood, a fragment of this chapter in the Dead Sea Scrolls uses the term Nazirite in verse 22, below.

I Samuel 1: 12-18, Eli's reaction

As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine."  

"Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD.  Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief."  

Hannah is praying silently.  Apparently that is unusual, but she may not want others to hear her prayer. However, the priest, Eli, suspects she is drunk. 

Throughout this passage, Hannah's prayers are serious and intimate. As she grieves and brings her requests to God, she hopes that He not only hears her personal prayer but intercedes for her.

I Samuel 1: 12-18, Eli's reaction

Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."  

She said, "May your servant find favor in your eyes." Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.

Eli gives Hannah a blessing and suggests that, maybe, the God of Israel will answer her. Hannah names YHWH and appears to speak to Him personally, deeply. Eli gives a more general description of YHWH "God of Israel" and does not appear to be all that engaged. (Eli is not a particularly strong example of a priest; his sons will be much much worse.)

I Samuel 1: 19-20, God answers

Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."

YHWH "remembers" Hannah, that is, gives attention to her, and allows her to conceive. (This result is similar to the miracle given to Ruth in Ruth 4: 13.)

(NIV footnotes: Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for heard by God.)

I Samuel 1: 21-28, Hannah's sacrifice

When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always." 

"Do what seems best to you," Elkanah her husband told her. "Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his word." 

So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.

 

"So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.

Once Samuel is weaned (probably between the ages of two and three, possibly older) Hannah reminds Eli of their conversation some years before and gives Samuel to YHWH, to serve in the temple as a Nazirite. As part of that ceremony, the parents offer a sacrifice.  

Elkanah supports Hannah's decision. (Does he have much choice?)

Despite the miracle of Hannah's pregnancy, this offer of her son must have been very difficult for her. She will probably only see her son at the annual visit, when they offer sacrifices.