Women of the Bible: Hannah

Hannah prayed fervently that she would have a son, perhaps partly for selfish reasons, but she was the mother of one of the most important leaders of Israel. She made a vow to God, and she kept it. Here's what the Bible says about her:

1 Samuel 1:1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ² He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. ³ This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of Armies in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to Yahweh, were there. ⁴ When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; ⁵ but he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved Hannah, but Yahweh had shut up her womb. ⁶ Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because Yahweh had shut up her womb. ⁷ So year by year, when she went up to Yahweh’s house, her rival provoked her. Therefore she wept, and didn’t eat. ⁸ Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹ So Hannah rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of Yahweh’s temple. ¹⁰ She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, weeping bitterly. ¹¹ She vowed a vow, and said, “Yahweh of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head.”

¹² As she continued praying before Yahweh, Eli saw her mouth. ¹³ Now Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. ¹⁴ Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”

¹⁵ Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have not been drinking wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Yahweh. ¹⁶ Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation.”

¹⁷ Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”

¹⁸ She said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate; and her facial expression wasn’t sad any more.

¹⁹ They rose up in the morning early and worshiped Yahweh, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Yahweh remembered her.

²⁰ When the time had come, Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of Yahweh.”

²¹ The man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to Yahweh the yearly sacrifice and his vow. ²² But Hannah didn’t go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before Yahweh, and stay there forever.”

²³ Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may Yahweh establish his word.”

So the woman waited and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴ When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, and one ephah of meal, and a container of wine, and brought him to Yahweh’s house in Shiloh. The child was young. ²⁵ They killed the bull, and brought the child to Eli. ²⁶ She said, “Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to Yahweh. ²⁷ I prayed for this child, and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of him. ²⁸ Therefore I have also given him to Yahweh. As long as he lives he is given to Yahweh.” He worshiped Yahweh there.

2:1 Hannah prayed, and said:

“My heart exults in Yahweh!
    My horn is exalted in Yahweh.
My mouth is enlarged over my enemies,
    because I rejoice in your salvation.
² There is no one as holy as Yahweh,
    for there is no one besides you,
    nor is there any rock like our God.

³ “Don’t keep talking so exceedingly proudly.
    Don’t let arrogance come out of your mouth,
    for Yahweh is a God of knowledge.
    By him actions are weighed.

⁴ “The bows of the mighty men are broken.
    Those who stumbled are armed with strength.
⁵ Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread.
    Those who were hungry are satisfied.
Yes, the barren has borne seven.
    She who has many children languishes.

⁶ “Yahweh kills and makes alive.
    He brings down to Sheol and brings up.
⁷ Yahweh makes poor and makes rich.
    He brings low, he also lifts up.
⁸ He raises up the poor out of the dust.
    He lifts up the needy from the dunghill
    to make them sit with princes
    and inherit the throne of glory.
For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh’s.
    He has set the world on them.
⁹ He will keep the feet of his holy ones,
    but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness;
    for no man will prevail by strength.
¹⁰ Those who strive with Yahweh shall be broken to pieces.
    He will thunder against them in the sky.

“Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth.
    He will give strength to his king,
    and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

¹¹ Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child served Yahweh before Eli the priest.

¹⁸ But Samuel ministered before Yahweh, being a child, clothed with a linen ephod. ¹⁹ Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, “May Yahweh give you offspring from this woman for the petition which was asked of Yahweh.” Then they went to their own home. ²¹ Yahweh visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew before Yahweh.

Does the Bible Really Say That? Excerpt from my book, 13

[Continuing the topic of family headship, as shown in the Bible.]


Hannah, Samuel’s mother
1 Samuel 1:1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
6 Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because Yahweh had shut up her womb. 7 As he did so year by year, when she went up to Yahweh’s house. Her rival provoked her; therefore she wept, and didn’t eat. 8 Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
9 So Hannah rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of Yahweh’s temple. 10 She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, weeping bitterly. 11 She vowed a vow, and said, “Yahweh of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head.”
12 As she continued praying before Yahweh, Eli saw her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”
15 Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have not been drinking wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Yahweh. 16 Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation.”
17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”
18 She said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way, and ate; and her facial expression wasn’t sad any more.
19 They rose up in the morning early, and worshiped before Yahweh, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Yahweh remembered her.
20 When the time had come, Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of Yahweh.”

Elkanah apparently was a believer himself. There is no mention that he took the lead in this. Eli spoke to Hannah, not to Elkanah, and Hannah spoke to Eli, for herself. And her vow was a remarkable one – she promised a son of Elkanah to God’s service, rather than to Elkanah’s service. And the Bible doesn’t say that she consulted Elkanah in making this vow.

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, public domain.

The previous post in this series is here. The next post, God willing, will consider the same topic.

Thanks for reading!

Female Headship: Biblical Examples

Although Ephesians 5:22 is often quoted as proof that the husband is to be the head of the house, there are some examples of female spiritual leadership in families in the Bible. One such is the wife of Manoah, who was Samson's mother. Another is Hannah, who seems to have taken the lead, rather than her husband doing so, in praying and acting in the matter of having a child, in 1 Samuel 1. Abigail, in 1 Samuel 25, acted without her first husband's knowledge, and was apparently blessed and scripturally commended for doing so. (She later married David.) In Exodus 4, Zipporah, Moses' wife, took action in relation to the circumcision of their sons,when Moses hadn't, and, in doing so, apparently kept God from killing Moses. In Exodus 2, it was the mother of Moses who was responsible for his escape from the command of Pharaoh that all male Hebrew babies should be killed. The Virtuous Woman/Excellent Wife, idealized in Proverbs 31, is described as making business decisions (perhaps not spiritual ones) on her own, and, also, as having a husband at the time.

I am not including all of the women of faith from the Bible in this brief discussion. Rahab and Naomi may not have taken spiritual leadership while they had a husband, but they took it when they were single. Deborah acted in leadership of Israel. We don't know whether she also acted as spiritual leader in her home. A church was begun in Lydia's home. She may not have had a husband. Dorcas may not have, either. There are other examples, in both the Old and New Testaments, of godly female leaders. Some of them may have been the spiritual leader of their husband. We don't know. 2 Timothy 1:5 says that Timothy's mother and grandmother were the spiritual leaders in Timothy's family. His father is mentioned in Acts 16:3. It is possible that that father died early in Timothy's life. Priscilla and Aquila seem to have been equals in ministry. I submit that most likely at least some of the women in this paragraph were spiritual leaders in their home, and had a husband at the time.

My conclusion is that wives and mothers, at least some of the time, took spiritual leadership in Biblical homes, and, therefore, God may expect many wives and mothers to do this now, in the twenty-first century.

Thanks for reading. This is an excerpt from a previous post.

Added June 21, 2012: See this post. Mary, Christ's mother, seems to have exercised spiritual leadership.

Motherhood: Do you know anyone named Peninnah?

I didn't think so.

Most of you probably have no clue as to who Penninah was. Who was she? She was one of Elkanah's two wives. The other one was Hannah. Hannah was the mother of Samuel. Now perhaps most of you make a connection.

I just did a Google search on the phrase "Hannah Brown," and another one on "Penninah Brown." I didn't use "Hannah Smith," because there was an author and evangelist with that name (see here and here.) I didn't use "Hannah Jones" because I know a person with that name. There are about 96,000 web pages that have "Hannah Brown" in them, and exactly five with "Penninah Brown," and apparently all five of these are found in pages that specialize in searching genealogies and ancestry. In other words, if you Google "Penninah Brown" you won't come up with any information on a living person. Why not? Because Penninah is harder to spell? Maybe that's a little of the reason, but the main reason is more fundamental.

Hannah was known as a God-fearing, praying, mother. Period. Her main contribution was to give birth to Samuel. She turned Samuel over to Eli, the high priest, at an early age, perhaps before he was six years old, so she didn't have a lot of time to influence the boy. Hannah loved her son. but she loved God more, and she had promised to turn him over to the priests, and she kept that promise. She was a God-fearing, praying mother. Undoubtedly she loved her son, but she loved him enough to keep her promise to God.

God doesn't demand such promises, at least not in the same sense, of twentieth-century mothers. It isn't clear that God demanded such a promise of Hannah, but He did accept it of her. God does want all mothers to love their children, but to love God more, and, as far as possible, to turn the lives of those children over to Him.

I honor my own wife, my mother, who recently turned 99, my older daughter, and my late mother-in-law, plus other maternal ancestors of mine now deceased, most of whom I never knew. If they hadn't loved God, I would not be doing this now. Perhaps I would be dead.

Thanks for reading. Happy Mother's Day!