So one day, Hannah went up to the temple, and prayed. She wept with great sorrow of heart. Eli the High Priest heard her weeping bitterly at the altar. Hannah was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.
And God, who is rich in mercy, did not disappoint her.. Hannah was burdened with grief and sorrow: she longed to be a mother yet was childless (1 Samuel 1:2). Her infertility was a source of anguish and misery. Deeply distressed, Hannah was so spent with crying that she couldn't even eat (1:7).
Peninnah always upset Hannah and made her feel bad because the LORD had not made her able to have children. This happened every year when their family went to the LORD's house at Shiloh. Peninnah would upset Hannah so much that she would begin to cry and would not eat anything.
Her husband Elkanah had another wife named Peninnah who had children. Peninnah tormented Hannah because Hannah had no children (1 Samuel 1:6). Because of these circumstances, Hannah's heart was grieved. She experienced “bitterness of soul” (1 Samuel 1:7-10).
Hannah demonstrates her faith through obedience, even when it means an extreme personal sacrifice. She has longed for this child, and she loves him as only a mother can love a child. But her love for God is greater and she shows it by letting go of Samuel.
According to Michelle Osherow, Hannah represents the character of the earnest petitioner and grateful celebrant of divine glory. Hannah was an important figure for early English Protestantism, which emphasized the importance of private prayer.
Top: Hannah, the barren wife of Elkanah, went to the temple, where the Ark of the Covenant was, and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. She vowed that if God gave her a son, then she would give him to God. Eli the priest saw her praying and thought that she was drunk.
So one day, Hannah went up to the temple, and prayed. She wept with great sorrow of heart. Eli the High Priest heard her weeping bitterly at the altar. Hannah was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.
Hannah is the second and barren yet preferred wife of Elkanah. She suffers silently in this predicament but eventually goes to a temple and prays fervently. She promises to return her child to YHWH if she is able to have a male baby, showing that she is most focused on securing her position in the community.
Hannah trusted God without doubt or concern. Hannah's story teaches us that our faith in God allows Him to bless us. Her trust in God as she turned to Him, her deep desire for children and her faithfulness in bringing Samuel to God as promised are all evidences of God working in Hannah's life.
It's the bitterness of soul, the inner pain resulting from prolonged, multi-layered suffering which becomes distasteful. It's what Proverbs 14:10 speaks of, “The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.”
Every year she would go with her husband to a place called Shiloh. While they were there, there would be a big festival and everyone would celebrate all that God did for them. They would thank God for their crops and everything God gave them, and give sacrifices or presents to God to show how thankful they were.
Penninah, her rival, is not kind to Hannah. She “used to provoke her grievously to irritate” Hannah (v. 6). Penninah tormented Hannah because the latter could not conceive.
Prayer has the ability to move us from a place of infertility to place where we can conceive new life. When Hannah's prayer concludes, the scripture says that she was no longer sad. As a matter of fact, she was able to go home to eat and drink with her husband…and conceive a child.
Not only did God remember Hannah with the birth of Samuel, he also gave her three more sons and two daughters. Samuel continued in his service at the temple, and when he was a young man, the Lord called to him and gave him the first of many visions. As he grew, the Lord was with him, and he became a trusted prophet.
Hannah was one hundred and thirty years old when she became pregnant, as was Jochebed (Midrash Samuel 4:1); this midrash is part of the Rabbinic trend to compare Samuel with Moses (see below). I Sam.
With winter pressing in and money scarce, Jake and Hannah discover hardships can either drive them apart or draw them closer. Determined to find hope despite fearful conditions, they struggle to survive in this harsh land and bear their responsibilities with grace.
Then she made a promise. She said: "Oh, God Almighty, if you will only see my misery and remember me by giving me a son, then I will give my son to serve you, God, for all the days of his life."
Be Persistent in Prayer
Despite the difficult circumstances she faced, Hannah persistently prayed to God. 1 Samuel 1:12 states that she kept on praying to the Lord. And her prayers were not just a one-time event, but she prayed with an intensity and focus. 1 Samuel 1:15 states she “poured her soul before the Lord.”
“Then Hannah prayed and said: 'My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. 'There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.
Hannah's specific request for a male child is therefore a reflection of the preference for sons in ancient Israel, which derived principally from the fact that, in that society, male children were greatly desired for the purpose of the perpetuation of the husband's lineage, as well as for land inheritance.
And may the LORD make your promise come true.” So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her child. After she had weaned him, she took him to Shiloh, taking along a three-year-old bull, ten kilogrammes of flour, and a leather bag full of wine.
She named him Samuel for she said “I have asked him of the Lord”. ' In this account we learn of Hannah's great distress because of her infertility and a sufficient number of symptoms are mentioned to make a diagnosis of depression.
According to the surrounding narrative, the poem (1 Samuel 2:1–10) was a prayer delivered by Hannah, to give thanks to God for the birth of her son, Samuel. It is similar to Psalm 113 and the Magnificat.
Hannah's desire to have a child wasn't selfish ambition. It was God's plan all along despite all the pain and agony that it caused her. Hannah was a wife to Elkanah who has a second wife Peninnah. Having children in those days would have been part of the identity and the purpose of a married woman.