HANNAH
1 Samuel 1 & 2
This is actually the second blog I have written for today. The first was on Samuel. “Why Samuel?” may be the first question you might ask. The answer I believe is a simple one. The elders are considering candidates for both the deacon and elder boards. Part of our process is an interview where we ask a series of questions about their personal lives, doctrine, theology and Bible knowledge. One of those questions is, “Who is your favorite person in the Old Testament and why?” It’s been so long ago for me that I cannot remember who I gave as my answer, but today it would be Samuel. Then I read what I had written and immediately, I thought I should be writing about Mother’s Day. And then I thought, what better mother to write about than Hannah, Samuel’s mother. Now the question was, how do I go about doing this?
I could have had you read the first two chapters of Samuel and then come back to the blog or put it in print. This is what I decided to do. So, here it is!
Samuel’s parents were Elkanah and Hannah and Elkanah’s other wife was Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. Year after year Elkanah went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh where Eli’s sons were priests. (Eli was a priest, a judge, and a high priest who oversaw the tabernacle at Shiloh). When the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. Peninnah used this fact to provoke Hannah to irritate her. This went on year after year. And, when they went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah provoked her until she wept and would not eat. Elkanah 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? (Typical male response, not a clue!) and Hannah continued to weep.
After they finished eating and drinking, Hannah in her anguish, stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house. In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look at 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.”
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 are you going to stay drunk? Put away 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 you servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.” 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.”
Early the next morning they arose and worshipped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. So, in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”
When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and 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,” her husband Elkanah 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 the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, “Pardon me my Lord, as surely as you live, 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 worshipped the Lord there.
This is the first chapter of 1 Samuel in the NIV. I concentrated on Hannah because chapter one is her story. A loving and loved wife, a woman who loved God and trusted in His wisdom and loving care for His children. A woman who was not afraid to lay her heart bare before her God and reveal her pain. But most of all, a woman that made a vow to the Lord that if He heard and answered her prayer, she would dedicate her son to God and His tabernacle. And she kept that vow!
I will highlight parts of Hannah’s prayer in chapter two, but please read it in its entirety. It is well worth it. Random verses from Hannah’s prayer: “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. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
Starting in verse 19 of chapter 2: “Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
It is quite a story about a mother that is well worth telling. It is as meaningful today as it was at the time it happened. I hope you agree! Happy Mother’s Day!
This is actually the second blog I have written for today. The first was on Samuel. “Why Samuel?” may be the first question you might ask. The answer I believe is a simple one. The elders are considering candidates for both the deacon and elder boards. Part of our process is an interview where we ask a series of questions about their personal lives, doctrine, theology and Bible knowledge. One of those questions is, “Who is your favorite person in the Old Testament and why?” It’s been so long ago for me that I cannot remember who I gave as my answer, but today it would be Samuel. Then I read what I had written and immediately, I thought I should be writing about Mother’s Day. And then I thought, what better mother to write about than Hannah, Samuel’s mother. Now the question was, how do I go about doing this?
I could have had you read the first two chapters of Samuel and then come back to the blog or put it in print. This is what I decided to do. So, here it is!
Samuel’s parents were Elkanah and Hannah and Elkanah’s other wife was Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. Year after year Elkanah went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh where Eli’s sons were priests. (Eli was a priest, a judge, and a high priest who oversaw the tabernacle at Shiloh). When the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. Peninnah used this fact to provoke Hannah to irritate her. This went on year after year. And, when they went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah provoked her until she wept and would not eat. Elkanah 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? (Typical male response, not a clue!) and Hannah continued to weep.
After they finished eating and drinking, Hannah in her anguish, stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house. In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look at 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.”
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 are you going to stay drunk? Put away 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 you servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.” 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.”
Early the next morning they arose and worshipped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. So, in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”
When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and 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,” her husband Elkanah 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 the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, “Pardon me my Lord, as surely as you live, 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 worshipped the Lord there.
This is the first chapter of 1 Samuel in the NIV. I concentrated on Hannah because chapter one is her story. A loving and loved wife, a woman who loved God and trusted in His wisdom and loving care for His children. A woman who was not afraid to lay her heart bare before her God and reveal her pain. But most of all, a woman that made a vow to the Lord that if He heard and answered her prayer, she would dedicate her son to God and His tabernacle. And she kept that vow!
I will highlight parts of Hannah’s prayer in chapter two, but please read it in its entirety. It is well worth it. Random verses from Hannah’s prayer: “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. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
Starting in verse 19 of chapter 2: “Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
It is quite a story about a mother that is well worth telling. It is as meaningful today as it was at the time it happened. I hope you agree! Happy Mother’s Day!
by Paul Kightlinger, Elder
Posted in Faith Blogs
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