1 SAMUEL 1:1-17

Chapter 1 – A Barren Wife (1:1-17)

A Woman Named Hannah

The first chapter begins with an introduction of a man named Elkanah and his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was barren whilst Peninnah had children. The circumstances of this one woman, Hannah, would be the catalyst that the Lord used for a major plot development in redemption history.

Elkanah and his house would travel to Shiloh, which was located north of Jerusalem in Ephraim, to offer sacrifices to the Lord. Peninnah, year after year, mocked Hannah because she was barren. Hannah’s barrenness was no matter of misfortune or accident, scripture makes it clear that Lord had made her barren (v.6). This affliction led her to cry before God in desperate and heart-felt prayer. This is exactly where she needed to be. Note that the Lord works best in those who are broken hearted, it was not the loftiness of Peninnah and her fortune that led to the birth of the great prophet, but Hannah’s lowliness. Hannah cried to the Lord for a son, and vowed to give him to the Lord, in fact she suggested that he would take a Nazarite vow. Note that Elkanah was a Levite, meaning Samuel would have been qualified to fulfil the office of priest. After a meeting with Eli, the High Priest, she arose from her prayer no longer feeling sad. After that, in due time, the Lord gave Hannah a son, Samuel.

Eli and the Corrupted Priesthood

During this time, Israel was at a spiritual low point. The final verse of the book of Judges says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Jdg. 21:25). This spiritual bankruptcy can be seen in the priesthood. Eli was the high priest, and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also operating as priests. They, however, were vile men (1 Sam. 2:12) and they dishonored the Lord in their conduct. Their sins included taking inappropriate portions of offered sacrifices, failing to burn the fat of the animals on the altar, and engaging in inappropriate relations with woman who served in the temple. Eli, though a faithful man, failed to discipline his sons, and because of this, he was also punished by the Lord. He was an old man, his death would leave the Lord with a faithful servant in Israel, but the Lord had a plan to raise up a faithful man who would become the first of the Old Testament Prophets and the last of the Judges before a king was crowned.

A Prayer Received and Answered

“Now it happened in due time that Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I have asked him of Yahweh’” (1 Sam. 1:20). The Lord is good and gracious, and it pleased Him to answer Hannah’s prayer. It is worthwhile paying some attention to Hannah’s prayer because there is much that can be learnt from it. Hannah had a problem; she was barren and was constantly provoked by her rival because of this problem. “For man is born to for trouble, as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). In this life, trouble is always around the corner, no man can escape it. Because avoiding trouble is not possible, one should learn instead how to deal with it in a God honoring way, which is exactly what Hannah did. The key to Hannah’s success was knowing where her trouble came from and thus knowing where to turn to relieve that trouble. In the fifth verse of the first chapter, we learn that the Lord had closed her womb, an important truth that Hannah seemed to have recognized. She knew that the Lord had made her barren, thus she knew that He was the only one that could give her a child. This led her to prayer and to the throne of grace, from where the Lord distributes great and merciful gifts to His children. When we are struck by various trials and difficulties, let us remember that the Lord has given them to us as a means of trying us, and perfecting us. Let us lean on Him, having confidence in Him, knowing that He is good and gracious and will not abandon us or give us more than we can bear. Let us pray as Hannah did, and we will be comforted as she was; “So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.” (1 Sam. 1:17).