I am the woman that stood with you in this place to pray to Adonai. This is the boy that I prayed for, and Adonai gave to me my request that I requested from him.
1 Samuel 1:26-27
1 There was a certain man from the Ramataim of Tzophim from the hills of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Yerocham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tochu, the son of Tzuph the Ephraimite.
This first verse gives us the background on Elkanah, Samuel’s father, tracing his lineage to a clan elder (Tzuph, founder of the Tzophim) within the tribe of Ephraim, one of the two tribes connected to Joseph, as such the first main character of this book is a descendant of Joseph, who was gifted with prophetic dreams and wisdom to interpret them. As we shall see later, Samuel has similar gifts.
2 And he had two wives, the name of the first was Channah and the name of the second was Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Channah did not have children.
Elkanah has two wives, a common occurrence in the ancient middle east. His first wife Channah (or Hannah) is childless, following the pattern of several important women in the Bible, including Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel in the book of Genesis. These women all became mothers to important Biblical figures, Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and Benjamin, respectively.
Barrenness was a great shame to women in the ancient middle east. Without children they had no one to carry on the family business, no one to care for them when they grew old, and no heir to the family name. Channah’s barrenness evidently drove Elkanah to marry another wife so that he could have children (much like Abraham did with Hagar when Sarah was baren).
3 This man would go up from his city day by day to worship and sacrifice to Adonai of Hosts in Shiloh. And there the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinechas were priests of Adonai.
Elkanah is a righteous man. He goes and worships the Lord of Hosts (Adonai Tzevaot, or literally, the Lord of Armies) at the Tabernacle on a regular basis. The text reads “from days of days” and is often translated “annually,” or “year by year,” in keeping with the annual festivals of sacrifice to Adonai as described in Leviticus and keeping with how the story describes the annual visits later on (verse 7 and on). However, it is possible that Elkanah’s times of worship were more frequent than the annual sacrifices that he brought his entire family to, especially given that Shiloh is centrally located within the hills of Ephraim. While it is unlikely that he offered a burnt sacrifice every day (those would be saved for the festivals), it is possible that he prayed to the Lord at the Tabernacle often enough to be described as “day by day.”
I already touched on the name of God used here, the Lord of Hosts/Armies, Elkanah and his family are worshiping God as a God of battle and war. Given that this is taking place around the same time as the events described in the book of Judges, with wave after wave of invaders and inter-tribal conflict, the idea that they see God primarily as a war God is fitting, and also sets up God’s role throughout much of the rest of the book of Samuel.
We are also introduced to Hophni and Phinechas, who are acting as priests in leu of their elderly father Eli. There will be more on them later.
4 And on the day that Elkanah sacrificed he would give portions to Peninnah, his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters. 5 And to Channah he would give a double portion, for he loved Channah, and Adonai had closed her womb.
As per the instructions on certain sacrifices, particularly the fellowship offering described in Leviticus, when an animal was sacrificed to the Lord, it was then divided up, and shared as a meal, the priests would take part of it and the rest was shared among the family and friends. Here we see Elkanah dividing the meat among his family, and giving Channah double what everyone else gets, because he loves her, despite her bareness, and he has compassion on her.
The wording for “double portion” is odd. In Hebrew it literally says, minah achat apaim,”one portion of nostrils,” or “one portion of two noses.” The Hebrew word for nose, aph, is often used as a description for anger, so the translation could also be “one doubly angry portion.” However, none of these translations make sense so most scholars suggest it is simply a “double portion”
The text states that God had closed Channah’s womb. This goes hand in hand with the idea that God controls the act of conception. God alone chooses when people are created, as such he logically also decides who remains barren, at least in this case. This is a hard statement, that God is actively causing Channah’s barrenness, perhaps this is just how the text wants us to see it, as though this was Channah’s understanding, that she was for some reason cursed to never have children, or it is setting up a pattern that appears in the Bible, that God allows some people to go through immense hardship so that he can work wonders in their life later on.
6 And her rival wife would provoke her with provocation on account of her womb, for Adonai has closed behind her womb. 7 And so it was year after year, whenever she went up into the house of Adonai, she would provoke her. And she wept and would not eat.
Peninnah likes to hold Channah’s barrenness above her. Peninnah’s children give her status and respect, she has born her husband sons and daughters to carry on his family. Channah has no children, but Elkanah still seems to love her more, and gives her a double sized portion. So Peninnah lashes out at Channah cruelly, especially at the times of the festivals and sacrifices. So even though Channah has a double portion of the food, she will not eat it.
8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Channah, why are you weeping? And why are you not eating? And why is it evil to your heart? Am I not as good to you as ten sons?”
Elkanah tries to comfort Channah, and cheer her up, essentially saying that he doesn’t care that she doesn’t have children. As good as his intentions are, all his words seem to do is remind her that she is childless.
9 And Channah got up after she ate in Shiloh and after drinking. And Eli the Priest sat on the chair by the doorframe to the temple of Adonai.
Channah evidently does eat some food, but then she gets up after she is finished. Eli the priest is sitting by the entrance to the tabernacle while his sons oversee the work of the festival.
10 And she was bitter of soul, and she prayed to Adonai, and wept a weeping. 11 And she vowed and vow and said, “Adonai of Hosts, if looking you look upon the misery of your maidservant, and you remember me and do not forget your maidservant, and you give to your maidservant a male offspring, then I will give him to Adonai all the days of his life, and a razor will go up on his head.”
Channah prays to God for a child. She is not in the mood to pray, rather she is bitter of soul. She is weeping and praying through tears as she prays for her one desire. She has been tormented by Peninnah and has reached her breaking point. Her prayer is worded like a plea for help, trying to bargain with God for a child, “if you give me a child, I’ll give him back to you.” Such a bargain would leave her in a similar position culturally, no heir for her family, no child to care for her when she grew old, the child would grow up serving the Lord instead.
The way she words her prayer speak volumes, she refers to herself as the Lord’s amah, literally a female slave, or concubine. The connotation is not a great one. While the text does not state this, I wonder if amah was a name Peninnah called her, since she did not have children and thus was downgraded from a wife to a plaything for her husband. Now Channah is using the spiteful moniker as a label for herself as she prays to God for a child.
The last line of her prayer, that “no razor will go up his head,” is a reference to the Nazirite Vow. Nazirites were people who wanted to dedicate a period of their life entirely to God’s service, during the days of their vow they were not allowed to cut their hair, touch anything dead, nor drink wine or eat grapes. Channah is offering her son as a Nazirite from birth. Only two other figures in the Bible are identified as such: Samson, and John the Baptist. Samson might even be alive at the time of this prayer. If Channah has a child, he will be entirely devoted to God, and destined for great things.
12 And it was that as she continued to pray before Adonai, Eli observed her mouth. 13 For Channah she spoke only in her heart, her lips quivered, and her voice was not heard. And Eli thought she was drunk.
Eli is sitting near the entrance to the Tabernacle, and he can see Channah as she prays. She prays silently, shaking and quivering, her lips moving but not making any sound. This is one of the only prayers in the Bible that describes what someone was doing while they prayed. To this day, Jews bob their heads as they pray to try and echo Channah’s posture.
Eli sees this display, and assumes that Channah had a little too much wine during the meal.
14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you behave drunkenly? Remove your wine from you. 15 And Channah answered and said, “No my lord, I am a woman of heavy spirit, and wine and strong drink I have not drunk. But I have been pouring out my soul before Adonai. 16 Do not take your servant as a daughter of wickedness, for my many worries and provocations I have spoken until now.”
Eli rebukes Channah for being drunk, and she quickly corrects him. She explains herself, that she is not a drunkard nor a prostitute, and that her soul was troubled and was laying out her frustrations before God.
17 And Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel give your request that you requested from him.”
Eli believes Channah when she explained herself, and then gives her a quick blessing, asking that God grant her request. As he is technically the high priest, Eli’s words would have authority behind them, one of his roles is to make intercession for the people of Israel, and now here is a woman of Israel, with a request, and he asks that God grant it without even knowing what she requested.
18 And she said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” And the woman went on her way and she ate, and her face was not sad anymore.
The prayer and the encouragement of Eli has left Channah feeling better, she returns to the feast, and eats and is no longer sad. She has hope.
19 And they got up early in the morning and bowed before Adonai. And they returned and came to their house in Ramatah. And Elkana knew Channah his wife, and Adonai remembered her.
After celebrating the festival until nightfall, Elkanah and his family stayed at Shiloh, returning home in the morning.
The Hebrew word yada’ literally means “to know,” and is often used as a euphemism for sexual activity between a husband and wife in scripture. To say that someone “knows” someone else with the word yada’ is to suggest they know them on a deeply intimate level.
In the midst of their intimacy God remembers Channah and her prayer, and decides to grant her request.
20 And the days passed, and Channah conceived and gave birth to a son. And she called his name Samuel because she requested him from Adonai.
Channah gives birth to a son, completing the pattern of God giving a barren woman a child. She names him Samuel, which literally means “His name is of God,” which suggests that Samuel is to be dedicated to God in every sense, even his name belongs to God. When Channah gives the reason for Samuel’s name, she says it is because she requested him from God. Channah sees Samuel as something she is borrowing from God, so that she can give him back to God’s service.
21 And the man Elkanah, and all his household, went up to sacrifice to Adonai the daily sacrifice and his vow.
As is his custom, Elkanah continues to go up to worship the Lord. Again, there is this weird use of the word “daily” when it seems to suggest more of an annual event of sacrifice, that he is bringing his entire family with him.
In addition to his normal sacrifice, Elkanah has in mind to fulfill a vow, possibly the vow Channah made regarding Samuel.
22 And Channah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Until the boy is weaned, then I will bring him, and he will appear before Adonai, and he will remain there until eternity.”
Channah is not yet ready to give Samuel up, and to be fair, he is not ready to be separated from his mother. If this is an annual sacrifice Samuel cannot be more than a few months old at this point. Channah wants to make sure that Samuel is ready before she drops him off to serve in the Tabernacle.
23 And Elkanah said to her, his wife, “Do what is good in your eyes. Stay until you have weaned him. Only may Adonai fulfil his word.” And the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
Elkanah is alright with Channah staying behind to nurse Samuel. His words to her are kind, but there is a sense of urgency with them. His remark about “Adonai fulfilling his word,” suggests that he sees that God has upheld his side of the bargain. God gave Channah a son, now she is supposed to give him back. It is a subtle way of reminding Channah that she will need to let go of her son, because of her deal with God.
24 And she took him up with her, when she had weaned him. And she brought him with three bulls, one ephah on flour, and a jar of wine to the house of Adonai at Shiloh, and the boy was a boy. 25 And they slaughtered the bull and they brought the boy to Eli.
Once Samuel is weaned, and most likely a couple years old, Channah takes him up to the Tabernacle. She brings along a sacrifice, which the Hebrew text renders as including three bulls, the Greek Septuagint offers the more likely wording of “a three-year-old bull,” especially since the next verse includes only one bull in the sacrifice. A three-year-old bull was older than most sacrifices required and would have been seen as an offering above and beyond what was necessary. An ephah of flour was roughly 22 liters, 3/5s of a bushel, or 25 pounds, which is a lot of flour, which would have been used to make the bread required in various sacrifices, or as a gift for the priests to use to make their meals. Likewise wine would have been used in a libation offering to God
With the gifts listed we cannot specify exactly which offering Channah is making, just that she is going above and beyond in her offerings to God. She is truly thankful, even if she now has to give up her son. She brings him to Eli the Priest.
26 And she said, “Excuse me my lord, as your soul lives my lord, I am the woman that stood with you in this place to pray to Adonai. 27 This is the boy that I prayed for, and Adonai gave to me my request that I requested from him. 28 And I also lend him to Adonai, all of his days that he lives he is lent to Adonai.” And he bowed down there to Adonai.
Channah explains the miraculous answer of prayer to Eli, and explains why she is now giving Samuel to him. She requested (Hebrew: sha’al) him of the Lord, and now she lends (Hebrew: sha’al) him back to the Lord. The word for request and lend is the same word in Hebrew. So now Samuel is to be raised by the priests to serve God all the days of his life.