It begins with a family from the mountains of Ephraim (v1,2). Elkanah, a man of Ramathaim Zophim, who was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, sons and daughters, but Hannah did not, she was barren.
Polygamy was accepted as a fact of life, but it was never ordered by God and wherever it occurs, there was trouble and strife. Not unlike others told of in the Scriptures, there was intense rivalry and conflict between them. An earlier example was Jacob with his wives Leah and Rachel in the book of Genesis.
It is clear that it was a sin to have more than one wife, although it appears to be a sin of ignorance. Jesus said in Matthew 19:8 that from the beginning it was not so.
Elkanah and his family went every year to worship and sacrifice to The LORD. At that time the tabernacle was in Shiloh, so that’s where they went. We’re told that the priests were Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, who were wicked, as we shall see later. At the time of offerings, he would give portions to Peninnah and her children, but to Hannah he would give a double portion (v3-7). This was out of his love for Hannah. Peninnah provoked Hannah to make her miserable. This happened every year and caused her to weep and not eat. Even double portions didn’t make her happy. They could not make sacrifices anytime and anywhere, but, by law, they had to go to the tabernacle which was in Shiloh at this time.
Even though the priests were wicked, Elkanah went to worship The LORD.
This was painful for Hannah, God had closed her womb, but Peninnah had had several children. We cannot always understand God’s plans, especially when bad things seem to happen to good people, and good things to bad people. God was in charge, and still is, and we need to wait His time.
Elkanah asked Hannah why she was weeping and not eating and so sad. He then suggested to her that he was better to her than ten sons. Somewhat tactless you may think! He did love her, but he was rather insensitive. Nothing could really replace motherhood to a woman longing to have children (v8-11). Hannah went to pray in the tabernacle where Eli was sitting. She was in anguish, praying and weeping and she made a vow – “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to The LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”
Hannah did the best thing, she brought her concerns before The LORD. I don’t believe that God necessarily wants us to make vows to Him, but if we do, we must be very careful what we say. In this case Hannah was fully committed to the promise she was making. It was a very serious vow – she was barren, but she was asking for a son, and she would give him to The LORD all his days. She prayed to The LORD of hosts, which indicated that she recognised that He was all powerful and could answer her prayer.
Her vow was, in fact, that he would be a Nazirite (see Numbers 6). No razor would come upon his head. Usually this was for a set period, but in the case of Samuel and Samson (Judges 13) it would be for life and meant (i) abstinence from any product from a grape vine, signifying distance from all fleshly pleasures. (ii)Taking no part in any mourning for the dead, nor coming near a dead body, because the dead show the corruption and the fruit of sin; and (iii) Never cutting the hair because it was a public, visible sign to others of the vow.
This child would be a Levite and they were already dedicated to God. In Numbers 4 such dedication was from the age of 30 to 50, but she was giving him for his whole life. It was big decision for her.
Eli was watching her. He could see her lips move but she was praying silently to God, and he thought she was drunk, so he castigated her (v12-14). This was no one-line prayer, it was intense and from the heart. Maybe it was common for people to pray when they were under the influence of alcohol in the tabernacle, which was a sad situation. It seemed that religion was at a very low standard if such people frequented the tabernacle.
Hannah’s reply shows her true character in that she was not angry with Eli, she treated him with respect. She simply assured him that she was not under the influence of any intoxicants, nor was she a wicked woman, but she was earnestly pouring out her heart to The LORD (v15-18). Eli was assured and wished her God’s peace and that God would answer her prayers. She left uplifted and even ate some food.
It is good for us to pour out our hearts to the Lord, and we can feel encouraged afterwards.
After worshiping early next morning, the family returned to their home at Raman (v19,20). Shortly afterwards Elkanah and Hannah made love, which is really what ‘knew his wife’ means. Then we have one of those strange phrases – “…. and the LORD remembered her”. It is not as though He had forgotten her, it is simply putting it in terms that we mere mortals can understand. It is encouraging that God listens to our prayers and even though He may not answer immediately, He will answer in His time. God does not forget.
It says that ‘it came to pass in the process of time’. Babies do not come immediately; they take at least 8/9 months normally. We are not told how long afterwards that Hannah conceived, but she did, and bore a son. There may have been some concerns on Hannah’s part that God had not heard and answered. It required patience, but in this case God’s answer was ‘Yes’. His name was Samuel because ’he was from the LORD’. God received all the credit.
The time came again for Elkanah and his family to go to offer and sacrifice to The LORD (v21-23). This time Hannah did not go. She wanted the child to be weaned first. It perhaps seemed strange as one might have thought that she would go to give thanks. However, her concern was for the child to be weaned and then she would take him to appear before The LORD and then he would be there forever. Elkanah agreed with her, he was happy for her to do what was best and what she believed was right before The LORD. She probably did not go for two or three years, which was the usual time for weaning a child.
Eventually after weaning him, she took him to the house of The LORD in Shiloh, with three bulls, an Ephah of flour and a skin of wine. They killed the bull and brought young Samuel to Eli. This was not going to be easy for Hannah and Elkanah as she was about to fulfil the promise she gave to The LORD. She introduced herself to Eli. I wonder if Eli had remembered her. She reminded him of the promise she had given and presented Samuel to The LORD and into Eli’s keeping (v24-28)
Form what we know of Eli and his sons, this was risky, but she was giving Samuel to The LORD and there was no danger in that.
We can meet dangerous situations, but if we have placed ourselves in God’s hands, we are safe whatever man can do to us.
Sad, though the situation may have been, they worshiped The LORD there. It could not have been easy for them, but their priorities were to worship God in it all.
