About 1 Samuel 1
1 Samuel 1
Author: the book was written by Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan.
Date Written: Uncertain; Perhaps around 1000 B.C.
Content: The choices people make say a lot about their character. This book tells the story of Samuel, the events surrounding his birth and his life. The appointment of King Saul and his fall-through with God. The choosing and appointing of King David. Saul’s countless pursuit and attempts on David’s life. By the end of the book, Saul and his son are dead and David is in line to become the next king of Israel.
So near the end of last year, I was trying to find a new way to study the Bible and found a app called Faithlife Study Bible and it has helped a ton when it comes to understanding the Bible more and it led me to creating many notes on this book of the Bible to the point where I feel led to share it, so here we are. Let’s begin.
“And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.””
1 Samuel 1 starts with an introduction to “a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim” (NLT) who has two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah has children, but Hannah does not.
Some people would look over the mention of the geographical location here, and by this time, you’ve read through 1 and 2 Judges and so have probably forgotten that in Joshua 24:33, the Levites [God’s chosen priests] are described to live in the hill country of Ephraim. Meaning, that Genoalogically, Elkanah is a Levite, which means that so are his children, and that is very important to note.
The Polygamy here of our dear Elikanah, is common in the Old Testament, the patriarchs of Israel also had more than one wife. According to Faithlife Study Bible, “it is possible that Hannah was Elkanah’s first wife, and he married Peninnah because Hannah did not bear children.” Also quite common, in Genesis 16:2, Sarai (Sarah) gave Abram (Abraham) her maid Haggar due to her not having conceived a child.
Let’s carry-on with the story:
Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. - 1 Samuel 1:3, NLT
On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children. So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat. - 1 Samuel 1: 4-8, NLT
Hannah is not the first woman in the Bible who is unable to bear a child. The matriarchs - Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel (Gen 21:1-5; 25:21; 29:31-30:2) were also unable to bear a child. Each of them conceived a child through an act of God and every one of them did great things for God and His people. This gives us a hint that Hannah will join these women, because why else would this story be in the Bible?
Let’s continue.
Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” - 1 Samuel 1:9-11, NLT
Hannah is the only woman in the Old Testament to go to the Tabernacle; she’s also portrayed as the paragon of faith among the woman in the Hebrew Bible, unlike the matriarchs, Hannah took her problems directly to God in prayer. She is also the only woman recorded in the Old Testament to have made and kept a vow to God; a vow to set her son aside to become a Nazarite, “his hair will never be cut”.
Nazarite [from the Hebrew word meaning "to separate"]: a man or woman who has taken the Nazarite vow, which is distinguished by abstinence from certain actions.As Hannah prayed, the priest Eli [we would get into him in the next chapter] watched her and thought she was drunk because though he saw her lips move, he did not hear words. Upon the clarification that Hannah was not drunk but in anguish and pouring her heart onto God, Eli tells her: “May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.” The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.” 1 Samuel 1:19b-20, NLT
The line, “the Lord remembered her plea” implies that God has now turn His attention to Hannah and through Hannah, “God initiates a new phase in His plan for Israel” [Faithlife Study Bible]. Furthermore, the name Samuel means “his name is God” or “name of God”, which emphasizes the role of God in Samuel’s life.
Hannah finally gets the object of her desire, a son. Her prayer is answered and as such, she has to keep her end of the agreement. She waits until Samuel is weaned - which is simply the transition from breastmilk to solid food - before she goes to drop him off at the Tabernacle to Eli:
“Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they worshiped the Lord there. - 1 Samuel 1:26-28, NLT
Hannah’s prayer to God is in Chapter 2, but I will speak on it now because it keeps the flow of this study. Hannah exults God in a poem (2:1-11) which is similar to Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55.
Hannah’s poem proclaims Yahweh as her strength, she rejoices at the salvation God gave her - the gift of a son [2:1]. She also makes pointed remarks at what she experienced with Peninnah:
Those who were well fed are now starving,
and those who were starving are now full.
The childless woman now has seven children,
and the woman with many children wastes away.
- 1 Samuel 2:5, NLT
Hannah eventually goes on to have six more children, which makes it seven with Samuel [1 Sam 2:21].
Hannah’s poem is also prophetic, “He gives power to his king; he increases the strength of his anointed one” (2: 10, NLT). This alludes to both to the monarchy that God uses Samuel to commence and to Jesus. The “Israelites anointed their kings with oil (10:1; 16:13)” and overtime, ‘anointed one’ was used to refer to the coming of the Messiah (Mark 1:1).
I find Hannah to be very inspiring. She went through the shame of not having children [as that was what brought woman honor back them] to bearing seven of them. All because she cried out to God and was faithful to Him.
She could’ve not kept her vow or even her husband, Elkanah, could’ve even voided Hannah’s vow per the law (Numbers 30:6-15), but he too was devoted to God. As a result, God blessed them abundantly by giving Hannah six more children.
Nothing is impossible for God. He has not forgotten about us. There’s a time and place for everything, and though the wait can be painful to us, our patience will be rewarded for God’s plans are for our good (Jeremiah 29:11).
What did you learn through this study?
I’d love to hear your comments below!
