History · Chapter 1 of 31

1 Samuel 1

Hannah, one of Elkanah's two wives, is barren and cruelly provoked by Peninnah. In deep anguish she prays at the tabernacle in Shiloh, vowing that if God gives her a son she will dedicate him to the LORD. Eli the priest first mistakes her for drunk, then blesses her. God remembers Hannah, she conceives and bears Samuel, and in time she brings him to Shiloh, lending him to the LORD for life.

What happens in 1 Samuel 1

Elkanah loves Hannah, but she has no children, while his other wife Peninnah has many and taunts Hannah year after year at the yearly worship in Shiloh. Grieved and weeping, unable to eat, Hannah goes up to the house of the LORD in bitterness of soul. She pours out her heart in silent prayer, vowing that if God will grant her a son she will give him back to the LORD all his days, with no razor touching his head. Eli, watching only her moving lips, assumes she is drunk and rebukes her.

Hannah explains she is a woman of a sorrowful spirit pouring out her soul, and Eli blesses her petition. She leaves comforted, her face no longer sad. God remembers her, and she conceives and bears a son, naming him Samuel because she asked him of the LORD. After weaning him, she brings the young child to Eli with a sacrifice and lends him to the LORD.

1 Samuel 1 in context

First Samuel opens at the tabernacle in Shiloh near the end of the era of the judges, a spiritually low time when the word of the LORD was rare. Barrenness was a source of deep grief and social shame for a woman in the ancient world.

Hannah's story echoes other biblical mothers, such as Sarah and Rachel, whom God enabled to conceive against all hope. Her longed-for son, Samuel, will become the prophet who anoints Israel's first kings.

Main themes of 1 Samuel 1

Prayer born of anguishHannah does not hide her pain but pours it out before the LORD, praying so fervently that Eli thinks her drunk. God welcomes such raw, honest, wordless prayer. Her example teaches that bitterness of soul can become the very doorway into the presence of God.

God remembersScripture says the LORD remembered Hannah, and she conceived. God had not forgotten her in her barren years, for His timing was His own. He hears the cry of the overlooked and afflicted, and in due season He acts to lift up the lowly.

A gift given backHannah asks God for a son, then gives that son entirely back to the LORD. Her deepest longing becomes her freest offering. True faith holds God's gifts with open hands, treasuring the Giver far above the gift itself.

This is part of the history of God's people, real lives, real failures, and a God who keeps working through them. As you read, look for His faithfulness even when His people falter.

1 Samuel 1 (KJV)

1Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: 2And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. 4And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: 5But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. 6And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. 7And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. 8Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons? 9So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD. 10And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. 11And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. 12And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. 13Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. 14And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. 15And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. 16Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. 17Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. 18And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. 19And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her. 20Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD. 21And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. 22But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever. 23And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. 24And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young. 25And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. 26And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD. 27For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.

Verses to carry from 1 Samuel 1

“And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.”1 Samuel 1:11

“And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.”1 Samuel 1:19

“For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:”1 Samuel 1:27

Thematic connection

How 1 Samuel 1 points to Jesus

Hannah's story stands in a long line of barren women whom God visits, a line that reaches its summit when God opens the wombs of Elizabeth and, in a greater miracle still, brings forth Jesus from the virgin Mary. Each impossible birth prepares us to believe the greatest one. Hannah receives a son by asking and then lends him wholly to the LORD, while the Father gives His Son not lent but given entirely, offered up for us all.

And Hannah, the lowly and afflicted woman lifted up, foreshadows Mary, whose song in Luke echoes Hannah's own. The God who remembers a forgotten woman in Shiloh is the God who stoops to the humble and exalts them, the same heart that would one day be revealed fully in Christ, friend of the overlooked and the poor in spirit.

Questions about 1 Samuel 1

Why was Hannah's barrenness so painful?

In her culture children were seen as blessing, security, and honor, and childlessness brought grief and social shame, worsened here by Peninnah's cruel taunting (1 Samuel 1:6). Hannah's tears are not weakness but honest sorrow. Her story assures anyone carrying a deep, unmet longing that God sees, hears, and is not indifferent to their pain.

Was Hannah's vow a way of bargaining with God?

Her vow was not manipulation but wholehearted surrender to God. She asked for a son and promised to give him entirely back to the LORD (1 Samuel 1:11). Rather than clutching the very gift she longed for, she offered it in advance to God's service. Her prayer models desire held open-handedly before a good and trustworthy God.

Reflection

Hannah brought her rawest grief to God rather than burying it, and she trusted Him with the outcome. What sorrow or longing have you been carrying alone? Pour it out honestly before the LORD who remembers. And ask whether you are holding His gifts with open hands, treasuring the Giver more than anything He might give.

A prayer from 1 Samuel 1

Lord, You remember the forgotten and lift up the lowly. I pour out my longings honestly before You. Help me trust Your timing, and to hold Your gifts with open hands, treasuring You above every blessing. Thank You for giving Your own Son for me.

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