Who are Hannah and Samuel in the Bible?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Hannah was one of Elkanah's two wives and was barren (1 Samuel 1:1–2). We are only told that the LORD closed her womb (1 Samuel 1:6). Elkanah’s other wife used to mock her, causing Hannah great sadness year after year (1 Samuel 1:6–8). One year, Hannah, while weeping, promised God that if He gave her a son, she would dedicate him to temple service (1 Samuel 1:10–11). Eli, the priest, not knowing what she prayed, told her that God would grant her petition (1 Samuel 1:17–18). As promised, she conceived and named him Samuel, a name that sounds like “asked” in Hebrew, because she asked and God gave her a son (1 Samuel 1:20). Hannah kept her promise and, after weaning him, she brought him along with a sacrifice and gave him to Eli to serve in the temple (1 Samuel 1:21–28). Samuel went on to be one of Israel’s most well-known prophets and the one through whom God anointed King Saul (1 Samuel 10:1) and King David (1 Samuel 16:13). God blessed Hannah for her faithfulness, giving her more children (1 Samuel 2:21). Hannah’s righteous prayer was used to benefit all of Israel as well as to demonstrate God’s mercy for her.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The story of Hannah opens the book of Samuel. She and Peninnah were both wives of Elkanah. Unlike Peninnah, Hannah was barren (1 Samuel 1:1–2).
• Hannah’s barrenness is not explained except as being a deliberate act of God (1 Samuel 1:6). Her barrenness provides fodder for her rival, Peninnah, to grieve her every year when they went to Shiloh to offer sacrifices (1 Samuel 1:3–7). The sacrifices included distributing meat, a luxury item, to the wives and children. This served as an annual reminder that Peninnah, not Hannah, had apparently been blessed by God. Out of love, Elkanah would give Hannah more than her fair share (1 Samuel 1:5), but Hannah wouldn’t eat because of her great sadness (1 Samuel 1:8).
• One year in Shiloh, Hannah went to the temple, weeping and praying for a son (1 Samuel 1:10). We read, “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 1:11).
• Eli the priest saw her and, while initially mistaking her sadness for being drunk (1 Samuel 1:12–15), when Hannah explained that she was praying with great sorrow in her heart (1 Samuel 1:15–16), Eli blessed her, saying, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him” (1 Samuel 1:17). Hannah left happy because of Eli’s statement (1 Samuel 1:18).
• They returned home, and Hannah conceived and had a son. She named him “Samuel,” which sounds similar to the Hebrew word for “ask,” because “I have asked for him from the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:20).
• Hannah kept her promise. She did not go to the temple the next year to wean Samuel (1 Samuel 1:21–23). The following year she went with Samuel and a sacrifice (1 Samuel 1:24–25). She presented Samuel to Eli for service in the temple (1 Samuel 1:21–28).
• God blessed Hannah for her faithfulness, giving her five more children (1 Samuel 2:21). Samuel, for his part, remained in the temple and grew to serve the LORD. He would eventually replace Eli as priest and be instrumental in anointing both King Saul (1 Samuel 10:1) and King David (1 Samuel 16:13).

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• The account of Hannah and Samuel is not found in the New Testament.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

What is significant about the account of Hannah and Samuel is not that Hannah was a great woman. She certainly trusted God and honored Him by keeping her promise. What’s significant is seeing how God used Hannah as His means for leading Israel as they transitioned into a monarchy. God chose to make Hannah barren. Then, through her prayer and promise, He provided her with a son who would become Israel’s next, and arguably greatest, prophet.

This does not diminish Hannah’s sorrow or genuine prayer. Indeed, it shows how God knows our sorrows, listens, and is pleased to work through our prayers. It also shows how God can sometimes use our prayers in ways that far outstrip our greatest hopes. Even Hannah was personally blessed far more than she asked, with God giving her five more children after Samuel.

Don’t allow your circumstances to discourage you or to keep you from praying. God loves those who come to Him, and He wants His children to genuinely share their problems with Him. God doesn’t promise that every prayer brings blessings like Hannah’s, but Scripture does promise that God is a good giver (Matthew 7:9–11) who does everything, including responding to the prayers of believers, for their ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

Go and pray to God. Ask Him because He listens, and trust Him to use your prayers for His glory and your good!

UNDERSTAND

• God caused Hannah to be barren, leading to her desperate prayer for a son, whom God mercifully gave in answer to her prayer.
• Hannah had promised to give him to temple service, and she kept her vow, giving Samuel to the temple; God blessed her faithfulness with five more children.
• Samuel became Israel's most significant prophet, anointing both King Saul and King David—God worked through her barrenness and prayer to guide the entire nation during the start of its monarchy.

REFLECT

• How does Hannah's willingness to give God the very thing she had prayed and wept for challenge the way you hold the things you have asked God to give you?
• In what ways does the annual reminder of Hannah's barrenness speak to you in how you feel when God's blessing seems to be going to everyone but you?
• How does Hannah's example of bringing her sorrow to God, rather than becoming embittered with Him, challenge your response to unanswered longings?

ENGAGE

• How does the pattern of God closing and then opening a barren womb (see Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Hannah) reveal something about how God intentionally uses human impossibility to reveal His redemptive purposes?
• What does Hannah’s story reveal about how God can use personal suffering, faithful prayer, and seemingly ordinary acts of obedience to accomplish His larger purposes?
• How does Samuel’s role in anointing Israel’s kings show the ways God can use one person’s faithfulness to influence generations and shape the course of His people?