World English Bible
- Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
- He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
- This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of Armies in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to the LORD, were there.
- When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters;
- but he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had shut up her womb.
- Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because the LORD had shut up her womb.
- So year by year, when she went up to the LORD’s house, her rival provoked her. Therefore she wept, and didn’t eat.
- Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
- So Hannah rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of the LORD’s temple.
- She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly.
- She vowed a vow, and said, “LORD of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head.”
- As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli saw her mouth.
- Now Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.
- Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”
- Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have not been drinking wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the LORD.
- Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation.”
- Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”
- She said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate; and her facial expression wasn’t sad any more.
- They rose up in the morning early and worshiped the LORD, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.
- When the time had come, Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the LORD.”
- The man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and his vow.
- But Hannah didn’t go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and stay there forever.”
- Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may the LORD establish his word.” So the woman waited and nursed her son until she weaned him.
- When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, and one ephah of meal, and a container of wine, and brought him to the LORD’s house in Shiloh. The child was young.
- They killed the bull, and brought the child to Eli.
- She said, “Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the LORD.
- I prayed for this child, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of him.
- Therefore I have also given him to the LORD. As long as he lives he is given to the LORD.” He worshiped the LORD there.
Tears at Shiloh
A Devotional Meditation on 1 Samuel 1
“Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.”
Psalm 126 : 5 (New International Version)
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Relevant passages
• Judges 21 : 19–24 (pilgrims at Shiloh)
• Deuteronomy 12 : 5–7 (central sanctuary)
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Cultural note
At feast time Elkanah gives Hannah a “double portion” (v. 5). The Hebrew
phrase is rare; some manuscripts read “a portion for two persons,”
picturing Elkanah treating Hannah as though she already had the child
she longs for.
Cross-reference
• Genesis 30 : 1–2; Luke 1 : 7—other waiting women
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Key word
sha’al (שָׁאַל) = to ask, request. Hannah “asks” a son (vv. 17, 20). The
name she later gives him, “Samuel” (שְׁמוּאֵל), sounds like “heard by God.”
Every time she calls him, she remembers both the asking and the
answer.
The vow
She promises that her son will be given to the Lord “all the days of his
life, and no razor will ever be used on his head” (v. 11). This echoes
the Nazirite vow of Numbers 6, yet with lifelong force normally reserved
for figures like Samson and John the Baptist.
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When Samuel is weaned—likely at two to three years of age in that culture—Hannah brings him back to Shiloh along with a generous offering, and she repeats her earlier words almost verbatim. Biblical writers use repetition as a literary device to underline fulfillment. The chapter ends with a simple, aching sentence: “And he worshiped the Lord there” (v. 28, New American Standard Bible). Mother and toddler bow together; she leaves, he stays.
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God Hears the Powerless
In a climate of priestly corruption (Eli’s sons, ch. 2), God begins
renewal not with the powerful but with a barren woman in tears. The
pattern points forward to Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1 : 46-55).
Prayer that Pours Out the Heart
Hannah’s prayer is raw, specific, and self-forgetting. Augustine said,
“She spoke in her heart; God listened with His.”¹
Surrender and Stewardship
Hannah does not clutch the gift once received; she gives him back. John
Calvin wrote that true faith “receives in order to return.”
The Birth of Leadership in Obscure Places
Israel’s transition from judges to monarchy will hinge on Samuel. The
story reminds us that God often begins great movements in hidden
corners—wombs, stables, empty tombs.
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• Weaning Age
In modern settings weaning happens early; in the ancient Near East it
could be as late as age four. Hannah’s sacrifice is therefore larger
than many Western readers assume.
• Pilgrim Feasts
The “yearly sacrifice” (v. 21) is probably the Feast of Tabernacles, a
week-long celebration of God’s provision. The timing underscores the
irony of Hannah’s emptiness amid national rejoicing.
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Barrenness to Birth
• Sarah—Genesis 21
• Rebekah—Genesis 25
• Rachel—Genesis 30
• Manoah’s wife—Judges 13
• Elizabeth—Luke 1
Reversal Songs
• Hannah’s own song—1 Samuel 2 : 1-10
• Mary’s song—Luke 1 : 46-55
• Psalm 113 : 7-9
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• Gregory the Great (6th c.) saw Hannah as an icon of contemplative
prayer: “Her lips moved, yet her voice was not heard—thus must the heart
pray.”
• Martin Luther loved Hannah’s vow as an example of “taking God at His
word, then letting God take what is most precious.”
• John Wesley used Hannah to teach prevenient grace: even her desire to
pray was “a whisper of the divine Spirit.”
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For Personal Reflection
When has unanswered prayer shaped rather than shattered my
faith?
What gifts have I “weaned” and returned to God lately?
How might silent, wordless prayer become part of my walk this week?
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Father who remembers,
You saw Hannah’s tears in the shadows of Shiloh
and turned her anguish into a nation’s hope.
Look on the silent prayers we dare not speak aloud.
Hear us, hold us, shape us.
Give us grace to receive every gift with open hands
and faith to return each gift for Your glory.
Through Jesus Christ, the One long-promised and well-given.
Amen.
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¹ Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 37.