March - Women's History Month Biblical Leaders in the Old Testament

Hannah was a prayer warrior, in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), is the mother of the prophet Samuel. Childless as one of the two wives of Elkanah, she prayed for a son, promising to dedicate him to God.  Hannah is the second and barren yet preferred wife of Elkanah. Hannah and Peninnah represent the weak and the strong in this world. The strong often mock the weak, but God hears and rescues the Hannahs of the world. She suffers silently in this predicament but eventually goes to a temple and prays fervently. “Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains 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. And 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 from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb” 1 Samuel 1:1-5 (NKJV).

The Bible reveals two big problems in Hannah’s life. She had little control over the first and none at all over the second. In the first place, she was in a polygamous marriage, with a rival wife who hated her. In the second place, she was barren. That condition is difficult for any wife who longs to bear children; but in Hannah’s time and culture, it was a source of intense grief. Each family counted on offspring to carry on the family name. Barrenness seemed a bitter reproach and shame. She might have borne her burden with fortitude had it not been for Peninnah. Although Elkanah loved Hannah and was very kind to her, Peninnah’s unkindness on top of her natural grief was too much for Hannah to bear. Hannah cried out to God about her situation. She promised the Lord that if He would give her a son, she would dedicate him to God. Hannah’s story gives us insight into God’s heart. God does not despise human desire. Hannah’s longing for a child was obviously placed in her heart by God Himself. Her husband tries to comfort her, saying in loving exasperation, “Am I not more to you than ten sons?” He does not understand why she cannot be content with what she has – namely, him! But Hannah’s desire for a son would not be quenched. She was mocked by Peninnah and rebuked by Eli, but heard by God. “And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat” 1 Samuel 1:6-7 (NKJV).

Hannah’s story also teaches us that God can use human weakness to accomplish great things. Samuel, Hannah’s son, grew up to be a great man of God, the final judge and the prophet who anointed the first two kings of Israel. God chose to be glorified in Hannah’s story. Her weakness, her trust in God as she turned to Him, the fervency of her desire, and her faithfulness in bringing Samuel to God as promised are all evidence of God working in Hannah’s life. Her tears were ordained to be part of the glorious story of what God was doing in Israel’s history. Hannah's faith turns her into a prayer warrior, as the sobs racked her body, Hannah spoke within herself to Jehovah. Her lips quivered as she mentally formed the words to express her pain. And she prayed at length, pouring out her heart to her Father. She did more, though, than just ask God to fulfill her desperate urge to bear offspring. Hannah was keen not only to receive blessings from God but also to give him what she could. So she made a vow, saying that if she had a son, she would dedicate the child to a life of service to Jehovah. “So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on 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”  Samuel 1:9-11 (NKJV).

As the months passed, Hannah’s peace of mind flowered into unbridled delight. She was pregnant! In her joy, Hannah never for a moment forgot where this blessing had come from. When the boy was born, she chose the name Samuel, which means “Name of God” and evidently refers to calling on the divine name, as Hannah had done. That year, she did not join Elkanah and the family for the trek to Shiloh. She stayed home with the child for three years, until he was weaned. Then she gathered her strength for the day on which she would have to part with her beloved son. Her prayers were answered, and she brought forth Samuel and took the child to Shiloh for religious training. The parting could not have been easy. Of course, Hannah knew that Samuel would be well cared for in Shiloh, perhaps by the hands of some of the women who served at the Tabernacle. Still, he was so young, and what mother does not long to be with her child? Nonetheless, Hannah and Elkanah brought the boy, not begrudgingly, but gratefully. They offered sacrifices at God’s house, and they presented Samuel to Eli, reminding him of the vow Hannah had made there years earlier. Hannah demonstrates her faith through obedience, even when it means an extreme personal sacrifice. She has longed for this child, and she loves him as only a mother can love a child. But her love for God is greater and she shows it by letting go of Samuel. “Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.  So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.”  . . . Then the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli.  And she said, “O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall lent to the Lord.” So they worshiped the Lord there”  I Samuel 1:18-28 (NKJV).