1 There was a man of one of the two Ramathaim Zophim, of mount Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah the sonne of Ieroham, the sonne of Elihu, the sonne of Tohu, the sonne of Zuph, an Ephrathite: 2 And he had two wiues: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 And this man went vp out of his citie euery yeere, to worship and to sacrifice vnto the Lord of hostes in Shiloh, where were the two sonnes of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas Priests of the Lord. 4 And on a day, when Elkanah sacrificed, he gaue to Peninnah his wife and to all her sonnes and daughters portions, 5 But vnto Hannah he gaue a worthy portion: for he loued Hannah, and the Lord had made her barren. 6 And her aduersarie vexed her sore, forasmuch as she vpbraided her, because the Lord had made her barren. 7 (And so did he yeere by yeere) and as oft as she went vp to the house of the Lord, thus she vexed her, that she wept and did not eate. 8 Then sayd Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thine heart troubled? am not I better to thee then ten sonnes? 9 So Hannah rose vp after that they had eaten and drunke in Shiloh (and Eli the Priest sate vpon a stoole by one of the postes of the Temple of the Lord) 10 And she was troubled in her minde, and prayed vnto the Lord, and wept sore: 11 Also she vowed a vowe, and sayd, O Lord of hostes, if thou wilt looke on the trouble of thine handmaide, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaide, but giue vnto thine handmaide a manchilde, then I will giue him vnto the Lord all the dayes of his life, and there shall no rasor come vpon his head. 12 And as she continued praying before the Lord, Eli marked her mouth. 13 For Hannah spake in her heart: her lips did moue onely, but her voyce was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had bene drunken. 14 And Eli sayde vnto her, Howe long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy drunkennesse from thee. 15 Then Hannah answered and sayd, Nay my lord, but I am a woman troubled in spirit: I haue drunke neither wine nor strong drinke, but haue powred out my soule before the Lord. 16 Count not thine handmaide for a wicked woman: for of the abundance of my complaint and my griefe haue I spoken hitherto. 17 Then Eli answered, and sayd, Go in peace, and the God of Israel graunt thy petition that thou hast asked of him. 18 She sayd againe, Let thine handmayd finde grace in thy sight: so the woman went her way, and did eate, and looked no more sad. 19 Then they rose vp early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah. Nowe Elkanah knewe Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembred her. 20 For in processe of time Hannah conceiued, and bare a sonne, and she called his name Samuel, Because, said she, I haue asked him of the Lord. 21 So the man Elkanah and all his house went vp to offer vnto the Lord the yeerely sacrifice, and his vowe: 22 But Hannah went not vp: for she sayd vnto her husband, I will tarie vntill the childe be weined, then I will bring him that hee may appeare before the Lord, and there abide for euer. 23 And Elkanah her husband sayd vnto her, Do what seemeth thee best: tarie vntill thou hast weined him: only the Lord accomplish his word. So the woman abode, and gaue her sonne sucke vntill she weined him. 24 And when she had weined him, she tooke him with her with three bullockes and an Ephah of floure and a bottell of wine, and brought him vnto the house of the Lord in Shiloh, and the childe was yong. 25 And they slewe a bullocke, and brought the childe to Eli. 26 And she said, Oh my Lord, as thy soule liueth, my lord, I am the woman that stoode with thee here praying vnto the Lord. 27 I prayed for this childe, and the Lord hath giuen me my desire which I asked of him. 28 Therefore also I haue giuen him vnto the Lord: as long as he liueth hee shalbe giuen vnto the Lord: and he worshipped the Lord there.
1 Samuel · Geneva Bible (1599)
1 Samuel 1 Geneva Bible (1599)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Original 16th-century spelling.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Eli
The priest at Shiloh who judged Israel forty years, blessed Hannah, took in the boy Samuel, failed to restrain his wicked sons, and died at ninety-eight when he heard the ark of…
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 1:9; 1 Samuel 2:22
Elkanah
An Ephraimite from Ramathaim-zophim with two wives, Hannah and Peninnah, who went up each year to worship and sacrifice at Shiloh and whose son by Hannah was Samuel. 1 Samuel 1:1…
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:1; 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 1:19
Hannah
Elkanah's beloved but childless wife, who prayed at Shiloh for a son and vowed to dedicate him to the LORD, bore Samuel, and later bore three more sons and two daughters.
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:2; 1 Samuel 1:10; 1 Samuel 1:20
Hophni
A priest at Shiloh and son of Eli, who treated the LORD's offering with contempt and died the same day as his brother Phinehas when the ark of God was captured.
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 2:34; 1 Samuel 4:4
Peninnah
Elkanah's other wife, who had sons and daughters and year after year taunted the childless Hannah until she wept and would not eat.
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:2; 1 Samuel 1:4
Phinehas
A priest at Shiloh and son of Eli, who died on the day the ark of God was captured; his wife died in childbirth after naming their son Ichabod.
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 2:34; 1 Samuel 4:4
Samuel
Born to Hannah in answer to prayer and dedicated to the LORD at Shiloh, he was confirmed as a prophet, judged Israel all his life, anointed Saul and then David, and was buried at…
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:20; 1 Samuel 3:20; 1 Samuel 7:15
Zuph
Zuph is named as the son of Elkanah in Heman's Kohathite ancestry (1 Chronicles 6:33-38).
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:1; 1 Chronicles 6:35
Places
Shiloh
Shiloh housed the tabernacle and ark through the era of the judges. Hannah prayed and Samuel ministered here; its later ruin became a prophetic warning.
Cited in the guide: Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 1:3; Jeremiah 7:12
Cross references (28)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Chronicles 6:34; 1 Chronicles 6:25–27; 1 Samuel 1:19; Ruth 1:2; Judges 17:1
- 2 Luke 1:7; Genesis 25:21; Judges 13:2; Genesis 29:23–29; Genesis 29:31
- 3 Luke 2:41; Deuteronomy 12:5–7; Joshua 18:1; Exodus 34:23; Exodus 23:14
- 4 Deuteronomy 12:17–18; Deuteronomy 16:11; Deuteronomy 12:5–7; Leviticus 7:15; Leviticus 3:4
- 5 Genesis 30:2; Genesis 29:30–31; Genesis 16:1; Genesis 20:18; Genesis 45:22
- 6 Job 6:14; Job 24:21; Leviticus 18:18
- 7 1 Samuel 2:19
- 8 Ruth 4:15; Job 6:14; Isaiah 54:6; Psalm 43:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:14
- 9 1 Samuel 3:3; Psalm 27:4; Psalm 5:7; 2 Samuel 7:2; Psalm 29:9
- 10 Job 7:11; Job 10:1; Luke 22:44; Psalm 91:15; Hebrews 5:7
- 11 Judges 13:5; Numbers 6:5; Genesis 29:32; Ecclesiastes 5:4; Psalm 25:18
- 12 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:16; Luke 18:1; Luke 11:8–10; Ephesians 6:18
- 13 Romans 8:26; Genesis 24:42–45; Acts 2:13; Psalm 25:1; Zechariah 9:15
- 14 Ephesians 4:31; Proverbs 6:9; Job 22:23; Ephesians 4:25; Psalm 62:3
- 15 Psalm 62:8; Lamentations 2:19; Psalm 42:4; Psalm 143:6; Psalm 142:2–3
- 16 1 Samuel 2:12; Deuteronomy 13:13; Matthew 12:34–35; Job 10:1–2; Job 6:2–3
- 17 Mark 5:34; Judges 18:6; Psalm 20:3–5; 1 Samuel 25:35; 2 Kings 5:19
- 18 Ruth 2:13; Ecclesiastes 9:7; Romans 15:13; Genesis 33:15; Philippians 4:6–7
- 19 Genesis 30:22; Genesis 21:1; Genesis 4:1; 1 Samuel 1:11; Psalm 119:147
- 20 Genesis 41:51–52; Matthew 1:21; Exodus 2:10; Exodus 2:22; Genesis 30:6–21
- 21 1 Samuel 1:3; Deuteronomy 12:11; Joshua 24:15; Psalm 101:2; Genesis 18:19
- 22 1 Samuel 1:28; 1 Samuel 1:11; Luke 2:22; Deuteronomy 16:16; 1 Samuel 2:11
- 23 2 Samuel 7:25; Luke 11:27; Matthew 24:19; Isaiah 44:26; Psalm 22:9
- 24 Numbers 15:9–10; 1 Samuel 4:3–4; Joshua 18:1; Deuteronomy 12:5–6; Deuteronomy 12:11
- 25 Luke 18:15–16; Luke 2:22
- 26 2 Kings 2:6; 2 Kings 2:4; 2 Kings 4:30; 2 Kings 2:2; 1 Samuel 17:55
- 27 1 John 5:15; Psalm 66:19–20; Matthew 7:7; Psalm 118:5; Psalm 6:9
- 28 Genesis 24:26; Genesis 24:52; 1 Samuel 1:11; 2 Timothy 3:15; Genesis 24:48
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… of no man, softly and noiselessly; those which arise from a certain depth of mind, those shed in anguish and in sorrow, those which are for God alone; such as were Hannah's, for "her lips moved," it is said, "but her voice was not heard;" however, her tears alone uttered a cry more clear than any trumpet.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Since Moses too was pained, and prayed in this way and was heard; for this cause also God said unto him, "Wherefore criest thou unto me." And Hannah too again, her voice not being heard, accomplished all she wished, forasmuch as her heart cried out. But Abel prayed not only when silent, but even when dying, and his blood sent …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)