1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, 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: 2 And 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. 3 And this man went up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, [were] there. 4 And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: 5 But to Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah; but the LORD had rendered her barren. 6 And her adversary also provoked her greatly, to make her fret, because the LORD had made her barren. 7 And [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. 8 Then 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? 9 So Hannah rose after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drank. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD. 10 And she [was] in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD, and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give to thy handmaid a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. 12 And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli observed her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. 14 And Eli said to her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. 15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I [am] a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drank neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. 16 Count not thy handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. 17 Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant [thee] thy petition that thou hast asked of him. 18 And she said, Let thy handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more [sad] . 19 And they rose in the morning early, and worshiped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her. 20 Wherefore it came to pass, when the time had arrived, after Hannah had conceived, that she bore a son, and called his name Samuel, [saying] , Because I have asked him of the LORD. 21 And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. 22 But Hannah went not up; for she said to her husband, [I will not go up] until the child is weaned, and [then] I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever. 23 And Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what seemeth to thee good; tarry until thou hast weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 And 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 to the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child [was] young. 25 And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, O my lord, [as] thy soul liveth, my lord, I [am] the woman that stood by thee here, praying to the LORD. 27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28 Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshiped the LORD there.
1 Samuel · Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
1 Samuel 1 Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
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
Jeroham
Jeroham is named as the son of Eliel in Heman's Kohathite ancestry (1 Chronicles 6:33-38).
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:1; 1 Chronicles 6:34
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)