1 Samuel 1:6 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And her adversary’ – the other wife, Peninnah – ‘provoked her sore, for to make her fret’ – to upset her deliberately – ‘because the Lord had shut up her womb.’ There was inevitably jealousy between the two wives, and Peninnah was openly hostile and taunted Hannah for her inability to conceive. The antagonism that existed between them – at least on Peninnah’s side – was focused on this issue that made her the superior wife and Hannah worth nothing. Elkanah had introduced this poison into his home. She particularly did this when year by year they went up to Shiloh to make their offerings, and what should have been a time of dedication and a happy time was exploited, and so poor Hannah was severely grieved. ‘So she provoked her, therefore she wept and did not eat.’ Now we mustn’t that Hannah was exhibiting peak, or that it was just self-pity that caused her not to eat. There was a deeper cause than this. ‘Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved?’ He knew, because he goes on to say, ‘Am I not better to thee than ten sons?’ He knew that she was deeply upset at not having a child, a son, in particular, but he seems to think that he is so good to her that she should be comforted, and he cannot understand why she is so upset. Why then was she so upset? Only because she regrets not having a child? It is understandable that in this polygamous and bitter environment she would be grieved, but there is more to it than this. It turns out that it is much, much more than that. She has noble objectives that have not even dawned on the mind of Peninnah, who is thinking at a much lower level in terms merely of having a child. Peninnah did not understand Hannah. What Hannah regrets is not having a Levite child who will serve the Lord be dedicated to him. Where does she get this idea from: that she could have a Levite child who would be given to the Lord and in his service? Because at that time, possibly the majority of the Levite's were not in the Lord's service. There was great disorder, and things were not happening as they should have been. It would seem that the Lord gave her this idea and this desire, and that she felt particularly on marriage to Elkanah very strongly that she was going to have a child, and he would be the Lord's servant, and he would be used of God. These were the days and the times when God would intimate such things directly to his chosen servants. But at first no child came, and that's why she was upset. Perhaps she thought – but this is speculation – ‘What have I done that this is not being fulfilled? Have I sinned? Am I unworthy? Am I unfit? And because she was a godly woman and a believing woman, she could easily believe these things against herself. And of course the goading and the taunting from the other wife made the wound rawer. But it was more, far more, than merely not having a child, and that was bad enough. It was not having what she believed she would have had: the Lord servant, Levite child. This is not just a theory; it becomes more evident as the text goes all that this was in her heart.