Hannah : the Receiver and Giver of a Great Gift Ken

1 Samuel begins with the description of a man named Elkanah ("God is possessing"), whose home town was Ramathaim-Zophim.' A brief ancestral history is provided, which initially prompts the reader to expect that Elkanah will be the hero of the narrative. As the story line develops, however, Elkanah takes a supporting role. This secondary role begins with the introduction of Elkanah's two wives. At that time, polygamy was an accepted practice, but as the story unfolds there is a subtle jab at the practice. The introduction of Elkanah's wives, Peninnah and Hannah, provides the tension and focal point for the story by contrasting the issue of childbearing versus childlessness: "Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children" (1:2b). These juxtaposed realities point to the idea of rivalry and echo the contention between other pairs of biblical women such as Leah and Rachel (Gen 29~30, 30:2) and, to a lesser extent, Sarah and Hagar (Gen 21:l-14). The narrator presents a second contrast between the upbringing of the child Samuel by Elkanah and Hannah and the rearing of Hophni and Phinehas by the priest Eli. The narrator begins by portraying Elkanah as devoutly religious and noting his yearly trips to Shiloh to worship God and to offer sacrifice (1:3a). Then he adds a curious insert: "And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there" (1:3b). This statement is strategic, for it was during this particular visit to Shiloh that a series of events was launched that changed the course of Israelite history-the divine attention was drawn to the infertile woman and her pleas for a child. It is her child who eventually replaced Hophni and Phinehas (2:34-35).