Hannah and Samuel

The words

1. Adversary

   A rival, in the NET Bible.

   Peninnah provokes Hannah during the yearly visits to the LORD’s house; the account says Hannah weeps and does not eat.

   1 Samuel 1:2; 1 Samuel 1:6–7 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: 1 Samuel 1:1-8 (opens a new tab)

2. Elkanah

   Elkanah goes up yearly from his city to worship and sacrifice at Shiloh; Hannah and Peninnah are his two wives.

   1 Samuel 1:1–3 (opens a new tab)

3. Ephod

   A garment worn in priestly service.

   Young Samuel serves before the LORD wearing a linen ephod; Hannah brings him a little coat each year when she comes for sacrifice.

   Did you know?

   Second Samuel also describes David wearing a linen ephod while he and Israel bring up the ark with shouting and a trumpet.

   1 Samuel 2:18–19 (opens a new tab) · Webster’s 1828: ephod (opens a new tab) · 2 Samuel 6:14–15 (opens a new tab)

4. Ephraim

   First Samuel locates Elkanah in Ephraim’s hill country; he travels to Shiloh for yearly worship and returns with his family to Ramah.

   1 Samuel 1:1; 1 Samuel 1:3 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 1:19 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: 1 Samuel 1:1-8 (opens a new tab)

5. Hannah

   Hannah vows that if the LORD gives her a son, she will give him to the LORD for life, with no razor touching his head.

   1 Samuel 1:10–11 (opens a new tab)

6. Hophni

   Hophni is one of Eli’s priestly sons; their servant threatens to seize sacrificial meat by force before the fat is burned.

   1 Samuel 1:3 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 2:12–16 (opens a new tab)

7. Offering

   The KJV lists three bullocks, flour and wine brought with Samuel to Shiloh; a bullock is sacrificed before the child is presented to Eli.

   1 Samuel 1:24–25 (opens a new tab)

8. Peninnah

   Peninnah has children while Hannah has none; at the yearly sacrifice Elkanah gives portions to Peninnah and all her sons and daughters.

   1 Samuel 1:2–4 (opens a new tab)

9. Phinehas

   Phinehas is Eli’s priestly son; the KJV says Eli hears his sons have slept with women assembled at the tabernacle entrance.

   1 Samuel 1:3 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 2:22 (opens a new tab)

10. Prayer

    Hannah prays in her heart, moving her lips without an audible voice; Eli mistakes her for a drunken woman.

    Did you know?

    The next chapter opens with another prayer from Hannah, beginning with her heart rejoicing in the LORD.

    1 Samuel 1:12–13 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 2:1 (opens a new tab)

11. Priest

    Eli the priest mistakes Hannah’s silent prayer for drunkenness; when she explains her distress, he blesses her request and sends her away in peace.

    1 Samuel 1:9; 1 Samuel 1:13–18 (opens a new tab)

12. Ramah

    After Hannah presents Samuel, Elkanah returns home to Ramah while the child serves the LORD under Eli at Shiloh.

    Did you know?

    Later in First Samuel, Ramah is Samuel’s home, where he returns after his judging circuit and builds an altar to the LORD.

    1 Samuel 1:24–28 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 2:11 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 7:15–17 (opens a new tab)

13. Samuel

    Hannah names Samuel because she asked the LORD for him; after weaning, she brings him to Eli at Shiloh.

    1 Samuel 1:20 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 1:24–28 (opens a new tab)

14. Shiloh

    Shiloh is where Elkanah worships each year and where Hannah brings Samuel after weaning, with offerings for the LORD’s house.

    Did you know?

    Joshua also names Shiloh as the place where Israel’s congregation gathers and sets up the tabernacle.

    1 Samuel 1:3 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 1:24 (opens a new tab) · Joshua 18:1 (opens a new tab)

15. Weaning

    The end of nursing at the breast.

    Hannah postpones Samuel’s journey until he is weaned, then takes him to Shiloh; Elkanah agrees that she should wait.

    1 Samuel 1:22–24 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 1:24–28 (opens a new tab) · Webster’s 1828: wean (opens a new tab)