The Seed of the Woman: Narratives That Point to JesusНамуна

Hannah’s narrative begins with the introduction of her husband, Elkanah. She is believed to be the first of his two wives since her name is listed before Peninnah’s in the narrative. In fact, Elkanah may have married Peninnah only after Hannah’s infertility surfaced. The text hints at Elkanah’s wealth, and a prominent man like him would be anxious for an heir. So, a day came when Hannah had to share her husband with another woman.

Conception came easily for Peninnah; she gave birth to sons and daughters. Each pregnancy must have brought a sense of dishonor to Hannah’s heart. And to make matters worse, Peninnah added literal insults to her injury, blasting Hannah with relentless reminders of her vacant womb and charging God as the source.

Hannah’s story is like a few we’ve studied thus far. She feels like a throwback to the barren matriarchs of Genesis, yet her account offers something new: the benefit of her whispered prayers, which we read in 1 Samuel 1:11. The childless wife begged God to see her affliction and to grant a son. She, in turn, would give the boy back to the Lord, as Samson’s mother had.

The Lord Almighty heard her prayers and, in addition to Samuel, she had three more sons and two daughters (1 Sam. 2:21). Her first child was the son of her vow, “she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked for him from the Lord’” (1 Sam. 1:20). Samuel grew to be Israel’s last and greatest judge. The Almighty sovereign who orders all things according to his own will was pleased to use the quiet prayers of a barren woman to fulfill his purposes.

Hannah’s narrative concludes with a poetic prayer in Chapter 2. Her struggle with infertility had been a battle. So, she exalted the General of Heaven in song. Mary, the mother of Christ, takes up Hannah’s tune in her Magnificat (Lk. 1:46–55), magnifying the God who raises the lowly but scatters the proud. Mary’s Son would embody her and Hannah’s hymns as the humble Christ—persecuted and killed by arrogant men but raised and enthroned as the King of Kings.