1 Samuel 1:2

_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._ The name of the one was Hannah, х_ CHANAAH_ (H2584), grace; Septuagint, Anna]. AND THE NAME OF THE OTHER PENINNAH, х_ PªNINAAH_ (H6444) (in some MSS., Pªniynaah, ruby: so called, as Harmer suggests, from a florid complexion (cf. 1 Samuel 16:12); Septuagint, fennana]....

1-8 Elkanah kept up his attendance at God's altar, notwithstanding the unhappy differences in his family. If the devotions of a family prevail not to put an end to its divisions, yet let not the divisions put a stop to the devotions. To abate our just love to any relation for the sake of any infirmity which they cannot help, and which is their affliction, is to make God's providence quarrel with his precept, and very unkindly to add affliction to the afflicted. It is evidence of a base disposition, to delight in grieving those who are of a sorrowful spirit, and in putting those out of humour who are apt to fret and be uneasy. We ought to bear one another's burdens, not add to them. Hannah could not bear the provocation. Those who are of a fretful spirit, and are apt to lay provocations too much to heart, are enemies to themselves, and strip themselves of many comforts both of life and g...

Verse 1 Samuel 1:2. _HE HAD TWO WIVES_] The custom of those times permitted polygamy; but wherever there was more than _one wife_, we find the peace of the family greatly disturbed by it. _THE NAME OF THE ONE WAS HANNAH_] חנה _Channah_, which signifies _fixed_ or _settled_, and _the other_ פננה Peninnah, which signifies a _jewel_ or _pearl_....

HE HAD TWO WIVES - Compare Genesis 4:19. This was permitted by the law Deuteronomy 21:15, and sanctioned by the practice of Jacob Genesis 29, Ashur 1 Chronicles 4:5, Shaharaim 1 Chronicles 8:8, David 1 Samuel 25:43, Joash 2 Chronicles 24:3, and others. HANNAH - i. e. “Beauty or charm,” is t

THE EARLY LIFE OF SAMUEL. EXPOSITION THE GENEALOGY AND BIRTHPLACE OF SAMUEL (1 Samuel 1:1) 1 SAMUEL 1:1 THERE WAS A CERTAIN MAN OF RAMATHAIM-ZOPHIM. Though Samuel belonged to the tribe of Levi, yet no special mention is made of the fact, because he owed his importance and rank as a judge not to his Levitical origin, but to the gift of prophecy, which was independent of the accidents of birth and station. In the First Book of Chronicles, 1 Samuel 6:1; his parentage is twice give

AND HE HAD TWO WIVES,.... Which, though connived at in those times, was contrary to the original law of marriage; and for which, though a good man, he was chastised, and had a great deal of vexation and trouble, the two wives not agreeing with each other; perhaps not having children by the one so soon as he hoped and wished for, he took another: THE NAME OF THE ONE WAS HANNAH, AND THE NAME OF THE OTHER PENINNAH; the first name signifies "grace" or "gracious", and she was a woman who had the grace of God, and very probably was also very comely, beautiful, and acceptable, as she was in the sight of her husband; the other signifies a cornered gem, a precious stone or jewel, as the pearl, ruby, amethyst, c. Very likely Hannah was his first wife, and having no children by her, he took Peninnah, who proved to be a rough diamond: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children how many P...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. SAMUEL THE PROPHET AND JUDGE 1. The Birth and Childhood of Samuel CHAPTER 1 _ 1. Elkanah and his wives (1 Samuel 1:1)_ 2. Hannah's prayer and vow (1 Samuel 1:9) 3. The prayer answered and Samuel born (1 Samuel 1:19) 4. The child weaned and presented unto the Lord (1 Samuel 1:21) The descent of Samuel opens the book. The names are of striking significance. Elkanah means “acquired of God.” He was the son of Jeroham (tenderly loved), the son of Elihu (my God is He), the son of Tohu (prostration), the son of Zuph (honeycomb). They were pious generations f

ELKANAH AND HIS RIVAL WIVES. The book opens with a domestic scene which throws light on the practical working of polygamy in ancient Israel. The husband is an Ephraimite, Elkanah of Ramah, _i.e._ the Height perhaps Rimo, twelve miles west of Shiloh. Elkanah had two wives (a very common arrangement, _cf._ Rachel and Leah) whose names were Hannah (Grace) and Peninnah (Coral or Pearl). Peninnah had children, Hannah had none. The hero of the story, Samuel, was born as an answer to prayer to a mother hitherto barren so Sarah and Isaac; Rebekah, Jacob and Esau; Rachel and Joseph. Elkanah and his family went yearly to a festival at Shiloh, probably the Vintage Festival, which was called later on the Feast of Tabernacles, a sort of Christmas away from home. What corresponded roughly to the Christmas dinner was the meal to which the sacrifice served as a somewhat elaborate grace. An ox or sheep w...

HANNAH. Grace. PENINNAH. Pearl. Note the Figure of speech _Antimetabole._ App-6. CHILDREN. offspring. Hebrew. _yalad._...

_two wives_ Polygamy, though at variance with the original institution of marriage (Genesis 2:24), was tolerated by the Mosaic law as an existing custom (Deuteronomy 21:15-17), and the fact that Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, David and Solomon were all polygamists, shews that no moral blame attached to the practice in this period. It gradually became less frequent, and no case is on record in the Biblical history after the Captivity, but it was reserved for Christianity to re-establish the primeval ideal. _Hannah_ i.e. "Grace." The same name is borne in the N.T. by "Anna, a prophetess" (Luke 2:36): and according to tradition the wife of Joachim and mother of the Virgin Mary was named Anna. In the Phoenician colo