1 Samuel 1:5

_BUT UNTO HANNAH HE GAVE A WORTHY PORTION; FOR HE LOVED HANNAH: BUT THE LORD HAD SHUT UP HER WOMB._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

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 1:5. _UNTO HANNAH HE GAVE A WORTHY PORTION_] The Hebrew here is very obscure, יתן מנה אחת אפים _yitten manah achath appayim; he_ _gave her one portion of two faces_; which the _Syriac_ renders, _he_ _gave her one DOUBLE PART_; and the _Chaldee, he gave her one CHOSEN_ _part_; the _Arabic_ is nearly the same; the _Vulgate_ Annae autem dedit unam partem tristis, _but to Anna he being sorrowful gave one_ _part_. As the _shew-bread_ that was presented to the Lord was called לחם פנים _lechem panim_, the _bread of faces_, because it was placed before the _face_ or _appearances_ of the Lord; probably this was called מנה אפים _manah appayim_, because it was the portion that belonged to, or was placed _before_, the person who had offered the sacrifice. On this ground it might be said that Elkan...

A WORTHY PORTION - Probably as in the margin. Naturally she would have had a single portion of the sacrifice (compare 1 Samuel 9:23), but because of his love to her he gave her a double portion, enough for two people (compare Genesis 43:34)....

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

BUT UNTO HANNAH HE GAVE A WORTHY PORTION,.... Or, one choice portion, as the Targum; the best part or portion in the peace offering, of what the priest had not; he had the breast and the right shoulder, the next best piece he gave to Hannah; and the word being of the dual number, some render it a double portion; others, "one part of two faces" h; which Jerom interprets, which might be received with a cheerful countenance, it was so good and excellent in its kind; others interpret it that he gave it with a sorrowful i and displeased countenance, because of the reason following, that she had no children; but Ben Gersom understands it of a part or portion of meat that had two faces or appearances; that he gave her one of the pieces, one part of which was very fat, and the other had no fat on it, so that she might choose what she liked best: FOR HE LOVED HANNAH; loved her best, and therefor...

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...

WORTHY. double....

_a worthy portion_ Lit., _ONE PORTION FOR TWO PERSONS_ : A DOUBLE PORTION. If the text is sound, this seems to be the best explanation of an obscure expression. Elkanah marked his love for Hannah by giving her a double portion. Similarly Joseph distinguished Benjamin by sending him a fivefold portion (Genesis 43:34). But the Sept. points to a different reading which would give the following sense: "And to Hannah he gave a single portion, because she had no child: nevertheless Elkanah loved Hannah most: but the Lord had shut up her womb." _had shut up her womb_ Hannah's faith might have been strengthened by the recollection that Sarah (Genesis 16:1), Rachel (Genesis 30:1), Manoah's wife ...