1 Samuel 1:6

_AND HER ADVERSARY ALSO PROVOKED HER SORE, FOR TO MAKE HER FRET, BECAUSE THE LORD HAD SHUT UP HER WOMB._ Her adversary also provoked her sore, х_ TSAARAATAAH_ (H6869), her rival]. The conduct of Peninnah was most unbecoming. But domestic broils in the houses of polygamists are of frequent occurrence, and the most fruitful cause of them has always been jealousy of the husband's superior affection, as in this case of Hannah. 'Disagreements frequently arise also from jealousy about offspring: the wife who has no children (cf. Genesis 30:1), or who has only daughters, looks with hatred and envy on the mother rejoicing over an infant boy; and I can fully realize the passionate despair of Hannah when provoked by Peninnah' (Rogers' 'Domestic Life in Palestine,' p. 106)....

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 1:6. _AND HER ADVERSARY_] That is, Peninnah. _PROVOKED HER SORE_] Was constantly striving to irritate and vex her, _to make her fret _- to make her discontented with her lot, because the Lord had denied her children....

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 HER ADVERSARY ALSO PROVOKED HER SORE,.... That is, Peninnah, the other wife of Elkanah; for when a man had more wives, two or more, they were usually at enmity to one another, as the two wives of Socrates were, being always jealous lest one should have more love and respect than the other from the husband; and this woman provoked Hannah one time after another, and continually, by upbraiding her with her barrenness; and this was another reason why Elkanah did all he could to comfort her, not only because the Lord had restrained her from bearing children, but because also she that envied and emulated her sadly provoked her: FOR TO MAKE HER FRET; and be uneasy, and murmur at and complain of her unhappy circumstances: some render it, "because she thundered" l against her; that is, Peninnah was exceeding loud and clamorous with her reproaches and scoffs, which were grievously provoking t...

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...

_her adversary_ Peninnah. The cognate verb is used in Leviticus 18:18, "Thou shalt not take a wife to her sister _to vex her_....

HER ADVERSARY ALSO PROVOKED HER— Houbigant renders this very well, _her rival also provoked her even to wrath on this very account, because the Lord had shut up her womb._ The word rendered _adversary,_ or _rival,_ signifies a person that _distresses_ or _afflicts._ See Parkhurst on צר. REFLECTIONS.—This chapter opens, 1. With an account of Samuel's parentage and birthplace. His father was of the family of Korah—a good branch from a bad stock. 2. He was the son of pious parents. His father Elkanah, signifying _God hath possessed,_ a Levite, went up annually with his family to sacrifice at Shiloh unto the Lord of Sabaoth, or hosts, (which title of God here first occurs,) a rare instance of adherence to God when Israel in general had apostatized from him. _Note;_ (1.) It is among the greater blessings, to be the child of pious parents. (2.) The more others turn away from God, the closer...

I. THE JUDGESHIP OF SAMUEL 1 Samuel 1:1 to 1 Samuel 12:25 1. The Birth and Infancy of Samuel, 1 Samuel 1:1 to 1 Samuel 2:11. _Samuel's Simple Surroundings._ 1 Samuel 1:1-8 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name _was_ Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: 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. 3 And this man went