Hannah's husband loved her, but she had no children, and his other wife Peninnah taunted her year after year. At the yearly sacrifice at Shiloh she wept and would not eat. Elkanah asked if he was not better to her than ten sons. It did not help.
So she went to the house of the LORD and prayed with her lips moving and no sound, so deeply that the priest Eli thought she was drunk. She promised that if God gave her a son, she would give him back. God did. When Samuel was weaned she brought him to Shiloh and left him there, and she sang a song about a God who lifts the needy from the dust. Every year she brought him a little robe she had made.
“
For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him.
Name means
“Grace” or “favor”
Home
Ramah in the hill country of Ephraim
Role
Wife of Elkanah, mother of Samuel
Read in
Hannah's story
A little robe each year
Beginning
Year after year
Childless and taunted by Peninnah, she weeps and will not eat.
Low point
Pouring out her soul
She prays silently in deep distress; Eli first thinks she is drunk, then blesses her.
Turning point
Samuel is born
The LORD remembers her. She names her son Samuel.
High point
Giving him back
She brings the boy to Shiloh and lends him to the LORD.
Ending
Her song
She sings of a God who raises the poor. Each year she brings Samuel a robe, and God gives her more children.
Starts as a woman taunted for what she lacked. Ends as a mother who gave her best back to God and sang.
Where Hannah lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
How Hannah is wired
The Helper
Enneagram 2, Reformer wing
To pour out love on the one she longs to care for.
Scripture doesn't give us much here, so treat this as a best guess.
At their best, toward 4 Under stress, toward 8
Why we think so
1
She longs to nurture. Her grief centers on having a child to love and raise. ()
2
She gives what she loves most. She hands Samuel over to serve the LORD. ()
3
She keeps caring. Every year she makes him a little robe. ()
The 1 wing shows in how carefully she keeps her vow. ()
The Individualist. At her best her longing becomes worship. ()
The Challenger. Under stress her grief turns inward; she stops eating. ()
Why so tentative
We see Hannah in one stretch of her life, mostly in prayer. Her song tells us more about God than about her temperament.
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in Joshua and Judges.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: Devoted, prayerful, steadfast
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Hannah
Took her grief to God instead of to her rival (). Honest and gracious when misjudged (). Kept her costly vow (). Worshiped with deep insight into God's ways ().
Where Hannah struggles
Scripture records no clear failing. Her grief left her unable to eat and bitter in soul ().
What Hannah wanted most
A son ().
What Hannah feared most
Scripture does not say directly. She lived with the shame of barrenness and a rival's taunts ().
Hannah sang of a God who lifts the lowly. Mary sang the same song when Jesus was coming.
Hannah's song ends with the LORD giving strength to his king and exalting the power of his anointed (), the first time Scripture calls the king God's anointed. Mary's song echoes it, praising the God who brings down the mighty and lifts the humble (). Jesus is that anointed King.
Questions to sit with
1
Hannah prayed so honestly she was mistaken for drunk. What would it look like to pour out your soul to God?
2
She gave back the gift she had begged for. What has God given you that you are holding too tightly?
Study Hannah with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
