Mother’s Day is a nice time to remember the gift of your mother. She carried you for nine months, gave birth to you, and then spent years trying to help you to become a good person. Think back to the many times she dried your tears, fed you meals, washed your clothes, and … well … spanked you when you needed it. Your mother was a gift from God designed especially for you. While not all family situations are the same, consider how you can be thankful for the mother God gave you.
However, Mother’s Day is not always a happy occasion. There are some women who never had the opportunity to have children for a variety of reasons. When everyone else is celebrating the holiday, she is filled with sadness because she was unable to have children. Perhaps you know of someone like that, or you might be someone like that. In today’s passage, we will be looking at a woman who was unable to have children and how she responded to her situation.
- What does it say? (1 Sam. 1:1-28)
Elkanah was a man from Ephraim who had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children but Hannah did not. Elkanah went up to Shiloh every year to worship the Lord and offer a sacrifice. At that time, Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas were priests for the Lord there. When it was Elkanah’s turn to bring an offering, he gave some to Peninnah and her children. But he gave twice as much to Hannah because he loved her despite the fact that the Lord had kept her from having children. Peninnah provoked Hannah about this. Each year, the provocation got worse and this time Hannah cried and stopped eating. Elkanah asked her why she was weeping and wasn’t eating. He suggested that having him for a husband was better than having ten sons.
After the family had finished eating at Shiloh, Hannah got up while Eli was sitting by the doorposts of the tabernacle. She was overwhelmed by her situation and prayed to the Lord, weeping with great emotion. During her prayer, she made a promise to the Lord. If He would give her a son, she would give him back to the Lord for life, and she would never cut his hair. (Perhaps she was making him a Nazarite from birth.) While she was praying, Eli was watching. He saw her lips moving but no words came out, so he assumed she was drunk. When he confronted her about this, she explained that she wasn’t drunk but was simply pouring out her heart to the Lord. She didn’t want him to think she was an ungodly woman. She was just overcome by her grief. Eli responded by telling her he hoped that the Lord would grant her request. This interaction with Eli perked her up and she was no longer sad.
After an early morning worship service, the family returned to their house in Ramah. Eventually, the Lord allowed Hannah to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel because she had asked the Lord for a son. Elkanah and his family went up to offer the annual sacrifice and to keep his vow. But Hannah didn’t go along because she wanted Samuel to be weaned before he would remain there forever. Elkanah allowed for this but reminded her to keep her promise to the Lord. Hannah stayed home and weaned the child. But when he was finally weaned, she took him to the tabernacle in Shiloh along with three bulls, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. The boy was still young. But Hannah talked with Eli and reminded him of what had happened the last time they met. She told him that she had prayed for this child and that the Lord had granted him to her. In response, she was lending him to the Lord for life. Then they worshiped the Lord there. - What does it mean?
One wife is enough (1 Sam. 1:1-2).
One of the first things that you notice when reading this narrative is that Elkanah had two wives. If you were to go back to Genesis, you would see that this was not God’s original design. He created one woman for one man. However, several men in the Bible were known to have married several women for a variety of reasons. Abraham married a second woman to ensure he had a son to carry on the family name. This may have been the case with Elkanah. Hannah was the wife he loved, but she had no children. Peninnah was his second wife and she gave him children. How did that work out? It didn’t work out very well. Peninnah became a rival to Hannah and she kept on provoking her.
How many wives does it take to make a happy marriage? In every case that I can think of, there has always been trouble when a man married more than one woman. It was the case here as well as with Abraham, Jacob, and Solomon. Abraham’s first wife didn’t get along with his second wife. Jacob’s first two wives were adversaries and convinced him to marry two more. Solomon’s wives were many and eventually turned him away from the Lord. While God allowed these men to make those decisions, they are recorded not to express approval but to show the problems that come along with marrying multiple people. God’s original design was best. And the true stories recorded in the Bible show the problems people had when they didn’t follow God’s design.
Having no children is hard (1 Sam. 1:6-8).
One of the second things you notice when reading this narrative is how important it was to Hannah that she become a mother. Hannah was loved by her husband, but her lack of children made her feel miserable. Why was this?
Firstly, God designed marriage to produce children. You see that from the beginning when God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:28). During Moses’ time, God promised to bless the Israelites with children if they remained faithful to Him (Deut. 7:13-14). During Malachi’s ministry, God told the people that he desired for them to produce godly offspring (Mal. 2:15). “To have no child was not only a disappointment, but seemed to mark one out as dishonoured by God.”1 It is obvious that one important part of the marriage relationship is having children and raising the next generation. It is not the only purpose for marriage, but it is an important one. So, when Hannah could not have children, she felt that she was failing.
Secondly, people back then expected a married couple to have children. Remember how Rebekah’s family blessed her when she left to marry Isaac? They wanted her to be the mother of many children. That’s what people expected back then. So, when a married couple didn’t have children, people began to wonder. Is there something wrong with one of them? Why don’t they have children? Was God cursing them for something they had done? It must have been difficult for Hannah to face people who wondered these things about her.
Thirdly, the couple wanted to have children. I would imagine that both Elkanah and Hannah were expecting to have children early on in their marriage. When this didn’t happen, Elkanah was wondering if he would every have a son to pass on the family name. On top of that, Hannah also wanted a child. She felt miserable not being able to produce what she and her husband desired. This probably led to Elkanah adding a second wife to obtain the children he wanted.
These reasons (and perhaps more) contributed to Hannah’s misery for an extended period of time.
Prayer always helps (1 Sam. 1:10-18).
Another thing you may have noticed is the fervent prayer of Hannah. Her misery could have led to anger and bitterness toward her rival. But she chose to take her situation to the Lord. After the family meal, she went back to the tabernacle and prayed to God. But during that time of grief, Hannah made a vow to the Lord. She promised that if He gave her a son, she would dedicate the boy completely to the Lord as a Nazirite (see Num. 6:1-8). That’s what it meant when she said she would not cut his hair.
Her prayer was so fervent that she mouthed the words and spoke silently in her heart to the Lord. When Eli the priest saw this, he thought she was drunk and confronted her about it. Hannah quickly explained that she had not been drinking but that she had been pouring out her sorrow to the Lord. It was then that Eli told her to go home in peace and that God would hopefully grant her request. His response to Hannah was just what she needed to hear. At that point, she knew that God would answer her request and give her a son.
While God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we want, that time in prayer often provides peace that we wouldn’t have otherwise. Hannah poured out her heart to the Lord and later went home without the sadness she had brought with her.
God often blesses (1 Sam. 1:19-20).
Another thing that you probably noticed is how God chose to respond to Hannah’s fervent prayer. When they returned home, Hannah became pregnant for the first time. The Bible says that the Lord remembered her. Sure enough, she eventually gave birth to a little boy and named him Samuel. That name was a reminder that God had heard her prayer. Hannah kept Samuel at home until he was weaned and then gave him to Eli to serve the Lord in the tabernacle. But that is not where the story ends. God continued to bless this faith-filled woman. She eventually gave birth to three more sons and two daughters.
The point is that God often chooses to bless those who trust Him. It is not a foregone conclusion that believers will always get what they ask for. But there is plenty of evidence to show that God often chooses to bless His children with more than they expect. Hannah had asked for only one son, but God gave her three more sons and two daughters as well. What this reveals is God’s goodness. Think of what Jesus said in Matthew 6. He mentioned that God clothes the fields with flowers and feeds the birds every day. If He takes care of grass and birds, doesn’t it make sense that He will do even more for His own children? This is true because God is good and He often chooses to bless us with more than we expect. - How does it apply?
Choose how you look at difficulties.
All of the people in this story had a negative perspective about Hannah’s barrenness. Elkanah thought her barrenness was an obstacle to be overcome. Peninnah thought her barrenness was an opportunity to take over. Hannah thought her barrenness was an impossible situation. But were any of them right? No, each of their perspectives left God out of the situation. But was all lost? They seemed to think so, but God was actively involved in the situation, with a plan that would turn out for the best.
One of the dangers of having a wrong perspective about life is forgetting that God is a loving, compassionate God who wants to do good for His people. In Romans 8:28, we are reminded that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. This doesn’t mean that every event in life will be enjoyable or good. Instead, it means that God causes all the events to work together (the good and bad together) to accomplish good for those who love Him. Every Christian needs to have this perspective about the events of life. When you trust that God has a perfect plan that includes everything that happens, you will be able to find peace no matter what you face in the future.
Choose how you respond to difficulties.
Only one of them had a proper response to the difficulties they faced. Elkanah responded to his wife’s barrenness by adding another wife. Peninnah responded to Hannah’s barrenness by provoking her. Hannah eventually responded to her barrenness by talking with God about it. Which do you think was the better response? It was Hannah’s response. Because she knew that God was the only One who could change things, she pleaded with Him to give her a son. God heard and answered her prayer by giving her a son and later blessed her with five more children (1 Sam. 2:21).
One of the dangers of responding quickly is that you might miss what God intended to teach you through your troubles. You can make a quick decision to fix your problems, but you will have to live with the results. You can respond with angry words and hostility, too. But that won’t take away your pain. It is only when you take your anxiety to God that you will find the peace of God that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:6-7). When you come to the place where you are trusting God, you can then take your situation to Him and leave it in His capable hands. That is where you will find peace.
Conclusion
As you read through the Bible, you will find that there were many imperfect people. They struggled with bitterness, anger, poor choices, and plenty of sin. But you will also find a perfect God who lovingly worked with those people and helped them through their struggles. That same God is still actively involved in the lives of people today. Thankfully, He still has a perfect plan for each of us. If we try to handle our problems without Him, we will always be disappointed. But when we take our troubles to Him and submit our lives to Him, we will never be disappointed. Will you trust Him?
Bibliography
Blaikie, W. G., The First Book of Samuel, Minneapolis: Klock & Klock, 1978, orig. 1887.
Merrill, Eugene H., “1 Samuel” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary Old Testament, USA: SP Publications, 1989.
Poole, Matthew, A Commentary on the Holy Bible, Genesis-Job, Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1979, orig. 1685.
“Who was Hannah in the Bible?” as viewed at https://printer.gotquestions.net/GeneratePF?articleId=2944 on 5/9/2026.
Footnotes
- Blaikie 5. ↩︎