(Part 1)

JBTM 26
Sermon: The Story of Hannah’s Pain
1 Samuel 1:1–20
Robert D. Bergen, PhD
First Samuel 1:1 is probably a verse you have never preached from, or even wanted to hear
a sermon from. But you’ll be glad you did once you’ve had a chance to study it. Let’s do
it together today!
¹There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was
Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ²He had two
wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah
was childless. (1 Sam 1:1–2, HCSB)
First of all, what are these verses doing in the Bible? These tell us about a guy who has two
wives, plus a bunch of relatives with unpronounceable names. Here we have the man Elkanah
with ancestors named Jeroham, Elihu, Tohu, and Zuph, an Ephrathite (Ephrathite is what the
Hebrew actually says here) in his background. What’s the big deal about a genealogy of four
generations of ancestors? What do those names of otherwise unknown ancestors have to do
with this story? Well, the answer is—if you’re an Israelite living three thousand years ago
in Canaan—a lot. Those names mean that the writer wants you to think of Elihu as a really
important guy; listing more than two generations of ancestors in a man’s genealogy signals
to the reader that the person is a significant individual. More than that, if you are an ancient
Israelite genealogy wonk, the names tell you that the man is a member of the high priestly
clan—that he is a descendant of Israel’s first high priest, Aaron the brother of Moses (see 1
Chronicles 6).
Elkanah was an important man and a priest, and yet he had two wives. If he was a godly
and important man, why did he have two wives? Can we use the example of Elkanah to
justify bigamy today? No—not unless you’re a Mormon! But we can use this statement to
learn something about ancient Israel. Within that society, it was considered crucial for every
marriage to produce a male offspring to pass along the family name and wealth, as well as
to have someone to care for the parents in their old age. If a man’s first wife—and it seems
Hannah was that wife—could not produce children, then it was expected that a man would
take another wife. We saw a similar situation in the life of Abraham (Genesis 16).
Here’s the probable backstory behind the events of verse 2, as it might have been
experienced by Hannah. Like every other little girl in her society, Hannah looked forward
to an early marriage to an older man. Her father would arrange for her to be married to