Hannah’s tears and faith before God lifted her from a barren wife to mother of one of God’s greatest prophets. Hannah’s song of praise in I Samuel 2 is one of the outstanding songs of all Scripture, full of triumph, worship and God-given revelation. She begins, “My heart exults in the LORD…because I rejoice in your salvation.” The Hebrew for “salvation” is Jesus’ name.
She finishes with prophecy in verse 10: “The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” The last two expressions she sings of God’s anointed king—the Messiah—at a time when there had never been a king in Israel.
I Samuel 1 tells the story that leads up to the song, and there are two bright lights in the chapter. Hannah is the central figure, but there is another I want to talk about today.
Who was Samuel’s father, anyway? As in few other introductions in Scripture, his name is spelled out in verse 2 in the full dignity of his father’s, grandfather’s, and great-grandfather’s names: Elkanah ben-Jeroham ben-Elihu ben-Tohu ben-Zuph.
If you will take your eyes from Hannah for just a few minutes, you will see him, and see why he is introduced so handsomely.
Who was Samuel’s father Elkanah? He was a husband after God’s own heart.
After introducing Hannah and Elkanah by name, the story emphasizes their marriage relationship. Scripture reminds us four times that Elkanah is her husband (1:8, 1:22, 1:23, 2:19) and twice more that Hannah is his wife (1:19, 2:20) (By contrast, Eli is mentioned eight times in the passage, but his role as priest is only named once.)
The barest facts of Elkanah’s life are mentioned. He was married to Hannah, who was barren, and later to a second wife, Peninnah, who had many children. (I gather that Hannah was first because she was listed first in I Samuel 1:2.)
Elkanah was an Ephrathite and lived in Ramathaim Zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. We don’t know his occupation.
The Bible (ESV) records exactly 45 of Elkanah’s words, for the story rightly centers on Hannah and her remarkable son, the prophet Samuel. But the account records more what he did than said, recording how he showed his faith and his love by his works.
1. He loved and served the Lord, even when it was unpopular. 1:3 He went up every year to worship and sacrifice to the Lord in Shiloh, in the time when Hophni and Phinehas had made a scandal of sacrifices at the Tabernacle 2:12-17.
2. He loved his whole family. 1:4-5 He supplied the needs of all his family, Peninnah and her children and especially Hannah.
3. He loved his childless Hannah. 1:5 Scripture declares it: He loved Hannah.
4. He paid attention to Hannah’s feelings and needs with compassion. 1:8 He noticed when Hannah was frustrated and sad, and tried to comfort her.
5. He was vigorous and steady in serving the Lord. 1:19 He arose early with his family in Shiloh, worshiped the Lord and headed home.
6. He transacted personally with the Lord and fulfilled his own words. 1:21 He made a vow to the Lord about this time. Samuel was conceived and born during that year, and Elkanah again went up to Shiloh to worship and fulfill the vow. (We do not know what the vow was–it was between him and the Lord.)
7. He took a stand with his wife on a courageous spiritual decision, at the cost of his own parental rights. 1:21-23 He heard Hannah’s choice to take their infant son and give him up to serve the Lord as a Nazarite for life (1:11), and supported her decision, saying “The Lord fulfill His word.” This was all shortly after the baby was born.
8. He followed through over years, steadily supporting Hannah’s faith. 1:24-25. A time later (three to four years?) Hannah went up to present Samuel as a little boy, and she took with her three bullocks, an ephah of grain, and a skin of wine.
Where was Elkanah? Standing quietly in support of his wife! The verbs of verse 25 are plural: “they slew a bullock,” and “they brought the child to Eli.”
9. He stood throughout as the head of his household, yet, moving in that capacity by faith, he encouraged his wife to full expression of all she had in God. 2:11 Hannah finished her song of triumph, but then Scripture records that “Elkanah went to Ramah to his house .” He stepped unhesitatingly into an experiment of faith in leaving their little boy with Eli–and Hophni and Phinehas–in Shiloh.
When Eli blessed them as high priest, he blessed “Elkanah and his wife.” And God was in it, giving Hannah three more sons and two daughters.
The story is a triumph of the Lord and Hannah. But we should remember that, as Mary had Joseph, Hannah had a faith-filled husband supporting her every step of the way.
Now, that’s a husband!
