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Shalom friends,
This week we will discuss a character mentioned only briefly in the Bible, but from whom we can learn a lot about women, childbearing and prayer in biblical times: Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel.
At the beginning of the Book of Samuel (also called 1 Kingdoms in some versions), we hear about Elkanah, a pious Ephraimite who paid yearly visits to his local temple in Shiloh in order to worship God and give him sacrifices. Elkanah had two wives: Peninnah, who apparently had ten children, and Hannah, who was barren. Hannah was deeply distraught by this situation, and during one of the yearly visits entered the temple in order to pray to God and ask for her wish:
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And her soul was bitter, and she prayed to God and wept bitterly: And she vowed and said: "o' Lord of hosts, if you will see the misery of your servant, and remember me and not forget your servant, and you shall give your servant a child, I shall give him to God for all the days of his life, and no blade shall touch his head" (1 Samuel 1:10-11).
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Hannah was promising that her son would nazirite - a hermit who is forbidden to cut his hair or drink intoxicating beverages, and that he would serve God in the temple.
As Hannah was praying, the High Priest, Eli, saw her. At that time, it was customary to pray out loud, however, Hannah was praying silently:
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... only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard, and Eli therefore thought she was drunk (1 Samluel 1:13)
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Hannah praying in the Shiloh Temple
However, when Eli talked to Hannah he realized that she was deeply distraught, and blessed her, wishing that she would get what she had asked for. And indeed, in due time, Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son, whom she named Samuel. After that, she did not come to the temple in Shiloh until she was ready to bring Samuel with her and leave him there. She did so when she had weaned him. In the ancient world, it was customary to breastfeed until approximately the age of two, however, Hannah did not wean Samuel until he was three, and this is considered a sign of her great devotion to the son she had waited for for so long.
When arriving at the temple, Hannah told Eli that she was the woman he had seen praying, and explained her promises to dedicate Samuel's life to serving God. She then said a song of prayer, known as the prayer of Hannah, praising God for her redemption from being barren. This prayer appears in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.
Hannah bringing Samuel to the Temple
Have a great week,
The Biblical Hebrew Online Team.
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| Weekly Biblical Hebrew Words |
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Transcription: Akara
Part of speech: Noun, Feminine
Literal Meaning: A barren woman
Barren women are very common in biblical stories. All four of the mothers of Israel are described as barren at one time or another: Sarah was barren until the miraculous birth of Isaac when she was ninety years old (Genesis 11-21); Rebekah was barren and became pregnant with twins after Isaac prayed for her (Genesis 25); Rachel was barren while watching her sister Leah give birth to six children, before she had Joseph (Genesis 29-30). Leah also temporarily ceased to have children during this period (Genesis 30). Other than the mothers, Samson's mother was also barren, and when informed by an angel that she would soon have a child, was told that he must be a nazirite from his mother's womb (Judges 13), a trait reminiscent of Samuel.
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Transcription: Nazir
Part of speech: Noun, Masculine
Literal Meaning: A nazirite, a hermit
The rules of the hermit are presented in Numbers 6:1-21. The hermit is a man or woman who chooses out of piety to refrain from any form of intoxicating beverage and any product of the vine, from cutting his hair, and from becoming impure due to death – even if it is a close relative, the hermit is not permitted to go near them. The hermit sets a time period for this vow, and when it is over, brings a sacrifice.
Unlike these hermits, Samson was to be a hermit for life, from his mother's womb. This is the reason for his long hair, the source of his strength.
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Transcription: Shiccor (masculine), Shiccora (feminine)
Part of speech: Noun
Literal Meaning: A drunkard
Naturally, drunkenness is not encouraged in the Bible. There are two main types of descriptions of drunkenness: describing negative figures such as Nabal, Abigail's husband before she married David (2 Samuel 25:36) and others such as Noah after the flood, and as a metaphor, as we can see in Isaiah 24:20:
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The Earth shall stagger like a drunkard and sway like a hut, and its transgression shall be heavy upon it and it shall fall and not rise again
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Transcription: Ligmol
Part of speech: Verb (infinitive)
Literal Meaning: To wean
Weaning was a very important stage to pass in the ancient world, due to the fact that many infants did not survive until this point. Therefore, it was considered a time of celebration. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned (Genesis 21:8), and Hannah's celebration of the event also teaches us of its importance.
| In Biblical Hebrew an infant is called a |
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(yonek) – a child who nurses, while an older |
| child is called a |
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(gamul) – a child who has been weaned, and both are naturally |
symbols of childhood and innocence, as in Isaiah 11:8, which describes the idyllic life after the arrival of the Messiah:
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The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall place his hand in the adder's den
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Sculpture of the suckling baby Jesus
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