1 Samuel 1:7

1Sa 1:7 And [as] he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

Ver. 7. And as he did so year by year.] His kindness to her thus continued, stirreth up the spirit of petulant Peninnah, whom he could not silence, to upbraid her with her barrenness, thereby boasting of her own fruitfulness, no otherwise than if she had it of herself, and not from the Lord.

When she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her.] Then she provoked her, when she might do her most mischief - viz., at the very time of praying and offering sacrifice to the Lord, when she should have been most cheerful and free from all disquietment. And withal it implieth, saith a grave expositor, {a} that she upbraided her with the fruitlessness of her seeking to God so earnestly at those times for a child. Peter Martyr telleth us of some who, by Peninnah’s provoking of her, understand her urging of her to pray to God, who only hath power to make a woman fruitful. But if Peninnah put Hannah upon her prayer, it was merely by accident: as she that called Monica, Augustine’s mother, Meribibula, by way of reproach, made her more cautious and abstinent.

{a} Mr. Jackson.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa_1:7

And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the House of the Lord, so she provoked her.

The House of God

You must remember, that at the time when Elkanah was living, there was but one temple or church for all the worshippers of the true God; and those who lived at a great distance from this temple could not have the privilege of worshipping there, at most, above three times a year. Have you ever considered the mercy of being born in a country where there are so many places of public worship? places which have that honourable and blessed name of the house of God? When you draw near to a town, you see several of these precious buildings, higher than all the houses prepared for man to live in, beside many other smaller places of public worship: and you can scarcely find a village without some building in it where the people of God may assemble together. Now, you observe, that pious Elkanah and his family have to take a long journey once a year for the privilege of the public worship of God. What does all this say to you who have Gods house standing open for you within a very, very little distance, perhaps within a few steps, and yet you think it too much trouble to get there! You would not treat a nobleman so, if he invited you to his house; particularly, if you were very dependent upon him; and if you saw him standing at the door of his house, watching to see who accepted his invitation, and who slighted it. I have heard many people say, I can read my book at home, and I dont know but I get as much good as by going to church or meeting. But let me tell you, I do know that you cannot. If, indeed, you are confined at home by sickness, and your heart is right with God, He can and will be a little sanctuary to you, and will enable you to say, The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want: but when you idly stay at home, from the idea that you can get as much good there so in a place of public worship, you trample upon Gods express command, and expect that which He has not promised. (Helen Plumptre.)

Hannah

To know persons completely, it is necessary to view them in various situations and conditions. Character is not only displayed by trials, but it very much results from them. Both prosperity and adversity are states of acknowledged temptation; and few can equally encounter such opposite dangers. Hannah first comes before us in circumstances of disappointment and mortification. Her affliction was aggravated by reproach, for her adversary provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb But who was this adversary? She was one of her own household, for Elkanah, her husband, had two wives. And in the case before us was the conduct of Elkanah justified by the result? Let us read and see. In the days of Malachi this evil practice abounded; and observe how the prophet speaks of it. The Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet, had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Here we find that marriage was originally confined to a single pair: end we see the reason. It was not from want of power or kindness in God. He could have made more than one Eve for Adam, and would have done it had his welfare required it. But it was because of the advantage derivable from individual union, especially with regard to the children who should arise from it, and be trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Hannahs adversary seems peculiarly unprincipled and ill-disposed. A noble mind is always generous and sympathising if it possesses any exclusive advantages, it will not be forward to display and boast of them; and if it sees a fellow creature in a humbler situation, it will not labour to increase his sense of deficiencies, but rather to diminish and soften it. The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy. But we may observe, that though envy loves to expose the defects of another, it springs from his excellencies or advantages, end feeds upon some real or imaginary privilege. Accordingly, we are born informed of the occasion of this womans present malevolence. At this season Elkanah treated Hannah with peculiar attention and distinction. And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions; but unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion. There is a considerable difference between the feeling and the expression of partiality; the one is much more in our power than the other. The display of it is commonly prejudicial to the object. Who does not remember the coat of many colours? The blame we attach to a man is not always so much for acting wrong, as for bringing himself into circumstances and conditions which will hardly allow of his acting right. Piety says, In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths; and Prudence says, Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Elkanah forgets this, and his folly fixes him in a state that leaves him not the possibility of escaping evil and reproach. What could Peninnah think of approaching the altar of the God of peace and love with a temper full of envy and malice, and a tongue set on fire of hell? How much better is omission than perversion, and neglect than inconsistency? Shall blessing and cursing proceed out of the same mouth? Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Year after year Hannah had been accustomed to bear ell this provocation, and till now she seems to have endured it patiently But where is the mind that always continues in one frame? (W. Jay.)

Womanly endurance

Patience is of two kinds. There is an active, and there is a passive endurance. The former is a masculine, the latter, for the most part, a feminine virtue. Female patience is exhibited chiefly in fortitude; in bearing pain and sorrow meekly without complaining. In the old Hebrew life female endurance shines almost as brightly as in any life which Christianity itself can mould. Hannah under the provocations and taunts of her rival, answering not again her husbands rebuke, humbly replying to Elis unjust blame, is true to the type of womanly endurance. For the type of mans endurance you may look to the patience of the early Christians under persecution. They came away from the Sanhedrim to endure and bear; but it was to bear as conquerors rushing on to victory, preaching the truth with all boldness, and defying the power of the united world to silence them. These two divers qualities are joined in One, and only One of woman born, in perfection. One there was in whom human nature was exhibited in all its elements symmetrically complete. (F. W. Robertson.)

Provocations in domestic life

A garden has a great many flowers in it. Some of them are weeds, some of them are purslane, and some of them are nettles, which are not very desirable for bouquets. In the garden, however, we can take our choice; but in the family we cannot. There we have to take all. If there is a complaining one, we have to take that one; if there is a weak and dull-eyed one, we have to take that one; if there is a moody and morose one, we have to take that one; and it takes but one bitter lemon to spoil the whole of your lemonade. If of half-a-dozen lemons five are perfectly good, and the other is bad, the whole mixture is bad; for the nature of this one bad lemon enters into it. So one person may spoil the pleasure of twenty. A mother may keep a cloud resting on the whole household from morning till night; thank God she sleeps at nights. A father may fret and worry the whole household; and therefore Paul says, Fathers, provoke not your children. They are apt to make the children cross, or to create in them an unrestful, unquiet disposition. It does not take more than one smoky chimney in a room to make it intolerable. (H. W. Beecher.)

A religious use of annoyance

The remarkable thing is: A religious use of a daily provocation. Peninnah persecuted Hannah daily; laughed at her, mocked her. It was a religious use. She prayed unto the Lord; she rose up and went forward that she might pray mightily before God; she spake in her heart and she poured out her soul before God. That was conquest,--that was victory! There is a possibility of having a daily annoyance, and yet turning that daily annoyance into an occasion of nearer and nearer approach to God. Let us then endeavour to turn all our household griefs, family torments into occasions of profound worship and loving homage to God. It was in human nature to avenge the insult; to cry out angrily against the woman who delighted in sneering and in provoking. But there is something higher than human nature, something better. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 1:7. As he did so year by year when she went, &c. — This circumstance is noted as the occasion of the contention, because at such times they were forced to more society with one another, by the way, and in their lodgings; whereas, at home they had distinct apartments, where they might be asunder, and then her husband’s extraordinary love and kindness were showed to Hannah, whereby Peninnah was the more exasperated; then also Hannah prayed earnestly for a child, which hitherto she had done in vain; and this possibly she reproached her with. So she provoked her — She constantly took this occasion to upbraid her with her barrenness when Elkanah expressed such extraordinary kindness to her. Therefore she wept, and did not eat — Being overwhelmed with grief, she had no inclination to eat on this festival occasion, nor did she consider herself as fit to partake of the sacred food, which they were forbid to eat in their mourning.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:7 the Tabernacle: Also called “the Temple of the Lord” in 1:9. These designations reflect that the Tabernacle, a portable structure, served as the central sanctuary at Shiloh.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. And as he did so year by year] As the whole family went up to Shiloh to the annual festivals, Peninnah had both sons and daughters to accompany her, 1Sa 1:4, but Hannah had none; and Peninnah took this opportunity particularly to twit Hannah with her barrenness, by making an ostentatious exhibition of her children.

Therefore she wept] She was greatly distressed, because it was a great reproach to a woman among the Jews to be barren; because, say some, every one hoped that the Messiah should spring from her line.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) And as he did so year by year.—That is, Elkanah, on the occasion of every yearly visit to the national sanctuary, was in the habit of publicly giving the childless Hannah the double gift, to show his undiminished love; while the happier mother of his children, jealous of her rival, every year chose this solemn occasion of offering thank-offerings before the Tabernacle, especially to taunt the childless wife, no doubt referring the absence of children, which among the mothers of Israel was considered so deep a calamity, to the special auger of God.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. as he did so] Peninnah’s spitefulness was evoked by the display of Elkanah’s affection. Exultation at another’s misfortune is one of the most detestable forms of malice.

did not eat] Refused to take any part in the rejoicings of the sacrificial feast.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And as he did so year by year,.... Elkanah went up every year to Shiloh, and offered sacrifices, taking his family with him, and gave to Peninnah and her children their portion, and to Hannah a double portion, or if but one yet the best:

when she went up to the house of the Lord; that is, Peninnah, along with her husband, with whom she went every year to the tabernacle at Shiloh:

so she provoked her; her rival Hannah, upbraiding her with her barrenness; to which she was stirred up by seeing her husband on these festivals take so much notice of her, and show so much love and respect for her, as always to give her the best portion. Abarbinel thinks that Peninnah and Hannah lived at two separate places, the one at Ramah and the other at Ramatha, which both together are called Ramathaim; and that they only met with and saw one another at these festivals, and then it was that the one was so very insulting and provoking to the other:

therefore she wept and did not eat; that is, Hannah wept at the insults, reproaches, and scoffs, cast at her by her antagonist; insomuch that she could not eat of the peace offerings, though her husband always gave her the best part and portion of them; but her grief took away her stomach and appetite, that she could not eat; see Psa 42:3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And as he did so ... - It should rather be “And so she did year by year, as often as she went up to the House of the Lord, so she provoked her.” Though the verb is masculine, Peninnah must be the subject, because as often as SHE went up follows. The Vulgate has “they went up.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lord. Then they could hardly avoid being together on the road, and Anna was accustomed to pray earnestly (Menochius) to be delivered from her reproach. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

As he did so, i.e. either as oft as he went and carried them with him to worship; or as Elkanah expressed peculiar kindness to Hannah, as was said, 1Sa 1:5.

Year by year, i.e. every year, at the days or times mentioned, 1Sa 1:3.

When she went up to the house of the Lord. This circumstance is noted, first, As the occasion of the contention, because at such times they were forced to more society with one another by the way, and in their lodgings; whereas at home they had distinct apartments, where they might be asunder; and then her husband’s extraordinary love and kindness was showed to Hannah, whereby Peninnah was the more exasperated; then also Hannah prayed earnestly for a child, which hitherto she had done in vain; and this possibly she reproached her with. Secondly, As the aggravation of her sin, that when she came to worship God, and to offer sacrifices, when she should have been reconciled even to her enemies, Mat 5:23,24, she did quarrel with so near a relation.

Did not eat; either little, or rather nothing at all, as being overwhelmed with grief, and therefore unfit to eat of that sacred food, according to Deu 12:7.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. He did so year by year — Elkanah yearly continued to show such special attention to Hannah as he and all his family went up to the tabernacle at Shiloh.

So she provoked her — Peninnah likewise continued to tantalize Hannah for her barrenness. This provocation was the more keenly felt because barrenness was a reproach to women among the Jews. See Gen_30:23; Luk_1:25.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When she went-This circumstance is noted as the occasion of the contention, because at such times they were forced to more society with one another, by the way, and in their lodgings; whereas at home they had distinct apartments, where they might be asunder; and then her husband's extraordinary love and kindness was shewed to Hannah, whereby Peninnah was the more exasperated; then also Hannah prayed earnestly for a child, which hitherto she had done in vain; and this possibly she reproached her with. Did not eat - Being overwhelmed with grief, and therefore unfit to eat of the sacred food. Which they were not to eat in their mourning.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

her rival

This is Peninnah, the other wife of Elkanah. A rival is someone who competes against another person. In this case Peninnah was competing against Hannah to try to get Elkanah to love her best.

Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?

These rhetorical questions can be translated as statements, if necessary. AT: "Hannah, you should not weep. You should eat, and your heart should be glad because I am better to you than ten sons!" or "You have little reason for sadness. I favor you and that should be enough." (See: Rhetorical Question)

than ten sons

Elkanah is exaggerating to emphasize how important Hannah is to him. AT: "than any son could be" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

translationWords

house of God

heart

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

He would do this. Elkonoh.

Year after year. He would give her a choice portion to demonstrate to her that he loved her; and her rival, according to the affection which her husband demonstrated to her, would anger her more and more.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

And as he would do this: Elkanah would do this every year, to go up to the House of the Lord with his household. And Peninah would also anger Channah each time when she would go up to the House of the Lord, since she would anger her about the matter of the portions - that there were portions for her and her children, whereas Channah only had one portion since she did not have children who would take portions.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.