Channah · conjunction + preposition + proper noun, a woman's name
gave
יִתֵּ֛ןyi.Ten
H5414
to give · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
a
אַחַ֖ת'a.Chat
H259
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct
worthy
אַפָּ֑יִם'a.Pa.yim
H639
properly · noun, common masculine dual absolute
portion
מָנָ֥הma.Nah
H4490
properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
loved
אָהֵ֔ב'a.Hev
H157
to have affection for (sexually or otherwise) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Hannah
חַנָּה֙cha.Nah
H2584
Channah · proper noun, a woman's name
LORD
וַֽיהוָ֖הva.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · conjunction + proper noun, a title
up
סָגַ֥רsa.Gar
H5462
to shut up · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
womb
רַחְמָֽהּrach.Mah
H7358
the womb · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 30:2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
Genesis 29:30-31 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Genesis 20:18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.
Genesis 45:22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.
Genesis 43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were…
Deuteronomy 21:15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstbo…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 1:1-8
We have here an account of the state of the family into which Samuel the prophet was born. His father's name was Elkanah, a Levite, and of the family of the Kohathites (the most honourable house of that tribe) as appears, Ch1 6:33, Ch1 6:34. His ancestor Zuph was an Ephrathite, that is, of Bethlehem-Judah, which was called Ephrathah, Ruth, Rut 1:2. There this family of the Levites was first seated, but one branch of it, in process of time, removed to Mount Ephraim, from which Elkanah descended. Micah's Levite came from Bethlehem to Mount Ephraim, Jdg 17:8. Perhaps notice is taken of their being originally Ephrathites to show their alliance to David. This Elkanah lived at Ramah, or Ramathaim,…
when . . . Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah . . . portions--The offerer received back the greater part of the peace offerings, which he and his family or friends were accustomed to eat at a social feast before the Lord. (See on Lev 3:3; Deu 12:12). It was out of these consecrated viands Elkanah gave portions to all the members of his family; but "unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion"; that is, a larger choice, according to the Eastern fashion of showing regard to beloved or distinguished guests. (See on Sa1 9:24; also see on Gen 43:34).
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 1:5
Unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion - The Hebrew here is very obscure, יתן מנה אחת אפים yitten manah achath appayim; he gave her one portion of two faces; which the Syriac renders, he gave her one Double Part; and the Chaldee, he gave her one Chosen part; the Arabic is nearly the same; the Vulgate Annae autem dedit unam partem tristis, but to Anna he being sorrowful gave one part. As the shew-bread that was presented to the Lord was called לחם פנים lechem panim, the bread of faces, because it was placed before the face or appearances of the Lord; probably this was called מנה אפים manah appayim, because it was the portion that belonged to, or was placed before, the person who had offered the…
And he gave to his wife Peninnah, etc. The Lord, suffering in the human flesh, and provoking to divine matters, gave to the Synagogue and all who believed and feared Him in it, both small and great, various operations of virtues and divisions of graces. To the Church of the Gentiles, however, which was still in a few believers, for instance, the Centurion and the Syrophoenician woman, and also to those who, going up to worship in the temple on the feast day, said to Philip: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (John 12:21); and to others like them, He bestowed only the gifts of faith. The grace of the charismata, however, He deferred to give for the time being. And this one was acting sorrowfully, because she knew what kind of church it would be and praised it in the faith of the Centurion or the aforementioned woman; she loved it, although it was still delayed by the supreme counsel of goodness from receiving the sacraments of the same faith. Therefore, as the hour of passion was approaching, He said, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death" (Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34); He did not say, sorrowful because of death, but unto death; because, by His very death, He knew that He would destroy him who had the power of death, and after death, He rejoiced that He would reach the salvation of the Gentiles.
Let us not take this with a grain of salt; instead let us learn also from this the highest values, and when we fall foul of some disaster, even if we are suffering grief and pain, even if the trouble seems insupportable to us, let us not be anxious or beside ourselves but wait on God's providence. He is well aware, after all, when is the time for what is causing us depression to be removed—which is what happened in her case as well. It was not out of hatred, in fact, or of revulsion that he closed her womb, but to open to us the doors on the values the woman possessed and for us to espy the riches of her faith and realize that he rendered her more conspicuous on that account.… Extreme the pain, great the length of grief—not two or three days, not twenty or a hundred, not a thousand or twice as much; instead, "for a long time," it says, for many years the woman was grieving and distressed, the meaning of "for a long time." Yet she showed no impatience, nor did the length of time undermine her values, nor the reproaches and abuse of her rival; instead, she was unremitting in prayer and supplication, and what was most remarkable of all, showing in particular her love for God, was the fact that she was not simply anxious to have this very child for herself but to dedicate the fruit of her womb to God, offer the first fruits of her own womb and receive the reward for this fine promise.
Dictionary and topics
Hannah — Favour, grace, one of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. 1; 2). Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle…
Children · Anxiety of the Jews for — Anxiety of the Jews for
Cruelty · .Peninnah to Hannah — .Peninnah to Hannah
Entertainments · Given on occasions of: Offering voluntary sacrifice — Given on occasions of: Offering voluntary sacrifice
Favoritism · .Elkanah, for Hannah — .Elkanah, for Hannah
Hannah · Her trials and prayer, and promise — Her trials and prayer, and promise
Husbands · Good — Exemplified: Elkanah — Good — Exemplified: Elkanah
Polygamy · .Elkanah’ s — .Elkanah’ s
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 1 Samuel 1:5
But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion,.... Or, one choice portion, as the Targum; the best part or portion in the peace offering, of what the priest had not; he had the breast and the right shoulder, the next best piece he gave to Hannah; and the word being of the dual number, some render it a double portion; others, "one part of two faces" (h); which Jerom interprets, which might be received with a cheerful countenance, it was so good and excellent in its kind; others interpret it that he gave it with a sorrowful (i) and displeased countenance, because of the reason following, that she had no children; but Ben Gersom understands it of a part or portion of meat that had two faces or appea…
Samuel's pedigree. - Sa1 1:1. His father was a man of Ramathaim-Zophim, on the mountains of Ephraim, and named Elkanah. Ramathaim-Zophim, which is only mentioned here, is the same place, according to Sa1 1:3 (comp. with Sa1 1:19 and Sa1 2:11), which is afterwards called briefly ha-Ramah, i.e., the height. For since Elkanah of Ramathaim-Zophim went year by year out of his city to Shiloh, to worship and sacrifice there, and after he had done this, returned to his house to Ramah (Sa1 1:19; Sa1 2:11), there can be no doubt that he was not only a native of Ramathaim-Zophim, but still had his home there; so that Ramah, where his house was situated, is only an abbreviated name for Ramathaim-Zophim.…
sacrifice . . . portions of the meat: Certain sacrifices involved sharing part of the sacrificial animal in a communal meal (see Lev 7:11-34).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 1:5
One choice portion. One choice portion which is fit to be accepted with a friendly countenance.10אַפָּיִם referring to the face rather than to the portion. Ralbag renders “a double sized portion.”
(Moral Exposition) The sons of Peninnah are the counsels of the holy mind, which grow through the pursuit of piety in the active life. These sons receive portions with their mother when the counsels of piety grow rich in devotion to good works unto the splendor of heavenly grace. For the pious mind, the more sublimely it is raised in divine contemplation, the more devoutly it extends itself in holy action. For the portions of this mother and her sons are the preparations for holy works. But he gives one portion to the sorrowful Hannah, because through contemplation, by which she desires heavenly things, as long as she is hindered in this misery of time and does not obtain the heavenly things she loves, she has the food of refreshment only in weeping. Indeed, she holds herself fasting whenever, remembering that she is cast out from eternal joys, she cannot weep. Therefore she receives one portion from the sorrowful one, because she is never refreshed according to her desire unless she is satisfied by weeping. The Ephrathite husband gives it to her sorrowfully, who when he gave a portion to Peninnah was not sorrowful, because indeed he rejoices in the preparation of good works, but does not rejoice in joys as long as he is delayed from the heavenly things he loves. Certainly he had given this portion to Hannah, who, seeing himself excluded from eternal goods, spoke saying: "My tears have been my bread day and night, while it is said to me daily: Where is your God?" (Psalm 41:4). But the imperfection of one still beginning is indicated when one wife of the Ephrathite is said to afflict and vehemently distress the other. For in the perfect person, the battle of wives is by no means engaged, since firm experience already knows how to arrange discretely the need for work and the intention for contemplation. For he possesses both wives as if in peace, who neither assigns the times of work to contemplation nor disturbs the leisure of contemplation through the intention of work. (Verse 6) Her rival also afflicted her and vehemently distressed her, to such an extent that she reproached her because the Lord had closed her womb.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
