Lives of Scripture

Elkanah, an Ephraimite of Levite descent, is introduced through his faithful yearly pilgrimage to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where Eli's sons served as priests (1 Samuel 1:1-3). He had two wives: Peninnah, who had children, and Hannah, whom he loved but who remained barren, and whom Peninnah provoked bitterly year after year over her childlessness (1:2-7). Elkanah's tenderness toward Hannah is recorded directly: 'Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?' (1:8) -- a genuine comfort that could not itself resolve her grief. He gave Hannah a double portion at the sacrificial meals as a sign of his love, and did not object when Hannah made her own vow before the LORD at Shiloh, praying desperately for a son (1:4-5, 9-11). When Hannah finally bore Samuel, Elkanah supported her decision to keep the boy home until weaned rather than bringing him immediately, and then joined her in fulfilling the vow, bringing Samuel to Eli to serve at Shiloh for the rest of his life (1:21-28). Elkanah continued his annual worship pilgrimages afterward, and each year Hannah brought Samuel a little robe she had made -- with Elkanah's household growing further as God gave them additional children (2:19-21). Elkanah's steady, faithful worship and genuine love for his grieving wife form the quiet domestic foundation for the birth of one of Israel's most significant prophets.