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A painting by Jan Victors: Hannah, a woman in middle age, prays with her hands clasped and her eyes raised. She wears a wide red hat trimmed with gold, a white ruff and a fur-trimmed cloak over a brown and orange gown. Behind her, in the shadows of the temple at the left, the old priest Eli sits and watches her.
People of the Bible

Hannah

Before Israel had a king · Ramah and Shiloh, in the hill country of Ephraim

She prayed for a son at Shiloh so quietly that the priest thought she was drunk. When the boy came, she gave him back to the LORD, and sang.

Picture: Hannah prays in the temple, Jan Victors, 1643. Dordrechts Museum. Public domain.

Who was Hannah?

Hannah was the wife of Elkanah, in the hill country of Ephraim. For years she had no children, and his other wife taunted her. At the house of the LORD in Shiloh she prayed in silence for a son, and vowed to give him back. The son was Samuel. She kept her vow, and sang a song of praise.

at a glance

Her path, in order

  1. WifeOf Elkanah, who loved her
  2. MotherOf Samuel, the son she asked for
  3. ProphetessHer song spoke of a king to come

in numbers

  • Sons her husband said he was worth10
    • “Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
    • Elkanah, when she would not eat
    1 Samuel 1:8
  • Children she had after Samuel5
    • Three sons and two daughters
    • Just as Eli the priest had blessed her
    1 Samuel 2:20-21

did you know?

  • The Talmud draws its rules for the central Jewish prayer from her: mean it in your heart, form the words with your lips, and keep your voice down.

    Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 31a

  • The Talmud hears a prophecy in one word of her song: “my horn is exalted in the LORD.” Her son Samuel anointed David from a horn of oil, and David's line kept the throne. Samuel anointed Saul from a flask, and Saul's did not.

    Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 14a; 1 Samuel 10:1; 16:13

  • Every Jewish New Year, synagogues read her story. The Talmud sets it for the first day of Rosh Hashanah, beside the birth of Sarah's son. By tradition, God remembered both women on that day.

    Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 31a
In the Bible
Only in 1 Samuel 1 and 2. No other book of the Bible names her.
Home
Ramathaim-zophim, or Ramah, in the hill country of Ephraim. Each year the family went up to Shiloh, where Eli was priest at the house of the LORD.
Family
Her husband Elkanah, and his second wife Peninnah, who had sons and daughters. Hannah's first child was Samuel. Three sons and two daughters followed.
Her vow
That no razor would touch her son's head. It is the mark of a Nazirite, set apart to the LORD, in the law of Numbers 6. Samson's mother was told the same of her son.
Her name
Hebrew for grace. Greek and Latin Bibles call her Anna.
Also called
The Prophetess Hannah, in the Orthodox Church.
Died
The Bible does not say. It last speaks of her five younger children.
In art
Dutch painters of the 1600s, several of them Rembrandt's pupils, painted her often: at prayer, as at the top of this page, or bringing the young Samuel to Eli the priest.
A black and white mezzotint: Elkanah, in a plumed turban and a jewelled sash, leans over Hannah and points out to the left, where travellers ride away past a great column. Hannah sits with the baby Samuel on her lap and looks up into her husband's face. A line of lettering runs along the foot of the print.
In artA mezzotint by G. Graham, 1815. Hannah and her husband, Elkanah, talk over the weaning of Samuel: she will not go up to Shiloh until the boy is weaned. Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0.
A painting by Jan Victors: the old priest Eli, in a white mitre and a red and gold robe, lays his hand on the head of the small boy Samuel. Hannah kneels beside her son in a dark gown and a golden skirt, her hand raised. Elkanah, in a turban and a long dark cloak, stands at the left.
The priest Eli blesses the boy Samuel as Hannah kneels beside him. Jan Victors, 1645. Public domain.

feast days

East and West, side by side

West

  • Sep2

    Hannah, remembered by Lutherans of the Missouri Synod. The Roman calendar has no day for her. It keeps her son Samuel on 20 August.

East

  • Dec9

    The Holy Prophetess Hannah, mother of the Prophet Samuel, for the OCA and the other Orthodox churches.

On 9 December the Orthodox also keep the conception of the Virgin Mary by Saint Anna: two women with the same name, on one day. Churches on the old calendar keep the day 13 days later.

what others said of her

The early Church Fathers, in their own words. They took her as a model of prayer, and heard prophecy in her song.

She spoke with hidden prayer, but with manifest faith. She spoke not with her voice, but with her heart, because she knew that thus God hears; and she effectually obtained what she sought, because she asked it with belief.
Cyprian of Carthage, teaching his people to pray. He calls her “a type of the Church”.Cyprian, On the Lord's Prayer, chapter 5
Her tears alone uttered a cry more clear than any trumpet. And because of this, God also opened her womb, and made the hard rock a fruitful field.
John Chrysostom, on tears shed in secret, for God aloneJohn Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew, Homily 6
Who amongst you would not rather that his son should become a Samuel than that he should be king of the whole world ten thousand times over?
John Chrysostom, urging parents to follow her exampleJohn Chrysostom, Homilies on Ephesians, Homily 21
Anna even before Samuel was born promised him to God, and after his birth consecrated him at once, and brought him up in the priestly habit, not fearing anything in human nature, but trusting in God.
Gregory of Nazianzus, telling mothers not to put off their babies' baptismGregory of Nazianzus, Oration 40, On Holy Baptism, chapter 17
When as yet no one was king over that people, whence, if she did not prophesy, did she say what she puts at the end, He gives strength to our kings, and shall exalt the horn of His Christ?
Augustine, in The City of God. Israel had no king yet when she sang.Augustine, The City of God, book 17, chapter 4

her life in six moments

  1. Ramah and Shiloh

    Year after year

    Her rival taunted her

    Elkanah had two wives. “Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.” Every year he took the family up to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the LORD. He gave Hannah a double portion, “for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb.” But her rival taunted her, year after year, until she wept and would not eat. “Hannah, why are you crying?” Elkanah asked. “Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

    1 Samuel 1:1-8

  2. Shiloh

    After the meal

    A vow at the doorpost

    After the family had eaten, Hannah stood up. Eli the priest was sitting by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. “In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.” She made a vow. If the LORD gave her a son, she would give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor would ever touch his head. Her vow is below, in her words.

    1 Samuel 1:9-11

  3. Shiloh

    The same hour

    “How long will you be drunk?”

    Eli the priest watched Hannah's mouth. She was praying in her heart, “and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard.” So Eli thought she was drunk. “How long will you be drunk?” he said. “Put away your wine!” She told him she had drunk nothing. She had been pouring out her soul before the LORD. “Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.” She went on her way and ate, “and her face was no longer downcast.”

    1 Samuel 1:12-18

  4. Ramah

    In the course of time

    A son named Samuel

    Hannah's family went home to Ramah, “and the LORD remembered her.” Hannah gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.” When the next yearly sacrifice came, she stayed at home. She would bring the boy once he was weaned, she told her husband, to stay at the house of the LORD for good. “Do what you think is best,” Elkanah replied.

    1 Samuel 1:19-23

  5. Shiloh

    Once he was weaned

    “I prayed for this boy”

    Hannah took her son Samuel up to Shiloh with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine. “Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.” After the sacrifice they brought him to Eli. She reminded the old priest that she was the woman he had seen praying there. “I prayed for this boy,” she said, and she gave him to the LORD for as long as he lived. Then she prayed again, a song of praise: it is below. Elkanah went home, and the boy stayed to serve the LORD under Eli.

    1 Samuel 1:24-2:11

  6. Shiloh

    Every year after

    A little robe

    Samuel grew up at Shiloh, “a boy wearing a linen ephod.” “Each year his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him” when she came up with her husband for the yearly sacrifice. Eli the priest would bless them: “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” And the LORD did. Hannah had three sons and two daughters, while “the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.” Here the Bible's story of Hannah ends.

    1 Samuel 2:18-21

her words

Her words, as 1 Samuel records them. Outside the section on where the quiz places her, every Bible line on this page is from the Berean Standard Bible.

To Eli, who thought she was drunk

I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.

She had been praying in silence, her lips moving. Eli had told her, “Put away your wine!”

1 Samuel 1:13-15
O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever touch his head.
Her vow at Shiloh, in tears.1 Samuel 1:11
Do not take your servant for a wicked woman, for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.
To Eli, when he took her for drunk.1 Samuel 1:16
After the boy is weaned, I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there permanently.
To her husband, Elkanah, when she stayed home from the yearly journey.1 Samuel 1:22
Please, my lord, as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him, I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.
To Eli, when she brought Samuel to him.1 Samuel 1:26-28
My heart rejoices in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, for I rejoice in Your salvation. There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.
The opening of her song.1 Samuel 2:1-2

her song, and mary's

Centuries later, Mary, a young woman of Nazareth, sang a song much like Hannah's. The Catholic Encyclopedia calls Mary's song “very similar in thought and phrase to the Canticle of Anna”. The Lutheran calendar says Hannah's song foreshadows Mary's. Here are some of their lines side by side.

Joy in God

Hannah sang, “My heart rejoices in the LORD.” Mary sang:

“My spirit rejoices in God my Savior!”
1 Samuel 2:1; Luke 1:47

The mighty brought low

Hannah sang, “The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength.” Mary sang:

“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.”
1 Samuel 2:4; Luke 1:52

The hungry fed

Hannah sang, “The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more.” Mary sang:

“He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.”
1 Samuel 2:5; Luke 1:53

The lowly lifted up

Hannah sang, “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.” Mary sang:

“He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant.”
1 Samuel 2:8; Luke 1:48

often misquoted

Often said

Hannah was Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.

What the sources sayThey are two women with one name: Hannah in Hebrew, Anna in Greek and Latin, Anne in English. Hannah was Samuel's mother, and lived long before Saint Anne. The Bible never names Mary's mother: the name comes from the Protoevangelium of James, a book from about AD 150. In it, a childless wife weeps, prays and is given a child. The Catholic Encyclopedia calls that story “apparently a reproduction of the biblical account of the conception of Samuel”.

Catholic Encyclopedia (1907), St. Anne

friends, family and rivals

Elkanah

Her husband, an Ephraimite. He loved her, gave her a double portion at the yearly feast, and let her keep Samuel at home until he was weaned.

1 Samuel 1:1-8, 23
Peninnah

Elkanah's other wife, who had sons and daughters. Year after year she taunted Hannah to tears.

1 Samuel 1:2-7
Eli

The old priest at Shiloh. He took her silent prayer for drunkenness, then sent her away with a blessing. She left Samuel in his care.

1 Samuel 1:12-17, 25; 2:11
Samuel

Her first child, the son she asked for. He grew up at Shiloh, became a prophet and judged Israel, and anointed its first two kings, Saul and David.

1 Samuel 3:20; 7:15; 10:1; 16:13

is she a saint?

Yes, in the Orthodox Church, which honours her as a prophetess on 9 December. Lutherans in the Missouri Synod remember her on 2 September.

  • OrthodoxSaintThe Holy Prophetess Hannah, 9 December
  • LutheranCommemoratedMissouri Synod, 2 September
  • CatholicNot on the calendarRome keeps her son Samuel, 20 August
  • AnglicanNot on the calendarHer song is a Church of England canticle

The Orthodox call her a prophetess for her song. Their hymn for her day says she saw far-off things as if they were near. The Talmud counts her among Israel's seven prophetesses, for the same song.

The Missouri Synod remembers her for keeping the vow she made before her son was born.

what to read first

1 Samuel 1

The first book of Samuel

Her whole story up to the day she gave Samuel to the LORD. One chapter.

Read it free

1 Samuel 2:1-21

The first book of Samuel

Her song, and the little robe she brought every year.

Read it free

Luke 1:46-55

The Gospel of Luke

Mary's song, to read beside Hannah's.

Read it free

On the Lord's Prayer

Cyprian of Carthage

A short book on prayer. Hannah is his model of praying from the heart.

Read it free

where the quiz places her

The record, drawn

Pace Weighs first Voice Holds it Lead no lean Conflict no lean Reasons Takes it on trust Plans Plans ahead
Each arm is one axis: how far out you sit is how strongly you lean, and the colour is which way. The hatched middle is the band where the quiz names neither pole.

Each arm is one axis; length is how far from the centre the recorded acts sit. An axis the text does not place Hannah on has no arm.

In the quiz's own words

Plans ahead, takes time to decide, slow to speak up

The six axes

In the hatched middle the quiz names neither pole.

Pace 30% toward Weighs first

Acts firstWeighs first

Voice 30% toward Holds it

Says itHolds it

Lead not shown in the text

Out in frontAlongside

Conflict not shown in the text

ConfrontsReconciles

Reasons 30% toward Takes it on trust

Asks whyTakes it on trust

Plans 60% toward Plans ahead

Plans aheadMeets the day

The moments behind each axis

Each line is one recorded act and the reference it is taken from. The sentence says what the person did; where it is in quotation marks it is verbatim from the World English Bible British Edition. An act listed here is evidence of how this person moved, not approval of it; read the passage for how it was received. On 2 of the six the text does not show this, and that axis is left out of the match rather than filled in.

Pace Acts first Weighs first

takes time to decide

  1. 1 Samuel 1:22-23 toward Weighs first

    She stayed behind from the yearly journey and waited until the child was weaned before bringing him.

Voice Says it Holds it

slow to speak up

  1. 1 Samuel 1:13 toward Holds it

    She prayed at the doorpost without making a sound.

    Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard.

  2. 1 Samuel 2:1 toward Says it

    When she had brought Samuel up she prayed and said her song.

Lead Out in front Alongside

not shown in the text

The text does not show this. Nothing in the record puts Hannah at either end of this axis, so it is left out when a reader is matched, rather than counted as a position in the middle.

  1. No record

    The text does not show this.

Conflict Confronts Reconciles

not shown in the text

The text does not show this. Nothing in the record puts Hannah at either end of this axis, so it is left out when a reader is matched, rather than counted as a position in the middle.

  1. No record

    The text does not show this.

Reasons Asks why Takes it on trust

slow to question

  1. 1 Samuel 1:18 toward Takes it on trust

    After Eli's word she went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Plans Plans ahead Meets the day

plans ahead

  1. 1 Samuel 1:24 toward Plans ahead

    She brought three bulls, an ephah of meal and a container of wine with the child.

  2. 1 Samuel 2:19 toward Plans ahead

    She made him a little robe and brought it up to him year after year.

Nearest on the map

Distance between two sets of coordinates across every axis, on the same scale a reader's answers are measured on. No number is shown against a person, and nearness is not likeness: two people can land in the same band for different reasons.

  1. Joseph Closest
  2. Esther
  3. Nehemiah
  4. Daniel
  5. Judith
  6. Jesus

Suggest a correction. Corrections that are applied are recorded in the public changelog.

Quiz Who in the Bible are you most like? Answer eighteen plain statements about you, none of them about the Bible, and see how near you land to Hannah. Start Quiz Christian Personality Test Which of eight types are you? Find your own. Start

people like her

Mary of Nazareth

Her song is very like Hannah's, the Catholic Encyclopedia notes. It begins, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

Luke 1:46-55 Deborah

Another woman of Israel who sang to the LORD after He acted, and whom the Bible itself calls a prophetess.

Judges 4:4; 5:1 Ruth

Another woman from the days of the judges to whom the LORD gave a son. Her great-grandson was David, whom Hannah's son anointed.

Ruth 4:13, 17; 1 Samuel 16:13

sources

Her life, and her words

Reference

Calendars

Pictures