The devoted mother of the prophet Samuel, whose anguished prayer at the tabernacle in Shiloh is one of the Bible’s most powerful examples of persistent faith. Taunted by her husband’s other wife for her barrenness, Hannah poured out her heart to God and vowed to dedicate her child to His service. When Samuel was born, she kept her promise, bringing the young boy to the tabernacle. Her prayer of thanksgiving—the Song of Hannah—became a model for Mary’s Magnificat centuries later.
I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him,1 Samuel 1:27 · Berean Standard Bible
Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests…
Her grief was so deep the priest mistook her for being drunk. But Hannah's whispered plea becomes one of the most powerful petitions in Scripture.
At that time Hannah prayed: “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. Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are…
A barren woman now sings of a God who reverses everything — the hungry are fed, the mighty fall, the weak are raised. Her song echoes into Mary's.
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