Three seldom-mentioned women found in the Hebrew Scriptures, or what is also known as the Old Testament, or what Dr. Lisa Wilson Davison likes to call the “First Testament” are Hagar, Hannah, and Huldah. I wrote about Hagar a couple of weeks ago. I will share about Huldah on another day in the near future. Today, I want us to reconsider Hannah.

Her story begins in 1 Samuel 1-2, but her influence continues throughout the history of Israel and even into the life of a young Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is within her story that the term “the anointed one” is FIRST used in scripture. This term is what is translated into English as Messiah. See the end of her prayer in 1 Samuel 2:10. Some scholars consider this prayer to be prophetic in that it mentions a king even BEFORE Israel had a king.

Hannah was the childless wife of a man named Elkanah in the days before Jerusalem was the center of the Israelites’ faith. The temple did not yet exist in Jerusalem, and the center for Israelite faith was at the tabernacle at Shiloh, which was led by the priest Eli. Hannah was made miserable by Elkanah’s other wife who had already borne him numerous sons and daughters and took every opportunity to irritate and humiliate Hannah because of her barrenness. As a faithful family, they would all go on their annual trip to Shiloh to worship God there. On one particular trip, Hannah went alone to pray near the entrance to the tabernacle. The priest Eli saw her and accused her of being drunk since she was moving her lips, but not praying aloud, and silent prayer was an uncommon thing to do at that time. When she defended herself with an explanation that she was not drunk, only pouring her heart out to the Lord, Eli believed her and said a blessing over her that God would indeed grant her request.

Eli did not know what the request was, but Hannah knew and she lived to fulfill it. She promised God that if God would just give her a child, she would return that child to God’s service. God heard that prayer and she gave birth to a boy she named “Samuel” which meant “I asked the Lord for him.” A few years later, when the child was weaned, she took a very young Samuel to Shiloh and left him at the tabernacle to be raised by Eli. Can you even imagine the fortitude it would take to fulfill such a vow?! I can’t!

The way our scripture verses are arranged, Hannah prays a beautiful prayer as she is leaving Samuel with Eli. I encourage you to read it. It reveals a deep faith in an all-powerful and all-knowing God who is the source of all good things. Verse 10 is especially interesting in that it reads like a prophecy: “The foes of the Lord shall be shattered; He will thunder against them in the heavens. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth, He will give power to His king, And triumph to His anointed one.”

Israel did not yet have a king. As a matter of fact, Hannah’s son Samuel grew up to be the last prophet-judge of Israel and God used him to find and anoint the first two men whom God chose to be kings of Israel. And “His anointed one” is the first time the term Messiah is used in scripture . . . and as Christians, we believe that is a reference to Christ . . . which makes this another prophecy from the mouth of a woman.

Some scholars have also theorized that this prayer of Hannah’s was actually added later and that Hannah herself did not actually say those words. However, what I think is interesting–and maybe even more so if she indeed did not utter that prayer–is that the author of this ancient book chose to put those words in the mouth of a woman. I think that is significant considering the patriarchal times in which it was written!

I also believe that as Samuel’s mother, she took full advantage of those early years with her son to instill within him a deep yearning for the things of God and the ability to hear God’s voice, obey God, and follow God. That should be the goal of every mother, grandmother, and of anyone who has any influence over young children.

Question for the day: What is our responsibility for teaching the children of today how to discern God’s voice?