2 And he had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah: and Peninnah was the mother of children, but Hannah had no children.
And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, give ear to my voice; you wives of Lamech, give attention to my words, for I would put a man to death for a wound, and a young man for a blow;
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had given him no children; and she had a servant, a woman of Egypt whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, See, the Lord has not let me have children; go in to my servant, for I may get a family through her. And Abram did as Sarai said.
And in the evening he took Leah, his daughter, and gave her to him, and he went in to her. And Laban gave Zilpah, his servant-girl, to Leah, to be her waiting-woman. And in the morning Jacob saw that it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What have you done to me? was I not working for you so that I might have Rachel? why have you been false to me? And Laban said, In our country we do not let the younger daughter be married before the older. Let the week of the bride-feast come to its end and then we will give you the other in addition, if you will be my servant for another seven years. And Jacob did so; and when the week was ended, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel for his wife. And Laban gave Rachel his servant-girl Bilhah to be her waiting-woman.
Now the Lord, seeing that Leah was not loved, gave her a child; while Rachel had no children.
If a man has two wives, one greatly loved and the other hated, and the two of them have had children by him; and if the first son is the child of the hated wife: Then when he gives his property to his sons for their heritage, he is not to put the son of his loved one in the place of the first son, the son of the hated wife: But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.
Gideon had seventy sons, the offspring of his body; for he had a number of wives.
Now there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; and his wife had never given birth to a child.
And they were without children, because Elisabeth had never given birth, and they were at that time very old.
And Lamech had two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Samuel 1
Commentary on 1 Samuel 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
The First Book of Samuel
Chapter 1
The history of Samuel here begins as early as that of Samson did, even before he was born, as afterwards the history of John the Baptist and our blessed Saviour. Some of the scripture-worthies drop out of the clouds, as it were, and their first appearance is in their full growth and lustre. But others are accounted for from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. What God says of the prophet Jeremiah is true of all: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee,' Jer. 1:5. But some great men were brought into the world with more observation than others, and were more early distinguished from common persons, as Samuel for one. God, in this matter, acts as a free agent. The story of Samson introduces him as a child of promise, Jdg. 13. But the story of Samuel introduces him as a child of prayer. Samson's birth was foretold by an angel to his mother; Samuel was asked of God by his mother. Both together intimate what wonders are produced by the word and prayer. Samuel's mother was Hannah, the principal person concerned in the story of this chapter.
1Sa 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, 1 Chr. 6:33, 34. His ancestor Zuph was an Ephrathite, that is, of Bethlehem-Judah, which was called Ephrathah, Ruth 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, which signifies the double Ramah, the higher and lower town, the same with Arimathea of which Joseph was, here called Ramathaim-zophim. Zophim signifies watchmen; probably they had one of the schools of the prophets there, for prophets are called watchmen: the Chaldee paraphrase calls Elkanah a disciple of the prophets. But it seems to me that it was in Samuel that prophecy revived, before his time there being, for a great while, no open vision, ch. 3:1. Nor is there any mention of a prophet of the Lord from Moses to Samuel, except Jdg. 6:8. So that we have no reason to think that there was any nursery or college of prophets here till Samuel himself founded one, ch. 19:19, 20. This is the account of Samuel's parentage, and the place of his nativity. Let us now take notice of the state of the family.
1Sa 1:9-18
Elkanah had gently reproved Hannah for her inordinate grief, and here we find the good effect of the reproof.
1Sa 1:19-28
Here is,