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1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: 2 And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. 4 And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: 5 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. 6 And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. 7 And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. 8 Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons? 9 So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD. 10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. 11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no rasor come upon his head. 12 And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. 13 Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. 14 And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. 15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. 16 Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. 17 Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. 18 And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. 19 And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her. 20 Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD. 21 And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. 22 But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever. 23 And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. 24 And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young. 25 And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD. 27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28 Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.
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[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Samuel 1:1
Is not this very thing a reason for praising the just person, that one can say of him: “There was one man”? We who are still sinners cannot acquire that title of praise because each of us is not one but many. For looking at me is the face of one who is now angry, and then sad, a little later happy, and then disturbed and then gentle, at times concerned with the things of God and actions leading to eternal life, but shortly after doing things based on greed or the glory of this world. You can see, then, that he who was thought to be one is not one at all; but there seem to be as many persons in him as there are customs.… But as for the just, not only is each said to be one but they are, all together, said to be one. And why shouldn’t they all be called one, who were described as being of “one heart and soul”? They constantly contemplate one wisdom, are of one affection and disposition, reverence one God, confess one Jesus Christ as Lord, are filled with one Spirit of God. They are rightly called not just one [thing] but “one person,” as the apostle indicated when he said, “All the runners compete, but only one receives the prize.”

Source: HOMILIES ON 1 KINGS 1.4
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:1
There was a man from Ramathaim Zophim ... Elkanah, etc. The first reading of Blessed Samuel typically designates one and the same Lord Christ, to be believed always as the Redeemer and Ruler of both the Synagogue and the Church; of one, boasting of herself from the justice of the law and the abundance of her believing progeny; of the other, lamenting the injustices of her long desolation with humble devotion at the mercy of her same Redeemer, and therefore, breathing again with the sublime consolation of that Redeemer. Ramathaim, as we find in the books of locations, is a city in the region of Thannitica, near Diospolis, from which was Joseph, who in the Gospels is written of as from Arimathea. Moreover, Zophim is a mountain of Ephraim in the place of Ramathaim, which the old edition called Armathem. Ramathaim, however, is interpreted as "their heights"; Zophim as "watchtower"; Ephraim as "fruitful" or "increasing"; and Elkanah as "God's possession." Therefore, there was a man from their heights, that is, a watchtower of men, from the fruitful and increasing mountain, and his name is "God's possession." One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God (Eph. IV), who always has a beloved possession, and consecrates a dwelling in the spiritual hearts of the faithful. These, having transcended the earthly conversation, with all the effort of the mind, desire to observe the heavenly light of wisdom, possessing that mountain, which, with the pomp of worldly empire destroyed, grew with the fruit of believing peoples, and filled the whole earth. Of which the Psalmist says: "And He heard me from His holy mountain" (Psalm III), that is, He redeemed me through the man whom He singularly accepted as holy. This one man, namely, man Christ, explaining His own name says: "The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His ways" (Proverbs VIII). But this must also be noted according to the letter, because it is not written in vain, nor superfluously, "There was one man"; since it might seem sufficient to say, "There was a man from Ramathaim," or it could more fittingly have been said, "There was a certain man"; as some have even dared to translate against the faith of Hebrew truth. But this addition of "one" refers to the laudable title of Elkanah who, according to the Apostle's admonitions (Eph. IV), being stable and immovable, abounding in the work of the Lord, was never carried about by every wind of doctrine. For the wise man remains like the sun. For the fool changes like the moon (Eccles. XXVII). And this most fittingly applies to men of this kind, that, placed in the high watchtower of the mind and rejoicing in the fruitful summit of virtues, they are called "God's possession." Not only is any one of the perfect in Christ rightly called "one man"; but the heart and soul of the multitude of believers were one (Acts IV), imitating after their measure Him to whom it is said: "But You are the same" (Psalm CI). On the contrary, the reprobate are many, not only in different persons or in committing errors in various ways; but each one of them, due to the various movements of his changing mind, is many. For the heart of fools will be different, and a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (Proverbs XI; James I). Hence, the very cities in which they serve are "one confusion"; and this is of the Chaldeans, that is, the fierce, or as it were of demons; the other is called the "vision of peace," whose creator and founder is that one man, of whom it is said, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord" (Deut. VI). Indeed, that chorus of like-mindedness in the house, which sings: "One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" (Psalm XXVI).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:1
And (he said) his name was Elkanah, etc. The names of the fathers of Elkanah unveil their lives, faith, virtues, and the sublimity of those in whom and through whom the Lord is accustomed to be spiritually born; that is, in whose acts or inspirations, faith and love of Him are infused into hearts where they were not before. Hieroam, indeed, means merciful: Heliu, my God is his: Thau signifies a sign, Suph a watcher: Ephratite is said to mean fruitful or dusty. And the life of the saints is taught to be greatly strengthened by mercy, who said: Give alms, and behold all things are clean for you (Luke XI). Those who believe in the redemption through the incarnation of Christ rightly confess Him as their God, because the Eternal Father of Him, Lord of heaven and earth, from the time of assumed humanity, began to also be His God; whence He says, From the womb of my mother, you are my God (Psalm XXI). The virtues and works of saints are also a sign of the coming, the teaching, and the acts fitting for the flesh of Christ, when He Himself says: And in the hands of the prophets I have been assimilated (John V). And speaking of Moses in the Gospel: For concerning me, he says, he wrote. If it is read as sons of Thau, that is, of the testament, or of the wandering, this name also fits their virtues, who know how to say; whether we are out of our mind, it is for God; or if we are sober, it is for you; and we are fools for Christ. But the foolishness of God is wiser than men (2 Cor. V: 1 Cor. I). Finally, Paul, standing in chains before the judges of this world, because having received the faculty of speaking, he did not plead about the chains that burdened him externally, but about the confidence in the virtues he gloried in inwardly, heard: You are mad, Paul; much learning is driving you mad (Acts XXVI). And the Savior Himself speaks to the Father: God, you know my foolishness (Psalm LXVIII). Whom, in the Gospel, even His relatives wanted to bind as if He were out of His mind, and the adversaries reproached Him for having a demon (John XVII). But the watcher of heavenly joys, which is the soul of the elect alone, unaware of the joy of that life, has learned to speculate on nothing. Therefore, in the heart and mouth or work of such people, the Savior is always generated by faith, hope, and charity, and was pleased to be called and appear dusty and fruitful at the same time, while taking on the frailty of the flesh, He bore our sins in His body on the wood. And by the unique fruitfulness of His same sacrifice, destroying the kingdom of death, He has opened for us the entrance to life forever. But according to history, it must be noted that Elkanah is called an Ephratite, not because he was of the tribe of Ephraim, but because he was born in the city of that lot. For the words of days tell us that he was a Levite, that is, from the sons of Isaac, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi (2 Chronicles VI).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Samuel 1:1
An Ephraimite: He was of the tribe of Levi, 1. Par. 6. 34, but is called an Ephraimite from dwelling in mount Ephraim.
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Samuel 1:1
This and the following Book are called by the Hebrews the books of Samuel, because they contain the history of Samuel, and of the two kings, Saul and David, whom he anointed. They are more commonly named by the Fathers, the first and second book of kings. As to the writer of them, it is the common opinion that Samuel composed the first book, as far as the twenty-fifth chapter; and that the prophets Nathan and Gad finished the first, and wrote the second book. See 1 Paralipomenon, alias 1 Chronicles, 29.29.
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Samuel 1:2
In this [figurative] way, therefore, I think the marriages of the elders are interpreted more fittingly; in this way the unions entered by the patriarchs in their now final and weakened age are understood nobly; in this way I hold the necessary begetting of children should be reckoned. For young men are not so well fitted as old men for such marriages and for offspring of this kind. For to the extent that someone is feeble in the flesh, to such an extent will he be stronger in virtue of the soul and more fit for the embraces of wisdom. So also that just man Elkanah in the Scriptures is reported to have had two wives at the same time, one of whom was called Peninnah, the other Hannah, that is, “conversion” and “grace.” And first, indeed, he is said to have had sons by Peninnah, that is, of conversion, and later by Hannah, that is, of grace.And indeed the Scripture designates the progress of the saints figuratively by marriages. Whence also you can, if you wish, be a husband of marriages of this kind. For example, if you freely practice hospitality, you will appear to have taken her as your wife. If you shall add to this care of the poor, you will appear to have obtained a second wife. But if you should also join patience to yourself and gentleness and the other virtues, you will appear to have taken as many wives as the virtues you enjoy.
Thence it is, therefore, that Scripture recounts that some of the patriarchs had many wives at the same time, that others took other wives when previous wives had died. The purpose of this is to indicate figuratively that some can exercise many virtues at the same time; others cannot begin those which follow before they have brought the former virtues to perfection.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.2
[AD 258] Cyprian on 1 Samuel 1:2
That the church which before had been barren should have more children from among the Gentiles than what the synagogue had had before. Isaiah said, “Rejoice, O barren one, that barest not; break forth and shout, who has not been in labor, for the deserted one will have more children than she who has a husband.…” So also, to Abraham, when his first son was born of a bondwoman, Sarah remained long barren, but later, in her old age, bore him her promised son Isaac, who was a type of the Christ. Jacob also took two wives: the elder, Leah, with weak eyes, was a type of the synagogue; the younger and beautiful Rachel, a type of the church, who also remained long barren and afterwards brought forth Joseph, who also was himself a type of Christ. And in 1 Kings [Samuel] it is said that Elkanah has two wives: Peninnah, with her sons; and Hannah, barren, from whom is born not according to the order of generation but according to the mercy and promise of God, when she had prayed in the temple; and Samuel, being born, was a type of Christ. Again in 1 Kings [Samuel]: “The barren has born seven; and she who had many children has grown weak.”

Source: Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.20
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:2
And he had two wives, etc. Anna, whose name means 'grace,' represents the Church: Phenenna, whose name means 'conversion,' demonstrates the synagogue. And fittingly Anna is first, and Phenenna second; because the first times of the world had holy ones, who, living lives similar to ours without the ceremonies of legal sacrifices, sabbaths, new moons, circumcision, and various purifications, pleased God through the righteousness of faith alone, hoping to be saved by Christ’s grace alone, from the time his incarnation was shown to the patriarchs. Thus finally, the conversion of the Synagogue from Egypt to the Lord is celebrated.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:2
And Phenenna had children, etc. The synagogue, ever since she was betrothed to the Lord, has never ceased to generate spiritual children for him through teaching. Gentilitas, however, although it never ceased to be subject to his grace in some, albeit few, could not generate for him children who live spiritually through preaching; because she neither deserved to receive his testament openly, nor the prophecies, nor the oracles of angels.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:3
And that man ascended from his city on appointed days, etc. The Lord ascended from the common life of the faithful; for this is the city of our God on his holy mountain (Psalm XXVII): in his saints progressing and ascending from strength to strength, so that on appointed days, that is, through each increase in divine knowledge, he enkindled their heart to offer libations of adoration and good works; and this in the keeping of divine law, in which alone all sins can be forgiven for the humble and their feet can be freed from the snare, who always keep their eyes on the Lord; where only he should be sought, and he who says "I am who I am" can be found. Hence, Silo is well interpreted as separation, or remission, or where he is; signifying the law itself, which instructs those making good progress in its justice: Seek his face always (Psalm CIV).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:3
There were, however, there, the two sons of Eli, etc. Eli, my God: Ophni, meaning barefoot: Phinehas, meaning mute mouth. There were thus, in the time of the imminent Incarnation of the Lord, priests consecrated to the Lord in the law of good priesthood, and sons of rightly believing priests: but they were devoid of the grace due to action and preaching; having neither the open duty of instruction with the mouth nor the adorned steps for walking in the way of the immaculate.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:4
Therefore, the day came, and Elkanah offered sacrifice. The shadow of the law having passed, the light of new grace came, and the possession of God, namely, Christ becoming visible in flesh; He taught people heavenly things, and at the same time granted them to love, hope, and believe. For what He grants to His own to do, He Himself is said to do, as the Apostle testifies, who says: For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. And the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unutterable groanings (Philippians 2; Romans 8); namely, because He makes us to ask and to groan by His grace. Hence, above, not without reason, in Elkanah ascending, worshipping, and offering sacrifice, we understood Him who disposes ascents in the hearts of the blessed in the valley of tears, and teaches them to worship and persevere in good deeds.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 1:5
Let us not take this with a grain of salt; instead let us learn also from this the highest values, and when we fall foul of some disaster, even if we are suffering grief and pain, even if the trouble seems insupportable to us, let us not be anxious or beside ourselves but wait on God’s providence. He is well aware, after all, when is the time for what is causing us depression to be removed—which is what happened in her case as well. It was not out of hatred, in fact, or of revulsion that he closed her womb, but to open to us the doors on the values the woman possessed and for us to espy the riches of her faith and realize that he rendered her more conspicuous on that account.… Extreme the pain, great the length of grief—not two or three days, not twenty or a hundred, not a thousand or twice as much; instead, “for a long time,” it says, for many years the woman was grieving and distressed, the meaning of “for a long time.” Yet she showed no impatience, nor did the length of time undermine her values, nor the reproaches and abuse of her rival; instead, she was unremitting in prayer and supplication, and what was most remarkable of all, showing in particular her love for God, was the fact that she was not simply anxious to have this very child for herself but to dedicate the fruit of her womb to God, offer the first fruits of her own womb and receive the reward for this fine promise.

Source: HOMILIES ON HANNAH 1
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:5
And he gave to his wife Peninnah, etc. The Lord, suffering in the human flesh, and provoking to divine matters, gave to the Synagogue and all who believed and feared Him in it, both small and great, various operations of virtues and divisions of graces. To the Church of the Gentiles, however, which was still in a few believers, for instance, the Centurion and the Syrophoenician woman, and also to those who, going up to worship in the temple on the feast day, said to Philip: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (John 12:21); and to others like them, He bestowed only the gifts of faith. The grace of the charismata, however, He deferred to give for the time being. And this one was acting sorrowfully, because she knew what kind of church it would be and praised it in the faith of the Centurion or the aforementioned woman; she loved it, although it was still delayed by the supreme counsel of goodness from receiving the sacraments of the same faith. Therefore, as the hour of passion was approaching, He said, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death" (Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34); He did not say, sorrowful because of death, but unto death; because, by His very death, He knew that He would destroy him who had the power of death, and after death, He rejoiced that He would reach the salvation of the Gentiles.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 552] Verecundus of Junca on 1 Samuel 1:6
The word rival [aemulare] has a threefold meaning. First, it means to emulate [imitari], as in “Seek after the greater gifts.” We also read, “It is good that you always be emulated for the good.” Second, it is to envy [invidere], even one’s enemy, as was said through Samuel to Saul: “God has taken the kingdom from you and has given it to your rival [aemulo].” Peninnah, moreover, who played the role of the synagogue, was envied by Hannah because Hannah had not begotten a child in her barrenness. “Hannah’s rival [aemula] afflicted and agitated her severely.” The term rival here indicates enmity or envy. But “agitated” signifies “oppressed” [obprimebat], a metaphorical expression drawn from the act of choking on a piece of meat that one has suddenly regurgitated. Third, aemulare means “to anger,” as was demonstrated when the apostle said, “Shall we be angered [aemulamur] by the Lord? Are we stronger than he?” In other words, it means to provoke a temper.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE CANTICLE OF DEUTERONOMY 22.8
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:6
Her rival also afflicted her, etc. The Synagogue afflicted the Gentiles, reproaching them for being neglected by God due to their immense crimes, and for neither being able to merit the discourse of God nor the oracles of the prophets, by which the offspring of souls acceptable to God might be brought forth; and therefore, the womb of their mind was deprived of the spiritual seed of heavenly virtues or of believing peoples.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Samuel 1:7-8
Thus a Godward fast is a work of reverential awe. By its means also Hannah the wife of Elkanah making suit, barren as she had been beforetime, easily obtained from God the filling of her belly, empty of food, with a son, indeed, and a prophet.

Source: ON FASTING 7
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 1:7-8
Would you like to understand what watchfulness in prayer is? Go to Hannah, listen to her very words, “Adonai Eloi Sabaoth.” No, rather, hear what preceded those words; “they all rose up,” says the history, “from the table,” and she did not give herself right away to sleep or to repose. She appears to me even when she was sitting at the table to have partaken lightly and not to have been made heavy with food. Otherwise she could never have shed so many tears. When we are fasting and foodless, we hardly pray in such a manner, or rather never pray in this way. Much more Hannah would not ever have prayed in this fashion after a meal, unless even at the meal she had been like those that do not eat. Let men be ashamed at the example of this woman. Let those be ashamed who are suing and grasping for a kingdom, at her, praying and weeping for a little child.

Source: HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS 24
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:7
And so he did year by year, etc. He calls the Temple of the Lord the tabernacle of testimony, which remained in Shiloh until these times. Consider the single years or single virtues by which the Synagogue advanced in the house of the Lord; and the Gentiles, who were far from this, were provoked to tears, accusing it. Or certainly understand the long times of the given law itself. For reading the sacred Scripture, you will find that when Israel went out of Egypt, when it began to be the time for the Synagogue to be betrothed to God, as I might say, not a small crowd of strangers also came with them, to be joined to the Lord and consecrated by legal mysteries together; and from then until the time of the Lord's Incarnation, there were always those who believed with their right hands there. But they were in such great lack and poverty in everything, as inhabitants, strangers, and outcasts, compared to the entire people residing in the ancestral land, that weeping at the feet of the Lord and less suited to receive the food of spiritual joy and the living bread, which descended from heaven, at least falling from the Lord’s table, they should be content to hope for and ask for the crumbs, like little dogs.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:8
Then Elkanah, her husband, said to her: "Anna, why do you weep?" etc. Ten sons symbolize the receivers or observers of the law's decalogue. Therefore, the Lord consoles the Church, so that it does not bear grievously that the legislation, the promises, the covenant, and the entrusted utterances of God were given not to it but to the Synagogue; but let it be cheered and exult with the greatest joy, that it has now deserved to receive a greater gift and better grace than all these, the advent of the Mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ, whom it did not know to expect or hope for. This lesson not only figuratively expresses the different states of the two peoples, but also the differing merits of the dissenting persons in each of those peoples, and the different rewards of merits. For Christ has always loved, and will love, the humble tears of penitents more than the rigid justice of the proud; and, neglecting the Pharisee's arrogance, who exalts himself as if fertile with the progeny of ten sons due to his fulfillment of legal commands, he deigns rather to regard the lamentations of the penitent publican.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 1:9
You see, just as a widow who is destitute and all alone, much abused and wronged, will often not be alarmed at the imminent triumphal procession of emperor, bodyguards, shield bearers, horses, and all the rest of his advance retinue, but without need of a patron will brush past them all and with great confidence accost the emperor, exaggerating her own situation under pressure of her sense of need, so too this woman was not embarrassed, was not ashamed, though the priest was sitting there, to make her request in person and with great confidence approach the king. Instead, under the impulse of desire and in her mind ascending to heaven as though she saw God himself, she addressed him this way with complete ardor.

Source: HOMILIES ON HANNAH 1
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:9
And Anna rose, etc. The Church rose from the prolonged grief of its desolation, having now received confidence in supplicating the Lord. After being refreshed by his sacred body and inebriated by the precious chalice of his blood, while the Jewish teachers still remained on the same soil, ministering on the chair of Moses, keeping watch over the entrance to the heavenly kingdom so that they themselves might enter and teach those who wished to enter, she began to seek from the Lord with tears and prayers the gifts, which, before the mysteries of his incarnation were known or perceived, she could not yet presume.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 1:10-11
What did she say? Instead of saying anything at first, she began with wailing and shed warm floods of tears. And just as, when rain storms fall, even the harder ground is moistened and softened and easily bestirs itself to produce crops, so too did this happen in the case of this woman: as though softened by the flood of tears and warmed with the pangs, the womb began to stir in that wonderful fertility.

Source: HOMILIES ON HANNAH 1
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 1:10-11
“And she stood,” it says, “before the Lord”; and what are her words? “Adonai, Lord, Eloi Sabaoth!” and this is, being interpreted, “O Lord, the God of Hosts.” Her tears went before her speech. By these she hoped to prevail with God to bend to her request. Where tears are, there is always affliction also; where affliction is, there is great wisdom and attentiveness. She continues, “If you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid and will give to your handmaid a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life.” She said not “for one year” or “for two” as we do; nor did she say, “If you will give me a child, I will give you money”; but, “I give back to you the very gift itself entirely, my firstborn, the son of my prayer.” Truly here was a daughter of Abraham. He gave when it was demanded of him. She offers even before it is demanded.

Source: HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS 24
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 1:10-11
Take note of the woman’s reverence: she did not say, “If you give me three, I shall give you two;” or “if two, I shall give you one.” Instead, “If you give me one, I shall dedicate the offspring wholly to you.” “He will not drink wine or strong drink.” She had not yet received the child and was already forming a prophet, talking about his upbringing and making a deal with God. What wonderful confidence on a woman’s part! Since she could not make a deposit on account of not having anything, she pays the price from what is coming to her. Just as many farmers who are living in extreme poverty but have no money to buy a calf or sheep, get them on credit from their masters by pledging to pay the price from the crops that are due, just so did she do, too—or rather much more: she did not take her son from God on credit but on condition of returning him wholly to him once again and reaping the fruit of his upbringing. She regarded it as sufficient reward, you see, to devote her labors to God’s priest.

Source: HOMILIES ON HANNAH 1
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Samuel 1:10-11
There were two women with the honored name of Anna: one married, who gave birth to holy Samuel; the other a widow, who recognized the Saint of saints when he was still an infant. The married one prayed with grief of soul and affliction of heart, because she had no sons. In answer to her prayer Samuel was given to her, and she offered him to God as she had vowed in her prayer to do. It is not easy to see how her prayer agrees with the Lord’s Prayer, except, perhaps, in those words, “Deliver us from evil,” because it seemed no slight evil to be married and to be deprived of the fruit of marriage, when the sole purpose of marriage is the begetting of children.

Source: LETTER 130
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:11
And Anna made a vow, etc. The Church vows, if the word would be entrusted to the nations, and the grace of faith would be granted, and a people strong in virtues would arise from them, that they would serve the Lord until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and never in the example of the Jews, they would bend the knee to Baalim and Astarte, and the other idols of the nations. But if you understand the days allegorically as virtues, all the days of their life are given to the Lord; whatever honest life they live, whatever clear thing they bear in mind or body, they attribute not to themselves, but with the Apostle they proclaim: By the grace of God I am what I am (1 Cor. XV).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:11
And a razor shall not come upon his head. And the reproof of sin shall not violate his conscience; but as far as it is possible for man, he endeavors to consecrate all his thoughts, words, and deeds, which gradually proceed as if from the brain of the heart, to Christ as a true Nazarite. Consequently, the hair of the apostles, because they are holy, cannot perish from their head (Luke XXI). However, the leprous, unclean person, and the woman captured by enemies, and others of that kind, are commanded to shave not only all the hair of their heads but also the hairs of their entire body, because they are vile and polluted; so that once the excess of mortal actions is cut off, whatever is found of living perfection in them may be more freely consecrated to the Creator. But we say these things, not because we believe that any saint has lived this life without the stain of sin, nor that what is said applies to anyone except Christ: And whatever he does shall prosper (Psalm I); but because we all ought to strive to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness before him all our days (Luke I); according to him who said: I have sworn and determined to keep the judgments of your justice (Psalm CXVIII). Yet it is not in vain that it is preached elsewhere, saying: And do not enter into judgment with your servant, because no living person shall be justified in your presence (Psalm CXLII). Hence, more truly, these words of Anna can be understood as spoken by the Church about the Lord himself; whom she always desires to be generated in her and her members by the grace of new virtue. For he alone, because he lived without sin in the flesh, was given to the Lord all the days of his life, finding nothing in himself whatsoever that he would cut off by repenting.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:12
It came to pass, therefore, when she was multiplying prayers, etc. It happened that, as the Church began to multiply across the world, new emblems of its devotion began to multiply, whose praise comes not from men but from God, so that the priests of the Jews should consider its external manifestations, to see whether it lived in a gentile or Jewish manner. But with Judaism gradually left behind, she rejoiced to follow the mysteries of faith rather, which purify the heart, and pleased invisible Christ with the wisdom of faith.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Samuel 1:13-14
Prayer is, then, to speak more boldly, a conversation with God. Though whispering, consequently, and not opening the lips, we speak in silence, yet we cry inwardly. For God hears continually the whole inward conversation.

Source: STROMATEIS 7.7
[AD 258] Cyprian on 1 Samuel 1:13-14
This Hannah does in the first book of Kings [Samuel], portraying a type of the church, [she] prays to God not with a noisy petition but silently and modestly within the very recesses of her heart. She spoke with a hidden prayer but with manifest faith. She did not speak with the voice but with the heart, because she knew that so the Lord hears, and she effectually obtained what she sought, because she asked with faith. Divine Scripture declares this, saying, “She spoke in her heart and her lips moved, but her voice was not heard, and the Lord heard her.”

Source: Treatise IV. On the Lord's Prayer 5
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on 1 Samuel 1:13-14
Let the virgins likewise form a separate band, singing hymns or reading; silently, however, so that while their lips speak, no other’s ears may hear what they say. For, “I suffer not a woman to speak in church.” Let the married woman imitate them: let her pray and her lips move but her voice not be heard. So shall Samuel come among us: your barren soul, that is to say, shall bring forth the salvation of “God who has heard your prayers.” For that is the meaning of “Samuel.”

Source: Catechetical Lectures, Prologue, 14
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 1:13-14
For I seek those tears which are shed not for display but in compunction; those which trickle down secretly and in closets and in sight of no person, softly and noiselessly; those which arise from a certain depth of mind, those shed in anguish and in sorrow, those which are for God alone. Such were Hannah’s, for “her lips moved,” it is said, “but her voice was not heard.” 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.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 6.8
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 1:13-14
At home her rival mocked her. She went into the temple, and the priest’s boy abused her and the priest upbraided her. She fled the storm at home, entered port and still ran into turbulence. She went to get a remedy, and not only did not get it but received an additional burden of taunts, and the wound instead was opened up again. You are aware, of course, how distressed souls are susceptible to abuse and insult: just as bad wounds cannot stand the slightest contact with the hand but become worse, so too the soul that is disturbed and upset has problems with everything and is stung by a chance remark. The woman, on the contrary, was not like that, even in this case with the boy abusing her. Had the priest been intoxicated, the insults would not have been so surprising; his high rank and heavy responsibility convinced her against her will to keep her composure. But in fact she was not even upset with the priest’s boy, and hence she won God’s favor even further. Should we too be abused and suffer countless misadventures, let us put up nobly with those who insult us, and we shall thus win greater favor from God.

Source: HOMILIES ON HANNAH 2
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 1:13-14
But observe even after this her deep reverence. “Only her lips moved, but her voice,” it says, “was not heard.” And in this way does the one who would gain his request draw near to God; not consulting his ease, nor gaping, nor lounging, nor scratching his head, nor with utter listlessness. So was not God able to grant, even without any prayer at all? So did he not know the woman’s desire even before she asked? And yet had he granted it before she asked, then the woman’s earnestness would not have been shown, her virtue would not have been made manifest, she would not have gained so great a reward. So that the delay is not the result of envy or of witchcraft but of providential kindness. When therefore you hear the Scripture saying that “the Lord had shut up her womb” and that “her rival deeply provoked her,” consider that it is his intention to prove the woman’s seriousness. For observe that she had a husband devoted to her, for he said, “Am I not better to you than ten sons?” “And her rival,” it says, “deeply provoked her,” that is, reproached her, insulted her. And yet she never once retaliated, nor uttered imprecation against her, nor said, “Avenge me, for my rival reviles me.” The other had children, but this woman had her husband’s love to make amends. With this at least he even consoled her, saying, “Am I not better to you than ten sons?”But let us look again at the deep wisdom of this woman. “And Eli,” it says, “thought she was drunk.” Yet observe what she says to him also, “No, do not count your handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken up till now.” Here is truly the proof of a contrite heart, when we are not angry with those that revile us, when we are not indignant against them, when we reply only in self-defense. Nothing renders the heart so wise as affliction; nothing is there so sweet as “godly mourning.”

Source: HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS 24
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on 1 Samuel 1:13-14
As often as we apply ourselves to prayer, dearly beloved, we should above all pray in silence and quiet. If a man wants to pray aloud, he seems to take the fruit of prayer away from those who are standing near him. Only moans and sighs and groans should be heard. Indeed our prayer ought to be like that of holy Hannah, the mother of blessed Samuel, of whom it is written that “she prayed, shedding many tears, and only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard at all.” Let everyone hear and imitate this, especially those who pray aloud without any embarrassment and in such a chattering fashion that they do not allow those near them to pray. Therefore, let us pray, as I said, with sighs and moans and groans, in accord with the words of the prophet: “I roared with the groaning of my heart.” Let us pray, I repeat, not with a loud voice but with our hearts crying out to God.

Source: SERMON 72.2
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:13
And only her lips moved, etc. Clearly an ecclesiastical operation and most worthy of divine regard, which itself anticipated the Lord's encouragement with devotion, saying: Enter your chamber, and having closed the door, pray to your Father who is in secret (Matthew VI).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:13
Therefore Eli thought she was drunk, etc. The pride of the Jewish priesthood judged the converted gentility still heavily burdened by the disturbance of sins, and said to her: How long will you be held guilty by the bond of original sin? Be purified by circumcision, and thus be saved in the number of proselytes.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:16
Responding Anna, No, my lord, she said, etc. The Church from the gentiles, responding, said, No, O priest of Judea, consider not burdened by sins she who has already been purified by the font of baptism and the participation of the sacred body and blood, having become the inner temple of Christ. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man (Romans VII); nor am I any longer sinful, but yet I am your exceedingly unhappy servant; whom I justly call Lord, for you preceded me in a time of such ancient election. Who has delivered me from this body of death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ (Ibid.); at whose sacred feet I lay prostrate, pouring out my soul, melted by the fire of love, in the sight of His piety through tears.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:16
Do not consider your servant as one of the daughters of Belial, etc. Do not compare me to souls deceived by diabolical fraud; for I, doing penance from the heart for my sins, have renounced Satan and all his works and pomps: moreover, I have willingly accepted the very sweet yoke of Christ, which the proud one long ago cast off from his neck, for which he also deserved to be called Belial, meaning without yoke.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:17
Then Eli said to her: Go in peace, etc. He who previously noted her for drunkenness, now having received the sanctification of her deed, blesses; and the envious chief priests, mocking the salutary beginnings of the Church, scorned them as similar to those of drunkards. However, some of them, having later perceived the divine will regarding these matters, began to support the believers and to render assistance; and even many of those who called the apostles, speaking by the Holy Spirit, full of new wine (Acts 2); having heard the reason of the truth, what they had previously mocked as a mystery, they accepted as believers.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:18
And the woman went on her way, and ate, etc. And the Church prospered in the hope of heavenly compassion, raised in the faith and love of Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life; refreshed by the consolatory and comforting feasts of sacred Scripture, it could not thenceforth be changed by any pressures or blandishments from the true God whom it once acknowledged into diverse errors. For you have prepared, she says, a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me (Psalm 23).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:19
And they rose early in the morning, and worshiped, etc. The growth of the increasing Church is shown. At first, Anna rises alone to pray, and the hour at which she prayed is not expressed; now having received the blessing of the priest, she rises in the morning, not alone, but with her husband and her whole family, attending to prayer. At first, the Church sought the Lord with few, but when it had received from the faithful Jewish teachers the increase of faith, with the darkness of paganism already dispelled: From the ends of the earth, she says, I cry to you (Psalm 61); overflowing with such grace of heavenly gift, that the Lord himself, namely her husband, praying, has an advocate with the Father is not doubted to have.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:19
And they returned, and came, etc. Ramatha is interpreted as height. Therefore, having completed prayer, to obtain what we ask for, so that after the grievous barrenness of an unfruitful mind, we may be able to bring forth the buds of virtues for consecration to God, not to be wasted outside on superfluous things, but let us strive to return to the exalted dwellings of our conscience with faith and truth. And let not our countenance be changed to different things anymore, but let it persist in the same ardor and devotion that it conceived in prayer, even after the tears of consumption.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:19
Therefore, Elkanah knew his wife, etc. The Lord had mercy on enriching the Church of the nations through His grace, and having sent the seed of His word through preachers, He commanded all the ends of the earth to remember and turn to Him.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 1:20
Let the men among us emulate her, let the women among us imitate her: the woman is teacher of both sexes. Those who are sterile, let them not despair; those who are mothers, let them bring up in this fashion the children they have borne; and let everyone emulate this woman’s faith in giving birth and zeal following the birth. I mean, what could reveal sounder values than the way she meekly and nobly put up in such a manner with an intolerable calamity and did not desist until she had escaped the disaster and discovered a remarkable and baffling outcome of the problem, finding no helper or ally here below. In fact, she experienced the Lord’s lovingkindness—hence she made her approach on her own and achieved what she wanted. That is to say, the remedy for that depression depended not on human help but on divine grace.

Source: HOMILIES ON HANNAH 2
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:20
And it happened after the cycle of days Anna conceived, etc. It happened after the illumination of much spiritual knowledge and the manifestation of virtues, through which the apostles shone upon the world, the Gentiles conceived through catechizing and gave birth to a people believing in God through baptizing, or rather the people believed in God through His people. For both must rightly be confessed, not only according to the reason of faith and truth but also as the very name of Samuel implies. For it is interpreted: God is there, or His name is God. God is there in the people who will be born, whom the Lord has chosen. His name is God, specifically whose, if not that of Him who, to signify that He would be constantly born in His own through grace, says: Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother (Matthew VII). Nor should it seem strange to anyone that we have said that both the husband and son of the same Anna carry the type of Christ; because indeed the same Mediator of God and men is simultaneously the bridegroom and son of the holy Church which He governs: the bridegroom, always helping her to believe, hope, and love; the son, recently coming into the hearts of those believing, hoping, and loving through grace.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Samuel 1:20
Samuel: This name imports, asked of God.
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:21
But the man Elkanah went up, etc. Let each one abound in his own understanding (Rom. XIV). The Lord and the Church of the perfect, which is his house and seat, ascended to offer to the Father who is in heaven the vows of their works, and the Church still remains at home in those who cannot yet use the solid food of the word. Some, having received the rudiments of faith, are still children in understanding (Hebr. V). But the time will come when they also will grow, and with the grace of Christ dwelling in them, they will begin to have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil; and they will say with the Apostle: When I became a man, I put away childish things (I Cor. XIII). And now they may be such, worthy in the sight of the Lord, remaining in the calling in which they were called with God, and able to partake in the priesthood and to eat the things of the altar, and to hear even the highest things of divinity, discerning the mysteries by reading. Such is the progress of all who believe in Christ: such were the beginnings of the converted Gentiles among the learned and teachers of the Jews, as the sons of Peninnah.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Samuel 1:24
Considering all these things, and whatever else the Lord shall have made known to you in this matter, which either does not occur to me or would take too much time to state here, strive in prayer to overcome this world: pray in hope, pray in faith, pray in love, pray earnestly and patiently, pray as a widow belonging to Christ. For although prayer is, as he has taught, the duty of all his members, that is, of all who believe in him and are united to his body, a more assiduous attention to prayer is found to be specially enjoined in Scripture upon those who are widows. Two women of the name of [Hannah] are honorably named there—the one, Elkanah’s wife, who was the mother of holy Samuel; the other, the widow who recognized the Most Holy One when he was yet a babe. [Hannah], though married, prayed with sorrow of mind and brokenness of heart because she had no sons; and she obtained Samuel and dedicated him to the Lord, because she vowed to do so when she prayed for him.

Source: LETTER 130
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:24
And she brought him with her, after she had weaned him, etc. The Church brings up her children, to whom she reasonably and without deceit administered milk, and has now advanced them from the rudiments of the new man to more perfect things, having educated them. She brings, I say, those whom the assisting grace of Christ has made strong in understanding to the fellowship of those who have already been made the temple of God through the observance of the divine law. But she brings them in three persons, namely, those who are married, the continent, and the teachers, who by the purity of their lives are fit for divine sacrifices, having bodies prepared to die for Christ, possessing a heart contrite through the mill of fear and hope, and embracing with a full mind the fervent love of spiritual grace to be inebriated with a sober chalice. For since an amphora is a kind of measure, it indicates the measure of love, by which each one is commanded to love his neighbor as himself. And because it holds three measures, it is rightly applied to the aforementioned three persons, by whom the whole Church consists.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:24
The boy, however, was still a little child, etc. The people of the nations had recently converted to the faith and produced not a few martyrs, who with unanimous devotion shed their blood for Christ, and grafted the wild olive tree onto the good olive tree; this was done by ministers of the word.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 1:28
And they worshipped the Lord there. The Lord commands to pray without remission and not to faint (I Thess. V) under the figure of Anna, which the Church performs, which in the beginning of its vows, in its progress, and even in its embrace does not cease to supplicate the Lord.

Source: Commentary on Samuel