But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.
Parallel translations
- WEB but to Hannah he gave a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but Yahweh had shut up her womb.
- BSB But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb.
- NKJV But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb.
- NASB but to Hannah he would give a double portion, because he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her womb.
- NLT And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Elkanah gave Hannah a double portion because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. His love could not remove the deeper grief of her barrenness.
Overview
Elkanah's generous portion expresses real affection for Hannah despite her childlessness. The narrator plainly attributes her barrenness to the Lord, who governs even the closing of the womb. This honest acknowledgment that God ordained her affliction prepares us to see that the same God will graciously answer her prayer.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Gen 30:2And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
- Gen 29:30–31And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
- Gen 16:1Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
- Gen 20:18For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.
- Gen 45:22To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.
- Gen 43:34And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.
- Deut 21:15If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 1:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.