So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children.
Parallel translations
- WEB Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because Yahweh had shut up her womb.
- KJV And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.
- BSB Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her viciously.
- NKJV And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb.
- NASB Her rival, moreover, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.
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
Peninnah cruelly provoked Hannah to torment her over her childlessness. Her rival turned Hannah's God-given affliction into an occasion for mockery.
Overview
The rivalry of the two wives recalls Hagar's contempt for Sarah and Leah and Rachel's strife, the bitter fruit of polygamy. Peninnah's taunting deepened Hannah's wound, repeatedly reminding her that the Lord had shut her womb. This sustained provocation drives Hannah at last to pour out her heart before the Lord rather than retaliate.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Job 6:14“To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
- Job 24:21He devours the barren who don’t bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.
- Lev 18:18“‘You shall not take a wife to her sister, to be a rival, to uncover her nakedness, while her sister is yet alive.
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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 1:6 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
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