Peninnah
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Peninnah was one of the two wives of Elkanah, the father of Samuel. She had sons and daughters while Hannah had none, and each year when the family went up to worship at Shiloh she provoked Hannah 'sore, for to make her fret,' until Hannah wept and would not eat. Scripture calls her Hannah's 'adversary.' Her taunting forms the painful backdrop to Hannah's prayer at the tabernacle, which God answered with the birth of Samuel.
Biography
- Spouse
- Elkanah
- Children
- Sons and daughters (unnamed)
- Era
- Judges
- Nationality
- Israelite
Family
Did You Know?
Elkanah gave Peninnah and 'all her sons and her daughters' portions of the sacrifice, but gave Hannah 'a worthy portion' because he loved her (1 Samuel 1:4-5), a contrast that sheds light on the rivalry.
The word translated 'adversary' in 1 Samuel 1:6 was used in Hebrew for a rival wife in a household with more than one wife.
Her provoking was not a single incident but went on 'year by year' whenever the family went up to the house of the LORD at Shiloh (1 Samuel 1:7).
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Elkanah's Two Wives
1 Samuel 1:1-2
The household is introduced with its fault line already visible: one wife with children, one without.
1ow there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, 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:
Her Adversary Provoked Her
1 Samuel 1:4-7
Peninnah's cruelty, repeated 'year by year' at the very place of worship, shows how rivalry can poison a family, and it drives Hannah to pour out her heart to God.
4nd when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:
