1 Samuel 1:1

1 Samuel 1:1 says, Now 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:  Verse two adds, 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. We first have a record of Elkanah, who had two wives.  Matthew Henry points out that this was during the time of the last two judges of Israel, Eli and Samuel, who were not military men, but priests.  It then moves on to the reign of the first two kings, Saul and David, and their anointing by Samuel.  The book begins before the birth of Samuel though, when his mother Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, was one barren.  Verse three adds, 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.  Elkanah was a Godly man and went out of his hometown to Shiloh once a year to worship and sacrifice to the LORD when two of Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas were the priests there.  So, evidently Eli's sons were priests as well, though they may have been so because of their birth and not by a calling from God..  Sometimes, a preachers child will be called to the ministry today, but simply being a preacher's child does not mean that a person is called into to preach.  Verse four states, And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:  Verse five adds, But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.  When the time came for the family to eat their portion of the feast, Elkanah gave Peninnah and her children ample portions, but gave Hannah the choice parts of the feast.  Matthew Henry says Elkanah married Hannah first, and since she was barren, married Peninnah, who bore him sons and daughters, but that still did not make her the favorite of Elkanah.  Families divided by jealousy will never be happy families.  Neither wife was responsible for the situation, but they both suffered for it.  We as Christians may sometimes suffer for a situation that we have no control over, but if so, we need to continue to put our faith in God and ask Him for guidance in the situation.  Verse six continues, And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.  Peninnah is said to have provoked Hannah because she was barren.  This may have led to her feeling superior to Hannah, but if we are blessed by the LORD with things that others may lack, we should never feel superior to them as followers of Christ, and we certainly shouldn't put others down because of our blessings.  Verse seven says, 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.  This didn't just happen once, but happened year after year, leaving Hannah so upset by the provocation of Peninnah that she couldn't eat.  We should never put others down because we feel more blessed by God, but should offer them our support in their need and lift them up in prayer instead.  Verse eight adds, 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?   Elkanah asked why Hannah was so upset, asking her if he were not better than ten sons. Either he was oblivious to what was going on between Peninnah and Hannah, or he chose to ignore it. Though we should offer words of comfort to those in distress, that is not enough if we ignore the reason for their distress.