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Hannah Taught God a Name No One Had Ever Used

Peninnah came in every morning to ask whether Hannah was washing her children's faces. Hannah went into the shrine at Shiloh with a threat.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. She Asked for the Rival Herself
  2. The Threat She Carried Into Shiloh
  3. The Name No Mouth Had Used
  4. Peninnah Came to Beg
Hannah Taught God a Name No One Had Ever Used Click for full size

She Asked for the Rival Herself

Ten years, and nothing. Hannah counted them and then did the coldest thing a childless woman can do. She went to her husband and told him to take a second wife.

Her reasoning was not generous and she never pretended it was. If God saw what it cost her to bring a rival into her own house, He would have to look at her. So Elkanah took Peninnah, and Peninnah bore him ten sons, and Hannah watched the arithmetic she had set up run all the way to the bottom.

Peninnah worked to a schedule. She would come in early and say, "Are you not getting up to wash your children's faces? They will be late for the teacher." At noon she would come back. "Are you not getting up to meet your children? School is out." At the table, when Elkanah went down the line handing each of his sons a portion, Peninnah would say, loud enough, "Give this son of mine his portion. And that one, you have not given him his."

Nineteen years of it, counting the ten barren ones and the years of Peninnah's pregnancies. Hannah stopped eating. Elkanah, who loved her and had no idea what to do with her, said, "Am I not better to you than ten sons?" He had picked the number off his own household roster without hearing himself.

The Threat She Carried Into Shiloh

She got up from the meal and went into the sanctuary at Shiloh. Eli was sitting by the doorpost on the seat, and that was his first day on it. They had made him High Priest that morning.

Hannah did not come in to plead. She came in to press.

"If You will look," she said, "look now, while it is a kindness. Because if You will not look willingly, You will look unwillingly."

Then she told God how she intended to make Him. She would go and shut herself in a room with a man who was not her husband, in a way that could be seen. Elkanah would suspect her. He would be obliged to take her up to the priest, and the priest would be obliged to give her the bitter water, and she would drink it and be found clean, because she would be clean. And it is written in God's own Torah that a woman who is tested and found innocent is cleared and conceives seed. She would force the statute to open her.

Her lips moved and no sound came out. Eli, one morning into the job, watched a woman's mouth working with no voice behind it and told her to go sleep off her wine.

The Name No Mouth Had Used

The title she reached for in that prayer had never been spoken by a human being. From the six days of creation forward, not one patriarch, not one judge, not one prophet had called the Holy One the LORD of Hosts. Hannah put it on Him herself, and then she made Him stand under it.

"There is an army above and an army below," she said. "The one above does not eat, does not drink, does not bear children and does not die. The one below eats and drinks and bears children and dies. I do not know which army I am in. If I am from the upper one, then let me not eat and not die either. If I am from the lower one, then let me bear a child like the rest of them."

She had been up to the sanctuary at the festivals and seen the courts packed wall to wall with Israel, thousands of them, every household its own small regiment. "You have all these hosts," she said. "I do not have one of them."

And the Holy One came near her and said, "Hannah. From the day I made the world nobody has praised Me with that name but you. By your life, your son will stand up and open his mouth with the name you taught Me." Years later Samuel stood in front of Saul and said, Thus says the LORD of Hosts, I have accounted what Amalek did to Israel. He was using his mother's word.

"You added to My armies," God told her. "I will add to yours." Down the line from her came Heman the king's seer, and the record says God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters, a household raised up to lift the horn.

Peninnah Came to Beg

The answer, when it started, did not come only to Hannah.

Hannah bore one son, and Peninnah buried two. Hannah bore a second, and Peninnah buried two more. By the time Hannah had four, Peninnah had carried eight of her ten to the ground. Then Hannah was carrying a fifth.

Peninnah counted what was left to her and came and stood in front of the woman she had woken up every morning for nineteen years.

"I am asking you," she said. "I have humbled myself to you. I know what I did. Let me keep the two I have left."

Hannah prayed for her. God said, "They were fit to die. Since you asked for them, they will live, and they will be counted as yours." Which is how a woman with five children of her own could stand up and sing that the barren one had borne seven.

She had gone into that shrine to force open one womb. She came out of it having emptied two.

Midrash ShmuelSamuelHannahPrayerDivine NamesElkanahEliShilohAmalek
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The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Midrash Shmuel 1:9Midrash Shmuel

Translation of the source text.Midrash Shmuel, Krakow 1893, Public Domain, on Sefaria · CC-BY-SA

"And Elkanah her husband said to her: Hannah, why do you weep, and why do you not eat, etc.? Am not I (anokhi) better to you, etc." (1 Samuel 1:8). Rabbi Levi said: It is not written here "Am not I (ani)," but rather "Am not I (anokhi)." He said to her: Blessed be your portion, as you say, "I (anokhi) am the LORD your God" (Exodus 20:2).

"And Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk; and Eli the priest sat upon the seat" (1 Samuel 1:9). This teaches that on that very day they appointed him High Priest.

"And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore" (1 Samuel 1:10). Every deed of Hannah was in twos. Her provocation was in twos: "And her rival provoked her sore." Her portion was in twos: "But unto Hannah he gave a double portion." Her weeping was in twos: "And wept sore." Her seeing was in twos: "If You will indeed look." Her vowing was in twos: "And she vowed a vow."

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Pesikta Rabbati 43:1Pesikta Rabbati

Translation of the source text.Pesikta Rabbati, ed. Meir Friedmann (Ish-Shalom), Vienna 1880 · Public Domain

"For the Lord remembered Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters" (1 Samuel 2:21): Let our master teach us, until how many days does one bless over the new month? Our Rabbis taught us: Rabbi Aha said in the name of Rabbi Asi, until its defect is filled in - and we say, until the fourteenth day, while it goes on renewing itself; until that hour one blesses over the month. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Be careful to bless Me over every matter, and if you are careful in the blessings, I too will come to you and bless you, as it is said, "In every place where I cause My name to be mentioned, [I will come to you and bless you]" (Exodus 20:21). And you find concerning Abraham, what is written of him? "Because Abraham hearkened to My voice" (Genesis 26:5), and I blessed him: "And the Lord blessed Abraham in all things" (Genesis 24:1). And not only that, but he saw in his sign that he would not beget, as it is said, "And I go childless" (Genesis 15:2). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Well do you observe; but, by your life, Abram does not beget - and what do I do for you? I change your name, and you will beget, as it is said, "Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham" (Genesis 17:5). And likewise Sarai does not bear, as it is said, "And Sarai was barren" (Genesis 11:30); but Sarah bears, as it is said, "And the Lord remembered Sarah" (Genesis 21:1). And Hannah too, because she was constant in going up and praying in the Temple and supplicating before the Holy One, blessed be He, He heard her prayer and remembered her. From where? From what we read in the matter, "For the Lord remembered Hannah." ["For the Lord remembered," and so on.] Thus Rabbi Tanchuma bar Abba opened: "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth; He will do the will of those who fear Him, and He will hear their cry and save them" (Psalms 145:18 and 19). "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him" - one might think to all; therefore it teaches, "to all who call upon Him in truth." "Surely God is good to Israel" (Psalms 73:1) - one might think to all; therefore it teaches, "to the pure of heart" (ibid.). "The Lord is good" (Lamentations 3:25) - one might think to all; therefore it teaches, "to the soul that seeks Him" (ibid.). "Happy is the man whose strength is in You" (Psalms 84:6) - one might think to all; therefore it teaches, "in whose heart are the highways" (ibid.). "He will do the will of those who fear Him" - why? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, does not turn back his prayer, but gives him what he asks. This is David, of whom it is written, "I am a companion to all who fear You" (Psalms 119:63), at the time he grieved over the Temple, as it is written, "Remember, O Lord, for David all his affliction... If I enter the tent of my house... if I give sleep to my eyes... until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob" (Psalms 132:1 through 5). When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that he was standing and grieving over the Temple, immediately He sent to him Gad the prophet and showed him the place of the Temple, as it is written, "And Gad came to David that day and said to him, Go up, raise to the Lord an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite" (2 Samuel 24:18). Immediately David went; this is what is written, "And David went up at the word of Gad, as the Lord commanded," and so on (ibid. 19), and he found there the altar on which Adam, the first man, sacrificed, and on which Noah sacrificed, and on which Abraham sacrificed. [When] he found it, he began to measure and said, "From here to here is the courtyard, from here to here is the Holy of Holies," as it is written, "And David said, This is the house of the Lord God" (1 Chronicles 22:1), and from where is this? "And this is the altar for burnt offering" (ibid.). Lo, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not turn back the spirit of the righteous, but gives them all that they ask, to fulfill what is said, "He will do the will of those who fear Him." [Another interpretation: "He will do the will of those who fear Him."] Who was this? This was Hannah, who prayed before the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Holy One, blessed be He, did not send her away empty from her prayer, but the Holy One, blessed be He, heard her prayer and gave her all that she asked of Him. "And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts" (1 Samuel 1:11). What is "Lord of hosts"? Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Simon said: Hannah said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the world, there is a host above and there is a host below; the host above neither eat nor drink nor are fruitful and multiply nor die, but live forever; and the host below eat and drink and are fruitful and multiply and die. And I do not know from which host I am - whether of those above or of those below. If I am of the host above, I will not eat nor drink nor bear nor die, but live forever, just as they live forever; and if I am of the host below, I will eat and drink and bear and die, just as they eat and drink and are fruitful and multiply. This is "the Lord of hosts." Another interpretation: "the Lord of hosts." Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Simon said: On the pilgrimage festivals Hannah went up to the Temple and saw all Israel there. She said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the world, all these hosts You have, and I do not have a single one among them. "If You will indeed look upon, and so on" (ibid.) - if You look, well and good; and if not, You will see [it] not to Your benefit. She said before Him: Better that You look in goodwill before You see not in goodwill. She said: If You do not remember me, I will go and make myself appear secluded with another man, and my husband will see me and suspect me and lead me to the priest, and he will make me drink the bitter waters, and I will be found pure, and it will fall to You to remember me and give me a son; for You wrote in the Torah, "And if she was not defiled... she shall be cleared and shall conceive seed" (Numbers 5:28). Lo, "if You will indeed look" - look in goodwill before You see not in goodwill. "And You will remember me and not forget Your maidservant" (1 Samuel ibid.). Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: Three times is it written in this verse, "Your maidservant, Your maidservant, Your maidservant," corresponding to the three commandments that our Rabbis taught that women are bound to: in niddah, in challah, and in kindling the lamp. Hannah said: Master of the world, was Your maidservant not careful in all three? What is "and You will remember me"? With males; "and not forget Your maidservant," with females; this is what is written, "For the Lord remembered Hannah, and she conceived," and so on. [Another interpretation: "For the Lord remembered Hannah," and so on.] This is what Scripture says, "He seats the barren woman of the house as a joyful mother of children" (Psalms 113:9). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I set Sarah barren within the house, as it is said, "And Sarai was barren" (Genesis 11:30), in order to gladden her with children. And did Sarah have many children? She bore only Isaac alone, as it is written, "And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age" (Genesis 21:2). And what is "a joyful mother of children"? Rather, at the time Sarah bore Isaac, the nations of the world were saying, "He is the son of a maidservant, and she makes herself out as though she nurses him." At that hour Sarah said: What are you standing for? This is not the hour for modesty; rather, stand and uncover yourself for the sake of the sanctification of the Name. Sarah stood and uncovered herself, and her two breasts ran milk like two jets of water, as it is written, "And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?" (Genesis 21:7). Rabbi Pinhas the priest, son of Hama, said in the name of Rabbi Hilkiah: Abraham's standing grain had dried up and become full ears - "Who would have said to Abraham?" And the nations of the world would bring their children to Sarah that she might nurse them, to fulfill what is said, "Sarah nursed children." And some of them would bring their children in truth, that she might nurse them, and some of them would bring their children to test [her]; both these and those lost nothing. Rabbi Levi said: Those who came in truth converted; this is what is said, "Sarah nursed children." What is "Sarah nursed children"? That they were built up among Israel. And those who came to test her, our Rabbis said: They grew up in this world as men of great rank; and all the converts who convert in the world, and all the God-fearers who are in the world, are of those who nursed from the milk of Sarah. Lo, "a joyful mother of children" - this is Sarah. Another interpretation: "He seats the barren woman of the house." Rabbi Berekhiah said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman: This is Jochebed. And was she barren? She bore Aaron and Miriam! Rather, you find that at the time Pharaoh decreed, "Every son that is born you shall cast into the river" (Exodus 1:22), when Amram heard this, he and his court at that hour decreed and held Israel back from being fruitful and multiplying, and they sent away their wives, "The women of My people you cast out from her pleasant house" (Micah 2:9). Therefore he calls Jochebed barren, for she was uprooted from her house. Miriam was at that hour six years old, and she said, "Father, father, Pharaoh was better for Israel than you. Why? Pharaoh decreed against the males, and you against males and females. Pharaoh decreed - it is doubtful whether his decree was fulfilled or not, but you decreed and your decree was fulfilled." When Amram heard her words, he brought her before the Sanhedrin, and she spoke before them, and they said to him, "Amram, you bound it and you must release the matter." He said to them, "And what do you say to me - shall we return in secret?" They said to him, "And who will make it known to all Israel?" Rabbi Yehudah bar Zevida said: Amram seated her in a litter, and Aaron was on this side and Miriam on that side, bearing fans and walking before her, and the Holy Spirit cried out, "He seats the barren woman of the house as a joyful mother of children." And why did Amram do thus? So that Israel would know and return their wives; and when they saw, they said song to the Holy One, blessed be He, and they said song only thus: Now Moses the redeemer is born, and we are redeemed from Egypt - "[Hallelujah, when Israel went forth from Egypt]." Another interpretation: "He seats the barren woman of the house." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I set Miriam daughter of Tanchum barren, in order to gladden her with her children in time to come. Our Rabbis said: There was an incident concerning Miriam daughter of Tanchum in the days of the persecution, who had seven sons. They seized the first; they said to him, "Come, bow to the idol." He said to them, "I will not deny God." Immediately they took him and put him into the frying pan and fried him. And so they seized the second; they said, "Come, bow to the idol." He said to them, "I will not deny the Holy One, blessed be He." Immediately they did to him as they did to the first; thus they did to the third and to the fourth, and to all of them. The youngest of them remained. They said, "Come, bow to the idol, and if not, we will do to you as we did to your brothers." He said to them, "I will go and take counsel of my mother." He went to his mother; he said to her, "What do you say - shall I bow to the idol or not?" His mother said to him, "My son, what do you wish - that all your brothers be placed in the bosom of Abraham in time to come?" Immediately he went and refused to bow to the idolatry. Immediately they took him and did to him as they did to his brothers, and they took Miriam their mother and killed her. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: In time to come I will gladden her with her children, "a joyful mother of children." Another interpretation: "He seats the barren woman of the house" - this is Hannah, as it is written, "Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children" (1 Samuel 1:2), for she was as one barren within the house, in order to gladden her with children: "a joyful mother of children, for the Lord remembered Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters." Hannah said to Him: Master of the world, what is it for me to do - to say to You praises and songs of "Hallelujah"? And Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in God." Another interpretation: "For the Lord remembered Hannah." This is what Scripture says, "The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, and a man according to his praise" (Proverbs 27:21). What is "The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold"? Just as this refiner puts the silver into the fire and the gold into the furnace and does not delay them therein, so the Holy One, blessed be He, refines the righteous, each and every one according to his honor. Lo, "The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold." What is "and a man according to his praise"? The Holy One, blessed be He, refines the righteous according to his deeds. And so you find: Sarah, the Holy One, blessed be He, refined twenty-five years from when she came to the Land of Israel, as it is written, "And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran" (Genesis 12:4), and she was at that hour sixty-five years old, for he was older than she by ten years; and she bore at ninety years old, for Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born, as it is said, "Shall a child be born to one a hundred years old, and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?" (Genesis 17:17). Lo, you find learned that the Holy One, blessed be He, refined her according to her strength. And Rebekah too - the Holy One, blessed be He, refined her according to her strength, twenty years. From where? As it is written, "And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah daughter of Bethuel" (Genesis 25:20), and it is written, "And Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them" (ibid. 26). Lo, you find that the Holy One, blessed be He, refined her twenty years. And Hannah - the Holy One, blessed be He, refined her too according to her strength. And how long did He refine her? Our Rabbis said: nineteen years. And how? Ten years that she dwelt with him and did not bear, and he took Peninnah, and she bore him ten sons - for so you find that Elkanah says to Hannah, "Am I not better to you than ten sons?" (1 Samuel 1:8) - these are the sons of Peninnah; and you give eight years to the conceptions and one year to the conception of Samuel, lo, nineteen years; and afterward He remembered her: "For the Lord remembered Hannah." [Another interpretation: "For the Lord remembered Hannah."] Rabbi Aha said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: I am a keeper of deposits, for whatever a man deposits with Me, I give to him. To what may the matter be compared? To one who was a keeper of deposits, and people would deposit with him. One came and deposited with him gold pieces; one came and deposited thorns. They came to take them from him: he who deposited silver with him, he gave him silver; he who deposited thorns with him, he returned to him thorns. So said the Holy One, blessed be He: I am a keeper of deposits; whatever a man deposits with Me, I give to him. So you find: Abraham deposited souls with the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written, "And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and so on, and the souls that they had made in Haran" (Genesis 12:5). And did Abraham make souls? Rabbi Eleazar ben Pedat said in the name of Rabbi Yose ben Zimra: If all who come into the world were to enter to create even a single gnat, they could not - and you say, "and the souls that they had made in Haran"? Did Abraham and Sarah create souls? What is "and the souls"? Rather, Abraham would convert the men, and Sarah would convert the women; this is what is written, "And so I saw the wicked buried, and they came" (Ecclesiastes 8:10); and they would bring the people under the wings of the Shekhinah. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: By your lives, you deposited souls with Me; souls I repay you - "And the Lord remembered Sarah, and so on, and Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age" (Genesis 21:1 and 2). Amalek came and deposited thorns with Him, as it is written, "And Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim" (Exodus 17:8), and likewise, "who met you on the way and cut off your rear," and so on (Deuteronomy 25:18). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You deposited thorns with Me; by your life, thorns I repay you - "Thus says the Lord: I have remembered what Amalek did to Israel, and so on, now go and strike Amalek" (1 Samuel 15:2 and 3). And Hannah deposited souls with the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written, "And there was a man of Ramathaim-Zophim, and his name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu" (1 Samuel 1:1). Rabbi Yohanan said: It is the manner of gematria: Tohu is Asaph - by the atbash cipher, tav-alef, het-samekh, vav-feh. Rabbi Yonah said in the name of Rabbi: And after all this praise it is written of him, "And he had two wives" (ibid. 2). And why did he take two wives? Because of "Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children" (ibid.). When Hannah saw that she did not bear, she said, "I will tell him to bring my rival into my house, and through this the Holy One, blessed be He, will see that I brought my rival into my house and will remember me." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: By your life, Hannah, you deposited souls with Me; souls I repay you - "For the Lord remembered Hannah." "And she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters" - lo, five; yet we find that she said in her song that she bore seven, as it is said, "They who were full have hired themselves out for bread" (1 Samuel 2:5). What is "have hired themselves out"? They have been satisfied; "and the hungry have ceased" (ibid.) from their hunger; "until the barren has borne seven" (ibid.) - this is Hannah; "but she who has many children is forlorn" (ibid.) - this is Peninnah. And if she bore five, how does she say she bore seven? Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Nehemiah and the Rabbis. Rabbi Yehudah says: She bore five, but Samuel is weighed against Moses and Aaron, as it is said, "Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His name," and so on (Psalms 99:6). Rabbi Nehemiah says: She bore five, but she saw the two sons of Samuel: "And the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second Abijah" (1 Samuel 8:2), and grandchildren are like children; therefore, "until the barren has borne seven." [And the Rabbis said: She bore five.] Rather, what is written? "And it came to pass on the day that Elkanah sacrificed, and he gave to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters portions; but to Hannah he gave one portion, a choice one" (1 Samuel 1:4 and 5) - with a cheerful countenance. Another interpretation: what is "apayim" (a double portion)? Corresponding to all the faces. Another interpretation: the finest of them. Another interpretation: "apayim" - he gave her double. Why? "For he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her womb" (ibid.). And Peninnah would provoke her, and she would weep and not eat, as it is written, "And so he did year by year, as often as she went up to the house of the Lord; so she would provoke her, and she wept and would not eat" (ibid. 7). "And Elkanah her husband said to her, Why do you weep?" (ibid. 8) - he said to her: Sarah, who was barren, thus would she sit and weep all day; "and why do you not eat?" (ibid.) - but Rebekah, who was barren, thus would she do; "why is your heart grieved?" (ibid.) - but Rachel, who was barren, thus would she sit alone by herself; "am I not better to you than ten sons?" (ibid.) - these are the ten heads of generations, and these are they: "And these are the generations of Perez: Perez begot Hezron" (Ruth 4:18) - all of them ten. Another interpretation: "Am I not better to you than ten sons?" - these are the ten sons of Peninnah. He did so only because when He came to remember Hannah, Hannah would bear one son and Peninnah would bury two sons; Hannah bore four and Peninnah buried eight; and Hannah was pregnant with a fifth son, and Peninnah was afraid lest she bury the two sons that remained to her. What did Peninnah do? She went and besought Hannah; she said to her, "I beg of you, I have humbled myself before you; I know that I sinned against you; only forgive me, so that the two sons that remain to me may live." At that hour Hannah prayed before the Holy One, blessed be He; she said before Him, "Forgive her her two sons, that they may live." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: By your life, they were worthy to die; but since you prayed for them that they might live, I call them by your name. Therefore it says, "until the barren has borne seven," for the two sons of Peninnah were reckoned to her. Another interpretation: "For the Lord remembered Hannah." What is written above the matter? "And her rival provoked her sorely" (1 Samuel 1:6), for Peninnah would provoke Hannah, provocation upon provocation. And what would she do? Rabbi Nachman bar Abba said: Peninnah would rise early and say to Hannah, "Are you not going to stand and wash the faces of your children so that they may go before the teacher?" And at the sixth hour she would say, "Are you not going to stand and receive your children who have come from the schoolhouse?" This is "And her rival provoked her sorely." Rabbi Tanchuma bar Abba said: They would sit to eat, and Elkanah would give to each and every one of his sons his portion. What would Peninnah do? Intending to provoke Hannah, she would say to Elkanah, "Give this son of mine his portion, and to this son of mine you did not give his portion. Why?" "To provoke her" (ibid.). (For good.) Another interpretation: "to provoke her, because the Lord [had closed her womb], to her benefit." The Holy One, blessed be He, said [to her]: You complain against her before Me? By your life, there is no thunder that is not followed by rain; immediately I remember her: "For the Lord remembered Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters."

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Midrash Shmuel 2:5Midrash Shmuel

Translation of the source text.Midrash Shmuel, Krakow 1893, Public Domain, on Sefaria · CC-BY-SA

"Lord of Hosts" (1 Samuel 1:11). Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her, "Hannah, from the beginning of the creation of the world no one praised Me with this verse except you. By your life, your son shall stand and open with it." This is what is written: "Thus says the Lord of Hosts: I have remembered that which Amalek did to Israel" (1 Samuel 15:2).

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her, "Hannah, you have increased My hosts, and I will increase your hosts," [as it is written]: "All these were the sons of Heman the seer of the king in the words of God, to lift up the horn; and God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters" (1 Chronicles 25:5).

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