Week 1 September 2025, Devotion Part 1

But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman sorely troubled; I have neither drunk wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD.”  1 Samuel 1:15

Hannah was praying in the temple, but not at the stained-glass-window level the priest expected from a pious woman. She poured out her “great anxiety and vexation” with such vehemence that Eli mistook her for an unlady-like lush. She was a puzzlement to her husband Elkanah as well. Although childless, Hannah had everything a wife could ask for. In an age when a woman’s worth was often measured by her ability to breed, she enjoyed the distinction of being cherished for herself. His other wife, Peninnah, who bore Elkanah’s children, did not know the passionate embrace that was Hannah’s. This sensitive, loving husband plaintively asked, “Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

For a seemingly religious woman, Hannah appeared plenty petty. Each year when the family traveled to Shilo for their religious holiday, she managed to ruin it for Elkanah. Tue, her fertile rival used the occasion to brag about her brood and to taunt her. But did Hannah have to swallow the bait? Could she not have swallowed her pride and countered the attacks with gentle love? Why not soothe Peninnah’s jealousy and win her heart by taking pride and delight in her children?  Part 1 of 2

Comment: Stained glass windows are generally associated with the Medieval period, from the 10^th century onward.  Ancient windows were designed for ventilation and were covered with materials like cloth or animal hides. The windows in Solomon’s famed temple were described as “narrow,” designed to emphasize its sacred interior as the source of radiating spiritual light. Presumably, we churchgoers pray differently in the privacy of our home than in the pew near the stained glass windows.  A  babbling lush, the tongue lubricated with alcohol, would be discretely escorted out.  As for the polygamy jumping out of the text and making the Christian uneasy, we’ll dismiss it by observing that the Old Testament features both “descriptive” and “prescriptive” language.  Genesis 2:24 is the primary passage that prescribes marriage for Adam and Eve. It states, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."  Genesis 4:19  describes how Lamech, a descendant of Cain, had two wives, Adah and Zillah. In Matthew 19:4-6 Jesus makes it clear that Polygamy is not prescriptive; monogamy is. The praying Hannah in the temple       at first alarms Eli, because her “great anxiety and vexation” make her sound like she is really “pissed off.” I don’t say that even at home, but feel nudged strongly to find out how the archaic term might shed light on what strongly bugs us.  In the KJV of the OT the word “vexation” is used 15x; “vexed” 22x; and “vex” 15x.  Once I’ve grappled with Hannah, Peter will throw in a monkey wrench with Lot, Abraham’s nephew.  If my sense of linguistic fun vexes anyone, drink some strong Kool-aid and no one will get anxious.