11 Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim , and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham , the son of Elihu , the son of Tohu , the son of Zuph , an Ephraimite . 2 He had two wives : the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other Peninnah ; and Peninnah had children , but Hannah had no children . 3 Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh . And the two sons of Eli , Hophni and Phinehas , were priests to the Lord there . 4 When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed , he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters ; 5 but to Hannah he would give a double portion , for he loved Hannah , but the Lord had closed her womb . 6 Her rival , however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb . 7 It happened year after year , as often as she went up to the house of the Lord , she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat . 8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her, "Hannah , why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad ? Am I not better to you than ten sons ?"
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 1:1-8
Commentary on 1 Samuel 1:1-8
(Read 1 Samuel 1:1-8)
Elkanah kept up his attendance at God's altar, notwithstanding the unhappy differences in his family. If the devotions of a family prevail not to put an end to its divisions, yet let not the divisions put a stop to the devotions. To abate our just love to any relation for the sake of any infirmity which they cannot help, and which is their affliction, is to make God's providence quarrel with his precept, and very unkindly to add affliction to the afflicted. It is evidence of a base disposition, to delight in grieving those who are of a sorrowful spirit, and in putting those out of humour who are apt to fret and be uneasy. We ought to bear one another's burdens, not add to them. Hannah could not bear the provocation. Those who are of a fretful spirit, and are apt to lay provocations too much to heart, are enemies to themselves, and strip themselves of many comforts both of life and godliness. We ought to notice comforts, to keep us from grieving for crosses. We should look at that which is for us, as well as what is against us.