(1) Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of 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) 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.
(3) And this man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there priests unto the LORD.
(4) And it came to pass upon a day, when Elkanah sacrificed, that he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions;
(5) but unto Hannah he gave a double portion; for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had shut up her womb.
(6) And her rival vexed her sore, to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. (7) And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she vexed her; therefore she wept, and would not eat.
(8) And Elkanah her husband said unto 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?’
(9) So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk—now Eli the priest sat upon his seat by the door-post of the temple of the LORD;
(10) and she was in bitterness of soul—and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.
(11) And she vowed a vow, and said: ‘O LORD of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thy handmaid, but wilt give unto Thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.’
(12) And it came to pass, as she prayed long before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth. (13) Now Hannah, she spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard; therefore, Eli thought she had been drunken.
(14) And Eli said unto her: ‘How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.’ (15) And Hannah answered and said: ‘No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the LORD.
(16) Count not thy handmaid for a wicked woman: for out of the abundance of my complaint and my vexation have I spoken hitherto.’
(17) Then Eli answered and said: ‘Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.’
(18) And she said: ‘Let thy servant find favour in thy sight.’ So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.
(19) And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah; and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.
(20) And it came to pass, when the time was come about, that Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she called his name Samuel: ‘because I have asked him of the LORD.’
(21) And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.
(22) But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband: ‘Until the child be weaned, when I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.’
(23) And Elkanah her husband said unto her: ‘Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish His word.’ So the woman tarried and gave her son suck, until she weaned him.
(24) And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh; and the child was young.
(25) And when the bullock was slain, the child was brought to Eli. (26) And she said: ‘Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.
(27) For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath granted me my petition which I asked of Him;
(28) therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he is lent to the LORD.’ And he worshipped the LORD there.
(1) And Hannah prayed, and said: My heart exulteth in the LORD, My horn is exalted in the LORD; My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; Because I rejoice in Thy salvation.
(2) There is none holy as the LORD, For there is none beside Thee; Neither is there any rock like our God.
(3) Multiply not exceeding proud talk; Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth; For the LORD is a God of knowledge, And by Him actions are weighed.
(4) The bows of the mighty men are broken, And they that stumbled are girded with strength. (5) They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; And they that were hungry have ceased; While the barren hath borne seven, She that had many children hath languished.
(6) The LORD killeth, and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
(7) The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich; He bringeth low, He also lifteth up. .
(8) He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, He lifteth up the needy from the dung-hill, To make them sit with princes, And inherit the throne of glory; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And He hath set the world upon them.
(9) He will keep the feet of His holy ones, But the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; For not by strength shall man prevail.
(10) They that strive with the LORD shall be broken to pieces; Against them will He thunder in heaven; The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength unto His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed.
"Now Hannah, she spake in her heart" (I Sam. i. 13) — hence it is deduced that one who prays must direct his heart. "Only her lips moved" — hence, one who prays must pronounce [the words] with his lips. "But her voice was not heard" — hence, it is forbidden to raise the voice when praying. "Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken" — hence, it is forbidden to pray when intoxicated.
"Lord of the universe ! In all that Thou hast created in a woman Thou hast created nothing in vain — eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell, a mouth to speak, hands wherewith to do work, feet to walk with, breasts to suckle with. But these breasts which Thou hast placed upon my Give me a son, that I may suckle with them."
By Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin |Hannah’s Prayer from Berakhot 31b
Master of the Universe, Have you created anything in vain?
Our eyes you made for seeing and our ears for hearing, our
mouths for speaking, our noses for smelling, our hands for
working.
And our breasts.
Did you not also create our breasts to suckle a babe?
Grant me a child, O Lord, that he may be nourished from me.
O Lord, you reign over all the hosts, the angels above and
the mortals below. The angels above do not propagate.
They do not multiply.
They do not die.
Mortals below are fruitful,
And multiply,
And die.
If I am an angel,
then let me live forever.
but if I am mortal,
Then grant me a child
So I can do my part
In perpetuating humankind.
(19) But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul’s daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife.
(20) And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David; and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. (21) And Saul said: ‘I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.’ Wherefore Saul said to David: ‘Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law through the one of the twain.’
(10) And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the spear into the wall; and David fled, and escaped that night.
(11) And Saul sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning; and Michal David’s wife told him, saying: ‘If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou shalt be slain.’
(12) So Michal let David down through the window; and he went, and fled, and escaped.
(13) And Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a quilt of goats’hair at the head thereof, and covered it with a cloth.
(14) And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said: ‘He is sick.’
(15) And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying: ‘Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.’
(16) And when the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the quilt of goats’hair at the head thereof.
(17) And Saul said unto Michal: ‘Why hast thou deceived me thus, and let mine enemy go, that he is escaped?’ And Michal answered Saul: ‘He said unto me: Let me go; why should I kill thee?’
(14) And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. (15) So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.
(16) And it was so, as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
(16) And Ruth said: ‘Entreat me not to leave thee, and to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God;
(4) An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of them enter into the assembly of the LORD for ever;
(5) because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-naharaim, to curse thee.
(6) Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee.
(7) Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.
(9) Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.
(10) On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Bizzetha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that ministered in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,
(11) to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look on.
(12) But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by the chamberlains; therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.
...the wicked Vashti used to take the daughters of Israel and strip them naked and make them work on Shabbat. So it is written, “After these things when the wrath of the king Ahashverosh abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what was decided against her.” As she had done so it was decreed against her. “And the queen Vashti refused” (Esther 1:12). She was immodest, as the Master said above, that both of them had licentious intention. Why then would she not come? — R. Yose b. Hanina said: This teaches that leprosy broke out on her. In a Baraitha it was taught that Gabriel came and fixed a tail on her.
(13) Then Mordecai bade them to return answer unto Esther: ‘Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.
(14) For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father’s house will perish; and who knoweth whether thou art not come to royal estate for such a time as this?’
(15) Then Esther bade them return answer unto Mordecai:
(16) ’Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.’ (17) So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
(1) So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
(2) And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine: ‘Whatever thy petition, queen Esther, it shall be granted thee; and whatever thy request, even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be performed.’
(3) Then Esther the queen answered and said: ‘If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request;
(4) for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my peace, for the adversary is not worthy that the king be endamaged.’
(5) Then spoke the king Ahasuerus and said unto Esther the queen: ‘Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?’
(6) And Esther said: ‘An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman.’ Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.