He had two wives,(A) the first named Hannah(B) and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless. This man would go up from his town every year(C) to worship and to sacrifice(D) to the Lord of Hosts at Shiloh,(E) where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests.

Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat(F) to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters.

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Elkanah had two wives. One wife was called Hannah and the other wife was called Peninnah. Peninnah had children but Hannah did not have any children.

Every year, Elkanah left his home in Ramah to go to the town of Shiloh.[a] He went there to worship the Lord Almighty and to offer sacrifices to him.[b] Hophni and Phinehas served the Lord at Shiloh as his priests. Eli was their father.

Every year, when Elkanah offered his sacrifices to God, he gave some of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to her sons and daughters.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:3 Israelite men had to go to a special place to offer sacrifices to God three times every year. See Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 12:5-7. This place was in Shiloh at this time. Shiloh was about 24 kilometres (15 miles) east of Ramah.
  2. 1:3 When we write Lord like this, it is a special name for God. Sometimes people write it as ‘Yahweh’, or as ‘Jehovah’. It is his own name that he told Moses. See Exodus 3:14. It means ‘I am who I am’. This shows that God has always been there and he always will be there.