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Podcast Episode

Hannah’s Poem and Power Reversals

Hannah was an oppressed woman, scorned by her husband’s rival wife because of her barrenness. But the way she prayed and trusted Yahweh through this hardship became a remarkable example of how God works through the lowly to subvert human notions of power and status. In this episode, join Tim and Jon as they trace the theme of the firstborn in the scroll of Samuel.

Episode 6
1hr 4m
Feb 6, 2023
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Exploring 1 Samuel? Don't Stop Here.
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Exploring 1 Samuel? Don't Stop Here.
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Show Notes
Episodes

QUOTE

This story of this oppressed woman in pain and suffering and this story of this enfranchised but lazy and self-indulgent priest and his sons––they live out exactly the inversion that Hannah’s poem talks about. But it’s also really at the heart of God’s desire to exalt the humble and bring down the mighty. That’s how Yahweh establishes the pillars and the order of the world.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Although Hannah’s name means “favor,” she appeared to be less favored by God than her counterpart. Penninah had multiple children, and Hannah was barren. They aren’t siblings, but the two wives are set up as rivals in the pattern we’ve seen through multiple iterations of sibling rivalry.
  • Hannah’s prayer links her to both Sarah and Abraham. She is like Sarah in her prolonged barrenness, and she is like Abraham who had to give up his son Isaac. However, the narrator is calling attention to a big difference here—Yahweh had to demand Abraham’s son Isaac, but Hannah willingly offers her son to Yahweh.
  • Hannah’s poem is a prophetic foretelling of God’s future deliverance of humanity from sin and death. The poem is full of examples of how Yahweh maintains order in the cosmos by upsetting human ideas of order and reversing human power structures.

A Broadening Theme

In part one (00:00-9:59), Tim and Jon review the theme of the firstborn we’ve been exploring in this podcast series and pick up that theme in the scroll of Samuel.

The theme of the firstborn is actually much broader than just firstborn sons. Ultimately, it has to do with the consistent pattern of God choosing, blessing, and favoring someone who appears underserving and giving them the status of the firstborn (responsibility, inheritance, blessing).

Hannah’s Prayer of Surrender

In part two (09:59-27:27), Tim and Jon turn their attention to the scroll of Samuel, which opens with a look at a family who has remained loyal to Yahweh in the midst of overwhelming national disloyalty to Yahweh (the period of time we read about in the scroll of Judges). Although not named in the Judges scroll, Samuel was the last judge of Israel before kings started ruling the nation.

The scroll of Samuel opens with the story of Samuel’s mother. Samuel’s father Elkanah was married to two women, Hannah and Penninah. Although Hannah’s name means “favor,” she appeared to be less favored by God than her counterpart. Penninah had multiple children, and Hannah was barren. They aren’t siblings, but the two wives are set up as rivals in the pattern we’ve seen through multiple iterations of sibling rivalry. Hannah was broken-hearted over her barrenness, and Penninah would rub it in, making fun of her. Every year, the family went to the tabernacle to offer sacrifices of Yahweh, and one year, Hannah implored Yahweh to give her children.

1 Samuel 1:11

She made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me, and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”

Hannah’s prayer links her to both Sarah and Abraham. She is like Sarah in her prolonged barrenness, and she is like Abraham who had to give up his son Isaac. However, the narrator is calling attention to a big difference here—Yahweh had to demand Abraham’s son Isaac, but Hannah willingly offers her son to Yahweh. She vows to make her son a Nazirite (Israelites who would serve all their lives as priests even though they weren’t from the tribe of Levi).

Hannah’s Poem

In part three (27:27-46:11), the guys explore the events that unfold after Hannah’s prayer. Yahweh answers her prayer and gives her a son—she names him Samuel. Keeping to her promise, Hannah dedicates Samuel in the tabernacle and leaves him there to serve Yahweh.

Hannah responds to her barrenness much differently than other prominent biblical characters so far. Abraham and Jacob, for instance, received God’s promise, got tired of waiting (more than once), and took matters into their own hands. Hannah goes straight to the source of her barrenness, asks him in faith for help, and then gives back to him what he gives to her.

Hannah’s trust puts her and her son Samuel in a position that will eventually “reawaken” the narrative tracing of the line of Judah—the line that will produce God’s promised snake-crusher. Throughout Joshua and Judges, the line of Judah all but disappears from the storyline of the Hebrew Bible until God chooses Samuel to be the one to anoint King David.

In 1 Samuel 2:1-10, we read Hannah’s remarkable poem. It’s a declaration of her gratitude for Yahweh delivering her from her barrenness, and it’s a prophetic foretelling of God’s future deliverance of humanity from sin and death. The poem is full of examples of how Yahweh maintains order in the cosmos by upsetting human ideas of order and reversing human power structures.

Yahweh Disorders Human Attempts at Order

In part four (46:11-1:03:54), the guys continue to explore the implications of Hannah’s poem. She describes how Yahweh does away with evil people and wicked behavior—except at the time she sings this song, everyone in Israel is still “doing whatever is right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

The reason Hannah can write so confidently about peace, righteousness, and order is because her poem is a prophetic outline of what’s to come. Her story and her poem become a template for the unfolding story. It’s as if she’s saying, “The way Yahweh works in the world is like what he did for me. If you have eyes to see it, you’ll start seeing it everywhere.”

Shortly after this (later in the Samuel scroll), God will raise up King Saul, and then, as Saul’s heart turns away from Yahweh, God will remove Saul and anoint David to be king of Israel. This is yet another example of how Yahweh brings order by disordering human attempts at order.

Before this, we see another example of the firstborn theme in the life of Samuel. The narrator pits him as a rival to Eli’s sons, who are priests in the temple. Eli’s sons are corrupt, and eventually, God takes the lives of Eli and both his sons and appoints Samuel as high priest over Israel in place of Eli.

Referenced Resources

  • Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
  • You can experience the literary themes and movements we’re tracing on the podcast in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music

  • “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
  • "Downhill" by Leavv
  • "The Birds Will Leave Soon" by fantompower
  • "Shakshuka" by Philanthrope & mommy

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder. Edited by Dan Gummel, Tyler Bailey, and Frank Garza. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.

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Scripture References
Genesis 1
Genesis 22
Acts 5:1-11
Leviticus 10
Genesis 4
1 Samuel 2:12-36
1 Samuel
Genesis 9
Genesis 25
1 Samuel 1:1-2
1 Samuel 1:3-5
1 Samuel 1:6-8
1 Samuel 1:9-11
1 Samuel 1:12-15
1 Samuel 1:16-17
1 Samuel 1:18
1 Samuel 1:19-20
1 Samuel 1:22
1 Samuel 1:24-28
1 Samuel 2:1
1 Samuel 2:2
Deuteronomy 33
1 Samuel 2:3-5
Luke 6
1 Samuel 2:6-8
1 Samuel 2:9
1 Samuel 2:10
1 Samuel 2:27-36

11 Episodes

Episode 11
Firstborn Question and Response
Do the biblical authors consider women the second-born siblings of men? Were Joshua and Caleb rivals? Why is Korah, the disgraced rebel, honored in the Psalms? In this episode, Tim and Jon dive into your questions from the firstborn series. Thank you to our audience for your insightful questions!
57m • Apr 12, 2023
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Episode 10
The Firstborn of Creation
In our final episode of the Firstborn series, we look at the New Testament’s description of Jesus as the firstborn of creation. Join Tim and Jon as they explore some of Paul’s letters, the book of Hebrews, and the Revelation, and discover how Jesus reveals who God is––and what it means to be truly human, too.
1hr 9m • Mar 6, 2023
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Episode 9
How Will Jesus Use His Power?
Under levitical law, touching anyone unclean would make you unclean too. But when Jesus touches people who are unclean, they get healed and become clean instead––it’s like his holiness is contagious. In this episode, Tim and Jon talk about the way Jesus uses his power and authority as the cosmic firstborn.
1hr 14m • Feb 27, 2023
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Episode 8
God's Firstborn Son
The authors of the gospel accounts in the Bible—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—regularly refer to Jesus as the Son of God, a title that’s connected to the theme of the firstborn. In this episode, Tim and Jon explore what it means that Jesus is God’s Son through the stories of his baptism and testing in the wilderness. Listen in to find out how Jesus uses his power in a way we’ve never seen another human do before.
55m • Feb 20, 2023
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Episode 7
David, the Latecomer King
In the scroll of Samuel, Israel demands a king in place of the judges that have been ruling over them. It sounds like a simple enough request, but Yahweh calls it idolatrous. Why? In this episode, Tim and Jon discuss the motives behind Israel’s request and the role of Israel’s first kings, Saul and David, in the unfolding theme of the firstborn.
1hr 3m • Feb 13, 2023
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Episode 6
Hannah’s Poem and Power Reversals
Hannah was an oppressed woman, scorned by her husband’s rival wife because of her barrenness. But the way she prayed and trusted Yahweh through this hardship became a remarkable example of how God works through the lowly to subvert human notions of power and status. In this episode, join Tim and Jon as they trace the theme of the firstborn in the scroll of Samuel.
1hr 4m • Feb 6, 2023
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Episode 5
The Plague of the Firstborn
How does the plague of the firstborn from Exodus fit into the biblical theme of the firstborn? And what does it mean when Yahweh calls Israel his firstborn son? In this episode, Tim and Jon explore the theme of the firstborn in the Exodus scroll.
1hr 12m • Jan 30, 2023
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Episode 4
Power Grabs and Patriarchs
Early in the story of the Bible, God chooses the family of Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob as his chosen representatives to bless other peoples. But these families are full of the same rivalry, envy, and division present in any other family. What is God doing with these less-than-ideal candidates? Join Tim and Jon as they trace the theme of the firstborn in the narratives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
1hr 10m • Jan 23, 2023
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Episode 3
Rivalry Among Brothers
Only a few pages into the story of the Bible, the story starts to get really bleak. Cain kills his brother Abel, Cain’s descendants become famous murderers, and Noah’s youngest son violates his father and mother. And all of it happens because humans decide that power is worth the cost of harming others. In this episode, Tim and Jon discuss the dark side of human nature and the God who favors the powerless—the people who choose to trust him for blessing and exaltation.
1hr 9m • Jan 16, 2023
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Episode 2
Seizing vs. Receiving Power
It’s not explicitly stated, but the theme of the firstborn first appears in the opening narratives of the Hebrew Bible. In Genesis 1 and 2, Yahweh elevates humans, the latecomers of creation, to rule the land. In Genesis 3, a snake, who is some kind of spiritual being, tricks the humans despite their authority as God’s image bearers. This story is echoed in other accounts of sibling rivalry that continue throughout the Hebrew Bible. Join Tim and Jon as they discuss the land rulers and sky rulers and the theme of the firstborn in Genesis 1-3.
1hr 8m • Jan 9, 2023
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Episode 1
God's Response to Human Power Structures
In ancient Near Eastern societies, firstborn sons were prized above all other children and inherited special privileges and authority simply because of their birth order. In this episode, Tim and Jon start a new theme study covering the theme of the firstborn. Spoiler alert: The God of the Bible opposes lots of human ideas about power, and the privilege of the firstborn is no exception. Again and again, we’ll see Yahweh picking younger siblings and people we wouldn’t expect to be his chosen representatives.
1hr 10m • Jan 2, 2023
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