Hannah, from the Hebrew word meaning grace, or favor, was the preferred wife of Elkanah, a Levite from Ramah in Ephraim. Hannah was a faithful woman who prayed to God for a child, and promised that if He granted her request, she would give him to The Lord as a life-long Nazirite. Her prayer was answered, and her son is known to Bible History as Samuel.
The Bible account of Hannah -
"There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none." (1 Samuel 1:1-2)
"Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and The Lord had closed her womb. And because The Lord had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of The Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?" (1 Samuel 1:4-8)
"Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of The Lord's temple. In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to The Lord. And she made a vow, saying, "O Lord Almighty, if You will only look upon Your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget Your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to The Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." (1 Samuel 1:9-11)
"So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked The Lord for him." When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to The Lord and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before The Lord, and he will live there always." (1 Samuel 1:20-22)
"After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of The Lord at Shiloh. When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to The Lord. I prayed for this child, and The Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to The Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to The Lord." And he worshiped The Lord there." (1 Samuel 1:20-28)
"Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "May The Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to The Lord." Then they would go home. And The Lord was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of The Lord." (1 Samuel 2:19-21)
