Elkanah and his family go to Shiloh
1 There was a man whose name was Elkanah. He lived in a town called Ramah. This town was in the hill country where Ephraim's tribe lived. Elkanah was the son of Jeroham. Jeroham was the son of Elihu. Elihu was the son of Tohu. Tohu was the son of Zuph. Zuph belonged to the tribe of Ephraim. 2 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.
1:1Ramah was also called Ramathaim.
3 Every year, Elkanah left his home in Ramah to go to the town of Shiloh. He went there to worship the Lord Almighty and to offer sacrifices to him. Hophni and Phinehas served the Lord at Shiloh as his priests. Eli was their father.
1:3Israelite 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. 1:3When 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. 4 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. 5 Because Elkanah loved Hannah very much, he always gave twice as much meat to her. But the Lord had not let Hannah give birth to any children.
6 Peninnah was not kind to Hannah and she made Hannah very upset. She did this because the Lord had not let Hannah give birth to any children. 7 This happened every year when they went to the Lord's house in Shiloh. Peninnah would cause Hannah to be upset. Then Hannah would weep. She would refuse to eat anything. 8 Hannah's husband, Elkanah, said to her, ‘Why should you weep and refuse to eat? Do not be so sad. I love you, and that is better than ten sons.’
