1 Samuel 1:6–7 Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 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.
Today’s text is the perfect example of the nature of biblical literature being meditative. We see the outworking of an earlier text that seemed enigmatic, but it is made clear as you continue to read and meditate on what you are reading. That is because the Scriptures tell one story, beginning to end, of the LORD’s plans to reunite humanity with Himself in the person of Jesus.
So let’s back up. What is the earlier text that our passage today brings clarity to? Well, if we look back to the beginning pages of Genesis, we read about the consequences of Adam and Eve’s choice to eat from the forbidden tree, to choose the timing of their acquisition of the knowledge of evil. (They already lived in a place declared good.)
In their third chapter we read about the consequences for the women among us. In Genesis 3:16 we read about the problems that will happen around conception and birth. These verses are often interpreted to mean that the pain in labor is the consequence of their choice, but that does not seem to be the best reading of the Hebrew. The text speaks about conception, not delivery.
We see this story around barrenness play out repeatedly in the chapters that follow in Genesis. Every main character has conception drama and the attending messes. Oh, the headaches that would have been solved if these pairs had just trusted in the promises of the LORD!
And at each of these conception struggles, the narrative was taking a turn toward a new start. The conception difficulties signal to the reader that a new garden intimacy was being initiated. The LORD was wanting to start over with another representative.
And so here in Samuel we get another wife who can’t conceive. The LORD has kept her from conceiving. The LORD is involved in this. It is His timing.
But look in our text for today. This text spells out the troubles that infertility brought to these ancient people at the center of the LORD’s plans for His people. These struggles point back to the Garden and what was lost. But because they are included in the text, the readers and hearers are supposed to think of the Garden and of the LORD’s attempt to start again.
Notice that there is a rival wife. Not part of the LORD’s plan. Rival wives have always caused problems for these barren women. This is part of the pain promised in Genesis 3:16. These rival women create havoc for those whose hearts are broken by their situation of not having children. And for Samuel’s mother, the emotional pain sent her into a deep depression.
This went on for years. Can you imagine being in Hannah’s place. The rival keeps having kids, and you are empty-handed. No child suckles at your breasts. The children scurrying around the house are not yours. They are one more reminder of your emptiness.
And that other woman just keeps poking at you.
We know how the story ends. Hannah does get pregnant repeatedly. Her firstborn becomes a new start for Israel, or at least the possibility of a new start. Samuel does become a great leader, but he still has to lead the people who haven’t really changed.
So when you read something in Scripture that doesn’t make sense, or seems out of place, or a detail that seems extra, take time to slow down. Those things signal the presence of what we would call a hyperlink to another story and truth. So don’t be afraid to slow down and find that other story.
The Arnold Journey 