Wife of Elkanah from Ephraim’s tribe and the mother of the prophet Samuel. The childless Hannah prayed annually at Shiloh for a son. She promised to dedicate him to the Lord.
The Lord answered her prayer, and she called her son Samuel. When he was weaned (at about age three) she dedicated him at Shiloh to the Lord's service in the sanctuary. From then on, Samuel lived with Eli the priest. His parents visited him on their yearly trips to worship at the temple. Hannah had three more sons and two daughters (1 Samuel 1:1–2:21). Hannah's prophetic song of praise in 1 Samuel 2:1–10 is very similar to the song Mary would later sing, called the “Magnificat” (Luke 1:46–55).