Prophet
Prophetess Hannah, Mother of the Prophet Samuel
XI в. до Р. Х.
Also known as: Прав. Анна, мать прор. Самуила, Анна Пророчица, Пророчица Анна, жена Елканы
Old Testament prophetess and mother of the Prophet Samuel, who after long barrenness obtained a son from God by prayer and dedicated him to serve at the tabernacle; her song of thanksgiving became the third biblical ode of the canon. Commemorated on 9 (22) December.
The holy Prophetess Hannah (Anna), mother of the Prophet Samuel, lived in the eleventh century BC; her story opens the First Book of Kingdoms (1 Samuel 1:1–2:11). One of the two wives of the Levite Elkanah of Ramathaim-Zophim, she long remained childless and suffered the taunts of his other wife, Peninnah. On the family's yearly pilgrimage to Shiloh she prayed in tears and vowed that if God gave her a son she would dedicate him to the Lord for all his life. The priest Eli at first took her for drunk, then blessed her.
She bore Samuel, whose name means "asked of God", and when he was weaned brought him to Eli to serve at the tabernacle. Her song of thanksgiving (1 Samuel 2:1–10), which speaks of the Lord exalting "the horn of His anointed", is read as a prophecy of King David and of Christ and is echoed in the Song of the Theotokos (Luke 1:46–55). St John Chrysostom devoted five homilies to her. Her song is the third biblical ode on which the canon at Matins is built. She is commemorated on 9 (22) December.