332. A Nice Hug - September 2, 2023

This week we took a closer look at the Hannah story.  Our story tells us about Hannah's family, which consists of the husband Elkanah, his two wives Hannah and Peninnah, and the sons and daughters borne by Peninnah. Hannah bore no children.  The text tells us that when Hannah is crying and unwilling to eat because she is bereft at being barren, Elkanah says to Hannah, “Why are you so sad? Am I not more devoted to you than ten sons?” Elkanah is basically telling Hannah to get over it; he is deaf to Hannah’s grief. At this time of year, when we are supposed to think about our interactions with other people, we can pause and think about Elkanah’s reaction to Hannah. He may have done the best that he could do. But maybe Hannah just needed to be listened to and given a nice hug.

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.