Light from the Canticles 4: Hannah’s Humble Faith

1 Samuel/1 Kingdoms 2:1–10, Haggai 2:6, Psalm 74/5:3, Job 9:5

The third Biblical Canticle is one that we often associate with holy Mary’s Magnificat—both songs are uttered by women who have experienced a miraculous conception, the first an Old Testament married woman who had much sorrow, and the second a young virgin whom the LORD unexpectedly chose as the Theotokos, the bearer of God Incarnate. The major theme in both songs is that God both humbles and exalts; underlying this theme are the truths that our God is omnipotent, and that He cares deeply about human affairs.  Let us consider the older song of Hannah, found in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.

Hannah prayed and said,

My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in my God.

My mouth is opened wide against my adversaries, because I rejoice in my victory.

There is no Holy One like the Lord, no one righteous besides you;

there is no Rock like our God.

Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth;

for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.

The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength.

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,

but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.

The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.

The Lord kills and brings to life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

The Lord makes poor and makes rich;  He brings low, he also exalts.

He raises up the poor from the dust;

He lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them He has set the world.

He will guard the feet of His faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might does one prevail.

The Lord! His adversaries shall be shattered;

the Most High will thunder in heaven.

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;

He will give strength to His king, and exalt the power of His anointed.

In this exuberant song, Hannah, who has longed for years to bear a child, both “exults” and is “exalted.” Her joy is both internal (“my heart exults”) and external—her power and glory, which she calls “my horn,” is magnified before other people.  St. John Chrysostom explains the use of the term “horn” in this way:

What is the meaning of “my horn?” Scripture frequently employs this phrase, remember, as when it says, “His horn was exalted” and “The horn of his anointed was exalted.” So what on earth does “horn” mean? Force, glory, prominence, using a metaphor from the brute beasts: God implanted in them only the horn by way of glory and weaponry, and if they lose it, they lose most of their force; and like a soldier without weapons a bull without horns is also easily disposed of. So by this the woman means nothing other than this, my glory is exalted. How is it exalted? “In my God,” she says. Hence the exaltation is also secure, having a firm and permanent root: while glory from human beings corresponds to the baseness of those glorifying, and so is very liable to disappear, God’s glory is not like that, remaining forever permanent. Chrysostom, Homilies on Hannah 4 (Hill, Chrysostom’s Old Testament Homilies 1:113alt)

Let us call to mind the entire story in which Hannah utters these words of triumph.  We remember how she was unable to conceive, and was teased mercilessly by her husband’s other wife, who had many children.  We remember how the priest at first thought her to be worthless woman who had drunk too much at a religious feast—and then, after hearing her story, he commiserated and prayed for her.  Finally, she waits until her son Samuel is old enough to leave her, and now she has brought him, the outward sign of God’s favor, to the sanctuary at Shiloh.  At a time when some women might have only felt sorrow in leaving a child, Hannah is full of joy, knowing that God has brought, through her and her husband, an anointed child who will serve the entire community.  This child is her glory, and he will be mighty among God’s people.

Again, St. John Chrysostom wonders at her faithfulness, saying,  “Let the men among us emulate her, let the women among us imitate her: the woman is teacher of both sexes” (Homilies on Hannah 2, COTH 1:82-83). He goes on to encourage those who are childless not to despair, and to urge mothers to recognize God’s goodness and dedicate their children, like Hanna, to the LORD.  Continuing to look to God during a period of infertility, and the challenge of giving one’s child over to God may be particularly poignant experiences for women—but the kind of humble faith exemplified by Hannah a lesson for everyone!

Hannah’s faith was based upon her knowledge of this robust God who is so intimately connected with us. He is a God who knows everything, and all about our weaknesses, and before Him arrogance must vanish; this is, indeed, the topic of her canticle!  Indeed, those who maintain pride before the face of God must have imagined Him other than He really is, creating an idol rather than worshipping the true LORD.  Basil the Great comments:

No sensible person, then, will be proud of his wisdom . . . but will follow the excellent advice of blessed Hannah and of the prophet Jeremiah, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom and let not the strong man glory in his strength and let not the rich man glory in his riches.” But what is true glory and what makes one great? “In this,” says the prophet, “let him that glories, glory, that he understands and knows that I am the Lord.” This constitutes the pinnacle of human dignity, this is his glory and greatness: truly to know what is great and to cleave to it, and to seek after glory from the Lord of glory (On Humility; FC 9 478-479).

Actually, in the Biblical story, Hannah does not explicitly offer advice, except as part of her song of praise. But her story itself is instructive, and so we see God’s ability to use not only the great prophet, like Jeremiah, in our spiritual education, but also a woman who was despised in her own time because of her childlessness.  As St. Paul tells us regarding the Old Testament stories in general, “Now these things took place as examples for us” (1 Cor 10:6)—even sometimes negative examples.  But Hannah’s pattern is a positive one, displaying true wisdom and humility. Because of God’s action on her behalf, she is bold to open her mouth as a prophetess, and speaks truthfully of the God who both lays the proud low and raises up the humble.  This, indeed, is God’s major pattern, as we see every year when we consider how he raised up the Publican but did not justify the one with pride, like the Pharisee.

God’s purpose in bringing down and lifting up is not to make us all the same, as though mere equality were a virtue.  Rather, it is to help us to fix our attention on the One who made us, on our need of a Savior, and on our interdependence with each other, whatever our station in life.  Hannah sings that God guards even the feet of those who are needy and call on Him, but cuts off the wicked.  Human power, then, is not the be-all and end-all.  History is full of surprises, the most poignant being that of the tiny baby born in a cave but heralded by the angels, for He was the King of kings. After all, the LORD has made the entire world, and sustains it, both by means of His Holy Spirit, and by means of the order that He has implanted in it, and that continues to exist, despite our fallen condition.  As Hannah cries out, “For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them He has set the world.”

We might wonder, what does she mean by “pillars”?  Is this simply a poetic way of speaking about all the structures that govern our world?  Or is it more particular, referring to persons—whether human or angelic—who support our lives. In Job 9:5, that righteous man also commends humility before God, and reminds us that God “shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble,” and in Psalm 74/5:3, the Psalmist reminds us that when the earth quakes, only God can confirm its foundations, its pillars).  But both St. Paul, in Galatians, and John, in Rev. 3:12, speak of “pillars” as those who are the foundations of the Church.  I think that we can agree that both cosmically, God shows his control over the stability of what He has created, and in the Church, we know that the gates of Hell cannot succeed against what He has formed.  The pillars, whether human or structural, are His, and so He upholds His handiwork.

In all Hannah’s joy, there remains a sober note that we should take to heart—God has assured us that He is coming again to right all wrongs; but when He comes, we are told, He will once more shake the earth (Haggai 2:6 Hebrews 12:26).  As this song assures us, “the Most High will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.” Anything that is not upheld by His power will not stand—and so, like Hannah, we commit ourselves, and everything that He has given us, to Him.  Looking back to what He has done, and forward to that Day, we take to heart Hannah’s words: “Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.”  And so, boasting only in God, and in His anointed, we are prepared for what will come our way.