Person Old Testament
Peninnah
Peninnah, one of Elkanah's two wives and the rival of Hannah, Samuel's mother. Mentioned in 2 verses across 1 book, first at 1 Samuel 1:2.
Why it matters. Elkanah's wife, rival of Hannah
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Peninnah
Peninnah was one of the two wives of Elkanah, an Ephraimite man, and the rival of Hannah, according to 1Sa.1.2. Peninnah had children, while Hannah was initially barren. Elkanah would give portions of the sacrificial meat to Peninnah and her children, but he would give a double portion to Hannah because he loved her (1Sa.1.4-5). Peninnah would provoke and irritate Hannah because of her barrenness, causing Hannah great distress (1Sa.1.6-7). This rivalry between the two wives highlights the challenges of polygamy and the importance of children in ancient Israelite society. Peninnah's actions also serve as a contrast to Hannah's faith and prayerful response to her situation.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Spouse
- Elkanah
Appears in Scripture
Named in 2 verses across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.