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Hannah

Born: ~1140 BCE — scriptural, mother of Samuel
Died: ~1050 BCE — approximate, death date unknown
Era: The Period of the Judges

Mother of the prophet Samuel, whose fervent prayer at Shiloh became one of the Bible’s great stories of answered prayer. Barren and mocked by her rival wife Peninnah, Hannah vowed to dedicate any son to God’s service for life. When God answered and she bore Samuel, she fulfilled her vow by bringing him to the priest Eli at Shiloh to serve in the tabernacle. Her prayer of thanksgiving (1 Samuel 2:1-10)—praising the God who raises the lowly and brings down the proud—later influenced Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).