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1 Samuel 1 · a question people ask

Did the LORD shut Hannah's womb to punish her?

In the text

The chapter doesn't say so. It says twice that "the LORD had shut up her womb" (1:5, 1:6), and it gives no reason and names no sin of hers. It tells what came of it: her rival's provoking (1:6-7), her weeping (1:7), and her prayer: "She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly" (1:10). And it tells the end: "the LORD remembered her" (1:19). In the next chapter, "The LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters" (2:21).

The verses

“but he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had shut up her womb. Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because the LORD had shut up her womb. So year by year, when she went up to the LORD’s house, her rival provoked her. Therefore she wept, and didn’t eat.”
1 Samuel 1:5-7 · World English Bible
“She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly.”
1 Samuel 1:10 · World English Bible
“They rose up in the morning early and worshiped the LORD, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.”
1 Samuel 1:19 · World English Bible
“The LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew before the LORD.”
1 Samuel 2:21 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Samuel 1

1 Samuel 1: Asked of the LORD

The chapter says twice that the LORD had shut up Hannah's womb (1:5-6), and her face was no longer sad before she conceived (1:18). And in Hebrew the given of "Therefore I have also given him to the LORD" (1:28) is the same verb as asked in "Because I have asked him of the LORD" (1:20).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions