This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of Hosts in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to Yahweh, were there.
God had promised to bless His people with many descendants if they obeyed Him (Deuteronomy 28:11). Consequently many Israelites saw a woman’s inability to bear children not just as a natural handicap but also as a curse from God. Peninnah (lit. pearl; her "rival," 1 Samuel 1:6) may have accused Hannah of some sin in her life that had apparently brought God’s curse on her (1 Samuel 1:6; cf. Hagar’s treatment of Sarai; Genesis 16:4). From the context we learn that Hannah was an unusually godly woman. Probably her barrenness was not a divine punishment for sin. It appears to have been a natural condition that God placed on her for His own purposes, some of which become clear as this story unfolds (cf. John 9:1-3).