Rachel and Channah/0

Rachel and Channah

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Introduction

The Book of Shemuel is replete with parallels to the Book of Bereshit. The first and one of the most obvious of these parallels is between the story of Channah and Elkanah and the story of Rachel and Yaakov. At first glance, the stories' plots seem nearly identical: a man (Yaakov / Elkanah) marries two wives, one of whom (Leah / Peninah) is fertile, while the other (Rachel / Channah) is barren. This leads to conflict between the wives, until Hashem remembers the barren wife, and gives her children. However, as seen below, these superficial similarities mask some significant differences between the characters of the two stories.

Content Parallels

• Infertility – Both Rachel (Bereshit 29:21, 30:1) and Channah (Shemuel I 1:2,5,6) are described as lacking children.
• Loving husband – Both Yaakov (Bereshit 29:18,20,30) and Elkanah (Shemuel I 1:5) are described as loving their barren wives.
• Second wife – Both Yaakov (Bereshit 32:23) and Elkanah (Shemuel I 1:2) married two wives¹: Yaakov marries Rachel and Leah, and Elkanah marries Channah and Peninah. One wife is loved but barren, while the other has many children but lacks her husband's affection (Bereshit 29:30-31 and Shemuel I 1:5). This results in conflict between the wives, with Rachel describing herself as wrestling with her sister (Bereshit 30:8), and Peninah described as angering her rival (Shemuel I 1:6).

Literary Allusions

• Opening and closing the womb – In both stories, Hashem directly opens a womb. Leah's womb is opened in Bereshit 29:31, and later so is Rachel's, using the language "וַיִּפְתַּח אֶת רַחְמָהּ". Channah's womb is closed by Hashem in Shemuel I 1:5-6, using the language "וַי"י סָגַר רַחְמָהּ" and "סָגַר י"י בְּעַד רַחְמָהּ".
• Seeing the affliction – In both stories, a woman speaks of Hashem seeing her affliction (עֳנִי). In Bereshit 29:32 Leah speaks of how Hashem saw her affliction ("רָאָה יְהֹוָה בְּעׇנְיִי"), and in Shemuel I 1:11 Channah asks Hashem to see her affliction ("אִם רָאֹה תִרְאֶה בׇּעֳנִי אֲמָתֶךָ").
• Hashem's intervention – God remembers Rachel ("וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת רָחֵל") in Bereshit 30:22, just like Channah asks Him to remember her ("וּזְכַרְתַּנִי") in Shemuel I 1:11, and just as He remembers Channah ("וַיִּזְכְּרֶהָ י"י") in Shemuel I 1:19.
• Pregnancy and birth – The verses use the same terms to describe the pregnancies and births of Rachel (Bereshit 30:23-24) and Channah (Shemuel I 1:20): "וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן... וַתִּקְרָא אֶת שְׁמוֹ".

Analysis

• Degree of similarity – 
• "וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן" and "וַתִּקְרָא אֶת שְׁמוֹ" – Both of these are common phrases, found in almost all births in Tanakh.
• Seeing the affliction – Leah and Channah don't use the same form of this phrase, nor is it unique to these stories.
• Distinctive phrases – 
• Opening and closing the womb – These are the only cases in which a womb is opened or closed.²
• Hashem remembering – These are the only two women in Tanakh whom Hashem remembers.³

Points of Contrast

• Husband's support (or lack of it) – After Rachel complains to him about lacking children, Yaakov gets angry at her, and responds that it is not his fault (Bereshit 30:1-2). In contrast, after seeing Channah crying, Elkanah tries to placate her by telling her that he is better for her than children (Shemuel I 1:7-8).⁴ Additionally, while Elkanah loves Channah despite her barrenness (Shemuel I 1:5), no mention is made of Yaakov loving Rachel after the verses describe her as barren.⁵
• Who is the victim? Shemuel I 1:6-7 implies that Peninah actively tormented Channah. In contrast, Leah never actually hurts Rachel,⁶ but rather is subjected to hate (Bereshit 29:31,33) and jealousy (Bereshit 30:1).
• Status of second wife – After tormenting Channah in verses 6-7, Peninah (and her children) are never mentioned again. In contrast, Leah (and her children) remain an integral part of the story.
• Remedy attempts – Rachel employs a variety of artificial means to be blessed with sons, starting by complaining to Yaakov, followed by an attempt at surrogate motherhood through Bilhah, and culminating in the request of her sister's "דוּדָאִים".  None of these methods are successful. In contrast, Channah starts immediately with prayer, which is promptly answered by Hashem.
• Children's names – All of the names Rachel gives to her and Bilhah's children (Dan, Naftali, Yosef, and Ben-Oni) relate to her pain and struggle. In contrast, Channah connects the name of her son (Shemuel) to Hashem's benefaction.⁷

Conclusions

¹ Only three other men are described as having two wives ("שְׁתֵּי נָשִׁים" or "שְׁתֵּי נָשָׁיו"): Lemekh (Bereshit 4:19), David (Shemuel I 27:3, 30:5,18, Shemuel II 2:2), and Aschur (Divrei HaYamim I 4:5).

² In fact, Hashem affects a womb in only one other places, when he stops ("עָצֹר עָצַר") every womb in Avimelekh's household (Bereshit 20:18).

³ In the other cases of barren women cured by Hashem, the verbs used are different ("וַיֵּעָתֶר"‎, "פָּקַד").

⁴ These comments, and the feelings and sensitivity behind them, are debated by various scholars. H. Touitou, סיפור הולדת שמואל על רקע סיפור יעקב ונשותיו, Talpiyot 9 (5757), and Y. Leshem, Two Biblical Families and their Differences, HUCA 81 (2010), pg. 11, understand Elkanah's words to be positive and full of love. In contrast, A. Bazak, Parallels Meet: Literary Parallels in the Book of Samuel (Alon Shvut 5766), pg. 14, while agreeing that Elkanah's intentions were noble, sees his words as reflecting the same lack of sensitivity as Yaakov's.

⁵ This is already noted by H. Touitou (ibid.).

⁶ Although Rachel claims to have "wrestled" with her sister, the only mention of conflict coming from Leah is when she complains of Rachel stealing her husband (Bereshit 30:15).

⁷ This contrast is also noted by H. Touitou (ibid.).