Books
"The Song of Hannah"
Eva Etzioni-Halevy (Plume, 294 pages, $14)
Scripture gives us only a glimpse of Hannah, the barren woman who
prays for a son, promising she will dedicate the child to God's service. Here,
the Book of Samuel Ñ named for that boy Ñ is expanded upon by an Israeli
novelist.
Hannah was a second wife; Pninah, mother of many, was the first.
The author weaves an imagined fabric of both women's lives told in alternating
voices, as diary entries.
Husband Elkanah's prodigious passion is matched by the sensual
Pninah. The spiritual Hannah feels her fulfillment is in this man, who loves
her differently but deeply. Destiny prevails when Hannah's son becomes a
powerful, just priest in his people's ancient temple.
In a historical endnote, Etzioni-Halevy talks of elements she has
incorporated. Some, such as polygamy, are known facts of the time period;
others, such as women's literacy, are possible conclusions drawn from sacred
texts. The result is a thought-provoking new look at an old Bible story.