(see Josh 21:20–22, where, however, Ramah is not specifically mentioned as a Levitical town). “Elkanah” was a popular name in ancient Israel, shared by at least five different OT men (two of whom were Samuel’s father’s ancestors; see 1 Chronicles 6:22–27). The name means “God has created [a son]”—tantalizingly prophetic of what was soon to occur in Hannah’s womb. Elkanah must have been a man of some means, for he is the only commoner in the books of Samuel and Kings specifically mentioned as having