Elkanah

Elkanah and his two wives (illuminated manuscript, c. 1430)

Elkanah (Hebrew: אֱלְקָנָה ’Ĕlqānā "El has purchased") was, according to the First Book of Samuel, the husband of Hannah, and the father of her children including her first, Samuel. Elkanah practiced polygamy; his other wife, less favoured but bearing more children, was named Peninnah. The names of Elkanah's other children apart from Samuel are not given. Elkanah plays only a minor role in the narrative, and is mostly a supporting character to Eli, Hannah, and Samuel.