Yes, the Eastern (Greek-speaking) Church Fathers explicitly draw the Hannah–Mary / Samuel–Jesus parallel more frequently and earlier than is sometimes realized in Western scholarship. The connection is especially prominent in homiletic, liturgical, and exegetical texts from the 4th century onward.
Key Eastern Fathers and Sources
- St. Athanasius the Great (d. 373)
In On the Incarnation and his Festal Letters, he repeatedly uses the barren-women motif (Sarah, Rebecca, Hannah, Elizabeth) as types of the Virgin Birth. He sees Hannah’s miraculous conception and dedication of Samuel as a foreshadowing of Mary’s virginal conception and total dedication of Christ to the Father. - St. Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373)
In his Hymns on the Nativity (especially Hymn 4–6), Ephrem directly juxtaposes Hannah and Mary: “Hannah of old besought one son, and he became a prophet;
Mary brought forth One, and He became the Lord of the prophets.”
He also parallels the two canticles (Hannah’s Song and the Magnificat) and sees Samuel’s Nazirite consecration as prefiguring Christ’s eternal consecration. - St. Gregory of Nyssa (d. ca. 395)
In his Life of Moses and homilies, Gregory treats Samuel as a type of Christ and Hannah as a type of the Theotokos. He highlights how both women “lent” their sons to God (1 Sam 1:28 LXX uses ἀπέδωκεν / “lent/gave back”; cf. Luke 2:22–24 presentation). - St. John Chrysostom (d. 407)
Very explicit. In his Homily on Hannah (part of his sermons on 1 Samuel) and in homilies on Luke:- He calls Hannah “a type of the Virgin Mary.”
- He notes that just as Hannah was barren and then bore a consecrated son who would anoint the true king (David → Christ), so the Virgin bore the King Himself.
- He draws a direct verbal parallel between 1 Sam 2:26 (“Samuel advanced in stature and in favor…”) and Luke 2:52 (identical wording in the LXX for Jesus).
- St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444)
In his Commentary on Luke and festal homilies on the Theotokos, Cyril repeatedly cites Hannah’s Song as the prototype of the Magnificat and Samuel’s temple service as prefiguring Christ’s presentation and later cleansing of the Temple. - Liturgical witness (Byzantine rite, from at least the 5th–6th centuries)
- The Kontakion of the Presentation of the Lord (Feb 2) and many canons for the Theotokos feasts quote or allude to Hannah.
- The canon for the Nativity of the Theotokos (Sept 8) contains multiple odes explicitly calling Hannah a “type” and “prefiguration” of the Virgin.
- In the Byzantine Daily Office, Hannah’s Canticle (1 Sam 2:1–10) is still sung at Matins immediately before the Magnificat on many days — a deliberate typological pairing that goes back to at least the 6th-century Jerusalem lectionary.
Summary
The Eastern Fathers not only see the parallel — they treat it as one of the standard Old Testament types of the Theotokos and Christ, on a par with Sarah, the Burning Bush, Gideon’s fleece, etc. The connections they emphasize most strongly are:
- Barrenness → virginal conception
- Maternal vow of total dedication / Nazirite consecration → Christ’s eternal belonging to the Father
- The two canticles (Hannah’s Song and Magnificat)
- Samuel’s growth “in favor with God and men” → identical wording for the boy Jesus
- Samuel’s role in anointing the true king → fulfilled in Christ the King
So yes — far from being a purely modern or Western observation, the Hannah–Mary / Samuel–Jesus typology is deeply embedded in Eastern patristic and liturgical tradition.
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