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1 Samuel 2:1-11 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 And Hannah H2584 prayed, H6419 and said, H559 My heart H3820 rejoiceth H5970 in the LORD, H3068 mine horn H7161 is exalted H7311 in the LORD: H3068 my mouth H6310 is enlarged H7337 over mine enemies; H341 because I rejoice H8055 in thy salvation. H3444

2 There is none holy H6918 as the LORD: H3068 for there is none beside H1115 thee: neither is there any rock H6697 like our God. H430

3 Talk H1696 no more H7235 so exceeding H1364 proudly; H1364 let not arrogancy H6277 come H3318 out of your mouth: H6310 for the LORD H3068 is a God H410 of knowledge, H1844 and by him actions H5949 are weighed. H8505

4 The bows H7198 of the mighty men H1368 are broken, H2844 and they that stumbled H3782 are girded H247 with strength. H2428

5 They that were full H7649 have hired out H7936 themselves for bread; H3899 and they that were hungry H7457 ceased: H2308 so that the barren H6135 hath born H3205 seven; H7651 and she that hath many H7227 children H1121 is waxed feeble. H535

6 The LORD H3068 killeth, H4191 and maketh alive: H2421 he bringeth down H3381 to the grave, H7585 and bringeth up. H5927

7 The LORD H3068 maketh poor, H3423 and maketh rich: H6238 he bringeth low, H8213 and H637 lifteth up. H7311

8 He raiseth up H6965 the poor H1800 out of the dust, H6083 and lifteth up H7311 the beggar H34 from the dunghill, H830 to set H3427 them among princes, H5081 and to make them inherit H5157 the throne H3678 of glory: H3519 for the pillars H4690 of the earth H776 are the LORD'S, H3068 and he hath set H7896 the world H8398 upon them.

9 He will keep H8104 the feet H7272 of his saints, H2623 and the wicked H7563 shall be silent H1826 in darkness; H2822 for by strength H3581 shall no man H376 prevail. H1396

10 The adversaries H7378 of the LORD H3068 shall be broken to pieces; H2865 out of heaven H8064 shall he thunder H7481 upon them: the LORD H3068 shall judge H1777 the ends H657 of the earth; H776 and he shall give H5414 strength H5797 unto his king, H4428 and exalt H7311 the horn H7161 of his anointed. H4899

11 And Elkanah H511 went H3212 to Ramah H7414 to his house. H1004 And the child H5288 did H1961 minister H8334 unto the LORD H3068 before H6440 Eli H5941 the priest. H3548

Commentary on 1 Samuel 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 2

1Sa 2:1-11. Hannah's Song in Thankfulness to God.

1. Hannah prayed, and said—Praise and prayer are inseparably conjoined in Scripture (Col 4:2; 1Ti 2:1). This beautiful song was her tribute of thanks for the divine goodness in answering her petition.

mine horn is exalted in the Lord—Allusion is here made to a peculiarity in the dress of Eastern women about Lebanon, which seems to have obtained anciently among the Israelite women, that of wearing a tin or silver horn on the forehead, on which their veil is suspended. Wives, who have no children, wear it projecting in an oblique direction, while those who become mothers forthwith raise it a few inches higher, inclining towards the perpendicular, and by this slight but observable change in their headdress, make known, wherever they go, the maternal character which they now bear.

5. they that were hungry ceased—that is, to hunger.

the barren hath born seven—that is, many children.

6. he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up—that is, He reduces to the lowest state of degradation and misery, and restores to prosperity and happiness.

8. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill—The dunghill, a pile of horse, cow, or camel offal, heaped up to dry in the sun, and used as fuel, was, and is, one of the common haunts of the poorest mendicants; and the change that had been made in the social position of Hannah, appeared to her grateful heart as auspicious and as great as the elevation of a poor despised beggar to the highest and most dignified rank.

inherit the throne of glory—that is, possesses seats of honor.

10. the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth … exalt the horn of his anointed—This is the first place in Scripture where the word "anointed," or Messiah, occurs; and as there was no king in Israel at the time, it seems the best interpretation to refer it to Christ. There is, indeed, a remarkable resemblance between the song of Hannah and that of Mary (Lu 1:46).

11. the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest—He must have been engaged in some occupation suited to his tender age, as in playing upon the cymbals, or other instruments of music; in lighting the lamps, or similar easy and interesting services.

1Sa 2:12-17. The Sin of Eli's Sons.

12. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial—not only careless and irreligious, but men loose in their actions, and vicious and scandalous in their habits. Though professionally engaged in sacred duties, they were not only strangers to the power of religion in the heart, but they had thrown off its restraints, and even ran, as is sometimes done in similar cases by the sons of eminent ministers, to the opposite extreme of reckless and open profligacy.

13-17. the priests' custom with the people—When persons wished to present a sacrifice of peace offering on the altar, the offering was brought in the first instance to the priest, and as the Lord's part was burnt, the parts appropriated respectively to the priests and offerers were to be sodden. But Eli's sons, unsatisfied with the breast and shoulder, which were the perquisites appointed to them by the divine law (Ex 29:27; Le 7:31, 32), not only claimed part of the offerer's share, but rapaciously seized them previous to the sacred ceremony of heaving or waving (see on Le 7:29); and moreover they committed the additional injustice of taking up with their fork those portions which they preferred, while still raw. Pious people revolted at such rapacious and profane encroachments on the dues of the altar, as well as what should have gone to constitute the family and social feast of the offerer. The truth is, the priests having become haughty and unwilling in many instances to accept invitations to those feasts, presents of meat were sent to them; and this, though done in courtesy at first, being, in course of time, established into a right, gave rise to all the rapacious keenness of Eli's sons.

1Sa 2:18-26. Samuel's Ministry.

18. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child—This notice of his early services in the outer courts of the tabernacle was made to pave the way for the remarkable prophecy regarding the high priest's family.

girded with a linen ephod—A small shoulder-garment or apron, used in the sacred service by the inferior priests and Levites; sometimes also by judges or eminent persons, and hence allowed to Samuel, who, though not a Levite, was devoted to God from his birth.

19. his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year—Aware that he could not yet render any useful service to the tabernacle, she undertook the expense of supplying him with wearing apparel. All weaving stuffs, manufacture of cloth, and making of suits were anciently the employment of women.

20. Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife—This blessing, like that which he had formerly pronounced, had a prophetic virtue; which, before long, appeared in the increase of Hannah's family (1Sa 2:21), and the growing qualifications of Samuel for the service of the sanctuary.

22-24. the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle—This was an institution of holy women of a strictly ascetic order, who had relinquished worldly cares and devoted themselves to the Lord; an institution which continued down to the time of Christ (Lu 2:37). Eli was, on the whole, a good man, but lacking in the moral and religious training of his family. He erred on the side of parental indulgence; and though he reprimanded them (see on De 21:18), yet, from fear or indolence, he shrank from laying on them the restraints, or subjecting them to the discipline, their gross delinquencies called for. In his judicial capacity, he winked at their flagrant acts of maladministration and suffered them to make reckless encroachments on the constitution, by which the most serious injuries were inflicted both on the rights of the people and the laws of God.

25. they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because—it should be therefore.

the Lord would slay them—It was not God's preordination, but their own wilful and impenitent disobedience which was the cause of their destruction.

1Sa 2:27-35. A Prophecy against Eli's House.

27. there came a man of God unto Eli, and said … that there shall not be an old man in thine house—So much importance has always, in the East, been attached to old age, that it would be felt to be a great calamity, and sensibly to lower the respectability of any family which could boast of few or no old men. The prediction of this prophet was fully confirmed by the afflictions, degradation, poverty, and many untimely deaths with which the house of Eli was visited after its announcement (see 1Sa 4:11; 14:3; 22:18-23; 1Ki 2:27).

31. I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house—By the withdrawal of the high priesthood from Eleazar, the elder of Aaron's two sons (after Nadab and Abihu were destroyed, [Nu 3:4]), that dignity had been conferred on the family of Ithamar, to which Eli belonged, and now that his descendants had forfeited the honor, it was to be taken from them and restored to the elder branch.

32. thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation—A successful rival for the office of high priest shall rise out of another family (2Sa 15:35; 1Ch 24:3; 29:22). But the marginal reading, "thou shalt see the affliction of the tabernacle," seems to be a preferable translation.