1 Samuel 2:5-15

5 Those who are full hire themselves out for food, but those who are starving [hunger] no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but the woman with many sons pines away.

6 The Lord brings death and gives life;^[a] He sends [some] to Sheol, and He raises [others] up.

7 The Lord brings poverty and gives wealth; He humbles and He exalts.

8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the garbage pile. He seats them with noblemen and gives them a throne of honor.^[b] For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's; He has set the world on them.

9 He guards the steps^[c] of His faithful ones, but the wicked are silenced in darkness, for a man does not prevail by [his own] strength.

10 Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered;^[d]^[e] He will thunder in the heavens against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give power to His king; He will lift up the horn of His anointed.

11 Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

Eli's Family Judged

12 Eli's sons were wicked men;^[f] they had no regard for the Lord

13 or for the priests' share [of the sacrifices] from the people.^[g] When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

14 and plunge it into the container or kettle or caldron or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.

15 Even before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest [some] meat to roast, because he won't accept boiled meat from you-only raw."

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1 Samuel 2:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 2

In this chapter the song of Hannah is recorded, 1Sa 2:1-10, and an account is given of the return of Elkanah and Hannah to their own home, and of the care she took yearly to provide a coat for Samuel, and of her being blessed with many other children, and of the growth and ministry of Samuel before the Lord, 1Sa 2:11,18-21,26, and of the wickedness of the sons of Eli, 1Sa 2:12-17, and of Eli's too gentle treatment of them when he reproved them for it, 1Sa 2:22-25 and of a sharp message sent him from the Lord on that account, threatening destruction to his house, of which the death of his two sons would be a sign, 1Sa 2:27-36.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Footnotes 7

[a]. Dt 32:39
[b]. DSS, LXX add He gives the vow of the one who makes a vow and He blesses the years of the just
[c]. Lit feet
[d]. DSS, LXX read The Lord shatters those who dispute with Him
[e]. Isa 45:9
[f]. 1 Sm 1:16
[g]. Lv 7:28-36; Dt 18:3