1 Samuel 2:4-14

4 "¹The bows of the mighty are shattered, ²But the feeble gird on strength.

5 "Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to hunger. ³Even the barren gives birth to seven, But ⁴she who has many children languishes.

6 "⁵The LORD kills and makes alive; ⁶He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

7 "⁷The LORD makes poor and rich; ⁸He brings low, He also exalts.

8 "⁹He raises the poor from the dust, ¹⁰He lifts the needy from the ash heap ¹¹To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; ¹²For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He set the world on them.

9 "¹³He keeps the feet of His godly ones, ¹⁴But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; ¹⁵For not by might shall a man prevail.

10 "¹⁶Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; ¹⁷Against them He will thunder in the heavens, ¹⁸The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; ¹⁹And He will give strength to His king, ²⁰And will exalt the horn of His anointed."

11 Then Elkanah went to his home at ²¹Ramah. ²²But the boy ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

The Sin of Eli's Sons

12 Now the sons of Eli were ²³worthless men; they did not know the LORD

13 ²⁴and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged * fork in his hand.

14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

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1 Samuel 2:4-14 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

Cross References 24

1. Psalms 37:15; Psalms 46:9
2. Psalms 18:39; Hebrews 11:32-34
3. Ruth 4:15; Psalms 113:9
4. Jeremiah 15:9
5. Deuteronomy 32:39; 2 Kings 5:7; Revelation 1:18
6. Isaiah 26:19
7. Deuteronomy 8:17, 18
8. Job 5:11; Psalms 75:7; James 4:10
9. Job 42:10-12; Psalms 75:7; Psalms 113:7
10. 2 Samuel 7:8; Daniel 2:48; James 2:5
11. Job 36:7; Psalms 113:8
12. Job 38:4-6; Psalms 75:3; Psalms 104:5
13. Psalms 91:11, 12; Psalms 121:3; Proverbs 3:26; 1 Peter 1:5
14. Matthew 8:12
15. Psalms 33:16, 17
16. Exodus 15:6; Psalms 2:9
17. 1 Samuel 7:10; 2 Samuel 22:14; Psalms 18:13, 14
18. Psalms 96:13; Psalms 98:9; Matthew 25:31, 32
19. Psalms 21:1, 7
20. Psalms 89:24
21. 1 Samuel 1:1, 19
22. 1 Samuel 1:28; 1 Samuel 2:18; 1 Samuel 3:1
23. Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 9:3, 6; 2 Corinthians 6:15
24. Leviticus 7:29-34

Footnotes 3

[a]. I.e. the nether world
[b]. I.e. strength
[c]. Lit "sons of Belial"