1 Samuel 2:1-6

1 Hannah prayed: ¹ "The Lord has filled my heart with joy; how happy I am because of what he has done! I laugh at my enemies; how joyful I am because God has helped me!

2 "No one is holy like the Lord; there is none like him, no protector like our God.

3 Stop your loud boasting; silence your proud words. For the Lord is a God who knows, and he judges all that people do.

4 The bows of strong soldiers are broken, but the weak grow strong.

5 The people who once were well fed now hire themselves out to get food, but the hungry are hungry no more. The childless wife has borne seven children, but the mother of many is left with none.

6 The Lord kills and restores to life; ² he sends people to the world of the dead and brings them back again.

1 Samuel 2:1-6 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.

Cross References

• 1. 2.1-10Luke 1.46-55.
• 2. +22.6Wisdom 16.13;Tobit 13.2.