1 Samuel 2

Hannah’s Prayer of Thanksgiving

1 At that time Hannah prayed: ¹ “My heart rejoices in the LORD; my horn ^[a] is exalted in the LORD. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, for I rejoice in Your salvation.

2 There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.

3 Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.

4 The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength.

5 The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but she who has many sons pines away.

6 The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.

8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.

9 He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.

10 Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the LORD before Eli the priest.

Eli’s Wicked Sons

12 Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD

13 or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

14 and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

15 Even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

16 And if any man said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you may take whatever you want,” the servant would reply, “No, you must give it to me right now. If you refuse, I will take it by force!”

17 Thus the sin of these young men was severe in the sight of the LORD, for they ^[b] were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.

18 Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod.

19 Each year his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD. ^[c]” Then they would go home.

21 So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

22 Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

23 “Why are you doing these things?” Eli said to his sons. “I hear about your wicked deeds from all these people.

24 No, my sons; it is not a good report I hear circulating among the LORD’s people.

25 If a man sins against another man, God ^[d] can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to put them to death.

26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with man.

A Prophecy against the House of Eli

27 Then a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house?

28 And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the food offerings of the Israelites.

29 Why then do you kick at ^[e] My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’

30 Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.

31 Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no one in it will reach old age.

32 You will see distress in My dwelling place. Despite all that is good in Israel, no one in your house will ever again reach old age.

33 And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and your heart to grieve. ^[f] All your descendants ^[g] will die by the sword of men. ^[h]

34 And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day.

35 Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.

36 And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.”’”

1 Samuel 2 Commentary

Chapter 2

Hannah's song of thanksgiving. (1-10) The wickedness of Eli's sons, Samuel's ministry. (11-26) The prophecy against Eli's family. (27-36)

Verses 1-10 Hannah's heart rejoiced, not in Samuel, but in the Lord. She looks beyond the gift, and praises the Giver. She rejoiced in the salvation of the Lord, and in expectation of His coming, who is the whole salvation of his people. The strong are soon weakened, and the weak are soon strengthened, when God pleases. Are we poor? God made us poor, which is a good reason why we should be content, and make up our minds to our condition. Are we rich? God made us rich, which is a good reason why we should be thankful, and serve him cheerfully, and do good with the abundance he gives us. He respects not man's wisdom or fancied excellences, but chooses those whom the world accounts foolish, teaching them to feel their guilt, and to value his free and precious salvation. This prophecy looks to the kingdom of Christ, that kingdom of grace, of which Hannah speaks, after having spoken largely of the kingdom of providence. And here is the first time that we meet with the name MESSIAH, or his Anointed. The subjects of Christ's kingdom will be safe, and the enemies of it will be ruined; for the Anointed, the Lord Christ, is able to save, and to destroy.

Verses 11-26 Samuel, being devoted to the Lord in a special manner, was from a child employed about the sanctuary in the services he was capable of. As he did this with a pious disposition of mind, it was called ministering unto the Lord. He received a blessing from the Lord. Those young people who serve God as well as they can, he will enable to improve, that they may serve him better. Eli shunned trouble and exertion. This led him to indulge his children, without using parental authority to restrain and correct them when young. He winked at the abuses in the service of the sanctuary till they became customs, and led to abominations; and his sons, who should have taught those that engaged in the service of the sanctuary what was good, solicited them to wickedness. Their offence was committed even in offering the sacrifices for sins, which typified the atonement of the Saviour! Sins against the remedy, the atonement itself, are most dangerous, they tread under foot the blood of the covenant. Eli's reproof was far too mild and gentle. In general, none are more abandoned than the degenerate children of godly persons, when they break through restraints.

Verses 27-36 Those who allow their children in any evil way, and do not use their authority to restrain and punish them, in effect honour them more than God. Let Eli's example excite parents earnestly to strive against the beginnings of wickedness, and to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In the midst of the sentence against the house of Eli, mercy is promised to Israel. God's work shall never fall to the ground for want of hands to carry it on. Christ is that merciful and faithful High Priest, whom God raised up when the Levitical priesthood was thrown off, who in all things did his Father's mind, and for whom God will build a sure house, build it on a rock, so that hell cannot prevail against it.

Cross References

• 1. (Luke 1:46–56)

Footnotes

• [a]. Or strength; also in verse 10
• [b]. DSS and LXX; MT men
• [c]. DSS; MT in place of the one requested from the LORD
• [d]. Or the judges
• [e]. Or scorn
• [f]. Hebrew; LXX his eyes will fail and his heart will grieve
• [g]. Or increase
• [h]. DSS and LXX; MT will die as mortals or will die in the prime of life

Chapter Summary

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.