1 Samuel 2:1-21

Hannah’s Prayer

1 And Hannah prayed and said, ¹“My heart exults in the Lord; ²my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because ³I rejoice in your salvation.

2 ⁴“There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is ⁵no rock like our God.

3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

4 ⁶The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.

5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. ⁷The barren has borne seven, ⁸but she who has many children is forlorn.

6 ⁹The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.

7 ¹⁰The Lord makes poor and makes rich; ¹¹he brings low and he exalts.

8 ¹²He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap ¹³to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. ¹⁴For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world.

9 ¹⁵“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.

10 ¹⁶The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; ¹⁷against them he will thunder in heaven. ¹⁸The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king ¹⁹and exalt the horn of his anointed. ”

11 Then Elkanah went home ²⁰to Ramah. ²¹And the boy^[a] was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

Eli’s Worthless Sons

12 Now the sons of Eli were ²²worthless men. ²³They did not know the Lord.

13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand,

14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

15 Moreover, ²⁴before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw. ”

16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish, ” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force. ”

17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great ²⁵in the sight of the Lord, ²⁶for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

18 ²⁷Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy ²⁸clothed with a linen ephod.

19 And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year ²⁹when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman ³⁰for the petition she asked of the Lord. ” So then they would return to their home.

21 ³¹Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. ³²And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.

1 Samuel 2:1-21 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 For ver. 1-10, see Luke 1:46-53
• 2. 2:1 ver. 10; Ps. 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; 112:9; 148:14
• 3. 2:1 Ps. 9:14; 13:5; 20:5; 35:9
• 4. 2:2 Ex. 15:11; Ps. 86:8; 89:6, 8
• 5. 2:2 Deut. 32:30, 31
• 6. 2:4 Ps. 37:15; 46:9; 76:3
• 7. 2:5 Ps. 113:9; Isa. 54:1
• 8. 2:5 Jer. 15:9
• 9. 2:6 Deut. 32:39
• 10. 2:7 [Job 1:21]
• 11. 2:7 Job 5:11; Ps. 75:7
• 12. 2:8 Ps. 113:7, 8; [Dan. 4:17; Luke 1:52]
• 13. 2:8 Job 36:7
• 14. 2:8 [Job 38:4-6; Ps. 24:2; 102:25; 104:5]
• 15. 2:9 Ps. 121:3; Prov. 3:26; [Ps. 91:11]
• 16. 2:10 Ps. 2:9
• 17. 2:10 ch. 7:10; Ps. 18:13; [2 Sam. 22:14]
• 18. 2:10 Ps. 96:10, 13; 98:9
• 19. 2:10 ver. 1; [Ps. 89:24]
• 20. 2:11 ch. 1:19
• 21. 2:11 ver. 18; ch. 3:1
• 22. 2:12 See ch. 1:16
• 23. 2:12 Judg. 2:10
• 24. 2:15 Lev. 3:5, 16; 7:23, 25, 31
• 25. 2:17 [Gen. 6:11]
• 26. 2:17 [Mal. 2:8]
• 27. 2:18 ver. 11; ch. 3:1
• 28. 2:18 Ex. 28:4; 2 Sam. 6:14; 1 Chr. 15:27
• 29. 2:19 ch. 1:3
• 30. 2:20 ch. 1:28
• 31. 2:21 Gen. 21:1
• 32. 2:21 ver. 26; ch. 3:19; [Judg. 13:24; Luke 1:80; 2:40]

Footnotes

• [a] 2:11 Hebrew 'na‘ar' can be rendered 'boy' (2:11, 18, 21, 26; 3:1, 8), 'servant' (2:13, 15), or 'young man' (2:17), depending on the context