1 Samuel 2:1-10

1 Then Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in Yahweh, my strength [is] exalted in Yahweh; {I grin} over my enemies, for I rejoice over your salvation.

2 There is no one holy like Yahweh, for there is no one besides you, and there is no rock like our God.

3 Do not increase speaking {very proud} words! Let no arrogance go forth from your mouth, for Yahweh is a God of knowledge [whose] deeds are not weighed.

4 The bows of mighty warriors [are] shattered, but those who stumble gird [themselves with] strength.

5 Those who were full must hire themselves out for bread, but those who are hungry will become fat. As for the infertile, she will bear seven, but [she who has] many sons withers away.

6 Yahweh kills and restores alive, he brings down [to] Sheol and raises up.

7 Yahweh makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and also exalts.

8 He raises up the poor from [the] dust. From [the] ash heap he lifts up the needy, to cause them to sit with noble people and to cause them to inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth belong to Yahweh and he has set the inhabited world on them.

9 He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked will be destroyed in the darkness, because a man will not prevail by [his] might.

10 Yahweh will shatter his adversaries; he will thunder against them in the heavens. Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and will exalt the might of his anointed one.

1 Samuel 2:1-10 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "proud, proud"
• [b]. So Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib); the reading tradition (Qere) reads "and by him deeds are weighed"
• [c]. "Sheol" is a Hebrew term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the underworld.
• [d]. Or "loyal"
• [e]. Or "will be silenced"
• [f]. Singular verb supported by Syriac, Targums, Septuagint, and Old Latin versions.
• [g]. The Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) has the singular "adversary"; the reading tradition (Qere) reads the plural