1 Samuel 2:1-10

1 Then Hannah prayed; she said: "My heart exults in ADONAI! My dignity has been restored by ADONAI! I can gloat over my enemies, because of my joy at your saving me.

2 "No one is as holy as ADONAI, because there is none to compare with you, no rock like our God.

3 "Stop your proud boasting! Don't let arrogance come from your mouth! For ADONAI is a God of knowledge, and he appraises actions.

4 The bows of the mighty are broken, while the feeble are armed with strength.

5 The well-fed hire themselves for bread, while those who were hungry hunger no more. The barren woman has borne seven, while the mother of many wastes away.

6 "ADONAI kills and makes alive; he brings down to the grave, and he brings up.

7 ADONAI makes poor, and he makes rich; he humbles, and he exalts.

8 He raises the poor from the dust, lifts up the needy from the trash pile; he gives them a place with leaders and assigns them seats of honor. "For the earth's pillars belong to ADONAI; on them he has placed the world.

9 He will guard the steps of his faithful, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. For it is not by strength that a person prevails -

10 those who fight ADONAI will be shattered; he will thunder against them in heaven ADONAI will judge the ends of the earth. He will strengthen his king and enhance the power of his anointed."

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.