1 Samuel 2

Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart is full of joy because of the LORD. The LORD has lifted my horn high. I can speak boldly against my enemies, because I am glad that you saved me.

1And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.

Note"Horn" is a Hebrew image drawn from a bull or ram: the horn is where its strength and pride are concentrated. To have your horn lifted high is to be given strength, standing and public honor; to have it cut off is to be humiliated. The image returns at the end of the song in verse 10.

2No one is holy like the LORD. There is no one besides you. There is no rock like our God.

2There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

NoteCalling God a "rock" draws on the crags and cliffs of the Judean hills, where people took shelter from raiders and weather. The point of the metaphor is immovability and safety, not hardness.

3Stop talking so proudly. Do not let arrogant words come out of your mouth. The LORD is a God who knows, and he weighs what people do.

3Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

4The bows of strong fighters are broken, but people who stumbled are given strength.

4The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

5Those who had plenty of food now hire themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are hungry no more. The woman who could not have children has given birth to seven, but the woman with many children grows weak.

5They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.

NoteHiring yourself out for bread means day labor paid in food, the last resort of the destitute. "Seven" is a round number for a full and complete family rather than an exact count; the contrast is with a woman whose many sons are no protection to her.

6The LORD kills and gives life. He brings people down to the grave, and he raises them up.

6The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

Note"The grave" translates Hebrew *Sheol*, the underworld where the dead were thought to go, all of them, not only the wicked. It is a place of shadow and silence rather than of punishment.

7The LORD makes some poor and some rich. He brings people low, and he lifts them up.

7The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.

8He lifts the poor out of the dust and raises the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and gives them a throne of honor. The foundations of the earth belong to the LORD, and he has set the world on them.

8He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them.

NoteThe "ash heap" (King James "dunghill") was the refuse tip outside a town where ashes, sweepings and rubbish were dumped; the homeless and the diseased scavenged and slept there. It stands for the lowest place in society, the opposite of the princes' seats in the next line.

9He will guard the steps of those who are faithful to him, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. No one wins by his own strength.

9He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

NoteAncient Hebrew poetry pictured the earth as a flat disc resting on pillars sunk into the waters below, the same picture as verse 8's "foundations." Being "silenced in darkness" is a way of saying the dead can no longer speak or act.

10Those who fight against the LORD will be shattered to pieces. He will thunder against them from heaven. The LORD will judge the whole earth. He will give strength to his king and lift high the horn of his anointed one."

10The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Note"Anointed one" translates Hebrew *mashiach* (the source of our word "messiah"), meaning simply someone smeared with olive oil in a ceremony that installed him in office, here a king. Israel had no king yet at this point in the story, which is part of why these lines stand out.

11Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy stayed and served the LORD under Eli the priest.

11And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest.

12Now Eli's sons were worthless men. They had no regard for the LORD.

12Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

NoteThe King James "sons of Belial" is a Hebrew idiom: *beliyya'al* means something like "worthlessness" or "ruin," and "son of" marks a person's character, not his parentage. It labels men who are good for nothing and destructive.

13This was the practice of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was still boiling, holding a fork with three prongs.

13And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand;

NoteUnder Israelite law only certain parts of an animal sacrifice went to the priests; most of the meat was boiled and eaten by the worshiper and his family as a shared meal. The three-pronged fork stabbed blindly into the pot took whatever it happened to snag, over and above the priests' proper share.

14He would jab it into the pan, kettle, cauldron, or pot, and the priest kept whatever the fork brought up. This is what they did to every Israelite who came to Shiloh.

14And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.

NoteShiloh, about twenty miles north of Jerusalem, was where the tent sanctuary stood in this period and where Israelites traveled to sacrifice. Jerusalem was not yet Israelite territory.

15Also, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man offering the sacrifice, "Give the priest meat to roast. He will not take boiled meat from you, only raw."

15Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.

NoteThe fat of the animal was reserved to be burned on the altar before anyone ate, so demanding meat first meant taking what had not yet been given to God. Wanting it raw rather than boiled means wanting it before the sacrificial meal was cooked, meat for the priests' own kitchen, roasted the way they preferred.

16If the man said to him, "Let them burn the fat first, right now, and then take whatever you want," the servant would answer, "No, give it to me now. If you won't, I will take it by force."

16And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

17So the sin of these young men was very great in the LORD's sight, because it made people treat the LORD's offering with contempt.

17Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

18But Samuel served before the LORD. He was only a boy, and he wore a linen ephod.

18But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.

NoteAn ephod was a sleeveless linen garment worn over the body, tied at the waist, the working dress of someone serving at a sanctuary. The elaborate ephod of the high priest (verse 28) was a grander version of the same thing.

19Every year his mother made him a little robe and brought it to him when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

19Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

NoteHouseholds traveled to Shiloh once a year for a family sacrifice; "came up" is the standard Hebrew way of speaking of a journey to a sanctuary, regardless of the actual terrain. The "little robe" is the same kind of garment (*me'il*) worn by those who served at the sanctuary.

20Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she asked for and handed over to the LORD." Then they would go home.

20And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home.

NoteThe Hebrew here plays on one verb, *sha'al*, "to ask for" or "to lend": Hannah asked the LORD for this child and then handed him over on loan. The name Samuel is linked to that same verb in chapter 1.

21The LORD showed care for Hannah, so she became pregnant and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

21And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.

22Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

22Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

NoteThe tent of meeting was the portable sanctuary Israel carried through the wilderness, now pitched at Shiloh. The women mentioned were a recognized group who did service at its entrance; the text does not say what their duties were.

23He said to them, "Why do you do such things? I hear about your evil deeds from all these people.

23And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.

24No, my sons. The report I hear spreading among the LORD's people is not good. You are leading them into sin.

24Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’s people to transgress.

25If one person sins against another, a judge can settle the case. But if a person sins against the LORD, who can plead for him?" Still, they would not listen to their father, because the LORD intended to put them to death.

25If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.

NoteThe Hebrew word rendered "a judge" is *elohim*, which can mean God or can mean human judges acting in God's name; ancient and modern translators divide over which is meant. Either way the contrast is between a wrong that some authority can arbitrate and a wrong against God, where no third party is left to appeal to.

26And the boy Samuel kept growing, and both the LORD and the people thought well of him.

26And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.

27Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "This is what the LORD says: 'I clearly showed myself to your ancestor's family when they were in Egypt, under Pharaoh's household, did I not?

27And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house?

Note"A man of God" is a standard term for a prophet, someone who arrives with a message from God and is not named. "Your ancestor's family" (King James "the house of thy father") means the priestly line Eli belongs to, going back to the time in Egypt.

28Out of all the tribes of Israel I chose your ancestor to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your ancestor's family all the offerings that the Israelites burn by fire.

28And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?

NoteThe portions of the sacrifices burned on the altar supported the priests: what was not burned was their food and income. This is the background to the sons' greed: they were seizing more than the system already granted them.

29So why do you kick at my sacrifice and my offering, which I commanded to be brought to my dwelling place? You honor your sons more than me, and you fatten yourselves on the best parts of every offering my people Israel bring.'

29Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

Note"Kick at" is the image of a well-fed ox lashing out at its owner: a picture of contempt from someone who is being kept. "My dwelling place" is the sanctuary at Shiloh.

30So the LORD, the God of Israel, says this: 'I did say that your family and your ancestor's family would serve before me forever. But now the LORD says: Far be it from me! I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will count for nothing.

30Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Note"Walk before me" is an idiom for serving in someone's presence as a permanent attendant, here, holding the priesthood down the generations. "Far be it from me" is a formal Hebrew phrase for repudiating something absolutely.

31Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your ancestor's family, so that no one in your family will live to be old.

31Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.

NoteThe King James "cut off thine arm" uses the arm as the standard image for strength and capacity to act. Living to old age marked a family as secure and blessed; its absence meant a line dying out early, generation after generation.

32You will see trouble in my dwelling place, in spite of all the good that God will give Israel. And no one in your family will ever live to be old.

32And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever.

NoteThis verse is one of the most difficult in the Hebrew Bible and the text is damaged; translators variously read it as seeing "an enemy" or seeing "distress" in the sanctuary. The ambiguity is in the original, not in the English.

33Any man of yours I do not cut off from my altar will be left only to wear out your eyes with weeping and to grieve your heart. And everyone born into your family will die in the prime of life.

33And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.

NoteThe Hebrew of the last clause reads literally "will die as men," which some ancient copies read as "will die by the sword of men" and others take to mean dying at the ordinary age of a grown man rather than living out a full life. Both readings are old.

34This will be the sign to you, and it will happen to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: both of them will die on the same day.

34And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.

35Then I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do what is in my heart and mind. I will build him a lasting family, and he will serve before my anointed king always.

35And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

NoteTo "build someone a house" means to give him lasting descendants, a family line that continues in the office. "My anointed" again means a king installed with oil, again, before Israel had one.

36Then everyone left in your family will come and bow low to him for a piece of silver and a scrap of bread, saying, "Please give me some job among the priests, so I can have a piece of bread to eat."'"

36And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

NoteThere was no coinage yet; silver was weighed out in lumps, and a small piece of it was a day's survival money. Asking to be put into a priestly office means asking for any minor post at the sanctuary, since the priests' living came from a share of the offerings, the request of a family reduced to begging for work.