Bible Commentaries

Hannah's prophetic hymn, 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Samuel ministers to the Lord, 1 Samuel 2:11. The abominable conduct of Eli's sons, 1 Samuel 2:12-17. Farther account of Samuel, and of the Divine blessing on Elkanah and Hannah, 1 Samuel 2:18-21. Eli's reprehensible remissness towards his sons in not restraining them in their great profligacy, 1 Samuel 2:22-26. The message of God to Eli, and the prophecy of the downfall of his family, and slaughter of his wicked sons Hophni and Phinehas, 1 Samuel 2:27-36.

And Hannah prayed, and said - The Chaldee very properly says, And Hannah prayed in the spirit of prophecy; for indeed the whole of this prayer, or as it may be properly called oracular declaration, is a piece of regular prophecy, every part of it having respect to the future, and perhaps not a little - of it declaratory oil the Messiah's kingdom.

Dr. Hales has some very good observations on this prophetic song.

"This admirable hymn excels in simplicity of composition, closeness of connection, and uniformity of sentiment; breathing the pious effusions of a devout mind, deeply impressed with a conviction of God's mercies to herself in particular, and of his providential government of the world in general; exalting the poor in spirit or the humble-minded, and abasing the rich and the arrogant; rewarding the righteous, and punishing the wicked. Hannah was also a prophetess of the first class, besides predicting her own fruitfulness, 1 Samuel 2:5, (for she bore six children in all, 1 Samuel 2:21), she foretold not only the more immediate judgments of God upon the Philistines during her son's administration, 1 Samuel 2:10, but his remoter judgments 'upon the ends of the earth,' 1 Samuel 2:10, in the true spirit of the prophecies of Jacob, Balaam, and Moses. Like them, she describes the promised Savior of the world as a King, before there was any king in Israel; and she first applied to him the remarkable epithet Messiah in Hebrew, Christ in Greek, and Anointed in English, which was adopted by David, Nathan, Ethan, Isaiah, Daniel, and the succeeding prophets of the Old Testament; and by the apostles and inspired writers of the New. And the allusion thereto by Zacharias, the father of the Baptist, in his hymn, Luke 1:69, where he calls Christ a 'horn of salvation,' and the beautiful imitation of it by the blessed Virgin throughout in her hymn, Luke 1:46-55, furnishing the finest commentary thereon, clearly prove that Hannah in her rejoicing had respect to something higher than Peninnah her rival, or to the triumphs of Samuel, or even of David himself; the expressions are too magnificent and sublime to be confined to such objects. Indeed the learned rabbi, David Kimchi, was so struck with them that he ingenuously confessed that 'the King of whom Hannah speaks is the Messiah,' of whom she spake either by prophecy or tradition; for, continues he, 'there was a tradition among the Israelites, that a great zing should arise in Israel; and she seals up her song with celebrating this King who was to deliver them from all their enemies.' The tradition, as we have seen, was founded principally on Balaam's second and third prophecies, Numbers 24:7-17; and we cannot but admire that gracious dispensation of spiritual gifts to Hannah (whose name signifies grace) in ranking her among the prophets who should first unfold a leading title of the blessed Seed of the woman."

In the best MSS. the whole of this hymn is written in hemistich or poetic lines. I shall here produce it in this order, following the plan as exhibited in Kennicott's Bible, with some trifling alterations of our present version: -

1 Samuel 2:1. My heart exulteth in Jehovah; My horn is exalted in Jehovah. My mouth is incited over mine enemies, For I have rejoiced in thy salvation.

1 Samuel 2:2. There is none holy like Jehovah, For there is none besides thee; There is no rock like our God.

1 Samuel 2:3. Do not magnify yourselves, speak not proudly, proudly. Let not prevarication come out of your mouth; For the God of knowledge is Jehovah, And by him actions are directed.

1 Samuel 2:4. The bows of the heroes are broken, And the tottering are girded with strength.

1 Samuel 2:5. The full have hired out themselves for bread, And the famished cease for ever. The barren hath borne seven, And she who had many children is greatly enfeebled.

1 Samuel 2:6. Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

1 Samuel 2:7. Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich; He bringeth down, and he even exalteth.

1 Samuel 2:8. He lifteth up the poor from the dust; From the dunghill he exalteth the beggar, To make him sit with the nobles, And inherit the throne of glory. For to Jehovah belong the pillars of the earth, And upon them he hath placed the globe.

1 Samuel 2:9. The foot of his saints he shall keep, And the wicked shall be silent in darkness; For by strength shall no man prevail.

1 Samuel 2:10. Jehovah shall bruise them who contend with him; Upon them shall be thunder in the heavens. Jehovah shall judge the ends of the earth; And he shall give strength to his King. And shall exalt the horn of his Messiah.

It is not particularly stated here when Hannah composed or delivered this hymn; it appears from the connection to have been at the very time in which she dedicated her son to God at the tabernacle, though some think that she composed it immediately on the birth of Samuel. The former sentiment is probably the most correct.

Mine horn is exalted in the Lord - We have often seen that horn signifies power, might, and dominion. It is thus constantly used in the Bible, and was so used among the heathens. The following words of Horace to his jar are well known, and speak a sentiment very similar to that above: -

Tu spem reducis mentibus anxiis,

Viresque et addis Cornua pauperi.

Hor. Odar. lib. iii., Od. 21, v. 18.

Thou bringest back hope to desponding minds; And thou addest strength and horns to the poor man.

Paraphrastically expressed by Mr. Francis: -

"Hope, by thee, fair fugitive,

Bids the wretched strive to live.

To the beggar you dispense

Heart and brow of confidence."

In which scarcely any thing of the meaning is preserved.

My mouth is enlarged - My faculty of speech is incited, stirred up, to express God's disapprobation against my adversaries.

None holy - Holiness is peculiar to the God of Israel; no false god ever pretended to holiness; it was no attribute of heathenism, nor of any religion ever professed in the world before or since the true revelation of the true God.

There is none beside thee - There can be but one unoriginated, infinite, and eternal Being; that Being is Jehovah.

Any rock like our God - Rabbi Maimon has observed that the word צור tsur, which we translate rock, signifies, when applied to Jehovah, fountain, source, spring. There is no source whence continual help and salvation can arise but our God.

A God of knowledge - He is the most wise, teaching all good, and knowing all things.

Actions are weighed - נתכנו nithkenu, they are directed; it is by his counsel alone that we can successfully begin, continue, or end, any work.

The bows of the mighty - The Targum considers the first verse as including a prophecy against the Philistines; the second verse, against Sennacherib and his army; the third, against Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans; the fourth, against the Greeks; the fifth, against Haman and his posterity; and the tenth, against Magog, and the enemies of the Messiah.

They that were full - All the things mentioned in these verses frequently happen in the course of the Divine providence; and indeed it is the particular providence of God that Hannah seems more especially to celebrate through the whole of this simple yet sublime ode.

The Lord killeth - God is the arbiter of life and death; he only can give life, and he only has a right to take it away.

He bringeth down to the grave - The Hebrew word שאול sheol, which we translate grave, seems to have the same meaning in the Old Testament with ἁδης, hades in the New, which is the word generally used by the Septuagint for the other. It means the grave, the state of the dead, and the invisible place, or place of separate spirits. Sometimes we translate it hell, which now means the state of perdition, or place of eternal torments; but as this comes from the Saxon, to cover or conceal, it means only the covered place. In some parts of England the word helling is used for the covers of a book, the slating of a house, etc. The Targum seems to understand it of death and the resurrection. "He kills and commands to give life; he causes to descend into Sheol, that in the time to come he may bring them into the lives of eternity," i.e., the life of shame and everlasting contempt, and the life of glory.

The Lord maketh poor - For many cannot bear affluence, and if God should continue to trust them with riches, they would be their ruin.

Maketh rich - Some he can trust, and therefore makes them stewards of his secular bounty.