And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart exulteth in Jehovah, my horn is lifted up in Jehovah; my mouth is opened wide over mine enemies; for I rejoice in thy salvation.
Years earlier Hannah prayed at Shiloh in tears, her lips moving with no sound. God gave her the son she asked for. Now she has handed Samuel back to God, and her song is all about the LORD.
The prayer behind this song was silent. The answer was public, and so is the praise.
When she poured out her request in sorrow, "only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard." She prayed "in secret" to Him who "hears in secret," and He had rewarded her "openly." But this prayer becomes a song of joyful praise. She really does have glorious things to tell about Him who is awesome in His praises. Her song begins by celebrating the glorious perfections of the LORD.
Notice who is missing from the verse: Samuel.
"My heart exults in the LORD," she sings. Her joy was not so much in the gift (Samuel) as in God the Giver. Hers was not a merely natural joy, but the joy of the Lord, a joy of the Spirit. How often we are more occupied with the thing given than with Him who graciously gave it. Not so with Hannah here... she rises above the level of nature to the LORD Himself. She speaks only of Him, not once mentioning the child whose birth gave occasion to it all.
She sang at the moment of loss, not of gain.
She had barely held him in her arms before she had to part with him and set him apart for God. Her life was to be more lonely than ever... Yet Hannah is full of a joy which overflows in a song of triumph. This is because God had revealed Himself to her in grace. He had revealed Himself again to His faithful servant. She had received everything from Him, kept back nothing for herself, and returned everything to Him. Having given up her son, she understands better all that God is in Himself.
The horn is an image drawn from Israel's worship, and it points away from the singer.
"My horn is exalted in the LORD," is her second word. Older translations of 1 Chronicles 25:5 say that the sons of Heman were appointed "to lift up the horn." They were... the temple-court musicians. Their task was to lift up the horn, to sound out the praises of the God of Israel. So Hannah declares her horn exalted in the LORD. She does not blow the trumpet to her own praise, as the Pharisees of a later, more favoured day did. She lifts it to celebrate the infinite perfections of Him who alone is worthy.
God hands this strength to the least likely person.
Along with joy, Hannah found strength: "my horn is exalted in the LORD." This power "is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). She has turned her back on all that is high, on everything of renown in Israel. So God shares this strength with a weak woman, humiliated and despised.
Older translations read "my mouth is enlarged over my enemies." The enemies she has in mind are far larger than Peninnah, her rival at home.
It is Israel's and God's enemies she has in view, not Peninnah. Speaking for all Israel, she looks on in faith to the time when the enemies of her people... would be brought under, as under the rule of David... This rescue of Israel from her enemies was still many days away. But faith sees it as done already, and Hannah rejoices in it beforehand.
The times were dark and judgment was near, yet the song climbs.
You say, how can we sing, with things in such a state and judgment close at hand? It was the same when Hannah sang that song of Shiloh. She was like a lark. You might say to the lark, How can you sing? Do you not see the fog on the ground? This is how I sing, the lark would say — higher and higher, far above the fog, in the blue sky above. So sang Hannah, higher and higher still. As the sun fills the sky of the lark, so the Lord Himself was before her soul.
Her words reach far past her own family.
This is a wonderful outpouring of faith. Its language goes far beyond the circumstances of the moment. The gift of a son to Hannah, we might suppose, hardly called for this. But God always has Christ before His mind. Through Samuel's mother, a humble instrument, His Spirit spoke of Christ as the final resource of Israel and of the earth.
- In the LORD. Twice in one line Hannah puts her joy and her strength in the same place — not in the child, not in herself, but in God the Giver.
- Secret to song. The prayer no one could hear became praise anyone can read. God answered openly what she asked in silence.
- Surrender first. She sings after handing Samuel over. Having kept nothing back, she understands better what God is in Himself.
- Strength in weakness. The lifted horn is a trumpet of praise. God puts that trumpet in the hands of a humiliated woman, not the great of Israel.
- Wider than her rival. Her mouth answers God's enemies, and her song runs past David to Christ — faith singing above the fog.
There is none holy as Jehovah, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God.
Hannah has just received the son she asked God for, and her thanksgiving turns at once from the gift to the Giver. In one line she names three things about Him: He is holy, He is alone, He is a rock.
Her song stops speaking of herself almost at once. One writer counts how far it goes:
Having spoken of her joy and triumph, her song proper now begins. She makes no more mention of herself; it is all the Lord, in His character and wonderful ways. She speaks His name nine times in her song of ten verses. She seems wholly lost in Him... When believers praise and thank God, they may be too taken up with their own concerns — their needs and circumstances. This is not the highest form of worship. It is not what occupies Hannah here. She rises above her own blessings. She is taken up with the varied and majestic attributes of God.
Of all she could have named first, she names His holiness. The same commentator notes how little we welcome it:
His holiness is first: "There is none holy like the LORD," she says. Holiness has first place in this cluster of glories. It is, we may say, one of the essential attributes of Deity; and without it, who could adore or even reverence Him? Yet it is the very trait of His nature to which men are most averse, and which they are most likely to overlook. He has therefore reminded us over and over again in His Word that He is holy. In this attribute of His being He is incomparable.
The middle clause shuts everything else out. One commentator warns how fast we lose sight of it:
How soon we may slip away from this; how soon we get occupied with men! Such was the Person of the Holy One to her, that He exceeded all others. What an exclusion, and what a song!
Hannah does not say there are no other rocks. She says none is like this one:
Then she said, "there is no rock like our God." Look at Deuteronomy 32 and see how often that chapter calls God a Rock. Then think of the other rocks — the rocks of the nations, their idols, their support. Think of the huge contrast between God and them... "Our God" she said. This indicated some sense of relationship in her soul. She thought of God's stability, God's permanence. Nobody could overthrow God. Nothing could overthrow God. He is able in His power to bring into effect what He desires.
Commentators differ on which quality each clause carries. One reads the verse as a short list of God's perfections:
Recognizing that all blessing depends on God, she rightly begins by celebrating His glories. God is holy — "There is none holy like the LORD." God is omnipotent — "there is none besides you." God is eternal — "there is no rock like our God."
Another takes the rock as a picture of something else again:
None is holy as He; no, none can be put beside Him: the rock is a faint image of His faithfulness, who is not simply her — but "our" — God.
One writer holds salvation and holiness together:
Verse 2 celebrates the Lord's holiness. The believer cannot separate these two things. Anyone who has found God as Saviour understands that He is "holy... for there is none besides Him." But we must be holy to belong to Him. This is why He has sanctified us for Himself. From now on, all our conduct should show this.
This shapes how we come to Him:
We cannot go into God's presence and pray for His interests while we hold thoughts of revenge or anger against our fellow believers. We must clear all these things out of our minds and consciences... That subdues us when we go into the presence of God, when we remember that He is holy. There cannot be any levity in His presence, there cannot be anything that speaks of man and his glory in His presence.
- Holy — Hannah names holiness first, the one attribute people are most likely to overlook, and the one in which God has no rival.
- Alone — "none besides you" shuts out everyone and everything else, and hearts slip away from that fast.
- Rock — other nations had rocks, their idols; none matches His stability, and He is not just a rock but our God.
- Ours — because He is holy and He is ours, He has sanctified us for Himself, and all our conduct should show it.
- Absorbed — she stops speaking of herself; she names God nine times in ten verses, and that is worship at its highest.
Do not multiply your words of pride, let not vain-glory come out of your mouth; For Jehovah is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
Hannah has just called God holy and the one rock. Now she turns from praise to warning: proud talk must stop, because God knows hearts and weighs what people do.
The warning is not abstract. Hannah had lived for years under the scorn of a rival wife. Peninnah had children while Hannah had none, and she used a public act of worship to press the point.
This was the case with Peninnah. With proud contempt and scorn for Hannah's tenderness of conscience, she took this public chance to provoke her. She did it all the more boldly because she could point to her many children as proof of the Lord's blessing, while Hannah's barrenness must be a sure sign of His displeasure. This intensified not only her grief but her isolation. In the middle of a crowd of outward worshippers, and in the presence of Eli, she was alone — but alone with God.
The word "knowledge" here is not information about events. It is an accurate reading of people — and it reaches deeper than what they do.
Being all-knowing, He is unerring in His estimate of men. He does not simply take note of what people do. He weighs their thoughts in the balances of the sanctuary.
reader: He reads the heart and weighs motives, rather than outward acts. "Do not judge by appearances," says our Lord, the appointed Judge of all (John 7:24). And in 1 Corinthians 4:5 His servant Paul reminds us with force of "that day," the day when the thoughts of many hearts come to light. Then He will make motives plain. He will weigh purposes as well as actions.
This is why the second half of the verse answers the boasting in the first half.
What are men in the face of such glory as this? He sharply reproves their great pride and arrogance, for the LORD is a God of knowledge also. He is all-knowing as well as all-powerful. He sees and weighs every activity in the scale of pure righteousness. He understands every motive.
Peninnah's children and the priests' high position looked like proof of God's favour. Hannah's line about weighing takes them off the scales.
The foundation of everything is the known and enjoyed salvation of the Lord. Because of this her heart rejoices in Him — and, like the heavenly hosts, in His holiness. Without His salvation, what use is the natural prosperity of Peninnah, or even the high position of the priests? Not these outward things, but actions will be weighed, for the Lord is a God of knowledge.
The verse also touches how we pray. Right words can come from a heart that does not match them.
There are many passages in the word of God that tell us God is a heart-knowing God. We might come before Him with very correct expressions, but it may not be true of our hearts. God knows the heart, and by Him actions are weighed. The story the Lord told in Luke 18 speaks of two men who went up to the temple to pray. One said, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men." He went on to say he was a very good man. By our standards he was a very good man — though a proud and arrogant one. But the other could not lift his face to heaven. He beat his chest and declared what he truly was in the presence of God. God heard him and answered his prayer, because He is a heart-knowing God.
If God weighs actions, the measuring applies to work done in His name as much as to a rival's boasting.
It should also remind us of the truth the godly woman Hannah stated in her prayer, recorded in 1 Samuel 2: "the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed." We seek to serve the Lord. When He weighs our actions, how will they appear — weighty, or of little worth?
The song says far more than one answered prayer would explain, and commentators point beyond Hannah's own circumstances to account for it.
A wonderful outpouring of faith. Its language goes far beyond the circumstances of the moment. We might suppose the gift of a son to Hannah hardly called for this. But God always has Christ before His mind. Through Samuel's mother, His humble instrument, His Spirit spoke of Him as the ultimate resource of Israel and of the earth.
- Weighed, not counted. God does not just watch what we do. He weighs thoughts, motives and purposes in the balances of the sanctuary.
- Weighed, not guessed. Because He is a God of knowledge, His estimate of a person is never wrong — He is all-knowing as well as all-powerful.
- Weighed, not admired. Outward advantages — children, position, prosperity — are not what goes on the scales.
- Weighed, not worded. Correct expressions in prayer can be untrue of the heart; the man who told God what he really was went home heard.
- Weighed, including ours. The same scales test our service. Will our work prove weighty, or of little worth?
The bow of the mighty is broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
Hannah sings after years without children ended in the birth of Samuel. Her song turns that private mercy into a public rule: human strength breaks, and God arms the weak.
The verse moves in two directions at once. One writer draws out what the new strength is for.
The bows of the mighty are broken: their weapons of war are no more; those who stumbled from sheer weakness are, on the other hand, given a strength that girds or braces them up for activity.
Why single out the bow? One writer gathers the places where Scripture shows it failing.
Man may have a bow, but in his hands it fails when he uses it. "The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned back on the day of battle" (Ps. 78:9), and as for the Lord's enemies, "the bow of the mighty is broken" (1 Sam. 2:4; Ps. 46:9; Jer. 49:35; Hosea 1:5; Hosea 2:18).
These sudden turns look like the ordinary ups and downs of life. Hannah traces them to a person, not to chance — and that cuts against the world's confidence in sheer numbers and force.
Hannah expands on God's sovereignty. Then she lists the sudden changes, the good fortune and the reverses of life. The mighty who seemed unbeatable suffer defeat. Those who stumble in weakness, as if about to fall, rise all at once to strength and victory... Men of the world are self-sufficient. They say with Napoleon that "God is on the side of the heaviest battalions." But no. When it suits His purpose, "the lame take the prey" (Isa. 33:23).
Hannah is not speaking from theory; she had lived it. Yet one writer warns against treating the song as only personal experience.
No doubt this flowed out of her own experience. She knew what it was to be made strong out of weakness. She knew in her own soul what the intervention of divine power was; but the Spirit of God never stops at experience... Anyone who does not know what experience is can hardly be thought to have a real knowledge of God. But the one who stops short of God's object is in danger of being either clouded or self-satisfied.
One writer turns the verse into a warning about self-sufficiency.
In the spiritual realm, felt weakness is power, as the Apostle lets us know in 2 Corinthians 12. As Hannah also said, "the feeble bind on strength" (1 Sam. 2:4). Is it not a strange lesson to have to learn that our self-sufficiency is our undoing? God can use those who are "not anything," that is, nothing (1 Cor. 3:7). God alone counts, whether now or in ages past. When weakness calls Him in, all is well.
Another writer names the people God chooses.
Then she celebrates the sovereign grace of God that picks up, for blessing, the weak, the needy, and the unfruitful. Those who are "feeble," and "hungry," and "barren." God passes by the wise, the mighty, and the noble. He takes up the low and the despised of the world, so that no one can boast in His presence.
The broken bow is not the end point. One writer reads Hannah's whole song as a map of God's ways with Israel, running on to the King.
In the beautiful song of 1 Samuel 2 Hannah recognises this great principle of sovereign grace and of the power of God. He brings down the proud and those who trust in the flesh, and He lifts up the weak and powerless... Israel was poor and fallen, a feeble remnant waiting for Jehovah. They needed to learn that everything hung upon God and God alone. He did not look for power in man. He shows His power in His own dealings by destroying all His enemies, and at last He will "give strength to His king and exalt the horn of His anointed."
- Broken. The bow stands for human force; in man's own hand it fails, and God is the one who snaps it.
- Braced. God does not just prop up the weak. He gives them strength and braces them for action.
- Sovereign. Reversals are not luck or merit. God defeats the unbeatable and lets the lame take the prey.
- Chosen. God passes by the wise and mighty and takes up the weak, the hungry and the barren, so that no one can boast in His presence.
- Crowned. The line runs past Hannah to its end: God refuses strength to man and gives it to His King.
They that were full have hired themselves out for bread; and the hungry are [so] no more Even the barren beareth seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
Hannah's song widens from her own answered prayer into a pattern: the well-fed work for bread, the hungry eat their fill, the childless woman receives seven children. Who stands behind these reversals, and how far do her words reach beyond one home?
The song lists changes that people explain by luck or hard work. One writer traces them back to God instead.
In the circumstances of people's lives we also see the sovereignty of God: "Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger." This is not always because they are careless or wasteful. Nor do others, once hungry, stop lacking just because they work harder or spend more carefully. These are often only secondary causes. Behind them all is the purpose of the supreme Ruler of the universe, and not one small sparrow falls dead to the ground without Him. It is not "luck," or "fortune," good or bad.
The people named in this verse have nothing to offer: no food, no children. That is exactly the point, and it explains why God bypasses those who do have something.
Then she celebrates the sovereign grace of God that picks up the weak, the needy, and the unfruitful and blesses them — those who have "stumbled," and are "hungry," and "barren." God passes by the wise, the mighty, and the noble. He takes up the lowly and the despised of the world, so that no human being can boast in His presence (4, 5).
The number in Hannah's song does not match her own family. One writer takes that gap as deliberate.
"The barren has borne." Hannah has her own circumstances before her; but the language even here goes out beyond her experience. She did not literally bear seven. But we see how far the Spirit of God can dwell on the one child whose birth awakens all the rest to faith. The "seven" clearly means divine completeness, which we never can have on this side of Christ.
Another writer counts Hannah's own children and points the number forward to Israel's future.
This grace goes so far as to give seven children to the barren woman — the perfect number, which Hannah never reached (v. 21), for she had only six children. The promised blessings will not reach their fullness until the glory that is in store for the restored remnant of Israel.
The pairs in this verse are not random swaps. They run in one direction: down first, then up.
The bows of the mighty will be broken, the full become empty, the fruitful grow weak. Grace, on the other hand, raises the fallen and strengthens them, the hungry are satisfied, the barren made joyful with children. So the way of the Lord is to humble those He will exalt, to bring low those He will lift up. Where man's purpose and pride wither, faith can grow.
Hannah's words describe a principle far larger than her family, and commentators read that principle as running forward through Israel's whole story.
In the beautiful song of 1 Samuel 2 Hannah recognises this great principle of sovereign grace, and of the power of God; that He brings down the proud and those who trust in the flesh, and exalts the weak and helpless... This was what Israel, poor and fallen, and a feeble remnant waiting for Jehovah, needed to learn; that everything hung upon God and God alone, who did not seek for power in man, but shows it in His own dealings.
If God turns situations around, no one has to settle for things as they are.
God reverses situations... instead of being persecuted she was in a place of peace, of blessing; instead of being barren she had a son whom she could give to the Lord... There is no need to accept a situation as it stands, whether personally, or in our homes, or in our meetings. We can do something — we can pray to God to change things.
- Reversal, not chance. The full working for bread and the hungry fed are not accidents of effort or luck. Behind the secondary causes stands the purpose of the Ruler of the universe.
- Reversal downward first. God's way is to humble those He will exalt and bring low those He will lift up — pride withers so that faith can grow.
- Reversal as gift. He passes by the wise, the mighty and the noble. He picks up the weak, the hungry and the barren, so no one can boast before Him.
- Reversal beyond measure. "Seven" is more than Hannah's own six children. The number stands for divine completeness, and its fullness is still ahead.
- Reversal you can ask for. What Hannah sang, she first prayed. Nothing has to stay as it is for the person who takes it to God.
Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.
These words come from Hannah's song of thanks, and they reach far past her own case. She credits God with both ends of human life — death and life. Older translations read "the grave" where the ESV says "Sheol," the place of the dead. It raises the question every sufferer asks: who is in control when life goes down as well as up?
The verse puts the start and the end of a life in the same hand. God's claim on us does not stop at the grave.
God's sovereignty reaches to life and death themselves. Our coming into the world is completely under His control. Once born, our life is in His hand, and death also answers to His will. This is the sobering statement of the prophet Daniel before the godless king Belshazzar: "the God in whose hand is your breath." He is "the sovereign Lord of life and death." He kills; death is His black-winged messenger. He is the One who returns "man to dust" and says, "Return, O children of man!" (Ps. 90:3). On "the last day" His voice will reach all who sleep in the grave. He "makes alive," and "brings up" from the grave. Resurrection is the sovereign act of His power.
The two actions are not a matched pair. Anyone can do the first. Only God does the second, as the raising of Lazarus showed.
Death and decay disappeared, and Lazarus, still wrapped in grave-clothes, came out. This great sign, the sixth that John records, showed the glory of God, since the giving of life is His glorious prerogative. Brutish man can kill all too easily: only God can "kill and make alive" (see 1 Sam. 2:6; 2 Kings 5:7).
Paul met the same test when he stood on trial before Festus.
To Festus it was all the fantasy of a disturbed mind, for the gods he worshipped held no power beyond the grave. Weak man can kill and bring someone down to the grave. That is an easy thing. Only of the living God can anyone say, "The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up" (1 Sam. 2:6).
Hannah is not reciting theory. She sings from what God had already done in her own life.
For it is the Lord Himself who is able to kill, and able to make alive. He knows how to bring one down even to the grave. He is just as able to bring up. Hannah had learned something of this resurrection power of God in her own body. She recognizes that only God's work accomplishes anything. Some He makes poor, others He makes rich. He will often bring one down so that He can lift him up later.
If God does both, the way down has a purpose. In the verse, killing comes before making alive.
Moreover, God has His own way of dealing with us to make us conscious of our need. He rolls in death upon the soul to make alive. He brings us near to the grave that we may learn our utter weakness. He strips us of everything we trust in, making us poor to make us rich. He brings us low in our thoughts of self, to lift us up (6, 7).
Hannah's song also looks forward. It pictures Israel's restoration, and the story of each believer at the same time.
Hannah's beautiful song is the soul's thankful acknowledgement of how God acts toward Israel. She sings of the LORD who kills and brings to life, who makes poor and makes rich, who raises the poor from the dust and seats the needy with princes. God will work all this out most fully in Israel in the latter day. He works it out now in everyone whom grace raises from his ruined condition in nature to blessedness and peace in Jesus.
- Down. God brings low first. He rolls in death upon the soul. He strips away what we trust and brings us near the grave, so we learn our own weakness.
- Up. The same hand that brings down raises up. Resurrection is the sovereign act of His power. The way back belongs to Him alone.
- Only God. Any man can kill; that is easy. Making alive is God's glorious prerogative. No idol and no human power can copy it.
- Proved. Hannah sang this because she had lived it. She knew God's resurrection power in her own body first.
- Everyone. What God did for her, He will do fully for Israel in a coming day. He does it now for everyone whom grace lifts out of ruin into peace in Jesus.
Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich, he bringeth low, also he lifteth up
Hannah's song rises out of a private sorrow: years without a child. Yet its words sweep far past her own story to the way God governs everything. This line puts wealth and poverty, humbling and honour, in one pair of hands. Why does God empty a life before He fills it?
The two opposites in this verse are not accidents of circumstance. The same truth cuts two ways, depending on where you stand.
Riches and poverty are alike at His disposal: "The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts." He gives the one or the other as suits His purpose. Knowing this should keep the rich humble, and make the poor content. Dear fellow believer, let us "be content with what you have," as Scripture urges us. For our God has revealed Himself to us in grace, and He has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5).
What Hannah says of people holds for nations too. The same hand moves the rise and fall of powers, and even the thinking of the public.
He rules or overrules the hearts of all men, and the whole realm of human thought and action. He rules public opinion in all its forms, at all times, with all the characters great and small who figure in it. So He orders the rise and fall of nations, the course of their histories and the extent of their territories... "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will" (Prov. 21:1). "For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another" (Ps. 75:6-7).
Read with the previous verse, these pairs are not random swings of fortune. Each downward move has a purpose.
God has His own way of dealing with us to make us conscious of our need. He brings death in upon the soul to make it alive. He brings us near the grave so that we may learn our utter weakness. He strips us of everything we trust in, making us poor to make us rich. He brings us low in our thoughts of self, to lift us up.
Being brought low is not a delay before the lifting up. It is the condition of it.
This is God's way of acting. He never honours us while we are thinking that we are something. Deep humbling has often come before great blessing — sometimes humbling even in the eyes of others. We were brought low, and the Lord lifted us up.
Hannah's next line names the two ends of the scale: the dust at one end, a throne at the other. Commentators hear the gospel in it.
How well verse 8 fits the gospel of the grace of God! That grace reaches down to the poorest of the poor. It raises him out of the dust of his broken, sinful state. It lifts the beggar from the rubbish heap of a corrupted life, to set him among princes, in dignity above the level of the world. And greater still, it makes him inherit the throne of glory. This reminds us of the words of the Lord Jesus in Revelation 3:21: "The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne."
One woman's experience gave rise to the song, but it never stopped there. Commentators see it worked out in Israel's future and in each believer now.
Hannah's beautiful song is the soul's thankful acknowledgement of how God has acted towards Israel... All this will be seen in full in Israel in the latter day. It is seen now in everyone whom grace has raised from his ruined condition in nature to blessedness and peace in Jesus.
Some go further. They hold that the song's closing words reach past Samuel to Christ Himself: "nothing but Christ can meet what is here in the mind of the Spirit of God" (William Kelly).
- Sovereign. Riches and poverty are both His to give, handed out as suits His purpose. That truth humbles the rich and steadies the poor.
- Stripped. He makes poor in order to make rich; He empties our trust in ourselves before He fills us.
- Lowered. The order never reverses — He does not honour us while we still think we are something.
- Lifted. From dust and rubbish heap to a place among princes, a lifting that ends in the throne of glory.
- Wide. The same hand rules nations and public opinion, so no one need climb by human favour. The song runs on past Hannah, past Samuel, to Christ Himself.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust; from the dung-hill he lifteth up the needy, To set [him] among nobles; and he maketh them inherit a throne of glory; For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's, and he hath set the world upon them.
Hannah had been childless and mocked. Her song describes a God who lifts people off the ground and seats them among princes. The verse raises the obvious question: on what basis does God do this, and who qualifies?
(Note: these writers quote an older translation. Where the ESV has "needy," "ash heap" and "a seat of honor," it reads "beggar," "dunghill" and "throne of glory.")
The song is not a private thank-you note. One writer reads it as a statement of how God always acts, as a lesson for a fallen nation, and as a prophecy that runs on to the kingdom of Christ.
In the beautiful song of 1 Samuel 2, Hannah recognises this great principle of sovereign grace and of the power of God. He brings down the proud and those who trust in the flesh, and He lifts up the weak and powerless. "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and on them He has set the world." Israel was poor and fallen, a feeble remnant waiting for the LORD. This is what they needed to learn: everything hung upon God and God alone. He did not look for power in man. He shows His power in the way He acts, destroying all His enemies, and He will at last give strength to His king and lift up the power of His anointed. The song is a prophecy of God's ways with Israel. It reaches from the moment Hannah spoke it to the setting up of the thousand-year kingdom in the Person of the Lord Jesus.
The second half of the verse looks like a change of subject. It is not. The same power that holds up the world is the power that holds up the person it has lifted.
Hannah next ascribes to God almighty power: "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and on them He has set the world." This is a poetic figure of speech, though none the less forceful for that. Who but the One whose "strength is infinite" could hold this globe up and keep it moving in its circuit, as if it weighed no more than "the small dust of the balance"? Job 26:7 puts it beautifully: "He hangs the earth on nothing." In His wisdom, grace, and power, He is able to keep us without falling: "He will keep the feet of His saints."
God does more here than relieve poverty. Three things move at once — what the person lacks, what the person is, and where the person sits.
Having shown us our nothingness He unfolds to us His fulness — the purpose of His heart. Not only does He meet our need but He changes our condition — the beggar becomes a prince. Further, He gives us a new position suited to the new condition. From "the dust" and "the dunghill" we pass to "the throne of glory." In all these blessed ways He acts as sovereign.
The verse names two kinds of people, and only two. That limit matters.
Notice only this: God gives this honour to the poor and the beggar, and to them alone. The conditions are binding. Grace has no voice for any but the poor and the beggar. She seeks for those who know themselves to be spiritually destitute. She has nothing for the proud.
So "the dust" is a place a person can choose to enter.
And yet none shall reach the throne but those whom grace finds in the dust. To go into the dust is repentance. Repentance is both the requirement for blessing and the step up to it. Happy the soul that is in the dust!
Two men, far apart in Scripture, show both halves of the verse.
Scripture illustrates this all the way from Joseph to Lazarus. God raised the first from slavery to rule over Egypt. The second was a beggar on earth, and he was taken to "Abraham's bosom" in paradise.
The last clause reaches far past anything Hannah could have seen in her own day.
How consistent verse 8 is with the gospel of the grace of God! Grace reaches down to the poorest of the poor. It raises him out of the dust of his broken, sinful state. It lifts the beggar from the dunghill of a corrupted life and sets him among princes, in dignity above the level of the world. Greater still, it makes him inherit the throne of glory. This reminds us of the words of the Lord Jesus in Revelation 3:21: "The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne."
- Dust first. Grace speaks only to the poor and the beggar. Going down into the dust is repentance, and everything else stands on that step.
- Lifted, not climbing. God brings down the proud and raises the weak, because He looks for no power in man but shows His own.
- Condition changed. He does more than relieve need. The beggar becomes a prince, and God gives him a place that matches his new condition.
- Held there. The One who owns the pillars of the earth and hangs the globe on nothing also keeps the feet of His saints. Those He lifts cannot fall back.
- Throne at the end. From dust, to a seat with princes, to an inherited throne of glory — the song runs on to the kingdom of the Lord Jesus, who promises His throne to the one who conquers.
He keepeth the feet of his saints, but the wicked are silenced in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
Hannah's song rises out of a dark time, when Israel had fallen and even the faithful were poor and weak. Verse 9 sets two futures side by side: God guards the feet of His own, while the wicked end in darkness — and human strength decides neither.
Hannah's song is prophecy, and prophecy has its own occasion. It comes when God's people have broken down. It points past the ruin to the Deliverer God will raise up.
Prophecy is God's special intervention, and it applied to His people when they had failed. So when Shiloh was overthrown and the ark taken, God raised up Samuel… The prophets showed the people their sins, and they kept pointing to the Messiah, the great Deliverer. So it is in Hannah's song (1 Sam. 2:9-10). There Jehovah's sovereign rule over the world and the lifting up of the Messiah are fully shown.
The sentence has a subject, and it is not the saint. Where the ESV says "his faithful ones," older translations read "his saints." For anyone afraid of falling away, everything turns on a single pronoun.
There is one anxious question some of my readers might like to ask Hannah. Is it this: "Could my feet slip so far, could I fail so badly, that I am lost after all? Instead of the throne of glory, with my Lord and like Him, could I sink at last to the lowest hell?" What does the inspired Hannah say? Listen: "He will keep the feet of His saints." Not "I," but "He," "will keep the feet of His saints."
This keeping has a goal. Believers cannot hold their ground on their own, so God's power carries them to what He has promised.
The people of God have a glorious inheritance ahead of them, and God's power keeps them for it. "He will keep the feet of His saints." In their own power they cannot stand against "the wicked" and "the adversaries of the Lord," for "by strength shall no man prevail." In the Lord's safe keeping they need not fear, for He will silence the wicked and break His adversaries in pieces (1 Peter 1:3-5).
Feet get dirty on a journey. So the keeping is a daily work, and the Lord does it with His Word.
Every day the Lord Himself applies the Word to heart and conscience. He keeps the feet of His saints. He cleanses them with the washing of water by the Word, from the dirt they pick up as they pass through this polluted scene.
A promise of keeping can be misread as permission to drift. The eye that guards also watches.
Child of God, weak, failing, and needing much mercy, rejoice in what our Saviour has said: "They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28). And may the certainty of this make you not more careless in your walk, but more careful not to grieve such love. For if He keeps the feet of His saints, His eye is upon them. He sees every misstep they make, and notices when they wander into forbidden paths.
The second half of the verse answers the complaint that evil goes unanswered. Delay is not indifference.
The judgment of the sinner is sure, though God bears long with him in his rebellion and unbelief. "Where is the God of justice?" men ask today, as they unbelievingly asked long ago (Mal. 2:17). We answer, He is bearing long with man's refusal to repent. But His Word declares He "will by no means clear the guilty"… Small man would block the carrying out of His judgments. Yet though people join hands to resist God's purposes… "by strength shall no man prevail."
Commentators differ on how far this clause reaches. One warns against using it as a picture of souls already in torment:
It is a mistake to apply Ps. 31:17, 1 Sam. 2:9, Ps. 63:11, Matt. 22:13, to souls in torment.
If no one wins by strength, who does God give strength to? Hannah's answer is a Person.
The great principle in Hannah's song is the sovereign grace and power of God. He brings down the proud man who trusts in himself, and He lifts up the weak and powerless… Israel was miserable and fallen, and the faithful remnant was poor and weak. They needed to learn that everything depended on Him alone. He alone could keep the feet of His saints, silence the wicked, and bring all man's strength to nothing. He alone could break all His adversaries and, last of all, give strength to His King and raise up the horn of His Anointed… He does not give strength to His people, but to His Anointed.
- Setting — Hannah sings into failure: Shiloh overthrown, the ark taken. Prophecy still points past the wreck to the coming Deliverer.
- Keeper — the promise turns on one word: not I will keep my feet, but He will.
- Method — He keeps them day by day, applying His Word to heart and conscience to wash off the dirt of the road.
- Effect — this safety makes a believer more careful, not more casual; the eye that guards also sees every misstep.
- Verdict — human strength decides nothing; God gives His strength to His Anointed King, and the wicked end in silence.
They that strive with Jehovah shall be broken to pieces; in the heavens will he thunder upon them. Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth; and he will give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Hannah's song ends far beyond her own story. She had prayed for a child, and God gave her one. Yet her closing words reach to the ends of the earth, to a King and an Anointed One. Israel had no king when she sang. So who is this King, and when does He receive His strength?
The timing of that closing line is what makes it remarkable.
Verse 10 could only be said through divine inspiration. At that time there was no king in Israel. There was no suggestion of a king. Yet here was Hannah speaking about a king, speaking about the Lord's anointed. It was fulfilled in part in David, the son of Jesse. It will be fulfilled fully in Jesus, the Son of God — God's king, God's anointed — when every adversary will be overthrown and destroyed.
Notice who says it first.
It is remarkable that both the expressions "The Lord of hosts" and "the Anointed" (Christ's title), often found further on in Scripture, are used first by Hannah, the once barren and sorrowful woman. Such are God's ways. He uses the things that are weak, and the things that are despised, to proclaim His praise, that no flesh may glory in His presence.
Both key words in the closing line carry a settled meaning across Scripture.
The horn speaks of exaltation and power. Zacharias, anticipating the birth of Christ, speaks of Him as "a horn of salvation" (Luke 1:69; see also Ps. 18:2; Ps. 75:10; Ps. 148:14). The anointed is the title of one appointed to rule. Christ, in His day, was anointed by the Holy Spirit, and the oil is a picture of the Spirit. In the day of His exaltation He will see the righteous judgment upon all His enemies.
Hannah's song opened with her own horn lifted up.
Verse 10 predicts, as we have seen, the coming of Messiah, the true King. God will exalt the horn of His Anointed. Direct association with Him is the power granted to Hannah in verse 1: "My horn is exalted in the LORD."
Hannah's son was never destined for a throne. The words are also too large for any ordinary king.
It is clear to the spiritual mind that the Spirit of God is going a long way beyond the child of Hannah here. Samuel was to be among priests; he was not destined for the throne. But had he been, there is a strength and height of purpose here which goes far beyond an ordinary king. In fact nothing but Christ can meet what is here in the mind of the Spirit of God… "The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them He will thunder in heaven." This looks onward to a greater day, even to the day of the LORD Himself.
The verse does not say God will strengthen Israel.
Israel, miserable and fallen, and a faithful remnant that was poor and weak, needed to learn that everything depended on Him alone. He alone could keep the feet of His saints, silence the wicked, bring all man's strength to nothing, break all His adversaries and, last of all, give strength to His King and raise up the horn of His Anointed… He does not give strength to His people, but to His Anointed. He raises up the King on whom everything depends, the pivot of all things, the only means of sustaining a relationship between Himself and His people.
The verse moves through events in a set order.
In verse 10 the next thing is the time of tribulation, when the adversaries of the LORD are broken to pieces. Then the judgment of the living: "The LORD will judge the ends of the earth." After this, the reign of Christ on earth.
So which king is meant?
This is the grand finale of Hannah's song… This is not Saul, nor even David, but He whom David in Spirit called "LORD." This "King" to whom the LORD gives "strength" is He who "was crucified in weakness." Now, all power on earth and in heaven is in His hand. In the coming day of His kingdom and power, the horn of His royalty will be exalted above the kings of the earth.
- Weakness speaks first. A barren, despised woman is the first in Scripture to name "the Anointed." God chooses weak vessels so no one can boast.
- Weakness is where the King begins. The King who receives this strength was crucified in weakness. His exaltation follows His lowliness.
- Strength is given, not held. God does not strengthen the people. He strengthens His Anointed, and everything for the people depends on Him.
- Strength reaches the ends of the earth. Adversaries broken, thunder from heaven, judgment of the whole earth, then the reign — the verse moves in that order.
- Strength was promised before there was a throne. Israel had no king when Hannah sang, so only Christ can fill the words. Commentators differ over how much David fulfils them.
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the boy ministered to Jehovah in the presence of Eli the priest.
Hannah's song ends and the family goes home to Ramah. A small boy stays behind at Shiloh, serving God in a sanctuary run by priests the next verse calls worthless.
The note about Elkanah's journey home carries weight. It tells us where Hannah sang her song, and it closes the story of the gift.
The phrase, "Then Elkanah went home to Ramah," comes straight after the end of Hannah's song. This suggests that she sang the song in front of the priest Eli and others at Shiloh. After this godly couple returned home, we read, "And the boy was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD."
Leaving him there cost Hannah something. Her decision speaks to every parent.
We can imagine that it was not an easy thing for Hannah to leave her boy, whom she loved so much, in Shiloh. However, she knew that this was according to God's will and to her own promise. Children are a wonderful gift of grace from the Lord, but to a certain extent they are only given 'on loan'. It would be selfish if we wanted to keep them for ourselves. They belong to the Lord.
The order of the words matters. Samuel is not Eli's helper who happens to work in a holy place.
Notice the wording. It does not say that he ministered to Eli before the Lord. It says the opposite: he ministered to the Lord in the presence of Eli. Though only a child himself, he ministered to the Lord. He was a little Levite indeed, serving the LORD as well as his infant years allowed. He cared for the things around "the tent of testimony," the holy vessels and utensils. All of them were meant to express God's glory in different pictures. Little Samuel was not there just as Eli's helper. He was in training for his life's work, and even in training he served with care.
Chapter 1 ends with a weaned child. Chapter 2 opens his service. One commentator makes that sequence the pattern for anyone who serves God.
Before Samuel could begin to serve the Lord he had to be weaned. "A weaned child no longer cries, frets, and longs for the breast. It lies still and is content, because it is with its mother. In the same way, the soul must be weaned from all discontented thoughts and from all restless desires for earthly things. It waits in stillness upon God, finds its satisfaction in His presence, and rests quietly in His arms." He began to minister at once to the Lord before Eli the priest. He grew up in the sanctuary and became that solid, earnest, prayerful man of God. It is the weaning and the sanctuary that every servant of Christ still needs.
Worship was Samuel's first recorded act. Service is his second, and "before Eli" places him under supervision.
When he was still only a small child, 1 Samuel 1:28 says of him: "And he worshiped the LORD there." In the same way, a newborn baby in Christ must at once take his place as a worshipper before Him. In 1 Samuel 2:11 his second act is this: "And the boy was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest." This attitude will mark Samuel's whole life. But here he serves under Eli's direction. He was still very young, so he needed to learn before he could teach others.
That pairing of a boy with an old man is itself the lesson some draw from the scene.
Here we find a young boy, and he was with an old man, and in the old man's company he was going to learn something. As we learn from a later chapter, it was something he could not work out for himself; he was not old or mature enough to recognise the Lord's voice when He spoke to him, but he learned it through Eli the priest. The young and the old walked together.
Read the whole chapter and a pattern appears. Each time the account of corruption deepens, it returns to the child.
In the middle of the gathering gloom, the Spirit of God sustains faith again and again. He gives us the sight of the rainbow. So we read, "the boy was ministering to the LORD" (11). Then the sky darkens as we get the terrible disclosures about the sin of the priests (12-17). But again we catch sight of the bow, for we read, "Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy … and the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD" (18-21).
The choice of servant is the point. God passes over the officials with the title.
Does this not assure our hearts? However dark the day, God will maintain a testimony for Himself and He will sustain the faith of His true people. What is more, the repeated mention of "the child" shows the way God takes to maintain His testimony in a day of ruin. He passes by the self-appointed religious officials and takes up "the child" to be a witness to Himself.
- Given. Hannah's answered prayer went straight back to God; children are a gift held on loan, not a possession to keep.
- Weaned. First the weaning, then the service. Every servant still needs the weaning and the sanctuary.
- Directed. He served to the Lord while standing before Eli. He learned under older hands before he could teach.
- Shining. Each time the chapter's darkness deepens, the account returns to the ministering child, like a rainbow seen in the cloud.
- Chosen. In a day of ruin God passes by the self-appointed officials and takes up a child as His witness.
Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not Jehovah.
Israel's spiritual life ran through the priesthood. This verse tells us what the two men holding that office really were. It raises the hardest question any religion can face: what happens when the men closest to God do not know Him?
(The commentators quote "sons of Belial" from an older translation. The ESV says "worthless men.")
Their position was real. Their knowledge of God was not. The chapter traces the damage in three stages.
The evil condition of the professing people of God under the priesthood of Eli shows itself in three fearful evils. The priesthood was defiled (12); the offering of the Lord was despised (17); and the tabernacle was desecrated (22)... Their office was to represent the people before the Lord. Yet these very men did not know the Lord. They used their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.
The phrase is not a family name. It is a moral verdict, and it appears elsewhere in Scripture with the same force.
The Hebrew word means "worthless, lawless." It is not a proper name. It stands for evil itself. So we have "son of Belial, daughter of Belial," and so on, in Deuteronomy 13:13; Judges 19:22; 1 Samuel 1:16; 1 Samuel 25:17, 25. The New Testament sets it in contrast to Christ, as if it meant Satan, 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Applied to the high priest's own household, that verdict is devastating.
"But the sons of Eli," we read, "were sons of Belial." What a reflection on the name of Eli! At that time he was both high priest and supreme judge in Israel. His sons, the "sons of Belial!" Could anything be worse — children of "worthlessness and corruption"! Here we see the truth of the saying, "The corruption of the best is the worst of corruption."
A chapter later, the same words describe the boy Samuel. The difference between the two cases is everything.
Scripture says of these profane men, "They did not know the LORD." They held the office of priests, but their hearts were far from God. Later, Scripture says Samuel "did not yet know the LORD" (chap. 3:7). But that was a very different thing. He was on the way to knowing Him "whom to know is life eternal." These sons of Eli had hardened themselves beyond remedy. Only the just judgment of God was left for them.
The priest was the only appointed road to God. So his corruption cut the whole nation off.
The priest was the link between the Lord and the people. He was the appointed means, and no one else dared take up his duties. But this priest turned away from God in wickedness. He used his position to dishonour God even more. So the appointed way of speaking with God, and of being restored to Him, was gone. Hophni and Phinehas made the people sin.
The problem was not only their conduct. It was holy work done by unholy men.
They were sons of Belial. They did not know the Lord, and yet they served in the outward things of the sanctuary. It could only end in the worst corruption. They handled holy things and were wicked in heart and life. It has been well said, "a holiness that is only external is the worst unholiness."... An unholy, selfish ministry is the greatest stumbling block to the great mass of the people.
The chapter does not end with the ruin. Alongside the failure stands a child.
Along with this appalling picture of the wickedness of the priesthood in Israel, the Holy Spirit now shows us Samuel. He is a child ministering before the Lord, wearing a linen ephod. The parents are blessed too.
This is how God works when an order collapses.
It has often been remarked that God never repairs a ruined order. Instead, He sets up something new in its place. It will bring even greater blessing to His people. It also marks a further step forward in His blessed ways.
- Office — Hophni and Phinehas held a real priesthood. Underneath the office they were worthless men.
- Worthless — "Belial" means worthless and lawless. The New Testament sets that word opposite Christ.
- Ignorant — they handled holy things without knowing the Lord. Samuel did not yet know Him either, but he was on his way; they had hardened themselves.
- Contagion — the priest was the appointed link to God. His corruption cut the people off and made them sin.
- Replacement — God did not patch up the ruined priesthood. As it fell, He was raising up a child who ministered before Him.
And the priests' custom with the people was, when any man sacrificed a sacrifice, the priest's servant came, when the flesh was cooked, with a flesh-hook of three prongs in his hand;
The scene moves from Hannah's song to the sanctuary at Shiloh, where the priests had invented a practice of their own. The verse raises a simple question: who decides what belongs to God's servants — God, or the servants?
The word "custom" carries the weight of the verse. This was an invention, not a command. One writer sets it against what God had already put in writing.
They had started a custom completely foreign to Scripture. Their servant came with a three-pronged flesh hook and took from the people's offerings everything the hook brought up out of the boiling pot. God had stipulated what part of the peace offerings the priest was to have — "the wave breast and the heave shoulder" (Lev. 7:34). But the greed of the priests moved them to defy His word in their pride and take all they pleased.
Another writer weighs what this custom cost the honest worshipper, and who let it stand.
The priests openly set aside the revealed will of God and started a custom of their own (1 Sam. 2:13-17). It was a terrible time. The worshipper with a conscience pleaded for one thing only: that God be honoured in his sacrifices, through obedience to His word. He pleaded in vain. And not only this. The priests took whatever they pleased of the offerings, with greed that knew no principle and violence that knew no shame. Even Eli, the high priest, protested, yet he let these things go on and shared in the sin.
The priests were not short of anything. What follows is appetite, not need.
How great was their sin! They defiled the people's sacrifices, and to that they added shameless gluttony. God had made ample provision for their support (Lev. 7:34). But no, this was not enough. They had to have more. And if the poor, browbeaten people of God would not give it willingly, they would take it by force.
(Leviticus 7:34 is quoted above from an older translation. The ESV reads "the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed.")
The hook in the pot was only half the story. Commentators trace the offence in two directions at once — toward the worshipper and toward God.
The sin of these men had two marks. First, they disregarded the rights of those who came to worship the Lord, and seized their portions (vv. 13-14). Second, they disregarded the rights of the Lord. They laid unholy hands on the Lord's portion and made sure they themselves were served before Him, so putting themselves ahead of God (vv. 15-16). They made themselves fat with the Lord's offerings and caused men to abhor them.
The same writer asks whether this is the pattern of every religious system where men take authority over other men.
Are these not the principles of any clerical system, whether pagan, Jewish, or Christian? In the end they are the principles of every class of men who take to themselves authority or privileges over other men in religious matters. They claim rights over simple believers. They make sure they themselves are served at those believers' expense. In their view, even the priest's servant has more authority than the worshippers.
Verse 12 gives the cause: these men held the office but did not know the Lord.
They were sons of Belial; they did not know the Lord, and yet they ministered in the outward things of the sanctuary. It could only result in the worst corruption. They handled holy things and were wicked in heart and life. It has been well said that "a holiness that is only external is the worst unholiness."
The priests were meant to represent the people before God. Their greed did not stop with them; it reached the people they served.
These men held the office of representing the people before the Lord. Yet they did not know the Lord themselves, and they used their position to enrich themselves at the people's expense (12-16). See how great their sin was before the Lord: their conduct led the people to despise the offering of the Lord. They became instruments for the corruption of the professing people of God (17).
- Given. God had already given the priests a fixed share of the peace offerings: the wave breast and the heave shoulder. They needed nothing they took.
- Grabbed. They replaced God's rule with a "custom" unknown to Scripture: a servant, a three-pronged hook, and whatever it brought up.
- Robbed. The custom stole twice: from the worshipper's portion, and from the Lord's place at His own altar.
- Rooted. Verse 12 names the cause. They held the office but did not know the Lord. A holiness that is only external is the worst unholiness.
- Result. Men came to despise the offering of the Lord. Leaders meant to represent the people became the means of their corruption.
and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot; the priest took of it all that the flesh-hook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites that came there.
Eli's two sons had turned worship at Shiloh into a business, and this verse names their tool: a three-pronged hook pushed into the worshipper's cooking pot. Priests were entitled to a share, so why did taking it this way count as sin?
This had become the priests' routine. Yet God had already fixed which part was theirs, leaving nothing for a hook to decide.
They had started a custom completely foreign to Scripture. Their servant would come with a three-pronged flesh hook and take from the people's offerings everything the hook brought up from the boiling pot. God had stipulated what part of the peace offerings the priest was to have — "the breast that is waved and the thigh that is raised" (Lev. 7:34) — but greed drove the priests to defy His word in their arrogance and take all they pleased.
One writer counts the offences one by one. He also notes who was supposed to hand the priest his share.
Here are three offences. First, they took meat they had no right to. Second, they took it in a wrong way. Third, they took it at a wrong time. So the order they had to follow was clearly fixed already, and everyone knew it… A certain portion was appointed for the priest, and he was not to take it himself. The person offering the sacrifice gave it to him.
The share God named was not a random cut of meat. One writer on the peace offering reads the breast and shoulder as pictures of Christ.
The priest's portion in the peace offering is also dwelt upon. That portion is, more exactly, the waved breast and the raised shoulder. The breast speaks of the affections of Christ, and the shoulder of His strength. As we share in priestly communion in the thoughts of God, what was waved before Him in its wonderful perfectness becomes ours to enjoy — "the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge." And that strength which supports His feeblest ones can never fail.
(Older wording calls this the "heave shoulder.")
The verse says they did this to every Israelite who came. One writer counts the cost on two sides.
The sin of these men had two sides. They disregarded the rights of those who came to worship the Lord, confiscating their portions (vv. 13-14). They also disregarded the rights of the Lord. They laid unholy hands on the Lord's portion and made sure they were served before He was, so taking precedence over God Himself (vv. 15-16).
The same writer takes the pattern beyond Shiloh.
Are these not the principles of every class of men who take to themselves authority or privileges over other people in religious matters? They claim rights over ordinary believers. They make sure they are served at the expense of those same believers. In their view even the priest's servant has more authority than the worshippers.
The verse names the place: Shiloh, where the tabernacle stood. That detail is the sting.
Can people who are in the true place, on true ground, as they say, still practise evil — people who do not know the Lord? Yes, and from the very same motive as that of the sons of Eli. It is what they can get… Wickedness went on at the very doors of the tabernacle at Shiloh.
The damage did not stop with the priests.
Men saw such wicked conduct in the priests. So they became disgusted with all religious performances and with the truth those performances pictured. They turned away from the offering of the Lord. It is so still. An unholy, selfish ministry is the greatest stumbling block to the great mass of the people.
Against the hook and the servant, the account sets one small figure.
"But Samuel," though not even a priest, "ministered before the Lord as a child, clothed with a linen ephod." Scripture mentions his ministry both before and after the account of the wickedness of Eli's sons. So God values the simple service of a little child. The linen ephod speaks of moral righteousness: how much more fitting for Samuel than for the priests!
- Portion appointed. God had already named the priest's share and said it was to be given to him, not taken by him.
- Portion seized. The three-pronged hook made the priest's share a matter of chance, so they took what they pleased.
- Portion misread. The breast and shoulder pictured the affections and strength of Christ. A random grab lost that meaning.
- Place no protection. All of this happened at Shiloh, at the very doors of the tabernacle, by men who did not know the Lord.
- People driven off. A selfish ministry drove worshippers away from the offering. A child in a linen ephod showed the other way.
Even before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest, and he will not accept sodden flesh of thee, but raw.
Worship at Shiloh ran on a fixed order: God's portion burned on the altar first, and only then did priest and worshipper eat. Here a servant breaks that order, demanding his meat before the fat reaches the altar — and demanding it raw, not boiled.
The detail that makes this verse an offence is the timing. The fat was not a leftover the priests could claim early; it belonged to God, and it had to go to Him before anyone else was served.
The fat therefore was God's portion. So it must not be neglected or left until the morning. It had to be offered at once. God must have His part before His people had theirs. This is the secret of all blessing: give the Lord the highest place, think first of what is due to Him, and lose sight of everything else until you have given it.
The word means more than cooking fat.
The "fat" means the best part, the inward energy and will. It is a picture of the inward energy of the Lord Jesus when He offered Himself to God.
The servant comes while the sacrifice is still unfinished. One writer traces what happened when a worshipper objected.
They had another method. Before the sacrifice was made at all, and so before the fat was burned, they demanded raw meat from the worshipper. Suppose the worshipper spoke up for God and urged that the fat be burned first. The fat belonged wholly to God and had to be burned on the altar (Lev. 7:31). The priest's servant would refuse even to hear the suggestion, and threaten to take the meat by force, and the fat with it. So the priests were not only cruel to the people; they also treated God's commandment with contempt.
Commentators read verses 13–14 and verses 15–16 as two separate wrongs. The first robbed the worshipper. This one robs God.
The sin of these men had two marks. They ignored the rights of the people who came to worship the Lord, and seized their portions (vv. 13-14). They also ignored the rights of the Lord. They laid unholy hands on the Lord's portion and made sure they were served before He was, so putting themselves ahead of God Himself (vv. 15-16).
Greed drove this, not need.
God had made full provision for their keep. But no, this was not enough. They had to have more. If the poor, bullied people of God did not give it willingly, they took it by force. They lived in luxury among a people of simple habits. They kept servants, and "made themselves fat with the best of all the offerings of God's people." And to the people's credit: they put up with losing their own rightful share of the sacrifices, but they objected when the priest's servant took the fat, which was to be burned whole on the altar.
Note where the resistance comes from. The ordinary Israelite, not the priest, is the one pleading for God's portion.
The harm did not stop with the priests. People came to hate bringing offerings at all, and writers press the same point on any age.
Men who do not know the Lord serve in the things of God. They are not serving Him but themselves, and so they are under the control of Satan, the god of this age. When people saw such wicked conduct in the priests, they grew disgusted with all religious performances and with the truth those performances pictured. They turned away from the offering of the Lord. It is still like that today. An unholy, selfish ministry is the greatest stumbling block to most people.
Shiloh held two households at the same altar — Eli's sons, and the boy Samuel. One question separates them, and writers press it on the reader directly.
We have noticed that there were two families at the only true place — Shiloh. One is approved, the other disapproved. What was the difference? The words are very plain. "The child did minister to the Lord, before Eli the priest." This is the first test. Are we ministering to the Lord, or to self and self-importance? Which is it? Do not evade this question.
- God's portion. The fat was His, burned on the altar first. It stands for the best and innermost part of the sacrifice. That points to the inward energy of the Lord Jesus when He offered Himself.
- God's order. He receives before His people do. Putting what is due to Him first is the secret of all blessing.
- Man's grab. Demanding raw meat meant taking a share before the altar got anything. The priests put themselves ahead of God, treated His command with contempt, and used force to get their way.
- Worship spoiled. Two rights went down at once: the worshipper's portion and the Lord's portion. The people lost their share, yet they, not the priests, spoke up for His.
- The test. Selfish ministry drove ordinary people away from the offerings of God. Samuel served in the same place and passed the one test that divides them: for the Lord, or for self?
If the man said to him, They will immediately burn the fat entire, then take as thy soul desires; he would say [to him], No, but thou shalt give [it] now; and if not, I will take [it] by force.
A worshipper brings his sacrifice to Shiloh, and the priest's servant demands raw meat before the fat is burned for God. The man objects, and commentators see in that small exchange the ruin of the whole priesthood in Israel.
The worshipper's plea is not about meat but about order. He wants God served first, because the fat was never meant for any man.
They had another method. Before the sacrifice was made, and so before the fat was burned, they would demand raw flesh from the offerer. The offerer might speak up for God and urge that the fat be burned first. The fat belonged wholly to God, to be burned on the altar (Lev. 7:31). The priest's servant would reject the suggestion outright, and threaten to take it by force along with the fat.
The priests were entitled to a share. What they were not entitled to was to go first. Writers see two separate victims in these verses — the people and the Lord Himself.
The sin of these men had two marks. They disregarded the rights of those who came to worship the Lord, and confiscated their portions (vv. 13-14). They also disregarded the rights of the Lord. They laid unholy hands on the Lord's portion and made sure they were served before He was, so taking precedence over God Himself (vv. 15-16).
God had already arranged a generous living for the priests. Nothing here came from need.
How great was their sin! They profaned the sacrifices of the people, and added shameless gluttony to it, though God had made ample provision for their support... But no, this was not enough. They had to have more. If the poor, bullied people of God would not give it willingly, they would take it by force. They lived in luxury among a people of simple habits. They kept servants, and "made themselves fat with the best of all the offerings of God's people."
Notice who defends God's rights here. It is the ordinary Israelite, not the priest.
And the people, to their honour, though they let themselves be deprived of what was theirs by right in the sacrifices, objected when the priest's servant took the fat.
Another writer draws a rule out of the scene, and notes what answer the plea received.
And is this not always the case? Where God is pushed aside and His service despised, is the bond between people not corrupted too?... So here. The priests will take their own portion out of the sacrifice. Not the part God's law kindly provided for them, but the best part, and the part that belonged to Him alone. The worshippers still had some tender conscience left, and pleaded that God should have His part first. A rough answer and a threat of violence were all they got.
The damage did not stop at the altar. The men sent to bring Israel near to God drove Israel away from Him.
These men held the office of representing the people before the Lord. Yet they did not know the Lord themselves, and they used their position to enrich themselves at the people's expense (12-16). The greatness of their sin before the Lord shows in this: their conduct led the people to despise the offering of the Lord. They became instruments for the corruption of the professing people of God (17).
The same writer sees the pattern repeat wherever religious position becomes leverage.
Are these not the principles of any system of clergy, whether pagan, Jewish, or Christian... the principles of every class of men who claim for themselves authority or privileges over other men in religious matters? They claim rights over simple believers. They make sure they themselves are served at the expense of those same believers. In their view even the priest's servant has more authority than the worshippers. They seize part of what belongs to God alone, and in the end they cause Him to be despised, so that they may be honoured instead of Him.
- Order. The fat belonged wholly to God and had to be burned on the altar. The whole argument in this verse is over who gets served first — God or the priest.
- Appetite. God had already provided well for the priests. The demand for more, and now, came from greed, not need.
- Force. The worshipper pleaded for God's portion and got a threat. Push God aside, and people start trampling each other too.
- Fallout. Their sin was great before the Lord because it spread. The men meant to bring people near to God made the people despise the offering of the Lord.
- Pattern. Wherever people claim religious authority to be served at the cost of believers, they take God's place and make Him despised. Shiloh's sin never stayed in Shiloh.
And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah, for men despised the offering of Jehovah.
Chapter 2 has just described what Eli's sons did at Shiloh: a servant with a fork, a demand for raw meat, a threat to take it by force. This verse weighs that practice twice — by how God saw it, and by what it did to the worshippers.
The offence had two victims. The sons trampled on two sets of rights at once.
The sin of these men had two sides. They disregarded the rights of those who came to worship the Lord, taking their portions (vv. 13-14). They also disregarded the rights of the Lord. They laid unholy hands on the Lord's portion, made sure people served them before Him, and so took precedence over God Himself (vv. 15-16). They made themselves fat with the Lord's offerings and made men hate them.
The sons demanded their meat before the fat was burned. That was not impatience over dinner. The fat was the part that belonged to God alone, and the worshippers themselves knew it.
God had made plenty of provision to support them... But no, this was not enough. They had to have more. If the poor, bullied people of God would not give it willingly, they would take it by force... And the people deserve credit. They put up with losing what the sacrifices gave them by right. But they objected when the priest's servant took the fat. According to Leviticus 3:3-5, 16, the fat had to be burned entirely on the altar, as "a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD."
The verse measures the sin in God's sight, not by the amount of meat stolen. The reason it gives is the effect on other people.
The very men whose job was to represent the people before the Lord did not know the Lord themselves. They used their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the people (12-16). You can see how great their sin was before the Lord: their conduct led the people to despise the offering of the Lord. They became instruments for the corruption of the professing people of God (17).
People did not only turn away from the priests. They turned away from the sacrifice itself, and from everything it pointed to.
They handled holy things and were wicked in heart and life. It has been well said, "a holiness that is only external is the worst unholiness."... When men saw such wicked conduct in the priests, they became disgusted with all religious ceremony and with the truth it pictured. They turned away from the offering of Jehovah. It is so still. An unholy, selfish ministry is the greatest stumbling block to the great mass of the people.
Rossier sees the same principle at work far beyond Shiloh.
They claim rights over simple believers. They arrange things so that these same believers serve them, at the believers' own cost. In their eyes even the priest's servant has more authority than the worshippers. They seize, to a degree, God's own rights, and in the end they make men despise Him, so that men honour them instead. They did not know the Lord (v. 12); "There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18).
Eli objected, but he did not stop his sons. God told him what lay behind that.
The priests took whatever they pleased of the offerings, with shameless greed and arrogant violence. Their threat was, "You must give it now, and if not I will take it by force." Even Eli, the high priest, protested, yet he let these things go on and shared in the sin. "You honour your sons above Me," the Lord said to him, "fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of My people Israel."
The failure of the priesthood was not the end of the story. God answered the ruin of His own order with a person.
Man had profaned the ordinance of God in the priesthood, and for this God would set aside His own order. Yet He said, "I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. And I will build him a sure house." How refreshing to the weary soul to see mercy triumph over judgment! Everything that failed in man's responsibility is made sure again in the hands of One who alone is "the faithful and true Witness."
- Rights — The sons robbed the worshipper of his portion and God of His, and served themselves first.
- Fat — They seized first the part set apart to be burned for God. Ordinary worshippers protested when their priests would not.
- Weight — The sin was "very great in the sight of the LORD" because it made others despise His offering.
- Damage — A selfish ministry disgusts people with the ministers, and then with the sacrifice and the truth it pictured.
- Remedy — Where the priesthood failed, God promised a faithful priest and a sure house. Mercy triumphs over the ruin of human responsibility.
And Samuel ministered before Jehovah, a boy girded with a linen ephod.
The chapter has just described priests who treated God's offerings with contempt. So why does Scripture then turn to a boy in a linen ephod, serving in the same place, wearing a priest's garment he was not born to wear?
Older translations begin the verse with "But Samuel," and one writer builds on that small word.
After the account of the shameful practices of Eli's sons, we are told the lovely conduct of Hannah's child, and it comes as a relief: "But Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod." The contrast shows the difference between the rejected priests and the child chosen to be the prophet of the Lord. That "but" shines out like a star in the night of Shiloh's low condition and its degraded priesthood.
Notice who God uses once the recognised religious leaders have collapsed.
Does this not assure our hearts? However dark the day, God will keep a testimony for Himself and sustain the faith of His true people. The constant mention of "the child" also shows the way God takes to keep His testimony alive in a day of ruin. He passes by the religious officials who give themselves their own standing, and takes up "the child" to be a witness to Himself.
One writer notes how small this servant was, and how much God made of his service.
"But Samuel," though not even a priest, "was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod." Scripture mentions his service both before and after the account of the wickedness of Eli's sons. So God values the simple service of a little child.
Samuel was a Levite, not a son of Aaron, so the ephod was not his to wear. One writer sees the Lord Himself putting it on him.
Here Samuel does not serve before Eli, but more directly "before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod." That is, he serves in a priestly character, for the linen ephod was the special clothing of the priesthood. Now that the priesthood had fallen, the Lord clothes this young Levite with it for the time being. It was the same later with David, who wore the ephod before the ark.
Another writer sees what that says about the rest of the priesthood.
The mention of the ephod, the priestly garment, suggests that the only spotless robe in the priesthood had fallen to a little child. For the time being he stands for the house of Aaron, which had fallen into ruins in the hands of Eli and his sons.
One writer sets the priests' contempt for the offering beside the boy's linen, and finds there the cure for Shiloh.
"Therefore the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt." This is the root: evil practised by people who do not know the Lord. Notice the contrast: "But Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod." Here is the remedy for all the evil at Shiloh — to truly minister before the Lord, clothed with practical righteousness. Do weigh this.
Samuel grew up inside the place that was rotting, and one writer traces who kept him.
Shiloh should have been the most sacred place on earth, and it was, since the tabernacle and ark of God were there. But the sons of Eli, the high priest, had also made it a pit of corruption. It is beautiful to see how richly God repaid Hannah's trust in Him and preserved Samuel... Like Joseph earlier and Daniel later, what pleased God ruled all his ways, in spite of the sinful things going on around him... Scripture records this, and that shows God takes account of faithfulness to Him from our earliest years.
The boy in the ephod also marks a change in how God reaches His people.
In a sense, Samuel has taken the place of the priesthood. The priesthood was the means by which man drew near to God. But when the priesthood had failed, God can work in sovereignty, and that is what He is doing here. He gives Samuel, that is, prophecy, by which God draws near to man in His sovereign grace.
- Ruin. The priesthood that linked the people to God had collapsed at Shiloh, and Scripture sets this verse inside that account.
- Contrast. In older translations the verse begins with "But," setting a serving child against corrupt officials — a star shining out of that night.
- Clothing. The linen ephod was priestly dress. The Lord put it on a boy outside the priestly family, and linen speaks of practical righteousness — the very thing missing in Eli's sons.
- Keeping. God kept Samuel clean in the middle of the corruption, and He takes account of faithfulness from our earliest years.
- Grace. When the appointed channel failed, God did not abandon His people. He passed by the officials, took up a child, and drew near to man in sovereign grace through prophecy.
And his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to sacrifice the yearly sacrifice.
Year by year Hannah went up to the sanctuary with a small garment she had sewn for the son she had handed over to God. The scene is quiet and ordinary. Yet commentators find two things in it: a mark of God's purpose for Samuel, and a love that keeps working for a child she had given away.
Older translations call it a "little coat." The ESV calls it "a little robe." One writer says this was not the kind of clothing children normally wore:
Young as he was, the linen ephod marked this child for service around the holy things of God. If the sons of Eli had shown ordinary sense, they could have read their own removal in this garment. They were to be replaced by the worthier successor training in front of them. His devout mother also brought him the "little coat" year by year. It was not the ordinary garment worn by children of his age and rank. It was a robe — the kind of garment the high priest wore along with the ephod. All this bore its own testimony to the gracious purpose of God. Everyone with eyes to see and a heart to understand could read it. Yes, better days were coming for the nation. The time had not yet arrived, and more discipline had to come before the recovery and revival that arrived some twenty years later.
The ephod was a priest's garment. Samuel's clothing came from two places, and both testified to the same thing:
The coat which his mother brings him year by year is in keeping with this. It is the meil, the "robe" of the ephod, which was also part of the high priest's dress. Kings, nobles and others wore it too. The high priest's robe, like the ephod, had its own distinctive features. About Samuel's we know nothing, but the connection is hard to doubt. The sanctuary must have supplied the ephod. So two witnesses joined here in their testimony to him. The higher kingdom was already showing itself.
Hannah had given her son away while he was still small. This verse shows what that cost her:
We can understand how she clung to little Samuel. Her joy at receiving such an answer from the Lord was intense. That very intensity helps us grasp how devoted she was to the Lord's interests. She carried him off to the temple, and after that she got only a glimpse of him once every twelve months, when she gave him the little coat her loving hands had made.
Giving a child to God did not mean losing interest in him. One writer draws a lesson here for parents whose children are far away:
Of course Hannah did not forget Samuel. She visited him every year and brought him a coat. That showed she still cared about his well-being and his appearance. As parents, we should always care about our children's spiritual well-being and their testimony. Wherever they are, we can pray for them.
The coat was made new each year. One writer turns that renewal into a picture, and sets it against the sons of Eli:
Oh, where is the little weaned child of today? Where is the child clothed with divine righteousness, wearing the little coat of practical righteousness that grace and mercy keep renewing? What a happy contrast to the boasting official sons of Eli! People like Samuel are the only ones God will use.
Samuel's coat wore out and had to be remade. One writer points to clothing that never does:
If you come to Jesus you will be clothed with a robe that will never grow old or wear out, so you will never need a new one. When people believe on the Lord Jesus, God puts the best robe on them. Do you remember how Adam and Eve tried to make coverings for themselves? But that would not do for God. If we are to have clothes fit for the presence of God, He Himself must give them to us. And He does this for everyone who believes in His Son.
- Given. Hannah handed her son over to the Lord and saw him only once a year. That single glimpse shows how devoted she was to the Lord's interests.
- Clothed. She brought no ordinary child's garment. It was a robe like the one the high priest wore with the ephod, and a quiet sign of God's gracious purpose for the boy.
- Confirmed. The sanctuary supplied the ephod and his mother supplied the robe. Two witnesses said the same thing: a higher kingdom was already appearing.
- Renewed. The coat was remade each year. It pictures practical righteousness kept fresh by grace and mercy, in sharp contrast to Eli's sons.
- Kept. A child given to God is not a child forgotten, and wherever our children are, we can pray for them. And the robe God gives to everyone who believes in His Son never needs replacing.
And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, Jehovah give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to Jehovah. And they went to their own home.
Israel's priesthood was corrupt, yet Eli blesses the couple who had given their firstborn to God. What does God give back to people who hand over what they love most?
Eli speaks the words, but one commentator looks at who stood behind them:
Here we see the grateful Eli pronouncing blessing on the parents of his young assistant. The child's steadiness and devotion to the Lord's interests had no doubt touched his heart. So he would give his parents an old man's blessing as a token of his appreciation. Such a favour is never to be despised. The blessing came through the lips of Eli, but behind it was the Lord Himself. Hannah lost nothing by offering her firstborn on the altar of service to the Lord; He repaid her in kind fivefold.
The same writer sets this beside Abraham:
Abraham offered his son Isaac, his "only son," on the altar on the heights of Moriah. Only then did God promise him children as many as the stars of heaven and the sand on the seashore (Gen. 22:16-18). He will be no man's debtor. He commands His saints to "owe no one anything," and He will certainly set that example Himself.
The blessing does not come in a healthy setting. One writer marks the contrast:
This is an appalling picture of the wickedness of the priesthood in Israel. Yet alongside it the Holy Spirit now shows us Samuel ministering before the Lord, a child wearing a linen ephod — and the parents blessed too.
Another writer traces Israel's revival back to this one household:
But no, there were godly souls who clung to what stood for and represented the Lord in the land. Away in Mount Ephraim a man named Elkanah lived with his wife Hannah… This godly, unknown woman went through hidden and bitter exercises of soul. In them lay the beginning of revival for Israel. A praying woman brought in, in the ways of God, a new era.
Verse 21 records the answer to Eli's words. One commentator sees in it a tender response to a real loss:
So Hannah put the Lord before herself, and His interests before her own. At the same time there is a tender appreciation of the sacrifice that Hannah made. Once she gave little Samuel to His service, her home would have been left almost childless. The Lord did not allow that. He gave Hannah three sons and two daughters to reward her devotedness. Her home rang with the innocent chatter of children, and the mother's heart was comforted. Still, no child or children could quite fill the place that Samuel had.
Hannah had sung that the barren woman bears seven. But the count stops short, and the shortfall points forward:
This grace goes so far as to give seven children to the barren woman. Seven is the perfect number, and Hannah never reached it (v. 21), for she had only six children. The promised blessings reach their fullness only in the glory that is in store for the restored remnant of Israel.
Kelly notes the same gap and draws one conclusion: "Fullness, perfection, will never be short of Christ."
One commentator starts with what Eli still had left and ends with what God saw in the boy:
Eli, in spite of his general lethargy, had some spiritual sense left. He showed it by blessing Elkanah and Hannah for having offered Samuel to serve the Lord. By now he had at least found that it was worthwhile having a boy like Samuel with him. He expressed the desire also that the Lord would give Hannah more children. The Lord graciously answered this too, giving her three more sons and two daughters. So her faith was richly rewarded. In verse 18 we have read that Samuel was "ministering before the LORD." Verse 21 adds that the child Samuel grew before the Lord. No doubt this growing was more than physical. Saying "before the Lord" means God was watching his spiritual growth.
Grant is quoting an older translation of verse 21. The ESV reads, "the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD."
- Given. Hannah handed her firstborn over to the Lord's service. The blessing in this verse follows that act.
- Blessed. Eli spoke the words, but behind them stood the Lord Himself.
- Repaid. She lost nothing by giving her firstborn away. Three sons and two daughters filled a home that would otherwise have stood empty.
- Reaching. The count stops at six, not the seven of her song. Full blessing waits for a coming day, and it never comes apart from Christ.
- Growing. The best return was not the new children but the one given away. God watched Samuel grow in His presence, in spirit and not only in body.
So Jehovah visited Hannah, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before Jehovah.
This verse sits between two dark reports about Eli's sons. It tells of a home filled again, and of a boy growing up in a corrupt sanctuary. Hannah had handed her firstborn over to God. What does God do with a gift like that? The verse answers for the mother and for the child.
Hannah gave her firstborn to God's service. One writer sets the children she later had beside another father who laid his son on an altar:
Hannah lost nothing by offering her firstborn on the altar of service to the Lord; He repaid her in kind fivefold. Abraham offered his son Isaac, his "only son," on the altar on the heights of Moriah. Only then did God promise him children as many as the stars of heaven and the sand on the seashore (Gen. 22:16-18). He will be no one's debtor. He commands His people to "owe no one anything," so He will set the example Himself.
The repayment was real, and it was also not a replacement. Another writer keeps both sides together:
Her home would have been all but childless once little Samuel was given to the service of the Lord. The Lord did not leave it so. He gave Hannah three sons and two daughters to reward her devotion. Her home rang with the innocent chatter of children, and the mother's heart found comfort. Still, no child or children could quite fill the place that Samuel had.
Hannah had spoken of seven sons. Her house ends up with fewer. One writer names the gap and then points past her family:
So Hannah, if she had not what she spoke of prophetically — seven sons — at any rate has three sons, and two daughters besides. Fullness, perfection, will never be short of Christ.
The chapter alternates: the sins of the priests, then a line about the child. One writer compares that rhythm to a rainbow in a storm cloud:
Such was the terrible condition of Israel. Yet as we see the storm gathering, we are again reminded of God's own words: "When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds." In the middle of the gathering gloom, the Spirit of God sustains faith again and again by showing us the bow. So we read, "the boy was ministering to the LORD" (11). Then the sky darkens with the awful disclosures about the sin of the priests (12-17). But again we catch sight of the bow, for we read, "Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy… and the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD" (18-21).
The verse does not just say Samuel grew. It says he grew in the presence of the LORD. Older translations read "before the Lord," and the writers below quote it that way. That phrase changes what the verse measures:
In verse 18 we read that Samuel "ministered before the Lord." Verse 21 adds that "the child Samuel grew before the Lord." This growing was surely more than physical. The words "before the Lord" show that God was watching his spiritual growth.
Another writer ties that closeness to service:
The point here is his intimacy with God. Without it, service cannot be effective.
Hannah had left her son at the tabernacle in Shiloh, where corrupt priests served. One writer weighs the danger and the outcome:
Hannah was devoted to God, and she might have feared what Hophni and Phinehas would do to her son around the tabernacle at Shiloh. Their company was corrupting. But God preserved Samuel as a holy vessel, "sanctified and fit for the Master's use." He is able to keep His own and guard the interests of His cause. His servants may live banished and alone, like John on Patmos, or among the evil influences of the court of Nero. Circumstances are nothing to God. Our surroundings should not colour our testimony or affect the condition of our soul.
The boy is also a sign of what is coming next:
He shows the individuality that belongs to us, even in a crowd, and even away from the restraint and discipline of home… He is a child, but his inheritance lies in the future, while the priesthood is failing and passing away.
- Given. Hannah handed her firstborn to God. The verse opens with His answer: He visits her.
- Repaid. Five more children came — He "repaid her in kind fivefold." God will be no one's debtor. Yet no other child filled Samuel's place.
- Short of seven. She had spoken of seven sons and ended with fewer. Fullness is never found short of Christ.
- Grew. Samuel grew in the LORD's presence. God watched his spiritual growth, and that closeness makes service effective.
- Kept. Corrupt priests surrounded him, yet God kept him a holy vessel. Our surroundings need not colour our testimony. The bow keeps shining in a darkening cloud.