8 Lifting the poor out of the dust, and him who is in need out of the lowest place, to give them their place among rulers, and for their heritage the seat of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has made them the base of the world.
He takes the poor man out of the dust, lifting him up from his low position; To give him a place among the rulers, even with the rulers of his people.
He has made the earth strong on its bases, so that it may not be moved for ever and ever;
Then say these words to my servant David, The Lord of armies says, I took you from the fields, from keeping the sheep, so that you might be a ruler over my people, over my people Israel:
And has made us to be a kingdom and priests to his God and Father; to him let glory and power be given for ever and ever. So be it.
And over them were three chief rulers, of whom Daniel was one; and the captains were to be responsible to the chief rulers, so that the king might undergo no loss.
This order is fixed by the watchers, and the decision is by the word of the holy ones: so that the living may be certain that the Most High is ruler over the kingdom of men, and gives it to any man at his pleasure, lifting up over it the lowest of men.
In the past you put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
For by him it was based on the seas, and made strong on the deep rivers.
And the Lord made up to Job for all his losses, after he had made prayer for his friends: and all Job had before was increased by the Lord twice as much. And all his brothers and sisters, and his friends of earlier days, came and took food with him in his house; and made clear their grief for him, and gave him comfort for all the evil which the Lord had sent on him; and they all gave him a bit of money and a gold ring. And the Lord's blessing was greater on the end of Job's life than on its start: and so he came to have fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels, and two thousand oxen, and a thousand she-asses.
And Samuel said, Though you may seem little to yourself, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? for the Lord with the holy oil made you king over Israel,
You, then, are to be over my house, and all my people will be ruled by your word: only as king will I be greater than you.
And have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are ruling on the earth.
To him who overcomes I will give a place with me on my high seat, even as I overcame, and am seated with my Father on his high seat.
With his arm he has done acts of power; he has put to flight those who have pride in their hearts. He has put down kings from their seats, lifting up on high the men of low degree.
Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they took him quickly out of prison; and when his hair had been cut and his dress changed, he came before Pharaoh.
Because out of a prison the young man comes to be king, though by birth he was only a poor man in the kingdom.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Samuel 2
Commentary on 1 Samuel 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
In this chapter we have,
1Sa 2:1-10
We have here Hannah's thanksgiving, dictated, not only by the spirit of prayer, but by the spirit of prophecy. Her petition for the mercy she desired we had before (ch. 1:11), and here we have her return of praise; in both out of the abundance of a heart deeply affected (in the former with her own wants, and in the latter with God's goodness) her mouth spoke. Observe in general,
1Sa 2:11-26
In these verses we have the good character and posture of Elkanah's family, and the bad character and posture of Eli's family. The account of these two is observably interwoven throughout this whole paragraph, as if the historian intended to set the one over against the other, that they might set off one another. The devotion and good order of Elkanah's family aggravated the iniquity of Eli's house; while the wickedness of Eli's sons made Samuel's early piety appear the more bright and illustrious.
1Sa 2:27-36
Eli reproved his sons too gently, and did not threaten them as he should, and therefore God sent a prophet to him to reprove him sharply, and to threaten him, because, by his indulgence of them, he had strengthened their hands in their wickedness. If good men be wanting in their duty, and by their carelessness and remissness contribute any thing to the sin of sinners, they must expect both to hear of it and to smart for it. Eli's family was now nearer to God than all the families of the earth, and therefore he will punish them, Amos 3:2. The message is sent to Eli himself, because God would bring him to repentance and save him; not to his sons, whom he had determined to destroy. And it might have been a means of awakening him to do his duty at last, and so to have prevented the judgment, but we do not find it had any great effect upon him. The message this prophet delivers from God is very close.