31 Behold, the days H3117 come, H935 that I will cut off H1438 thine arm, H2220 and the arm H2220 of thy father's H1 house, H1004 that there shall not be an old man H2205 in thine house. H1004
And the king H4428 said H559 unto the footmen H7323 that stood H5324 about him, Turn, H5437 and slay H4191 the priests H3548 of the LORD; H3068 because their hand H3027 also is with David, H1732 and because they knew H3045 when he fled, H1272 and did not shew H1540 H241 it to me. But the servants H5650 of the king H4428 would H14 not put forth H7971 their hand H3027 to fall H6293 upon the priests H3548 of the LORD. H3068 And the king H4428 said H559 to Doeg, H1673 Turn H5437 thou, and fall H6293 upon the priests. H3548 And Doeg H1673 the Edomite H130 turned, H5437 and he fell H6293 upon the priests, H3548 and slew H4191 on that day H3117 fourscore H8084 and five H2568 persons H376 that did wear H5375 a linen H906 ephod. H646 And Nob, H5011 the city H5892 of the priests, H3548 smote H5221 he with the edge H6310 of the sword, H2719 both men H376 and women, H802 children H5768 and sucklings, H3243 and oxen, H7794 and asses, H2543 and sheep, H7716 with the edge H6310 of the sword. H2719 And one H259 of the sons H1121 of Ahimelech H288 the son H1121 of Ahitub, H285 named H8034 Abiathar, H54 escaped, H4422 and fled H1272 after H310 David. H1732
And the ark H727 of God H430 was taken; H3947 and the two H8147 sons H1121 of Eli, H5941 Hophni H2652 and Phinehas, H6372 were slain. H4191 And there ran H7323 a man H376 of Benjamin H1144 out of the army, H4634 and came H935 to Shiloh H7887 the same day H3117 with his clothes H4055 rent, H7167 and with earth H127 upon his head. H7218 And when he came, H935 lo, Eli H5941 sat H3427 upon a seat H3678 by the wayside H1870 H3027 H3197 watching: H6822 for his heart H3820 trembled H2730 for the ark H727 of God. H430 And when the man H376 came H935 into the city, H5892 and told H5046 it, all the city H5892 cried out. H2199 And when Eli H5941 heard H8085 the noise H6963 of the crying, H6818 he said, H559 What meaneth the noise H6963 of this tumult? H1995 And the man H376 came H935 in hastily, H4116 and told H5046 Eli. H5941 Now Eli H5941 was ninety H8673 and eight H8083 years H8141 old; H1121 and his eyes H5869 were dim, H6965 that he could H3201 not see. H7200 And the man H376 said H559 unto Eli, H5941 I am he that came H935 out of the army, H4634 and I fled H5127 to day H3117 out of the army. H4634 And he said, H559 What is there done, H1697 my son? H1121 And the messenger H1319 answered H6030 and said, H559 Israel H3478 is fled H5127 before H6440 the Philistines, H6430 and there hath been also a great H1419 slaughter H4046 among the people, H5971 and thy two H8147 sons H1121 also, Hophni H2652 and Phinehas, H6372 are dead, H4191 and the ark H727 of God H430 is taken. H3947 And it came to pass, when he made mention H2142 of the ark H727 of God, H430 that he fell H5307 from off the seat H3678 backward H322 by H1157 the side H3027 of the gate, H8179 and his neck H4665 brake, H7665 and he died: H4191 for he was an old H2204 man, H376 and heavy. H3513 And he had judged H8199 Israel H3478 forty H705 years. H8141 And his daughter in law, H3618 Phinehas' H6372 wife, H802 was with child, H2030 near to be delivered: H3205 and when she heard H8085 the tidings H8052 that H413 the ark H727 of God H430 was taken, H3947 and that her father in law H2524 and her husband H376 were dead, H4191 she bowed H3766 herself and travailed; H3205 for her pains H6735 came H2015 upon her. And about the time H6256 of her death H4191 the women that stood H5324 by her said H1696 unto her, Fear H3372 not; for thou hast born H3205 a son. H1121 But she answered H6030 not, neither did she regard H7896 H3820 it.
And unto Abiathar H54 the priest H3548 said H559 the king, H4428 Get H3212 thee to Anathoth, H6068 unto thine own fields; H7704 for thou art worthy H376 of death: H4194 but I will not at this time H3117 put thee to death, H4191 because thou barest H5375 the ark H727 of the Lord H136 GOD H3069 before H6440 David H1732 my father, H1 and because thou hast been afflicted H6031 in all wherein my father H1 was afflicted. H6031 So Solomon H8010 thrust out H1644 Abiathar H54 from being priest H3548 unto the LORD; H3068 that he might fulfil H4390 the word H1697 of the LORD, H3068 which he spake H1696 concerning the house H1004 of Eli H5941 in Shiloh. H7887
Son H1121 of man, H120 I have broken H7665 the arm H2220 of Pharaoh H6547 king H4428 of Egypt; H4714 and, lo, it shall not be bound up H2280 to be healed, H7499 H5414 to put H7760 a roller H2848 to bind H2280 it, to make it strong H2388 to hold H8610 the sword. H2719 Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Behold, I am against Pharaoh H6547 king H4428 of Egypt, H4714 and will break H7665 his arms, H2220 the strong, H2389 and that which was broken; H7665 and I will cause the sword H2719 to fall H5307 out of his hand. H3027 And I will scatter H6327 the Egyptians H4714 among the nations, H1471 and will disperse H2219 them through the countries. H776 And I will strengthen H2388 the arms H2220 of the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and put H5414 my sword H2719 in his hand: H3027 but I will break H7665 Pharaoh's H6547 arms, H2220 and he shall groan H5008 before H6440 him with the groanings H5009 of a deadly wounded H2491 man.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Samuel 2
Commentary on 1 Samuel 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
1Sa 2:1-11. Hannah's Song in Thankfulness to God.
1. Hannah prayed, and said—Praise and prayer are inseparably conjoined in Scripture (Col 4:2; 1Ti 2:1). This beautiful song was her tribute of thanks for the divine goodness in answering her petition.
mine horn is exalted in the Lord—Allusion is here made to a peculiarity in the dress of Eastern women about Lebanon, which seems to have obtained anciently among the Israelite women, that of wearing a tin or silver horn on the forehead, on which their veil is suspended. Wives, who have no children, wear it projecting in an oblique direction, while those who become mothers forthwith raise it a few inches higher, inclining towards the perpendicular, and by this slight but observable change in their headdress, make known, wherever they go, the maternal character which they now bear.
5. they that were hungry ceased—that is, to hunger.
the barren hath born seven—that is, many children.
6. he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up—that is, He reduces to the lowest state of degradation and misery, and restores to prosperity and happiness.
8. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill—The dunghill, a pile of horse, cow, or camel offal, heaped up to dry in the sun, and used as fuel, was, and is, one of the common haunts of the poorest mendicants; and the change that had been made in the social position of Hannah, appeared to her grateful heart as auspicious and as great as the elevation of a poor despised beggar to the highest and most dignified rank.
inherit the throne of glory—that is, possesses seats of honor.
10. the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth … exalt the horn of his anointed—This is the first place in Scripture where the word "anointed," or Messiah, occurs; and as there was no king in Israel at the time, it seems the best interpretation to refer it to Christ. There is, indeed, a remarkable resemblance between the song of Hannah and that of Mary (Lu 1:46).
11. the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest—He must have been engaged in some occupation suited to his tender age, as in playing upon the cymbals, or other instruments of music; in lighting the lamps, or similar easy and interesting services.
1Sa 2:12-17. The Sin of Eli's Sons.
12. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial—not only careless and irreligious, but men loose in their actions, and vicious and scandalous in their habits. Though professionally engaged in sacred duties, they were not only strangers to the power of religion in the heart, but they had thrown off its restraints, and even ran, as is sometimes done in similar cases by the sons of eminent ministers, to the opposite extreme of reckless and open profligacy.
13-17. the priests' custom with the people—When persons wished to present a sacrifice of peace offering on the altar, the offering was brought in the first instance to the priest, and as the Lord's part was burnt, the parts appropriated respectively to the priests and offerers were to be sodden. But Eli's sons, unsatisfied with the breast and shoulder, which were the perquisites appointed to them by the divine law (Ex 29:27; Le 7:31, 32), not only claimed part of the offerer's share, but rapaciously seized them previous to the sacred ceremony of heaving or waving (see on Le 7:29); and moreover they committed the additional injustice of taking up with their fork those portions which they preferred, while still raw. Pious people revolted at such rapacious and profane encroachments on the dues of the altar, as well as what should have gone to constitute the family and social feast of the offerer. The truth is, the priests having become haughty and unwilling in many instances to accept invitations to those feasts, presents of meat were sent to them; and this, though done in courtesy at first, being, in course of time, established into a right, gave rise to all the rapacious keenness of Eli's sons.
1Sa 2:18-26. Samuel's Ministry.
18. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child—This notice of his early services in the outer courts of the tabernacle was made to pave the way for the remarkable prophecy regarding the high priest's family.
girded with a linen ephod—A small shoulder-garment or apron, used in the sacred service by the inferior priests and Levites; sometimes also by judges or eminent persons, and hence allowed to Samuel, who, though not a Levite, was devoted to God from his birth.
19. his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year—Aware that he could not yet render any useful service to the tabernacle, she undertook the expense of supplying him with wearing apparel. All weaving stuffs, manufacture of cloth, and making of suits were anciently the employment of women.
20. Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife—This blessing, like that which he had formerly pronounced, had a prophetic virtue; which, before long, appeared in the increase of Hannah's family (1Sa 2:21), and the growing qualifications of Samuel for the service of the sanctuary.
22-24. the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle—This was an institution of holy women of a strictly ascetic order, who had relinquished worldly cares and devoted themselves to the Lord; an institution which continued down to the time of Christ (Lu 2:37). Eli was, on the whole, a good man, but lacking in the moral and religious training of his family. He erred on the side of parental indulgence; and though he reprimanded them (see on De 21:18), yet, from fear or indolence, he shrank from laying on them the restraints, or subjecting them to the discipline, their gross delinquencies called for. In his judicial capacity, he winked at their flagrant acts of maladministration and suffered them to make reckless encroachments on the constitution, by which the most serious injuries were inflicted both on the rights of the people and the laws of God.
25. they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because—it should be therefore.
the Lord would slay them—It was not God's preordination, but their own wilful and impenitent disobedience which was the cause of their destruction.
1Sa 2:27-35. A Prophecy against Eli's House.
27. there came a man of God unto Eli, and said … that there shall not be an old man in thine house—So much importance has always, in the East, been attached to old age, that it would be felt to be a great calamity, and sensibly to lower the respectability of any family which could boast of few or no old men. The prediction of this prophet was fully confirmed by the afflictions, degradation, poverty, and many untimely deaths with which the house of Eli was visited after its announcement (see 1Sa 4:11; 14:3; 22:18-23; 1Ki 2:27).
31. I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house—By the withdrawal of the high priesthood from Eleazar, the elder of Aaron's two sons (after Nadab and Abihu were destroyed, [Nu 3:4]), that dignity had been conferred on the family of Ithamar, to which Eli belonged, and now that his descendants had forfeited the honor, it was to be taken from them and restored to the elder branch.
32. thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation—A successful rival for the office of high priest shall rise out of another family (2Sa 15:35; 1Ch 24:3; 29:22). But the marginal reading, "thou shalt see the affliction of the tabernacle," seems to be a preferable translation.