CHAPTER II _Hannah's prophetic hymn_, 1-10. _Samuel ministers to the Lord_, 11. _The abominable conduct of Eli's sons_, 12-17. _Farther account of Samuel, and of the Divine blessing on_ _Elkanah and Hannah_, 18-21. _Eli's reprehensible remissness towards his sons in not_ _restraining them in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:2. _NONE HOLY_] HOLINESS is peculiar to the God of Israel; no false god ever pretended to _holiness_; it was no attribute of heathenism, nor of any religion ever professed in the world before or since the true revelation of the true God. THERE IS _NONE BESIDE THEE_] There can be bu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:3. _A GOD OF KNOWLEDGE_] He is the most wise, _teaching_ all good, and _knowing_ all things. _ACTIONS ARE WEIGHED_] נתכנו _nithkenu_, they are _directed_; it is by his counsel alone that we can successfully _begin, continue_, or _end_, any work.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:4. _THE BOWS OF THE MIGHTY_] The _Targum_ considers the _first_ verse as including a prophecy against the _Philistines_; the _second_ verse, against _Sennacherib_ and his army; the _third_, against _Nebuchadnezzar_ and the _Chaldeans_; the _fourth_, against the _Greeks_; the _fifth_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:5. THEY THAT WERE _FULL_] All the things mentioned in these verses frequently happen in the course of the Divine providence; and indeed it is the particular providence of God that Hannah seems more especially to celebrate through the whole of this simple yet sublime ode.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:6. _THE LORD KILLETH_] God is the arbiter of life and death; he only can give life, and he only has a right to take it away. _HE BRINGETH DOWN TO THE GRAVE_] The Hebrew word שאול _sheol_, which we translate _grave_, seems to have the same meaning in the Old Testament with αδης, _h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:7. _THE LORD MAKETH POOR_] For many cannot bear affluence, and if God should continue to trust them with riches, they would be their ruin. _MAKETH RICH_] Some he can trust, and therefore makes them stewards of his secular bounty.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:8. _TO SET_ THEM _AMONG PRINCES_] There have been many cases where, in the course of God's providence, a person has been raised from the lowest and most abject estate to the highest; from the _plough_ to the _imperial dignity_: from the _dungeon_ to the throne; from the _dunghill_ t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:9. _HE WILL KEEP THE FEET OF HIS SAINTS_] He will order and direct all their goings, and keep them from every evil way. _THE WICKED SHALL BE SILENT IN DARKNESS_] The _Targum_ understands this of their being sent to the _darkness of hell_; they shall be slain. _BY STRENGTH SHALL NO... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:10. _THE ADVERSARIES OF THE LORD SHALL BE BROKEN_] Those who _contend with him_, מריביו meribaiu, by sinning against his laws, opposing the progress of his word, or persecuting his people. _SHALL JUDGE THE ENDS ON THE EARTH_] His empire shall be extended over all mankind by the pre... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:11. _AND ELKANAH WENT TO RAMAH_] Immediately after the 10th verse, the Septuagint add, Και κατελιπεν αυτον εκει ενωπιον Κυριου· και απηλθεν εις Αραματαια, _And she left him there before_ _the Lord, and went unto Arimathea_. Thus the Septuagint suppose that the song of Hannah was com... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:12. _THE SONS OF ELI WERE SONS OF BELIAL_] They were perverse, wicked, profligate men; devil's children. _They knew not_ _the Lord_. "THEY _know_! nor would an angel show Him; They _would_ not know, nor _choose_ to know Him." These men were the principal cause of all the ungodlin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:13. _WHEN ANY MAN OFFERED SACRIFICE_] That is, when a _peace-offering_ was brought, the right shoulder and the breast belonged to the priest, the fat was burnt upon the altar, and the blood was poured at the bottom of the altar; the rest of the flesh belonged to the offerer. Under p... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:14. _KETTLE - CALDRON_, OR _POT_] We know not what these were, nor of what capacity; nor is it of any consequence.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:15. _BEFORE THEY BURNT THE FAT_] They would serve _themselves_ before GOD was served! This was iniquity and arrogance of the first magnitude. _HE WILL NOT HAVE SODDEN FLESH_] He chooses _roast_ meat, not _boiled_; and if they had it in the pot before the servant came, he took it ou... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:17. _WHEREFORE THE SIN OF THE YOUNG MEN WAS VERY GREAT_] That is, Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli. _MEN ABHORRED THE OFFERING_] As the people saw that the priests had no piety, and that they acted as if there was no God; they despised God's service, and became infidels. A nat... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:18. _GIRDED WITH A LINEN EPHOD_] This the Targum translates אסיר כרדוט דבוץ _asir cardut debuts_, "Girded with a cardit of byssus, or _fine linen_." The word _cardut_ they seem to have borrowed from the Greek χειριδωτος, a _tunic_, having χειριδας, i.e., _sleeves_ that came down to,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:19. _MADE HIM A LITTLE COAT_] מעיל קטן _meil katon, a little_ _cloak_, or _surtout_, an _upper garment_: probably intended to keep him from the cold, and to save his other clothes from being abused in his meaner services. It is probable that she furnished him with a _new one_ each y... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:20. _ELI BLESSED ELKANAH_] The natural place of this verse seems to be before the 11th; after which the 21st should come in; after the 21st, perhaps the 26th should come in. 1 Samuel 2:11; 1 Samuel 2:21; 1 Samuel 2:26. The subjects in this chapter seem very much entangled and confus... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:22. _THEY LAY WITH THE WOMEN THAT ASSEMBLED_] It is probable that these were persons who had some _employment_ about the tabernacle. Exodus 38:8, where the Hebrew text is similar to that in this place.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:23. _WHY DO YE SUCH THINGS!_] Eli appears to have been a fondly affectionate, easy father, who wished his sons to do well, but did not bring them under proper _discipline_, and did not use his _authority_ to restrain them. As _judge_, he had power to cast them immediately out of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:25. _IF ONE MAN SIN AGAINST ANOTHER_] All differences between man and man may be settled by the proper judge; but if a man sin against the Supreme Judge, God himself, who shall reconcile him to his Maker? Your sin is immediately against God himself, and is the highest insult that ca... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:27. _THERE CAME A MAN OF GOD_] Who this was we know not, but the Chaldee terms him נביא דיי _nebiya daya, a prophet of Jehovah_. _UNTO THE HOUSE OF THY FATHER_] That is, to _Aaron_; he was the first high priest; the priesthood descended from him to his eldest son Eleazar, then to _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:28. _AND DID I CHOOSE HIM_] The high priesthood was a place of the greatest _honour_ that could be conferred on man, and a place of considerable _emolument_; for from their part of the sacrifices they derived a most comfortable livelihood.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:29. _WHEREFORE KICK YE AT MY SACRIFICE_] They disdained to take the _part_ allowed by law; and would take for themselves _what_ part they pleased, and _as much_ as they pleased, 1 Samuel 2:13-9: thus they kicked at the sacrifices. _HONOUREST THY SONS ABOVE ME_] Permitting them to d... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:30. _SHOULD WALK BEFORE ME FOR EVER_] See Exodus 29:9; Exodus 40:15; Numbers 25:10-4, where it is positively promised that the priesthood should be continued in the _family of Aaron_ FOR EVER. But although this promise appears to be _absolute_, yet we plainly see that, like all othe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:31. _I WILL CUT OFF THINE ARM_] I will destroy the strength, power, and influence of thy family.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:32. _THOU SHALT SEE AN ENEMY_ IN MY _HABITATION_] Every version and almost every commentator understands this clause differently. The word _tsar_, which we translate an _enemy_, and the Vulgate _aemulum_, a _rival_, signifies _calamity_; and this is the best sense to understand it i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:33. _AND THE MAN OF THINE_] Of this passage Calmet observes: "The posterity of Eli possessed the high priesthood to the time of Solomon; and even when that dynasty was transferred to another family, God preserved that of Eli, not to render it more happy, but to punish it by seeing t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:34. _THEY SHALL DIE BOTH OF THEM._] Hophni and Phinehas were both killed very shortly after in the great battle with the Philistines in which the Israelites were completely routed, and the ark taken. See 1 Samuel 4:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:35. _A FAITHFUL PRIEST_] This seems to have been spoken of Zadok, who was anointed high priest in the room of Abiathar, the last descendant of the house of Eli; see 1 Kings 2:26; 1 Kings 2:27. Abiathar was removed because he had joined with Adonijah, who had got himself proclaimed k... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 2:36. _SHALL COME AND CROUCH TO HIM_] Shall _prostrate_ himself before him in the most abject manner, begging to be employed even in the meanest offices about the tabernacle, in order to get even the most scanty means of support. _A PIECE OF SILVER_] אגורת כסף _agorath keseph_, trans... [ Continue Reading ]