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1 Samuel 2

ARC · Chapter 2/31

1Então orou Anna, e disse: O meu coração exulta ao Senhor, o meu poder está exaltado no Senhor: a minha bocca se dilatou sobre os meus inimigos, porquanto me alegro na tua salvação.

2Não ha sancto como é o Senhor; porque não ha outro fóra de ti: e rocha nenhuma ha como o nosso Deus.

3Não multipliqueis palavras de altissimas altivezas, nem saiam coisas arduas da vossa bocca: porque o Senhor é o Deus de conhecimento, e por elle são as obras pesadas na balança.

4O arco dos fortes foi quebrado, e os que tropeçavam foram cingidos de força.

5Os fartos se alugaram por pão, e cessaram os famintos: até a esteril pariu sete filhos, e a que tinha muitos filhos enfraqueceu.

6O Senhor é o que tira a vida e a dá: faz descer á sepultura e faz tornar a subir d'ella.

7O Senhor empobrece e enriquece: abaixa e tambem exalta.

8Levanta o pobre do pó, e desde o esterco exalta o necessitado, para o fazer assentar entre os principes, para os fazer herdar o throno de gloria: porque do Senhor são os alicerces da terra, e assentou sobre elles o mundo.

9Os pés dos seus sanctos guardará, porém os impios ficarão mudos nas trevas: porque o homem não prevalecerá pela força

10Os que contendem com o Senhor serão quebrantados, desde os céus trovejará sobre elles: o Senhor julgará as extremidades da terra: e dará força ao seu rei, e exaltará o poder do seu ungido

11Então Elcana foi-se a Rama, á sua casa: porém o menino ficou servindo ao Senhor, perante o sacerdote Eli.

12Eram porém os filhos d'Eli filhos de Belial, não conheciam ao Senhor.

13Porquanto o costume d'aquelles sacerdotes com o povo era que, offerecendo alguem algum sacrificio, vinha o moço do sacerdote, estando-se cozendo a carne, com um garfo de tres dentes em sua mão;

14E dava com elle na caldeira, ou na panella, ou no caldeirão, ou na marmita; e tudo quanto o garfo tirava, o sacerdote tomava para si: assim faziam a todo o Israel que ia ali a Silo.

15Tambem antes de queimarem a gordura vinha o moço do sacerdote, e dizia ao homem que sacrificava: Dá essa carne para assar ao sacerdote: porque não tomará de ti carne cozida, senão crua

16E, dizendo-lhe o homem: Queimem primeiro a gordura de hoje, e depois toma para ti quanto desejar a tua alma, então elle lhe dizia: Não, agora a has de dar, e, se não, por força a tomarei.

17Era pois muito grande o peccado d'estes mancebos perante o Senhor, porquanto os homens desprezavam a offerta do Senhor.

18Porém Samuel ministrava perante o Senhor, sendo ainda mancebo, vestido com um ephod de linho.

19E sua mãe lhe fazia uma tunica pequena, e de anno em anno lh'a trazia, quando com seu marido subia a sacrificar o sacrificio annual.

20E Eli abençoava a Elcana e a sua mulher, e dizia: O Senhor te dê semente d'esta mulher, pela petição que fez ao Senhor. E voltaram para o seu logar.

21Visitou pois o Senhor a Anna, e concebeu, e pariu tres filhos e duas filhas: e o mancebo Samuel crescia diante do Senhor.

22Era porém Eli já muito velho, e ouvia tudo quanto seus filhos faziam a todo o Israel, e de como se deitavam com as mulheres que em bandos se ajuntavam á porta da tenda da congregação.

23E disse-lhes: Porque fazeis taes coisas? porque ouço de todo este povo os vossos maleficios.

24Não, filhos meus, porque não é boa fama esta que ouço: fazeis transgredir o povo do Senhor.

25Peccando homem contra homem, os juizes o julgarão; peccando porém o homem contra o Senhor, quem rogará por elle? Mas não ouviram a voz de seu pae, porque o Senhor os queria matar.

26E o mancebo Samuel ia crescendo, e fazia-se agradavel, assim para com o Senhor como tambem para com os homens.

27E veiu um homem de Deus a Eli, e disse-lhe: Assim diz o Senhor. Não me manifestei, na verdade, á casa de teu pae, estando elles ainda no Egypto, na casa de Pharaó?

28E m'o escolhi d'entre todas as tribus d'Israel por sacerdote, para offerecer sobre o meu altar, para accender o incenso, e para trazer o ephod perante mim, e dei á casa de teu pae todas as offertas queimadas dos filhos d'Israel.

29Porque dáes coices contra o sacrificio e contra a minha offerta de manjares, que ordenei na minha morada, e honras a teus filhos mais do que a mim, para vos engordardes do principal de todas as offertas do meu povo d'Israel?

30Portanto, diz o Senhor Deus d'Israel: Na verdade tinha dito eu que a tua casa e a casa de teu pae andariam diante de mim perpetuamente; porém agora diz o Senhor: Longe de mim tal coisa, porque aos que me honram honrarei, porém os que me desprezam serão envilecidos.

31Eis que veem dias em que cortarei o teu braço e o braço da casa de teu pae, para que não haja mais velho algum em tua casa.

32E verás o aperto da morada de Deus, em logar de todo o bem que houvera de fazer a Israel: nem haverá por todos os dias velho algum em tua casa.

33O homem porém que eu te não desarraigar do meu altar seria para vos consumir os olhos e para te entristecer a alma: e toda a multidão da tua casa morrerá quando chegar á edade varonil.

34E isto te será por signal, a saber: o que sobrevirá a teus dois filhos, a Hophni e a Phineas, que ambos morrerão no mesmo dia.

35E eu suscitarei para mim um sacerdote fiel, que obrará segundo o meu coração e a minha alma, e eu lhe edificarei uma casa firme, e andará sempre diante do meu ungido.

36E será que todo aquelle que ficar de resto da tua casa virá a inclinar-se diante d'elle por uma moeda de prata e por um bocado de pão, e dirá: Rogo-te que me admittas a algum ministerio sacerdotal, para que possa comer um pedaço de pão.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Hannah sings a song of praise and gratitude. The text contrasts Samuel's growing faithfulness with the corruption of Eli's sons, who abused their priestly office, leading to a prophetic judgment against the house of Eli.

Explanation

Hannah's song is one of the richest poetic texts in the Old Testament, celebrating the reversal God brings about—exalting the humble and bringing down the powerful—a theme that echoes directly in Mary's song (the Magnificat) in Luke 1. In sharp contrast, Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, systematically abused their priestly role, forcibly taking the best portions of the sacrifices and committing sexual immorality with the women who served at the temple. The rebuke given to Eli by an anonymous 'man of God,' warning that his priestly line would be cut off because he failed to restrain his sons, shows that a father's negligence in correcting sin carries lasting spiritual consequences, even for someone in religious leadership.

Fun facts

  • Hannah's song (v.1-10) is regarded by many biblical scholars as the direct literary model for Mary's Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55, with clear thematic and structural parallels.
  • The expression 'sons of Belial,' used to describe Hophni and Phinehas (v.12), later became a general term in biblical and later literature for people of deeply corrupt character.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Samuel 2:1Hannah sings that her “horn is exalted,” using the image of a bull’s horn — a common ancient symbol of strength and victory. The same image of power as a horn returns at the end of the song, when she speaks of the anointed king.
  2. 1 Samuel 2:2“Rock” is a recurring image in Hebrew poetry for God as solid, reliable protection — the same metaphor returns dozens of times in the Psalms.
  3. 1 Samuel 2:3Hannah warns against arrogance: to say that “by him actions are weighed” means He judges fairly what each person does, beneath the proud talk or outward appearances.
  4. 1 Samuel 2:4The broken bow of the mighty and the sudden strength of those who stumbled sum up the theme of Hannah’s song: God reverses positions of power, pulling the strong down from the top and lifting up those who were falling.
  5. 1 Samuel 2:5“They that were full have hired out themselves for bread” and “the barren hath born seven” are images of reversal — hunger and plenty, barrenness and fertility trade places, mirroring Hannah’s own story.
  6. 1 Samuel 2:6To say the Lord “killeth, and maketh alive” and “bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up” is a poetic way of affirming God’s total control over life and death, not a detailed doctrine of resurrection.
  7. 1 Samuel 2:7Another pair of opposites in the song: poverty and wealth, humiliation and exaltation, all presented as the result of God’s will, not chance or personal merit.
  8. 1 Samuel 2:8Raising the poor from the dust to seat them among princes is the central image of the song — the same idea of God reversing the fortunes of the lowly and the powerful reappears almost identically in Mary’s Magnificat, in Luke 1:52.
  9. 1 Samuel 2:9The song ends by insisting that human strength does not decide the final outcome: the faithful are kept safe and the wicked silenced, but by God’s action, not by military power.
  10. 1 Samuel 2:10Hannah speaks of “his king” and “his anointed” long before Israel had any king — a prophetic line that only fully makes sense decades later, with the arrival of Saul and especially David.
  11. 1 Samuel 2:11Elkanah returns home without his son: from here on Samuel grows up serving at the sanctuary in Shiloh, far from his parents, fulfilling the vow Hannah had made.
  12. 1 Samuel 2:12Calling Eli’s sons “sons of Belial” (worthless men) sets up the contrast the chapter draws: while they abuse the priesthood, the boy Samuel grows up faithful right beside them.
  13. 1 Samuel 2:13This verse describes the normal procedure before the abuse began: a servant would go to the people’s pot with a three-pronged fork to collect the priest’s portion — the problem, in the next verse, was taking more than was due.
  14. 1 Samuel 2:14Eli’s sons had a corrupt custom of sending a servant to hook out, with a three-pronged fork, meat still cooking in the people’s pot, keeping whatever came up — on top of the portion the law already guaranteed the priest. This happened even before the fat, which by law belonged only to God and was burned on the altar, was removed; that is why the text calls it a great sin.
  15. 1 Samuel 2:15Demanding the raw meat before the fat (which belonged only to God) was even burned meant skipping the most sacred step of the sacrifice — the priests wanted to pick the best part before the rite was even completed.
  16. 1 Samuel 2:16When someone tried to follow the proper order — burning the fat first — the priest’s servant threatened to take the meat by force, showing that the corruption was already an accepted practice, not an exception.
  17. 1 Samuel 2:17The text sums up the problem: seeing the priests abuse the offerings, ordinary people came to despise the very act of sacrificing to God.
  18. 1 Samuel 2:18Wearing a linen ephod, normally a priestly garment, even though he was still a boy and not a descendant of Aaron’s priestly line, shows how unusual a place of honor Samuel already held in the sanctuary.
  19. 1 Samuel 2:19The robe Hannah brings every year is the only recorded contact between her and her son after she gave him to Eli — a gesture of love from a distance, within the vow she had kept.
  20. 1 Samuel 2:20Eli’s blessing acknowledges that Hannah “lent” her son to God — and asks that she be rewarded with more children for that very act of surrender.
  21. 1 Samuel 2:21Eli’s blessing comes true: Hannah gains five more children after giving up Samuel — a sign, for the narrator, that surrendering her first son in faith did not leave the family “poorer.”
  22. 1 Samuel 2:22The women who served at the “tabernacle of the congregation” held some kind of regular function at the Shiloh sanctuary — the text does not specify which, but it was clearly wrong for the priests to sleep with them. It is one more sign of how badly Eli’s sons abused their office.
  23. 1 Samuel 2:23Eli knew of his sons’ bad reputation from hearing complaints from the people themselves — but, as the rest of the chapter shows, knowing was not the same as acting with firmness.
  24. 1 Samuel 2:24Eli’s concern here is twofold: the family’s own reputation and the effect of his sons’ bad example, which led the common people to sin along with them.
  25. 1 Samuel 2:25The text explains why Eli’s rebuke did no good: God had already decided to judge his sons, a pattern similar to the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus — their refusal confirms the judgment rather than causing it.
  26. 1 Samuel 2:26The description of Samuel growing in favor “with the Lord, and also with men” is nearly identical to what the Gospel of Luke later uses to describe the childhood of Jesus (Luke 2:52).
  27. 1 Samuel 2:27The “man of God” who appears here is an anonymous prophet, a common device in the Bible for messengers who deliver an important oracle without needing a name. He recalls that Eli’s family descends from Aaron, chosen back in Egypt.
  28. 1 Samuel 2:28The oracle recaps the privileges given to Aaron’s priestly line — the point of comparison that shows the scale of the abuse Hophni and Phinehas committed with those same privileges.
  29. 1 Samuel 2:29To “kick” against the sacrifice is an image of active rebellion — the central charge is that Eli valued his own sons more, letting them fatten themselves on the offerings, than the honor owed to God.
  30. 1 Samuel 2:30The ancient promise of a perpetual priesthood for Eli’s house is revoked here — the text makes clear that God’s promises are not unconditional when the human response is continued dishonor.
  31. 1 Samuel 2:31To “cut off thine arm” is an image of the loss of strength and power — the punishment announced is the end of the longevity and influence of Eli’s line in the priesthood.
  32. 1 Samuel 2:32One of the most obscure verses of the oracle: the general idea is that Eli’s house will witness hardship right in the sanctuary itself, instead of the prosperity it could have had.
  33. 1 Samuel 2:33Even the descendants who remain in the priesthood will suffer — “to consume thine eyes” and “to grieve thine heart” describe a life marked by loss, and most of them will die young.
  34. 1 Samuel 2:34God gives a verifiable, short-term sign — the death of the two sons on the same day, fulfilled soon in chapter 4 — to confirm that the more distant prophecy will also come to pass.
  35. 1 Samuel 2:35The prophecy about a “faithful priest” points to Zadok, who would later replace Eli’s line (through Abiathar) in Solomon’s time — closing out, there, the fall announced in this scene.
  36. 1 Samuel 2:36The final image is one of total humiliation: descendants of Eli begging for a minor priestly post just to get food — the complete opposite of the prestige the family once had.

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