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1 Samuel 2

BLIVRE · Chapter 2/31

1E Ana orou e disse: Meu coração se regozija no SENHOR, Meu poder é exaltado no SENHOR; Minha boca fala triunfante sobre meus inimigos, Porquanto me alegrei em tua salvação.

2Não há santo como o SENHOR: Porque não há ninguém além de ti; E não há refúgio como o nosso Deus.

3Não faleis tantas coisas soberbas; Cessem as palavras arrogantes de vossa boca; Porque o Deus de todo conhecimento é o SENHOR, E a ele cabe pesar as ações.

4Os arcos dos fortes foram quebrados, E os fracos se cingiram de força.

5Os fartos se alugaram por pão: E cessaram os famintos; até a estéril deu à luz sete, e a que tinha muitos filhos se enfraqueceu.

6O SENHOR mata e dá vida; ele faz descer ao Xeol, e faz [de lá] subir.

7O SENHOR empobrece e enriquece; abate e exalta.

8Ele levanta do pó ao pobre, e ao necessitado ergue do esterco, para assentá-lo com os príncipes; e faz que tenham por propriedade assento de honra; porque do SENHOR são os alicerces da terra, e assentou o mundo sobre eles.

9Ele guarda os pés de seus santos, Mas os ímpios perecem em trevas; Porque ninguém será forte por sua força.

10Diante do SENHOR serão quebrantados seus adversários, E sobre eles trovejará desde os céus: o SENHOR julgará os termos da terra, E dará força a seu Rei, E exaltará o poder de seu ungido.

11E Elcana se voltou a sua casa em Ramá; e o menino ministrava ao SENHOR diante do sacerdote Eli.

12Mas os filhos de Eli eram homens ímpios, e não tinham conhecimento do SENHOR.

13E o costume dos sacerdotes com o povo era que, quando alguém oferecia sacrifício, vinha o criado do sacerdote enquanto a carne estava a cozer, trazendo em sua mão um garfo de três ganchos;

14E enfiava com ele na caldeira, ou na caçarola, ou no caldeirão, ou no pote; e tudo o que tirava o garfo, o sacerdote o tomava para si. Desta maneira faziam a todo israelita que vinha a Siló.

15Também, antes de queimar a gordura, vinha o criado do sacerdote, e dizia ao que sacrificava: Da carne que asse para o sacerdote; porque não tomará de ti carne cozida, mas sim crua.

16E se lhe respondia o homem, Queimem logo a gordura hoje, e depois toma tanta quanto quiseres; ele respondia: Não, mas sim agora a darás: de outra maneira eu a tomarei por força.

17Era, pois, o pecado dos moços muito grande diante do SENHOR; porque os homens menosprezavam os sacrifícios do SENHOR.

18E o jovem Samuel ministrava diante do SENHOR, vestido de um éfode de linho.

19E fazia-lhe sua mãe uma túnica pequena, e a trazia a ele a cada ano, quando subia com seu marido a oferecer o sacrifício costumeiro.

20E Eli abençoou Elcana e a sua mulher, dizendo: “O SENHOR te dê descendência desta mulher por causa dessa petição que ela fez ao SENHOR.” E voltaram para sua casa.

21E o SENHOR visitou a Ana, e ela concebeu, e deu à luz três filhos e duas filhas. E o jovem Samuel crescia diante do SENHOR.

22Eli, porém, era muito velho, e ouviu tudo o que seus filhos faziam a todo Israel, e como se deitavam com as mulheres que serviam à porta do tabernáculo do testemunho.

23E disse-lhes: “Por que fazeis essas coisas? Pois eu ouço de todo este povo os vossos maus atos.

24Não, meus filhos; pois não é boa a fama que eu ouço, que fazeis pecar ao povo do SENHOR.

25Se o homem pecar contra o homem, os juízes o julgarão; mas, se alguém pecar contra o SENHOR, quem rogará por ele?” Porém eles não ouviram a voz de seu pai, porque o SENHOR queria matá-los.

26E o jovem Samuel ia crescendo e sendo bem estimando diante de Deus e diante das pessoas.

27E veio um homem de Deus a Eli, e disse-lhe: “Assim diz o SENHOR: ‘Acaso não me manifestei à casa do teu pai, quando estavam no Egito, na casa de Faraó?

28E eu o escolhi para ser o meu sacerdote dentre todas as tribos de Israel, para que oferecesse sobre o meu altar, e queimasse incenso, e para que vestisse o éfode diante de mim; e dei à casa do teu pai todas as ofertas dos filhos de Israel.

29Por que pisaste os meus sacrifícios e as minhas ofertas, que eu mandei oferecer no tabernáculo? E por que honraste aos teus filhos mais que a mim, para vos engordardes do principal de todas as ofertas do meu povo Israel?’

30Por isso, o SENHOR, o Deus de Israel, diz: ‘Eu havia dito que a tua casa e a casa de teu pai andariam diante de mim perpetuamente;’ mas agora diz o SENHOR: ‘Longe de mim tal coisa, porque eu honrarei aos que me honram, e os que me desprezam serão rejeitados.

31Eis que vêm dias em que cortarei o teu braço, e o braço da casa de teu pai, para que não haja idoso em tua casa.

32E verás competidor no tabernáculo, em todas as coisas em que fizer bem a Israel; e em nenhum tempo haverá idoso em tua casa.

33E não te cortarei de todo homem de meu altar, para fazer-te consumir os teus olhos, e encher teu ânimo de dor; mas toda a descendência de tua casa morrerá no princípio da fase adulta.

34E te será por sinal isto que acontecerá a teus dois filhos, Hofni e Fineias: ambos morrerão em um dia.

35E eu suscitarei para mim um sacerdote fiel, que faça conforme o meu coração e a minha alma; e eu lhe edificarei casa firme, e andará diante de meu ungido todos os dias.

36E será que o que houver restado em tua casa, virá a prostrar-se-lhe por um dinheiro de prata e um bocado de pão, dizendo-lhe: Rogo-te que me constituas em algum ministério, para que coma um bocado 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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