1 Samuel 2 · WEB
Hannah's Song and Eli's Wicked Sons
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Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in Yahweh! My horn is exalted in Yahweh. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.
2There is no one as holy as Yahweh, for there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God.
3Don't keep talking so exceedingly proudly. Don't let arrogance come out of your mouth, for Yahweh is a God of knowledge. By him actions are weighed.
4The bows of the mighty men are broken. Those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry are satisfied. Yes, the barren has borne seven. She who has many children languishes.
6Yahweh kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and brings up.
7Yahweh makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and also lifts up.
8He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the needy from the dunghill to make them sit with princes and inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh's. He has set the world on them.
9He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness; for no man will prevail by strength.
10Those who strive with Yahweh will be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in the sky. Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed."
11Elkanah went to Ramah to his house; and the child served Yahweh before Eli the priest.
12Now the sons of Eli were wicked men. They didn't know Yahweh.
13The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant came while the meat was boiling with a three-pronged fork in his hand;
14and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest took for himself. They did this to all Israel who came to Shiloh.
15Yes, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came and said to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw."
16If the man said to him, "Let the fat be burned first, and then take as much as your soul desires," then he would say, "No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force."
17The sin of the young men was very great before Yahweh; for the men despised Yahweh's offering.
18But Samuel served before Yahweh, being a child, clothed with a linen ephod.
19Moreover his mother made him a little robe and brought it to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
20Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, "May Yahweh give you offspring from this woman for the petition which was asked of Yahweh." Then they went to their own home.
21Yahweh visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew before Yahweh.
22Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they lay with the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
23He said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all this people.
24No, my sons; for it is not a good report that I hear. You make Yahweh's people disobey.
25If one man sins against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sins against Yahweh, who shall intercede for him?" Notwithstanding, they didn't listen to the voice of their father, because Yahweh intended to kill them.
26The child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Yahweh and also with men.
27A man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Yahweh says, 'Did I reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house?
28Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? Did I give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?
29Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel my people?'
30Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before me forever.' But now Yahweh says, 'Far be it from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed.
31Behold, the days come that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, that there will not be an old man in your house.
32You will see the affliction of my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.
33The man of yours whom I shall not cut off from my altar will consume your eyes and grieve your heart; and all the increase of your house will die in the flower of their age.
34This will be the sign to you that will come on your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they will both die.
35I will raise up a faithful priest for myself, who will do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house; and he will walk before my anointed forever.
36It will happen that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and will say, "Please put me into one of the priest's offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread."'"
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Summary
Hannah offers a magnificent song of praise to Yahweh that celebrates how God reverses human fortunes — lifting the lowly and bringing down the proud. In stark contrast, Eli's sons Hophni and Phinehas abuse their priestly office through greed and sexual immorality. Eli rebukes them weakly, but they refuse to listen. A man of God arrives to pronounce judgment on Eli's household, declaring that God will raise up a faithful priest in their place.
Themes
- God's reversal of human fortunes
- Corruption and abuse of religious office
- The contrast between faithful service and wicked rebellion
- Divine judgment on those who dishonor God
Key verses
- 1 Sam 2:2 — “There is no one as holy as Yahweh, for there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God.”
- 1 Sam 2:26 — “The child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Yahweh and also with men.”
- 1 Sam 2:30 — “Those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed.”
Context & background
Hannah's song is one of the great hymns of the Hebrew Bible and closely parallels Mary's Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55. The Tabernacle at Shiloh (modern Khirbet Seilun, West Bank) was Israel's central worship site before the Jerusalem Temple. Eli's sons exploited their privileged position as priests to take the best meat before the fat was offered to God — a direct violation of Levitical law. Their behavior with the women serving at the Tabernacle further polluted the sanctuary. The prophetic judgment on Eli's line was fulfilled when Solomon dismissed Abiathar (a descendant of Eli) in 1 Kings 2.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 2:27 — Solomon removes Abiathar, fulfilling the prophecy against Eli's line.
- 1 Sam 3:11-14 — God confirms the judgment against Eli's house through the young Samuel.
- Lev 3:16-17 — The fat of sacrifices belonged to God; Hophni and Phinehas violated this law.
- Luke 1:46-55 — Mary's Magnificat closely echoes Hannah's song in structure and theme.
- Ps 75:7 — "God is the judge. He puts down one and lifts up another."