What is Hannah praising God for in her prayer at the start of this chapter?

Hannah is praising God because He heard her earlier cries and gave her a son, Samuel, after years of barrenness and sorrow. But her joy is rooted in more than just having a child. She rejoices in God Himself, in His salvation, holiness, strength, and wisdom. She celebrates that God lifts up the weak, brings down the proud, and rules over life, death, riches, and poverty. Her own story is one example of how God can turn shame into honor and show that He alone is the solid rock His people can trust.

What does Hannah mean when she says, "There is none holy as the LORD"?

When Hannah says, “There is none holy as the LORD,” she is saying that God is completely pure, set apart, and unlike anyone else. No person, power, or idol can compare to Him. His holiness means His character is perfect, His ways are right, and His judgments are just. It also means He sees and weighs every action, so proud words and hidden sins are not ignored. Hannah’s words remind us that God is not just stronger than others, He is morally perfect and the only true refuge for His people.

What is the meaning of the reversals Hannah describes, like the mighty broken and the weak strengthened?

Hannah’s song describes how God often overturns human expectations. She says the bows of the mighty are broken, while those who stumbled are strengthened. The full must work for bread, while the hungry are filled. The barren woman has children, while the one with many grows weak. These pictures show that God is in control of success and failure, strength and weakness. He can bring down the proud and lift up the humble. Hannah’s own change from barren to joyful mother is one of these reversals, and it points to how God loves to help those who depend on Him.

Why were Eli’s sons called sons of Belial, and what was their sin?

Eli’s sons are called sons of Belial because they lived in open rebellion while serving as priests. They did not know the Lord in a true way, even though they worked in His house. They took more than their share of the sacrifices, demanded raw meat before the fat was burned for God, and even threatened to take it by force. This turned people off from worship and made them hate the offering of the Lord. They also slept with the women who served at the tabernacle. Their sin was especially serious because they sinned against God right in the place of worship.

Why did God judge Eli and his household so severely in this passage?

God judged Eli’s household because, as priest, Eli honored his sons more than God. He knew about their evil behavior with the offerings and with the women at the tabernacle, but he did not stop them or remove them from their role. God reminds Eli of the honor given to his family in the past, then asks why they despise His sacrifice and make themselves fat from what belongs to Him. The sentence is heavy: his line will lose its strength, his sons will both die in one day, and his family will lose its place. This shows that those who handle holy things must not treat God lightly.

What does it mean that "the LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich" in Hannah’s prayer?

When Hannah says, “the LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich,” she is confessing that God is in control of both gain and loss. Wealth, position, and success are not just the result of human effort. God can bring someone down into need, and He can raise someone up out of poverty and shame. He lifts the poor from the dust and sets them with princes. This doesn’t mean every change we see is simple to explain, but it reminds us that God rules over our circumstances. It encourages us not to be proud in success or hopeless in hardship, but to look to Him.

What does the passage say about the "faithful priest" God promises to raise up?

God says He will raise up a faithful priest who will do what is in His heart and mind. This priest will have a sure house and will walk before God’s anointed forever, in contrast to Eli’s house, which is under judgment. The text does not name this priest, but it shows that God will provide faithful service and true worship even when current leaders are unfaithful.

How does Samuel’s growth contrast with the behavior of Eli’s sons in this chapter?

While Eli’s sons are abusing their role, taking God’s offerings, and living in open sin, Samuel is pictured as a child quietly serving before the Lord. He wears a linen ephod, showing he has a share in priestly service, and his mother brings him a little coat each year, reminding us that he is there as a gift to God. The text says Samuel grew before the Lord and later that he grew in favor with both the Lord and people. This contrast shows how God is already preparing a faithful servant in the middle of a corrupt situation.

What does this passage teach about God’s knowledge and justice when it says actions are weighed?

The passage calls the Lord a God of knowledge and says that by Him actions are weighed. This means God does not just see what people do on the surface. He knows motives, pride, hidden sins, and real faith. He measures and judges all of it with perfect understanding. Proud words and arrogant behavior, like that of Eli’s sons, do not escape Him. At the same time, quiet trust and humble service, like Hannah’s prayer and Samuel’s ministry, are also seen. This teaches us not to trust in outward position or strength, but to live honestly before the God who sees and weighs everything.

1Sam.2.1

1 Samuel 2:1

KJV

And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.

Hannah’s Prayer of Thanksgiving

1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.

2 There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.

6 The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

7 The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.

8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’S, and he hath set the world upon them.

9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

11 And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest.

Eli’s Wicked Sons

12 ¶ Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord.

13 And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand;

14 And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.

15 Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.

16 And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

18 ¶ But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.

19 Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

20 ¶ And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The Lord give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord. And they went unto their own home.

21 And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.

22 ¶ Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

23 And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.

24 Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord’S people to transgress.

25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.

26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men.

A Prophecy against the House of Eli

27 ¶ And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house?

28 And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?

29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

30 Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

31 Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.

32 And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever.

33 And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.

34 And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.

35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

36 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

Cross References

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