Chapter Two

A thanksgiving song of Samuel’s mother Hannah. The raising of Samuel at the tabernacle during the high priesthood of Eli. The vices of Eli’s sons. The proclamation of God’s judgment on the house of Eli.

1 Samuel 2:1. And Hannah prayed and said: My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is exalted in my God; my mouth is opened wide against my enemies, for I rejoice in your salvation. “My heart rejoices in the Lord”: at the thought of what the Lord has done for me. “My horn is exalted in my God”, that is, my feminine dignity, strength, and worth have been restored and established by God. (The horn here is a symbol of strength, might, and self-defense.) “My mouth is opened wide against my enemies”: I have received complete freedom to refute the reproaches of my enemies, who upbraided me for my barrenness (1 Sam 2:5-6). “I rejoice in your salvation”, that is, in the salvation shown to me by you.

1 Samuel 2:3. Do not multiply haughty words; let arrogant words not come from your lips; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. An address to people who, in their presumption and ignorance of God’s ways, reproached Hannah for her barrenness.

1 Samuel 2:4. The bows of the mighty are broken, but those who were weak are clothed with strength; 1 Samuel 2:5. Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, but the hungry are fed; even the barren gives birth to seven, while the mother of many grows weak. 1 Samuel 2:6. The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to the grave and raises up; 1 Samuel 2:7. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. 1 Samuel 2:8. He raises the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the dunghill, seating him with nobles, and gives them a throne of glory as an inheritance; for the foundations of the earth belong to the Lord, and on them he has established the world. 1 Samuel 2:9. He guards the steps of his holy ones, but the wicked vanish in darkness; for not by strength is a person strong. All and everything are in God’s hands. His ways are beyond understanding, and his power and wisdom are infinite. Those who seemed to us outwardly strong, secure, and glorious, often turn out before the judgment of the All-knowing and All-holy (1 Sam 2:3) Lord to be morally weak, unworthy, as if condemned to destruction by their own nothingness. People who seemed to us outwardly weak and unworthy of God’s mercies often turn out to be exalted by him for their inner worth.

1 Samuel 2:10. The Lord crushes those who contend with him; from the heavens he will thunder against them. [The Lord is holy. Let not the wise boast in their wisdom, nor the strong in their strength, nor the rich in their wealth, but let the one who wishes to boast boast in this, that he understands and knows the Lord.] The Lord will judge the ends of the earth, and will give strength to his king and will exalt the horn of his anointed. “The Lord will judge the ends of the earth, and will give strength to his king and will exalt the horn” (strength, might) “of his anointed.” In the immediate sense, this refers to the beloved and glorified by God king of the Hebrews David, as well as his son and successor – the mighty and glorious Solomon (1 Sam 7:1; 1 Chr 17:1). In the more distant, prophetic-messianic sense – the Divine Descendant of David according to the flesh – our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his teaching and life brought to earth “judgment (upon sinful) this world” (John 12:31) and is to come a second time to earth – for the last judgment and righteous recompense to sinners and the righteous (Matt 12:36; Luke 17:22; John 5:22; Acts 17:31; 2 Pet 3:7; Jude 1:14-15; Rom 2:5-6; 2 Cor 1:14; 1 Cor 1:8; 2 Thess 2:2 and many others). The song of thanksgiving and prophecy of Hannah, mother of Samuel, became the basis for the third irmol of church canons.

1 Samuel 2:12. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord “Did not know the Lord”, that is, they were unwilling to recognize his commandments and precepts.

1 Samuel 2:13. And the duty of priests toward the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant came with a fork in his hand while the meat was being cooked, 1 Samuel 2:14. And thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot, and everything the fork brought up the priest took for himself. This is what they did to all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. 1 Samuel 2:15. Yes, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant came and said to the one who was sacrificing, “Give meat for roasting to the priest; he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw meat. 1 Samuel 2:16. And if the man said to him, “Let them first burn the fat, and then take whatever you wish for yourself,” he would say, “No, give it now; but if not, I will take it by force. Reference is made to peace offerings. See note on 1 Sam 1:4.

1 Samuel 2:18. Now Samuel was serving before the Lord, clothed with a linen ephod. An ephod was one of the garments of the Old Testament high priest, woven from multicolored yarn and gold (Exod 28:1). Samuel’s linen ephod was certainly not the high priestly ephod, since he had no right to it. More likely, it was a sleeveless linen upper garment whose cut resembled the high priestly ephod and therefore received that name. It was put on by those who had dedicated themselves to serving God (cf. 1 Sam 22:18), or on special occasions of religious importance (2 Sam 6:14). Something like the white linen vestments used by attendants in Catholic worship.

1 Samuel 2:25. If one person sins against another, God can intercede for him; but if a person sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him? Yet they did not listen to the voice of their father, for the Lord intended to put them to death. Sins committed chiefly against people can be covered by God’s mercy, since they do not yet show a state of hopeless hardening against God’s will and allow the possibility of moral improvement. But sins that show in a person a state of hopeless hardening against God’s will require severe retribution, instructive also for others (cf. Matt 12:31). “For” – in the sense of therefore. “Intended” – in the sense of permitted. To put them to death: see 1 Sam 4:10-11.

1 Samuel 2:27. And a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: Did I not clearly reveal myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt, in Pharaoh’s house? “A man of God” – someone of the messengers of God’s will (cf. 1 Sam 9:6), whose name has remained unknown to us. “To your father’s house” – that is, to the tribe of Levi, chosen by God from among all other tribes of Israel for special service to him at the tabernacle (see 1 Sam 2:28). “In Egypt, in the house” (that is, kingdom) of Pharaoh.

1 Samuel 2:29. Why then do you scorn my sacrifice and my grain offering that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the first fruits of every offering of my people Israel? On “grain offerings” presented to the Tabernacle, see note on Lev 2:1. “Fattening yourselves on the first fruits of every offering of my people.” According to the law of Moses (Exod 23:19; Lev 19:23-24; Num 18:12 and others), the Hebrews were obligated to bring to the tabernacle the first fruits of their harvest, grapes, oil, the first loaf baked from new wheat, a portion of sheep’s wool and the like for the support of the members of the tribe of Levi.

1 Samuel 2:31. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house [ever]; “There will not be an old man in your house”, that is, the descendants of Eli will die before reaching old age (cf. 1 Sam 2:33).

1 Samuel 2:32. And you will see the distress of my dwelling, while all that is good happens to Israel, and there will never be an old man in your house, 1 Samuel 2:33. I will not cut off anyone from my altar to make your eyes fail and your heart grow faint; but all the rest of your family will die in the prime of life. 1 Samuel 2:34. And this will be a sign to you that will happen to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: both of them will die on the same day. See 1 Sam 3:11-20.

1 Samuel 2:35. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest; he will act in accordance with my heart and my desires, and I will establish his house, and he will walk before my anointed forever; 1 Samuel 2:36. And everyone remaining from your house will come to bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, saying, “Please put me in one of the priestly offices so that I may have food. In the immediate sense, this refers to the transfer of the high priesthood from the house of Eli (line of Ithamar) to the house of Zadok (line of Eleazar), see 1 Kgs 2:27. But in the more distant and fuller sense, the words quoted refer, according to blessed Theodoret, “not to anyone among men, but to the Lord alone Jesus Christ, who according to his humanity is called our high priest (Heb 4:14-15). The expression \”forever\” is not fitting for mortal men who live a short time. And he called the holy apostles and those who successively received their teaching \”anointed ones\”” (blessed Theodoret, Commentary on 1 Samuel, question 7).