(Date: 2025-09-21)
Yesterday we lingered over Hannah’s silent tears and her bold surrender (see note from 2025-09-20). Today the camera of Scripture widens. Chapter 2 invites us to listen to Hannah’s triumph song, to watch the sad decline of Eli’s priestly household, and to hear the thunder of an unnamed prophet. Three portraits, one canvas: God lifts the humble, brings down the proud, and prepares a faithful priest.
Key words: horn (Hebrew qeren, symbol of strength); rock (Heb. tsur, steady refuge); anointed (Heb. mashiach, first occurrence in the historical books).
1 Samuel 2 :1-10 reads like a psalm. Scholars notice a
chiastic structure:
A. God reverses fortunes (vv. 1-3)
B. The Sovereign Warrior (v. 4)
C. The hungry filled / the full hired out (vv. 5-6)
B’. The God of life and death (vv. 6-8)
A’. Final reversal and promise of a king (vv. 9-10)
The literary balance paints a theological truth: the God of Israel delights in holy turnarounds. Compare:
Cultural note: Ancient Near-Eastern women often sang victory songs (see Miriam, Deborah). Hannah stands in that line, but her victory is not military—it is maternal, spiritual.
Archaeological window: At Shiloh, excavators have uncovered Iron Age storage jars and animal-bone deposits near a likely cultic precinct. They remind us that Hannah’s song rose from an actual place where families brought meat to the priests—further tying her praise to daily life.
Hophni and Phinehas treat the sacrifices as their private buffet. The Hebrew writer calls them sons of Belial (v. 12, older English; literally “worthless men”). Their sin is three-fold:
Hebrew plays with the root k-b-d (“weight/glory”). Eli’s sons “despise” (make light of) the Lord, so the Lord’s “weighty” glory will depart from them (see 4 :21, “Ichabod”). Theologian John Calvin warned that “God tolerates many injuries against Himself, but none against His worship.”
Cross-reference: Leviticus 7 :30-34 prescribes the fat and breast for God and priest respectively—showing exactly how Hophni and Phinehas twist sacred order.
While darkness gathers, a small lamp still burns. The text alternates (“meanwhile” / “but”) to set up a moral contrast. Samuel wears a tiny linen ephod—a child’s version of priestly garb. Each year Hannah brings a new garment. Early monastic writers loved this image: Christ clothes His servants, stitch by stitch, year after year.
Verse 26 (“Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people,” New International Version) foreshadows Luke 2 :52 about Jesus.
An unnamed “man of God”—a title later applied to Elijah—confronts Eli. Two verbs dominate:
• “I revealed Myself” (v. 27) – covenant
privilege.
• “I will cut off your strength” (v. 31) – covenant
consequence.
Yet judgment is not God’s last word. Verse 35 announces, “I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest… and I will firmly establish his house.” Historically this points to Zadok under Solomon (1 Kings 2 :35). Canonically it points further to Christ, our High Priest “who has been faithful over God’s house” (Hebrews 3 :6).
• Reversal of fortunes – From Genesis 12 to
Revelation 22, God chooses the weak to shame the strong.
• Priestly faithfulness vs. corruption – The pattern
continues with Ezekiel 34 (false shepherds) and John 10 (the Good
Shepherd).
• Messiah as Priest-King – Hannah’s “anointed”
anticipates Psalm 2 and Hebrews 7.
Augustine read 1 Samuel 2 allegorically: Hannah = the Church, the arrogant priests = carnal leaders, Samuel = Christlike ministry.
“Sing Out, Earth and Skies” (Marty Haugen, 1985).
Verse 2 celebrates the lowly lifted up, echoing Hannah’s logic yet with
fresh melody.
Take ten minutes today to name before God one area where you feel powerless. Then, in Hannah’s spirit, declare aloud one sentence of praise that imagines God reversing that circumstance. Write it. Keep it. Let it sing back to you.
Additional readings:
• Psalm 75
• Luke 1 :46-55
• Hebrews 4 :14-16
Sovereign Lord,
You lift the weak and silence the proud.
Clothe us, like Samuel, in garments of humble service.
Guard us from treating holy things lightly.
Raise in our hearts the song of Hannah until every fear bows to Your
faithfulness.
Through Jesus Christ, our faithful High Priest, Amen.