A.C. 1156.

* Heb. hard of spirit.

13 Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought

she had been drunken.

14 And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

*

15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

16 Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: + Or, medita- for out of the abundance of my + complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.

tion.

1155.

↑ Heb. in revolution of days.

17 Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

18 And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.

19 And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah : and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.

20 Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name § Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him Asked of God. of the LORD.

That is,

21 And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

22 But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.

23 And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and her son suck until she weaned him.

gave

24¶ And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh and the child was young.

25 And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.

26 And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.

27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

28 Therefore also I have * lent him to the LORD; as long A.C. 1155. as he liveth + he shall be lent to the LORD. shipped the LORD there.

And he wor

1 SAMUEL II. VER. 1-22 19.

1 Hannah's song in thankfulness. 12 The sin of Eli's sons.

*Or, returned him, whom I have obtained by petition, to the LORD. + Or, he whom

18 Samuel's minis- I have obtain

try. 20 By Eli's blessing Hannah is more fruitful.

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.

ed by petition shall be re

turned.

3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy Heb. hard. 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.

X

u Deut.xxxii. 39. Tob. xiii. 2. Wisd. xvi. 13.

8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up x Ps. cxiii. 7. 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;

y out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall y Ch. vii. 10.

19 The song of Hannah is chiefly remarkable for its predicting the dominion of the promised Saviour of the world as a king, before there was any king in Israel: and as being likewise the first composition in which He is described by the term Messiah, the Christ, or the Anointed. The same epithet was afterwards used by David, Nathan, Ethan, Isaiah, Daniel, and the succeeding prophets of the Old Testament; and by the apostles and inspired writers of the New. The ancient Jews referred this hymn to the times of the Messiah. "The expressions are too magnificent and sublime" to be confined to inferior subjects.-Vide Hales' Analysis, vol. ii. p. 333; Bp. Patrick in loc. The former has given a new translation, and the latter a beautiful paraphrase of this hymn. Bishop Horsley too has given a very spirited translation of this song.-Bib. Crit. vol. iv. p. 358.

A.C. 1153. 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.

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

13 And the priest's 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 * Heb. as on 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 20.

the day.

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

* Ex. xxviii. child,girded with a linen ephod.

4.

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, + Or, petition The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the + loan which which she ask- is lent to the LORD.

ed, &c.

1143.

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.

The Call of Samuel.

1 SAMUEL III.

1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before

20 The priests, according to the Mosaic ordinance, were invited to the offering feasts: when they either would not, or could not, accept the invitation, a part of it, in civility only, was sent home to them: this courtesy was at length converted into a right; and they demanded a portion of the sacrifice in the unwarrantable manner described. 1 Sam. ii. 15-17.-Michaelis' Comment. vol. i. p. 262,

note.

Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; A.C. 1143. there was no open vision.

2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;

3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep 21;

4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.

5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son ; lie down again.

7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.

was

8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called

the child.

9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

11 ¶ And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a

21 The Israelites had again become so corrupt, and the priesthood itself so degraded by the vices of the sons of Eli, that the oracular voice in the sanctuary given by Urim and Thummim had for some time ceased. Eli is warned of the ruin of his family, not by the usual answer from between the cherubim over the ark, but by a prophet, sent to him expressly for that purpose. There had been no open manifestation of the presence of the God of Israel since the appearance of the angel to Manoah. The expectation of Eli, however, that the angel Jehovah would again appear, is well described in his answer to Samuel, when the youthful Levite enquired if he had called him. The God of Israel in the present instance revealed himself to a child; and Eli immediately perceived that it was the angel Jehovah, the Lord, who had called him. The assertion of the inspired writer is express: the Lord came, and stood, and called, Samuel, Samuel! (1 Sam. iii. 10.) The destruction of Eli's house is now denounced; and from this period through the whole of the life of Samuel, the oracle was regularly uttered as in former times. See Exod. xxv. 32; Num. vii. 89.-Vide Hales' Analysis, vol. ii. p. 334; Horsley's Bib. Crit. vol. i. 317.

P.

* Or, Thus did Samuel be. fore he knew the LORD,

and before the of the revealed unto

LORD was

him.

A.C. 1143. thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

a 2 Kings xxi. 12.

12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which *Heb. begin. I have spoken concerning his house: *when I begin, I will also make an end.

ning and end

ing.

+ Or, And I will tell him, &c.

b Ch. ii. 29, 30, 31, &c.

ed.

Or, accurs

b

13+ For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he § restrained them not.

14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that Heb. frown- the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

ed not upon

them.

15 ¶ And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.

16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.

17 And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do Heb. so add. so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any *thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.

* Or, word.

+ Heb. all the things, or, words.

18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.

19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Or, faithful. Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.

1136.

21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

Marriage of Samson, and his exploits against the Philistines.

JUDGES XIV.

1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Heb. she is Get her for me; for § she pleaseth me well.

right in mine eyes.

4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.