Bible in one year 5/23/2022 1 Samuel Introduction and Chapter 1 -3 Hannah’s prayer
By
Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian
Arts Ministries :Biblical precepts & Gospel music; Pastoral ministry &
counseling
Introduction to
the first book of Samuel
Authors:
Samuel and others Date:930 B.C. and
later
Authors Though the two books of Samuel are named for
the key figure of the early chapters, Samuel could not have written more than
part of 1 Samuel since his death is recorded in chapter25. That he did in fact
write a book is attested to in 1 Samuel 10:25. First Chronicles 29:29 indicates
that Nathan and Gad also wrote about the
events recorded in Samuel.
Historical Background Samuel emerged as the last judge in the 350 year span of the judges. The book covers a period of about 115 years, from the childhood of Samuel to the beginning of the reign of King David. Appearing on the scene during one of the darkest periods of Israel’s history, Samuel called the people to a revival of the true worship of Yahweh (the Lord; Acts3:24). He was also a king make. Anointing both Saul (10:1) and David (16:13). Thus 1Samuel forms the link between the judges and the monarchy.
1 Samuel Chapter 1 Samuel: the last judge, Samuel’s
Mother and prayer
Lord
Almighty (v.3). A military figure, referring to God as the One who commands the
angelic armies of heaven (1Kings 22:19; Luke 2:3; Rev.19:14) and the armies of
Israel(1Sam.17:45). The term emphasizes the sovereignty and omnipotence of God.
Shilon. The location of the Tabernacle(Josh.18:1) and the religious center of
the nation until the loss of the Ark(1Sam.4). It was twenty miles N. of
Jerusalem. Elkanah (v.8) considered his love and care for her a greater
blessing than a large family. Hannah vowed that if she were given a son, he
would be dedicated to lifelong Levitical service (Num.4:2-3) and become a
lifelong Nazirite (Num.6:1-8). Samuel (v.20) means “name of God” and
serves as a continual reminder of God’s mercy toward those who call upon His
name. Weaned
(v.22) Lit. dealt fully with. The word may include the idea of spiritual
training as well. Hebrew children were normally weaned at tow to three years
(2Maccabees7:27). Will be given over to the Lord(v.24), the idea is that of a
complete and irrevocable giving up of the child to the Lord. Hannah was careful
to pay the vow even at great cost (Eccles5:4-5).
1 Samuel Chapter 2 Hannah’s prayer and the song of praise
Hannah provides an example for
fervent prayer (1:10-11,15),
obedience(1:28), worship(2:1-10), and devotion to family(1:24;2:18-19) that resulted
in God’s blessing. Hannah’s praise (vv.1-10) is in response to God’s answer to
her prayer, and was probably delivered before the congregation of worshipers.
The theme of Hannah’s praise is her confidence in God’s sovereignty. Hannah
praises God for His holiness (v.2), knowledge(v.3), power (vv.4-8), and
judgement(vv.9-10). God often reverses human circumstances, humbling the proud
and exalting the humble (Prov.16:18;18:12). The
grave (v.6) Heb., Sheol. The place of the dead awaiting the resurrection and
the great white throne judgment; equivalent to Hades in the N.T.
The
sons of Eli were guilty of taking more of the sacrifice than their allotted
portion (Lev.7:34), of taking the meat before the fat had been burned as a
sacrifice to God(Lev.3:3,5), and of generally despising the offerings of the
Lord(2:17). Linen ephod(v.18). A
close-fitting, sleeveless, apron-like garment, extending to the hips and worn
almost exclusively by the priest; used when officiating before the altar (2:28;
Ex.28:6-14). Verses 31-35 the prophet predicts the destruction of the priestly
family of Eli partially fulfilled in the massacre of the priests of
Nob(1Sam.22:11-19) and in the transfer of the priesthood to the family of Zadok
in the time of Solomon (1Kings2:26-27,35). The
death of Eli’s two sons on the same day would be a sign to validate the
prophecy.
1 Samuel Chapter 3 The summons to Samuel
Apostasy and prophetic inactivity characterized the days of Eli (v.1). The lamp burned from evening to morning outside the veil (Lev.24:3; Ex.27:20-21). In the early morning hours, while Samuel lay near the Ark, the Lord commissioned him for his prophetic ministry. (v.3). Samuel was listing to God’s word and was determined to obey it. Samuel’s first test as a prophet was to bring an ear-tingling message of doom to Eli. He passed the test (3;18). The epitome of a tragic gamily situation: rebellious children and failure in the area of parental discipline.(v.13)
-----------------------------------------------
Old
Testament (NIV) 1 Samuel Chapter 1 Hannah’s prayer and the birth of Samuel
1:1
There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of
Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of
Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
1:2
He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had
children, but Hannah had none.
1:3
Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the
LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were
priests of the LORD.
1:4
Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the
meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.
1:5
But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had
closed her womb.
1:6
And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order
to irritate her.
1:7
This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD,
her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.
1:8
Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why
don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten
sons?"
1:9
Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now
Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD'S temple.
1:10
In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD.
1:11
And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your
servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a
son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no
razor will ever be used on his head."
1:12
As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.
1:13
Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not
heard. Eli thought she was drunk
1:14
and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your
wine."
1:15
"Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply
troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to
the LORD.
1:16
Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my
great anguish and grief."
1:17
Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you
have asked of him."
1:18
She said, "May your servant find favor in your eyes." Then she went
her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
1:19
Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went
back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD
remembered her.
1:20
So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named
him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."
Hannah
Dedicates Samuel
1:21
When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice
to the LORD and to fulfill his vow,
1:22
Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I
will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there
always."
1:23
"Do what seems best to you," Elkanah her husband told her. "Stay
here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his word." So
the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
1:24
After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a
three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to
the house of the LORD at Shiloh.
1:25
When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli,
1:26
and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who
stood here beside you praying to the LORD.
1:27
I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.
1:28
So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the
LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.
Chapter
2 Hannah’s Prayer
2:1
Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD
my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your
deliverance.
2:2 "There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
2:3 "Do not keep talking so proudly or let
your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him
deeds are weighed.
2:4 "The bows of the warriors are broken, but
those who stumbled are armed with strength.
2:5 Those who were full hire themselves out for
food, but those who were hungry hunger no more. She who was barren has borne
seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away.
2:6 "The LORD brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
2:7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles
and he exalts.
2:8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. "For the foundations of the earth are
the LORD'S; upon them he has set the world.
2:9 He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced
in darkness. "It is not by strength that one prevails;
2:10 those who oppose the LORD will be shattered.
He will thunder against them from heaven; the LORD will judge the ends of the
earth. "He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his
anointed."
2:11
Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the LORD under
Eli the priest.
Eli’s
Wicked Sons
2:12
Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD.
2:13
Now it was the practice of the priests with the people that whenever anyone
offered a sacrifice and while the meat was being boiled, the servant of the
priest would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand.
2:14
He would plunge it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot, and the priest
would take for himself whatever the fork brought up. This is how they treated all
the Israelites who came to Shiloh.
2:15
But even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and
say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest some meat to roast;
he won't accept boiled meat from you, but only raw."
2:16
If the man said to him, "Let the fat be burned up first, and then take
whatever you want," the servant would then answer, "No, hand it over
now; if you don't, I'll take it by force."
2:17
This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD'S sight, for they were
treating the LORD'S offering with contempt.
2:18
But Samuel was ministering before the LORD--a boy wearing a linen ephod.
2:19
Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up
with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.
2:20
Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "May the LORD give you
children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to
the LORD." Then they would go home.
2:21
And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons
and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the
LORD.
2:22
Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all
Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent
of Meeting.
2:23
So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people
about these wicked deeds of yours.
2:24
No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the LORD'S
people.
2:25
If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins
against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" His sons, however, did not
listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the LORD'S will to put them to
death.
2:26
And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and
with men.
Prophecy Against the House
of Eli
2:27
Now 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
under Pharaoh?
2:28
I chose your father out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up
to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave
your father's house all the offerings made with fire by the Israelites.
2:29
Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling?
Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice
parts of every offering made by my people Israel?'
2:30
"Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: 'I promised that your
house and your father's house would minister before me forever.' But now the
LORD declares: 'Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those
who despise me will be disdained.
2:31
The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your
father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line
2:32
and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel,
in your family line there will never be an old man.
2:33
Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to
blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants
will die in the prime of life.
2:34
"'And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign
to you--they will both die on the same day.
2:35
I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is
in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister
before my anointed one always.
2:36
Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a
piece of silver and a crust of bread and plead, "Appoint me to some
priestly office so I can have food to eat."'"
Chapter
3 The
Lord Calls Samuel
3:1
The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of
the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.
3:2
One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was
lying down in his usual place.
3:3
The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple
of the LORD, where the ark of God was.
3:4
Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am."
3:5
And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said,
"I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.
3:6
Again the LORD called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli
and said, "Here I am; you called me." "My son," Eli said,
"I did not call; go back and lie down."
3:7
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed
to him.
3:8
The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and
said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli realized that the LORD was
calling the boy.
3:9
So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD,
for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
3:10
The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel!
Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is
listening."
3:11
And the LORD said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in Israel
that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.
3:12
At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his
family--from beginning to end.
3:13
For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew
about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them.
3:14
Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, 'The guilt of Eli's house will never be
atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'"
3:15
Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the
LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,
3:16
but Eli called him and said, "Samuel, my son." Samuel answered,
"Here I am."
3:17
"What was it he said to you?" Eli asked. "Do not hide it from
me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything
he told you."
3:18
So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, "He
is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes."
3:19
The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to
the ground.
3:20
And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a
prophet of the LORD.
3:21
The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel
through his word.
Bibliography,
Ryrie,
Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible
Institute, 1986
