1 Samuel 2:1

Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer

2:1 Hannah prayed, ¹ 

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

my horn ²  is exalted high because of the Lord.

I loudly denounce ³  my enemies,

for I am happy that you delivered me. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 2:10

2:10 The Lord shatters ⁵  his adversaries; ⁶ 

he thunders against them from ⁷  the heavens.

The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth.

He will strengthen ⁸  his king

and exalt the power ⁹  of his anointed one.” ¹⁰ 

1 Samuel 2:2

2:2 No one is holy ¹¹  like the Lord!

There is no one other than you!

There is no rock ¹²  like our God!

1 Samuel 22:3

22:3 Then David went from there to Mizpah in Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay ¹³  with you until I know what God is going to do for me.”

Mazmur 18:3

18:3 I called ¹⁴  to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, ¹⁵ 

and I was delivered from my enemies.

Mazmur 89:18

89:18 For our shield ¹⁶  belongs to the Lord,

our king to the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 132:17

132:17 There I will make David strong; ¹⁸ 

I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue. ¹⁹ 

Yehezkiel 29:21

29:21 On that day I will make Israel powerful, ²⁰  and I will give you the right to be heard ²¹  among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “prayed and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[2:1]  ² sn Horns of animals have always functioned as both offensive and defensive weapons for them. As a figure of speech the horn is therefore often used in the Bible as a symbol of human strength (see also in v. 10). The allusion in v. 1 to the horn being lifted high suggests a picture of an animal elevating its head in a display of strength or virility.

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “my mouth opens wide against.”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “for I rejoice in your deliverance.”

[2:10]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verbal forms in this line and in the next two lines are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10b.

[2:10]  ⁶ tc The present translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate in reading the plural (“his adversaries,” similarly many other English versions) rather than the singular (“his adversary”) of the Kethib.

[2:10]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew preposition here has the sense of “from within.”

[2:10]  ⁸ tn The imperfect verbal forms in this and the next line are understood as indicating what is anticipated and translated with the future tense, because at the time of Hannah’s prayer Israel did not yet have a king.

[2:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “the horn,” here a metaphor for power or strength. Cf. NCV “make his appointed king strong”; NLT “increases the might of his anointed one.”

[2:10]  ¹⁰ tc The LXX greatly expands v. 10 with an addition that seems to be taken from Jer 9:23-24.

[2:10]  sn The anointed one is the anticipated king of Israel, as the preceding line makes clear.

[2:2]  ¹¹ sn In this context God’s holiness refers primarily to his sovereignty and incomparability. He is unique and distinct from all other so-called gods.

[2:2]  ¹² tn The LXX has “and there is none righteous like our God.” The Hebrew term translated “rock” refers to a rocky cliff where one can seek refuge from enemies. Here the metaphor depicts God as a protector of his people. Cf. TEV “no protector like our God”; CEV “We’re safer with you than on a high mountain.”

[22:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “go forth.”

[18:3]  ¹⁴ tn In this song of thanksgiving, where the psalmist recalls how the Lord delivered him, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect.

[18:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “worthy of praise, I cried out [to] the Lord.” Some take מְהֻלָּל (mÿhullal, “worthy of praise”) with what precedes and translate, “the praiseworthy one,” or “praiseworthy.” However, the various epithets in vv. 1-2 have the first person pronominal suffix, unlike מְהֻלָּל. If one follows the traditional verse division and takes מְהֻלָּל with what follows, it is best understood as substantival and as appositional to יְהוָה (yÿhvah): “[to the] praiseworthy one I cried out, [to the] Lord.”

[89:18]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase “our shield” refers metaphorically to the Davidic king, who, as God’s vice-regent, was the human protector of the people. Note the parallelism with “our king" here and with “your anointed one” in Ps 84:9.

[89:18]  ¹⁷ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.

[132:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “there I will cause a horn to sprout for David.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (cf. Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Pss 18:2; 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that used its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36.

[132:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I have arranged a lamp for my anointed one.” Here the “lamp” is a metaphor for the Davidic dynasty (see 1 Kgs 11:36).

[29:21]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel.” The horn is used as a figure for military power in the OT (Ps 92:10). A similar expression is made about the Davidic dynasty in Ps 132:17.

[29:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will grant you an open mouth.”