1 Samuel 2:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 2:8
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up 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.
to inherit (as a (figurative) mode of descent) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
throne
וְכִסֵּ֥אve.khi.Se'
H3678
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
glory
כָב֖וֹדkha.Vod
H3519
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
pillars
מְצֻ֣קֵיme.Tzu.kei
H4690
something narrow · noun, common masculine plural construct
earth
אֶ֔רֶץ'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute
LORD’s
לַֽיהוָה֙la.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
set
וַיָּ֥שֶׁתvai.Ya.shet
H7896
to place (in a very wide application) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
world
תֵּבֵֽלte.Vel
H8398
the earth (as moist and therefore inhabited) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 113:7-8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
Daniel 2:48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of th…
James 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to t…
Daniel 6:3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him ove…
1 Samuel 15:17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee k…
Ecclesiastes 4:14 For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
Revelation 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
2 Samuel 7:8 Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the shee…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 2:1-10
We have here Hannah's thanksgiving, dictated, not only by the spirit of prayer, but by the spirit of prophecy. Her petition for the mercy she desired we had before (Sa1 1:11), and here we have her return of praise; in both out of the abundance of a heart deeply affected (in the former with her own wants, and in the latter with God's goodness) her mouth spoke. Observe in general, 1. When she had received mercy from God she owned it, with thankfulness to his praise. Not like the nine lepers, Luk 17:17. Praise is our rent, our tribute. We are unjust if we do not pay it. 2. The mercy she had received was an answer to prayer, and therefore she thought herself especially obliged to give thanks for…
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill--The dunghill, a pile of horse, cow, or camel offal, heaped up to dry in the sun, and used as fuel, was, and is, one of the common haunts of the poorest mendicants; and the change that had been made in the social position of Hannah, appeared to her grateful heart as auspicious and as great as the elevation of a poor despised beggar to the highest and most dignified rank.
inherit the throne of glory--that is, possesses seats of honor.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 2:8
To set them among princes - There have been many cases where, in the course of God's providence, a person has been raised from the lowest and most abject estate to the highest; from the plough to the imperial dignity: from the dungeon to the throne; from the dunghill to nobility. The story of Cincinnatus is well known; so is that of the patriarch Joseph; but there is one not less in point, that of Roushen Akhter, who was brought out of a dungeon, and exalted to the throne of Hindustan. On this circumstance the following elegant couplet was made: -
"He was a bright star, but now is become a moon,
Joseph is taken from prison, and is become a king."
There is a play here on Roushen Akhter, whic…
He raises the needy from the dust, etc. He raises Christ from the dead, so that His flesh may not see corruption; and He lifts Him to the heavens, that He may not be overcome by the persecutors, the Jews, whose traditions the Apostle considers as dung (Colossians III). For He Himself became needy, He Himself became poor for our sakes, that by His poverty we might be made rich (II Cor. VIII).
To sit with princes, etc. He himself explains this verse, when questioned by those whom he made poor so that he might enrich them; he humbled them on earth so that he might exalt them in heaven; when asked what reward they would have in the future; he responded: When the Son of Man will sit on the throne of his majesty, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. XIX). And Solomon, in praise of a strong woman, that is, the Church, or any chosen soul: Noble, he says, is her husband in the gates, when he sits with the elders of the land (Proverbs XXXI).
The needy and poor one is understood as the gentile people, who is said to be raised from the dust and lifted from the dung, because when he is received into the faith of the Redeemer, both his lesser and graver sins are forgiven. For since dust is easily shaken off, while filth that defiles with dung fouls horribly, dust signifies lighter sins and dung graver sins. Rightly also the needy one is said to be raised from the dust, and the poor one lifted from the dung. For he was sleeping among those things from which he could be roused by a light touch of grace. But he was lying among those things because, having fallen into graver sins, he needed the hand of great help. But now let us hear to what height of honor the needy one who is raised from the dust, and the poor one who is lifted from the dung, is advanced.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Dung-hill — To sit on a, was a sign of the deepest dejection (1 Sam. 2:8; Ps. 113:7; Lam. 4:5).
Fast — The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), Lev. 23:26-32. It is called “the fast” (Acts 27:9). The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old…
Hannah — Favour, grace, one of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. 1; 2). Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle…
Mary — Hebrew Miriam. (1.) The wife of Joseph, the mother of Jesus, called the “Virgin Mary,” though never so designated in Scripture (Matt. 2:11; Acts 1:14). Little is known of her personal history. Her…
Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Songs — Of Moses (Ex. 15; Num. 21:17; Deut. 32; Rev. 15:3), Deborah (Judg. 5), Hannah (1 Sam. 2), David (2 Sam. 22, and Psalms), Mary (Luke 1:46-55), Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79), the angels (Luke 2:13), Simeon…
Barrenness · A reproach — A reproach
Beggars · Set among princes — Set among princes
Earth · Ancient notions concerning — Ancient notions concerning
Geology · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Glory · .Inherited by saints — .Inherited by saints
Hannah · Her hymn of praise — Her hymn of praise
John Gill on 1 Samuel 2:8
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill,.... This is but a further illustration of what is before expressed. Literally; such poor as are beggars, are those that are extremely poor, that sit in the dust and beg, and have nothing but a dunghill to lie on; yet God is able to raise and lift up persons in such an extremely low condition to a very high one: spiritually; such are the poor, who are poor in spirit, and spiritually poor, and are sensible of it, and they, and they only, are beggars. For all that are poor, as they are not sensible of their poverty, so they beg not; but some are and beg; they knock at the door of grace and mercy; their language…
Hannah's song of praise. - The prayer in which Hannah poured out the feelings of her heart, after the dedication of her son to the Lord, is a song of praise of a prophetic and Messianic character. After giving utterance in the introduction to the rejoicing and exulting of her soul at the salvation that had reached her (Sa1 2:1), she praises the Lord as the only holy One, the only rock of the righteous, who rules on earth with omniscience and righteousness, brings down the proud and lofty, kills and makes alive, maketh poor and maketh rich (Sa1 2:2-8). She then closes with the confident assurance that He will keep His saints, and cast down the rebellious, and will judge the ends of the earth,…
all the earth is the Lord’s: God, the creator and ruler of all things, is able to change circumstances (2:4-8), protect the faithful (2:9), judge the wicked, and empower his anointed king (2:10).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 2:5
The sated have hired themselves out for bread. [The sated] who do not need to hire themselves out for any work, He starves them and they must hire themselves out for bread,
And the hungry Who would toil and weary themselves for food.
Have ceased. From their toil.
Until the barren has born seven and she with many children…. While the barren woman has born seven,5 Others interpret that the seven children mentioned are not literally seven and with reference to Peninah, but rather it is an expression that means “many children.” See above 1:8.—Radak she that had many children has been bereaved and buries her children. Chana bore seven as it is stated, "For Adonoy remembered Chana and she conce…
Missionaries, All Christians Should Be As · Exemplified: Hannah — Exemplified: Hannah
Pillars · Illustrative of: Stability of the earth — Illustrative of: Stability of the earth
Poetry · .Hannah’ s — .Hannah’ s
Poor, The · God: Exalts — God: Exalts
Praise · Of Hannah — Of Hannah
Providence Of God, The · Is exercised in: Ordaining the conditions and circumstances of men — Is exercised in: Ordaining the conditions and circumstances of men
Psalms · Of Hannah, in thankfulness for a — Of Hannah, in thankfulness for a
Samuel · His mother’ s — His mother’ s
Satire · Hannah’ s — Hannah’ s
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
