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
6:19 But the Lord 5 struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 6 of the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow.
10:25 Then Samuel talked to the people about how the kingship would work. 7 He wrote it all down on a scroll and set it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away to their homes.
1 tn Heb “prayed and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.
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.
3 tn Heb “my mouth opens wide against.”
4 tn Heb “for I rejoice in your deliverance.”
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
6 tc The number 50,070 is surprisingly large, although it finds almost unanimous textual support in the MT and in the ancient versions. Only a few medieval Hebrew
9 tn Heb “the regulation of the kingship.” This probably refers to the regulations pertaining to kingship given to Moses (see Deut 17:14-20).