translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “prayed and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.


text: Heb “my mouth opens wide against.”


text: Heb “for I rejoice in your deliverance.”


text: 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.”


text: Heb “proudly, proudly.” If MT is original, the repetition of the word is for emphasis, stressing the arrogance of those addressed. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts and some other textual witnesses do not reflect the repetition, suggesting that the Hebrew text may be dittographic.


label: NET textual note

text: The MT ( Qere ) reads “and by him actions are weighed.” The translation assumes that reading of the Qere וְלוֹ ( vÿlo , “and by him”), which is supported by many medieval Hebrew mss , is correct, rather than the reading of the Kethib וְלוֹא ( vÿlo ’, “and not”).


text: Against BHS but with the MT, the preposition ( עַד , ’ ad ) should be taken with what follows rather than with what precedes. For this sense of the preposition see Job 25:5 .


text: Or “languishes.”


text: Heb “Sheol”; NAB “the nether world”; CEV “the world of the dead.”


text: Or “lowly”; Heb “insignificant.”


text: The imperfect verbal form, which is parallel to the participle in the preceding line, is best understood here as indicating what typically happens.


text: Heb “a seat of honor.”


text: Heb “guards the feet of.” The expression means that God watches over and protects the godly in all of their activities and movements. The imperfect verbal forms in v. 9 are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10 b.


text: The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the plural (“his holy ones”) rather than the singular (“his holy one”) of the Kethib .


text: 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. 10 b.


text: 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 .


text: The Hebrew preposition here has the sense of “from within.”


text: 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.


text: 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.”


text: The LXX greatly expands v. 10 with an addition that seems to be taken from Jer 9:23-24 . sn The anointed one is the anticipated king of Israel, as the preceding line makes clear.


text: Heb “with [or “before”] the face of.”


text: Heb “sons of worthlessness.”


text: Heb “they did not know the Lord .” The verb here has the semantic nuance “recognize the authority of.” Eli’s sons obviously knew who the Lord was; they served in his sanctuary. But they did not recognize his moral authority.


text: Heb “the habit of the priests with the people [was this].”


text: Heb “to all Israel.”


text: Heb “living.”


text: The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss (“no”) rather than the Kethib and MT, which read “to him.”


text: Heb “the men,” which is absent from one medieval Hebrew ms , a Qumran ms , and the LXX.


text: Heb “seed.”


text: The MT has a masculine verb here, but in light of the context the reference must be to Hannah. It is possible that the text of the MT is incorrect here (cf. the ancient versions), in which case the text should be changed to read either a passive participle or better, the third feminine singular of the verb. If the MT is correct here, perhaps the masculine is to be understood in a nonspecific and impersonal way, allowing for a feminine antecedent. In any case, the syntax of the MT is unusual here.


text: Heb “his.”


text: Heb “with the Lord .” Cf. NAB, TEV “in the service of the Lord”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “in the presence of the Lord”; CEV “at the Lord’s house in Shiloh.”


text: Heb “lie with.”


text: For “these” the LXX has “of the Lord” ( κυρίου , kuriou ), perhaps through the influence of the final phrase of v. 24 (“the people of the Lord ”). Somewhat less likely is the view that the MT reading is due to a distorted dittography of the first word of v. 24 . The Vulgate lacks the word.


text: Heb “no.”


text: Heb “they”; the referent (Eli’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “desired.”


text: The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.


text: Heb “to your father’s” (also in vv. 28, 30 ).


text: Heb “him”; the referent (Eli’s ancestor, i.e., Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The MT has a plural “you” here, but the LXX and a Qumran ms have the singular. The singular may be the correct reading; the verb “you have honored” later in the verse is singular even in the MT. However, it is more probable that the Lord here refers to Eli and his sons. Note the plural in the second half of the verse (“you have made yourselves fat”).


text: Heb “which I commanded, dwelling place.” The noun is functioning as an adverbial accusative in relation to the verb. Since God’s dwelling place/sanctuary is in view, the pronoun “my” is supplied in the translation.


text: Heb “walk about before.”


text: Heb “may it be far removed from me.”


text: Heb “chop off your arm.” The arm here symbolizes strength and activity.


text: Heb “arm.”


text: Heb “you will see [the] trouble of [the] dwelling place.” Since God’s dwelling place/sanctuary is in view, the pronoun is supplied in the translation (see v. 29 ).


text: Heb “in all which he does good with Israel.”


text: The LXX and a Qumran manuscript have the first person pronoun “my” here.


text: Heb “all the days.”


text: The LXX, a Qumran ms , and a few old Latin mss have the third person pronominal suffix “his” here.


text: Heb “to cause your eyes to fail.” Elsewhere this verb, when used of eyes, refers to bloodshot eyes resulting from weeping, prolonged staring, or illness (see Lev 26:16 ; Pss 69:3; 119:82 ; Lam 2:11; 4:17 ).


text: Heb “and to cause your soul grief.”


text: Heb “and all the increase of your house.”


text: The text is difficult. The MT literally says “they will die [as] men.” Apparently the meaning is that they will be cut off in the prime of their life without reaching old age. The LXX and a Qumran ms , however, have the additional word “sword” (“they will die by the sword of men”). This is an easier reading (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT), but that fact is not in favor of its originality.


text: Heb “and this to you [is] the sign which will come to both of your sons.”


text: Heb “house.”


text: Heb “and he will walk about before my anointed one all the days.”


text: Heb “a piece of silver” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).