1 ซามูเอล 2:35 วิจารณ์

In this chapter we have, I. Hannah's song of thanksgiving to God for his favour to her in giving her Samuel (Sa1 2:1-10). II. Their return to their family, with Eli's blessing (Sa1 2:11, Sa1 2:20). The increase of their family (Sa1 2:21). Samuel's growth and improvement (Sa1 2:11, Sa1 2:18, Sa1 2:21, Sa1 2:26), and the care Hannah took to clothe him (Sa1 2:19). III. The great wickedness of Eli's sons (Sa1 2:12-17, Sa1 2:22). IV. The over-mild reproof that Eli gave them for it (Sa1 2:23-25). V. The justly dreadful message God sent him by a prophet, threatening the ruin of his family for the wickedness of his sons (Sa1 2:27-36).

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 2 In this chapter the song of Hannah is recorded, Sa1 2:1, and an account is given of the return of Elkanah and Hannah to their own home, and of the care she took yearly to provide a coat for Samuel, and of her being blessed with many other children, and of the growth and ministry of Samuel before the Lord, Sa1 2:11, and of the wickedness of the sons of Eli, Sa1 2:12, and of Eli's too gentle treatment of them when he reproved them for it, Sa1 2:22 and of a sharp message sent him from the Lord on that account, threatening destruction to his house, of which the death of his two sons would be a sign, Sa1 2:27.

And it shall come to pass, that everyone that is left in thine house,.... That is not cut off by death, the few remains of Eli's posterity in succeeding times, after the high priesthood was removed out of his family into another; so that they were reduced at best to common priests, and these, as it should seem, degraded from that office for their maladministration of it, or scandalous lives: shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread; which Grotius interprets of their coming to God, and bowing themselves before him, and praying to him for the smallest piece of money to cast into the treasury, and for a morsel of bread to be accepted as an offering, instead of a bullock, sheep, lamb, or even a bird, which they were not able to bring; but the meaning is, that such should be the low estate of Eli's family, when another, even Zadok, was made high priest, that they should come and humble themselves before him, as the Targum expresses it, beseeching him to give them a piece of silver, even the smallest piece, that is, as the word signifies, a "gerah" or "meah", about a penny or three halfpence of our money, the twentieth part of a shekel, Eze 45:12 and a piece of bread, not a whole loaf, but a slice of it, to such extremity would they be brought: and shall say, put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread; or into one of the wards of the priests; their custodies or courses, as the Targum; with which the Jewish commentators generally agree, and of which there were twenty four; see Ch1 24:4, and there are some traces of them in the New Testament, see Luk 1:5, but these were regular priests, who were in those courses, and had a sufficient maintenance for them, and had not barely a piece of bread to live on, or just enough to keep them from starving, as the phrase denotes; wherefore this must be understood, as before hinted, of priests degraded from their office, on some account or another, and reduced to poverty and want; and therefore, that they might be kept from starving, would solicit the high priest in those days, and beg that he would put them in some inferior post under the priests, to do the meanest offices for them, slay the sacrifices for them, wash their pots, open and shut up doors, and the like, that so they might have a living, though a poor one; and this may reasonably be thought to be the case of Eli's posterity, in process of time, after Abiathar was deposed from the high priest's office, and was ordered to go and live upon his fields and farm at Anathoth, Kg1 2:26 with which compare Eze 44:10. This, as Ben Gersom observes, was a fit punishment, and a righteous retaliation on Eli's posterity, that they should be brought to crouch to others, and be glad of a morsel of bread, who had behaved so imperiously towards the Lord's people, and had taken away their flesh from them by force; and, not content with their allowance, took the best pieces of the sacrifices, to make themselves fat with them. Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 3

38. For when the sons of Eli were dead, the Lord raised up a faithful priest for Himself, because when the leaders of the ancient people were destroyed in their faithlessness, He chose elect ones to carry out the ministry of our redemption. He is indeed called a faithful one who was taken up, because the old one, whom he succeeded, was rejected on account of unfaithfulness. And because that faith of his is ascribed to the praises of the priest, which works through love, the very works of love are indicated by the words that follow. For it continues: 80 (Verse 35.) 'Who shall do according to my heart and my soul.' 39. For the ineffable divine substance wished to be signified through the parts of a human being, which ought not to be understood according to the letter as referring to God Himself. And so He said: "Who shall act according to my heart and my soul." Not that the incorporeal and uncircumscribed substance of God has a heart and soul, but He speaks to man as a man is accustomed to speak to a man, so that through what a person recognizes from hearing His word, he may openly know what God also wills. This indeed could have been said more simply: "Who shall do my will." And He sets forth the rewards of the work, saying: (Verse 35.) "And I will build him a faithful house." 40. For what else is this house understood to be, if not the eternal homeland? Which house indeed the Lord, commending it, speaks of: 'In my Father's house there are many mansions' (John 14:2). But this house is now said to be built, because it is prepared through the actions of a pious life. Nevertheless, for meriting it, the work of man is unworthy if the grace of a merciful God does not accomplish this. Rightly therefore, when the building of the house is set forth, the Lord promises to build it for him, because indeed human powers fall short of so great a work if they are not divinely aided. Hence Paul says: 'It is God who works in me both to will and to accomplish' (Phil. 2:13). Hence again he says: 'It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy' (Rom. 9:16). He was promising to build this house when He said: 'I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come again, and will receive you to myself, that where I am, you also may be' (John 14:2, 3). But because he was going to devoutly follow, from the freedom of his will, the grace calling him, it is added: (Verse 35.) 'And he shall walk before my Christ all his days.' 41. For to walk before Christ for each of the elect is to always see oneself in the sight of the Redeemer, and to do those things which one knows are acceptable to Him. Or certainly one walks before Christ who in everything he does always looks to Him, and directs the uprightness of his life toward Him whom he recognizes as having come through the assumed humanity to set in order the form of the elect. But Judea is not to be forever abandoned in the darkness of her blindness, because through the prophet it is said: "If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant shall be saved" (Isaiah 10:22). Hence Paul says: "Blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles enters in, and so all Israel shall be saved" (Romans 11:25-26). Therefore he subsequently shows this visitation of Judea, because he says: (Verse 33.) "And it shall come to pass that whoever remains in your house shall come, that he may be prayed for."

For the Lord raises up a faithful priest for Himself, because indeed the highest position demands for its care one who not only rightly understands, but who faithfully ministers. Moreover, he will then be able to minister rightly when he recognizes the measure of his ministry from sacred Scripture. Hence, when a faithful priest is promised, he is declared to act according to the heart and soul of Almighty God. For what do we understand by the heart and soul of God, if not His sacred Scripture? For with the heart we think toward deliberation, and with the soul we are moved toward love. Since, therefore, in sacred Scripture we recognize the counsels of Almighty God, and there we find the love with which He loved the human race, that same Scripture reasonably designates His heart and soul. Accordingly, Almighty God chooses for His ministry the priest who acts according to His heart and soul, because indeed no one else is worthy of so great an office unless he has learned His will from sacred Scripture and devotes what he has learned to the benefit of his neighbors through the zeal of charity. But we must still attentively consider what is said: (Verse 35.) 'According to my heart and my soul.' For certain precepts are found in Sacred Scripture which are indeed precepts of God's dispensation, and not of God's love. If the priest who is promised to be raised up were to fulfill these, he would indeed act according to the heart of God, and not according to His soul, since he would have rendered in works the counsel of divine dispensation, and not the precept of love. Were not those commandments of His, of which He speaks, saying: "I gave them statutes that were not good" (Ezek. 20:25), from the dispensation of God? And when the Pharisees disputed with Truth Himself about giving a bill of divorce, they heard: "Because of your hardness of heart Moses gave you the law" (Matt. 19:8). Since therefore those things were from the dispensation of His counsel, whoever made use of those same precepts acted according to the heart of the Lord, and not according to His soul. For the precept of the heart and soul is that of which it is said: "This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you" (John 15:12). Because what He commands through counsel, He embraces through the embrace of charity. Hence He likewise says: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" (Luke 6:27). Hence He likewise commands, saying: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them." These therefore and precepts of this kind are precepts of God's heart and soul, because by the revelation of His secret counsel it is shown what is received in His sight through the proof of charity. Therefore the faithful priest is known by this sign: namely, if he acts according to His heart and soul, because indeed he is then truly faithful if he follows not the license of His dispensation, but the precepts of love. But because he is chosen not in vain, but for the profit of the people subject to him, he adds and says: (Verse 35) "And I will build him a faithful house." For the house of the priest is the congregation over which the subject peoples dwell. This house is indeed built for him as faithful by the Lord, because it is raised up to the zeal of obedience by divine inspiration. For an unfaithful house is that society of subjects which daily receives the preaching of a good ruler, yet does not intend to obey him through the pursuit of good works. For it is recognized as an unfaithful house, because the currency of God's word, which is entrusted to it through the ministry of its preacher, is squandered through the negligence of a prodigal life, and what is committed to it for the profit of business is by no means found at the time when an accounting must be rendered. Therefore a faithful house is built by the Lord for a good preacher when the hearts of the subject people are divinely prepared to obey his voice, so that it not only guards what is stored within it from the talent of the word, but brings it, accumulated with manifold profit, to the table of eternal reception. And it should be noted that a faithful house is said to be built by the Lord, so that the preacher may never glory vainly in the good conduct of the subject people. It should also be noted that the Lord raises up a faithful priest for himself, so that the hearts of subjects may not presume to attribute to their own merits the very fact that they are governed by an excellent ruler. It should also be noted that the Lord calls the priest whom he raises up faithful to himself, but the house which he builds for him he says will be faithful to the priest himself; because indeed the preacher owes obedience to God, and the subject to the prelate. But then the prelate rightly walks before the subject if truth itself is seen to direct all the paths of his life. Therefore it follows: (Verse 35.) And he shall walk before my Christ all his days. But the Christ of the Lord is the Redeemer of the human race. Who indeed, because He is now believed to have ascended to the heavens, is seen by His faithful not with bodily eyes, but with the mind. Therefore he walks before Him all his days who does nothing from sudden impulse. For in order to place right steps outwardly in action, he looks inwardly to Christ, whom he carries in his heart through contemplation. But because He still speaks to the reprobate pastor, He adds, saying: (Verse 36.) And it shall come to pass that whoever remains of your house shall come that it may be prayed for him.

"And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will act according to my heart, etc." [1 Samuel 2:35] What the prophet says, speaking to Eli in the person of God: And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will act according to my heart and my soul: and I will build him a faithful house, and he will walk before my Christ all days, must be understood under the figure of Samuel as referring to the Lord Savior, namely the highest and true high priest. For just as Samuel succeeded Eli in the priesthood after his death, chosen not from the lineage of Aaron, but from another family of Levi: For he was the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, the son of Tahath, the son of Asir, the son of Abiasaph, the son of Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel (I Chronicles VI), as the words of the Chronicles narrate: so also the Mediator of God and men, to be our priest, took on flesh not from Levi but from another tribe, namely Judah; he offered another sacrifice than the legal one, that is, his own flesh to the Father for us; he left others than those of the lineage of Aaron as heirs of his priesthood, namely the sons of grace of the new testament, gathered from the whole nation of the Gentiles. And God, as if speaking in a human manner, says: Who will act according to my heart and my soul; it can be rightly taken to refer to Samuel, who in all things obeyed his will as a man would obey God; but concerning the Lord Savior, it means that as the only begotten Son, he is aware of all the secrets of the Father, as he himself clearly testifies about himself, saying: And I do nothing of myself, but as the Father has taught me, so I speak. And he who sent me is with me; and he has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him (John VIII). To whom the Father builds a faithful house, which house we are, if we hold firmly to the confidence and the glory of hope until the end. And this house will walk before his Christ, that is, the highest priest himself, all days; for the holy Church up to the end of the world will never cease to grow with the increase of its members. Otherwise, how can it be understood about Samuel, that a faithful house was built for him, which would walk before the Christ of the Lord, that is, Samuel himself, all the days; since we read later that his sons turned aside from his ways after greed, and perverted judgment? Unless perhaps in this place we understand his house to mean the Israelite people, who served the Lord all the days of his priesthood. Concerning which it is written: And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. And shortly after: So the children of Israel put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served only the Lord (1 Samuel VII). But as for what follows: However, it shall come to pass, that whoever remains in your house, shall come to pray for him, and to offer a piece of silver, and a morsel of bread (1 Samuel II); this both in the present time is somewhat fulfilled, and in the end of the world will be completely fulfilled. For even if few, yet some daily from the Jews, not only of the common people, but also from the priestly lineage flee to the Church; and when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel shall be saved (Romans II). Whoever from these is to be saved is indeed the one who is said to remain in the house. With the priesthood of Eli perishing, it is necessary for him to offer to the Church for himself a piece of silver of devoted confession to God, which is contained in the creed; short in word, but significant in virtue. Silver represents the clarity of the heavenly word, as gold often represents the splendor of spiritual wisdom. He shall also offer the bread of the saving sacrifice, with the legal victim's flesh rejected, and shall say: Grant me, I pray, one priestly portion (1 Samuel II), that is, to the same people splendid with Christ as priest, to whom Peter said: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood (1 Peter II). And what he adds: That I may eat a morsel of bread (1 Samuel II), he also elegantly expressed the very type of sacrifice, concerning which the priest himself said: The bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world (John VI). For what he had said above, that he had given to the house of Aaron food from the sacrifices of the Old Testament, which were the sacrifices of the Jews; therefore here he said that one should ask to eat a morsel of bread, which is in the New Testament the sacrifice of Christians.

And I will build a faithful house for him, etc. The faithful house, which is built for the faithful priest on the rock foundation by the wise man, is the Church; which walked before Christ all the days of this present life, and never will the gates of hell prevail against its perfect progress. And it is beautifully said, "She will walk all the days;" because when the course of fleeting days has passed and the better day comes in His courts, which is better than thousands, and He grants the blessing, who gave the law, this house has nothing more to improve, walking from strength to strength; because she will see the God of gods in Zion and will praise Him blessed in His house, indeed even the house itself forever. For a faithful house cannot easily be understood as built for Samuel, whose sons are reported to have turned aside to greed and not walked in his ways, unless perhaps his house is to be considered the people he was leading, about which it is written: "And all the house of Israel longed for the Lord" (1 Samuel 7). And to have walked before Christ the Lord, either the Lord Himself before Samuel, or Samuel himself, whether Saul or David can be understood.

Hannah's prophetic hymn, Sa1 2:1-10. Samuel ministers to the Lord, Sa1 2:11. The abominable conduct of Eli's sons, Sa1 2:12-17. Farther account of Samuel, and of the Divine blessing on Elkanah and Hannah, Sa1 2:18-21. Eli's reprehensible remissness towards his sons in not restraining them in their great profligacy, Sa1 2:22-26. The message of God to Eli, and the prophecy of the downfall of his family, and slaughter of his wicked sons Hophni and Phinehas, Sa1 2:27-36.

A faithful priest - This seems to have been spoken of Zadok, who was anointed high priest in the room of Abiathar, the last descendant of the house of Eli; see Kg1 2:26, Kg1 2:27. Abiathar was removed because he had joined with Adonijah, who had got himself proclaimed king; see Kg1 1:7. I will build him a sure house - I will continue the priesthood in his family. He shall walk before mine Anointed - He shall minister before Solomon, and the kings which shall reign in the land. The Targum says, "He shall walk קדם משיחי kodam Meshichi, before my Messiah," and the Septuagint expresses it, ενωπιον Χριστου μον, "before my Christ;" for, in their proper and more extended sense, these things are supposed to belong to our great High Priest and the Christian system: but the word may refer to the Israelitish people. See the note on Heb 9:26.

HANNAH'S SONG IN THANKFULNESS TO GOD. (Sa1 2:1-11) Hannah prayed, and said--Praise and prayer are inseparably conjoined in Scripture (Col 4:2; Ti1 2:1). This beautiful song was her tribute of thanks for the divine goodness in answering her petition. mine horn is exalted in the Lord--Allusion is here made to a peculiarity in the dress of Eastern women about Lebanon, which seems to have obtained anciently among the Israelite women, that of wearing a tin or silver horn on the forehead, on which their veil is suspended. Wives, who have no children, wear it projecting in an oblique direction, while those who become mothers forthwith raise it a few inches higher, inclining towards the perpendicular, and by this slight but observable change in their headdress, make known, wherever they go, the maternal character which they now bear.