1 Samuel 2:3-5 New English Translation
3 Don’t keep speaking[a] so arrogantly.[b]
Proud talk should not[c] come out of your mouth,
for the Lord is a God who knows;
he[d] evaluates what people do.
4 The bows of warriors are shattered,
but those who stumbled have taken on strength.[e]
5 The well fed hire themselves out to earn food,
but the hungry no longer lack.[f]
Even[g] the barren woman has given birth to seven,[h]
but the one with many children has declined.[i]
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 2:3 tn Heb “Do not do a lot; do [not] speak.” The two verbs are understood together to refer to abundant speaking.
- 1 Samuel 2:3 tn 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.
- 1 Samuel 2:3 tn The negative element, “not,” is understood to reapply from the first sentence through the poetic technique of ellipsis and double duty.
- 1 Samuel 2:3 tc The translation assumes the reading of the Qere וְלוֹ (velo, “and by him”), which is supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, is correct, rather than the reading of the Kethib וְלוֹא (veloʾ, “and not”).tn HALOT cites three possibilities for the phrase. Reading the Niphal verb as passive to the Qal meaning (“to examine, check”) and reading the Qere וְלוֹ (velo, “and by him”): “actions [are] tested by him.” Taking the Niphal verb to mean “to measure up, be in order, be correct” (cf. Ezek 18:25, 29; 33:17, 20) and reading the Qere וְלוֹ (velo): “his [God’s] actions are in order.” Taking the verb as in the previous case but reading the Kethiv וְלֹא (veloʾ) and taking the noun עֲלִלוֹת (ʿalilot) as a pejorative: “[disgraceful] actions have no place.” (HALOT s.v. תכן). The translation agrees with the first option and translates the verb with active instead of passive voice.
- 1 Samuel 2:4 tn Heb “stumblers have put on strength.” Because of the contrast between the prior and current condition, the participle has been translated with past tense. The Hebrew metaphor is a picture of getting dressed with (“putting on”) strength like clothing.
- 1 Samuel 2:5 tn By implication these lines refer to those formerly well-fed and those formerly hungry.
- 1 Samuel 2:5 tc Against BHS but with the MT, the preposition (עַד, ʿad) should be taken with what follows rather than with what precedes. For this sense of the preposition see Job 25:5.
- 1 Samuel 2:5 sn The number seven is used here in an ideal sense. Elsewhere in the OT having seven children is evidence of fertility as a result of God’s blessing on the family. See, for example, Jer 15:9, Ruth 4:15.
- 1 Samuel 2:5 tn Or “languished.”
New English Translation (NET)
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