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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer

2 Hannah prayed,^[a]

“My heart has rejoiced^[b] in the Lord;
my horn^[c] has been raised high because of the Lord.
I have loudly denounced^[d] my enemies.
Indeed I rejoice in your deliverance.
²No one is holy^[e] like the Lord!
There is no one other than you!
There is no rock^[f] like our God!
³Don’t keep speaking^[g] so arrogantly.^[h]
Proud talk should not^[i] come out of your mouth,
for the Lord is a God who knows;
he^[j] evaluates what people do.
⁴The bows of warriors are shattered,
but those who stumbled have taken on strength.^[k]
⁵The well fed hire themselves out to earn food,
but the hungry no longer lack.^[l]
Even^[m] the barren woman has given birth to seven,^[n]
but the one with many children has declined.^[o]
⁶The Lord both kills and gives life;
he brings down to the grave^[p] and raises up.^[q]
⁷The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy;
he humbles and he exalts.
⁸He lifts the weak^[r] from the dust;
he raises^[s] the poor from the ash heap
to seat them with princes—
he bestows on them an honored position.^[t]
The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord—
he placed the world on them.
⁹He watches over^[u] his holy ones,^[v]
but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness,^[w]
for it is not by one’s own^[x] strength that one prevails.
¹⁰The Lord shatters^[y] his adversaries;^[z]
he thunders against them from^[aa] the heavens.
The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth.
He will strengthen^[ab] his king
and exalt the power^[ac] of his anointed one.”^[ad]

Footnotes

1 Samuel 2:1 tn Heb “prayed and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.
1 Samuel 2:1 tn The verb עָלַץ (ʿalats) is a fientive verb. (Some emotion verbs in Hebrew are stative and some are fientive.) The Qal perfect form of a fientive verb is past or perfective (past action with a result that continues into the present). The LXX renders “my heart was strengthened.”
1 Samuel 2:1 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.
1 Samuel 2:1 tn Heb “my mouth has opened wide against.”
1 Samuel 2:2 sn In this context God’s holiness refers primarily to his sovereignty and incomparability. He is unique and distinct from all other so-called gods.
1 Samuel 2:2 tn 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.”
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 (v^elo, “and by him”), which is supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, is correct, rather than the reading of the Kethib וְלוֹא (v^eloʾ, “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 (v^elo, “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 (v^elo): “his [God’s] actions are in order.” Taking the verb as in the previous case but reading the Kethiv וְלֹא (v^eloʾ) 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.”
1 Samuel 2:6 tn Heb “Sheol”; NAB “the nether world”; CEV “the world of the dead.”
1 Samuel 2:6 tn The first three verbs are participles; the last is a preterite which is normally past consecutive. It is rare, even in poetry, for a preterite verb to follow a participle. The English translations all render the last verb as a participle. They either reason that the preterite continues the force of the participle or assume that it should be repointed as a simple vav plus imperfect (which can be habitual present). If the participles are understood as substantival, then the latter half might mean “the Lord…is one who brings down to [the point of] the grave and then raised up.”
1 Samuel 2:8 tn Or “lowly”; Heb “insignificant.”
1 Samuel 2:8 tn The imperfect verbal form, which is parallel to the participle in the preceding line, is best understood here as indicating what typically happens.
1 Samuel 2:8 tn Heb “he makes them inherit a seat of honor.”
1 Samuel 2:9 tn 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. 10b.
1 Samuel 2:9 tc 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.
1 Samuel 2:9 tc The LXX begins the verse differently, “granting the prayer to the one who prays; he blessed the years of the righteous.”
1 Samuel 2:9 tn Heb “For not by strength a person prevails.” Since the Lord’s strength is apparent in the context, the translation adds “one’s own” for clarity.
1 Samuel 2:10 tn 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. 10b.
1 Samuel 2:10 tc 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. The LXX adds material very similar to Jer 9:23-24. “the Lord is holy. Let not the wise boast in his wisdom, and let not let the strong boast in his strength, and let not let the rich boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this: to understand and know the Lord, and to practice justice and righteousness in the midst of the land.” The Greek text of Jeremiah uses different words for “wise” and “strong” and closes by referring to the Lord as one who performs justice, etc. and whose will is in these things.
1 Samuel 2:10 tn The Hebrew preposition here has the sense of “from within.”
1 Samuel 2:10 tn 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.
1 Samuel 2:10 tn 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.”
1 Samuel 2:10 tc 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.

1 Samuel 2:18-21

¹⁸Now^[a] Samuel was ministering with the favor of the Lord.^[b] The boy^[c] was dressed in a linen ephod. ¹⁹His mother used to make him a small robe and bring it to him from time to time when she would go up with her husband to make the annual sacrifice. ²⁰Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, “May the Lord establish^[d] descendants^[e] for you from this woman in place of the one that she dedicated^[f] to the Lord.” Then they^[g] would go to their^[h] home. ²¹And indeed the Lord attended to^[i] Hannah. She got pregnant and gave birth to^[j] three sons and two daughters. But the boy^[k] Samuel grew up before the Lord.^[l]

Footnotes

1 Samuel 2:18 tn The word “now” does not appear in the Hebrew but was added as part of beginning a new topic in a new paragraph. Verse 11b begins similarly.
1 Samuel 2:18 tn Heb “with [or “before”] the face of.” Cf. 1 Sam 2:11 and 1 Kgs 13:6 where the face represents favor.
1 Samuel 2:18 tn The term נַעַר (naʿar), here translated “boy,” often refers to a servant or apprentice in line for a position of authority. The same term describes Samuel in vs 11 and Eli’s sons in vs 17. The repetition helps establish the contrast between Samuel and Eli’s sons.
1 Samuel 2:20 tn The Hebrew verb שִׂים (sim) means “to position, to set down, to set up, to install.”
1 Samuel 2:20 tn Heb “seed.”
1 Samuel 2:20 tc The MT reads “in place of the request which he asked of the Lord.” The LXX reads “in place of the loan which you lent to the Lord.” At Qumran 4QSam^a has the Hiphil form of שָׁאַל (shaʾal), “which she loaned (or entrusted) to the Lord” (cf. 1:28). The masculine verb in the MT is odd, since the context expects Hannah to be the subject. A masculine form would need to be read impersonally or repointed as a passive. The translation most closely follows 4QSam^a and understands the “request” to be Samuel, the requested one. A longer English translation would be “in place of the one which was requested which she dedicated to the Lord.”
1 Samuel 2:20 tc LXX “the man.”
1 Samuel 2:20 tn Heb “his.”
1 Samuel 2:21 tn The core component of Hebrew verb פָּקַד (paqad) is “to take note of.” But it also carries the implication of acting accordingly with what is noted. When the syntax combines the Qal of פָּקַד (paqad) plus a direct object which is a person, plus contextually stated benefits, the verb regularly describes assisting or providing for someone (Brian Webster, The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew [New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009] 230). The same verb is used to describe enabling Sara to have Isaac in Gen 21:1.
1 Samuel 2:21 tn Presumably in successive pregnancies, not as quintuplets.
1 Samuel 2:21 tn The term נַעַר (naʿar), here translated “boy,” often refers to a servant or apprentice in line for a position of authority. tc At Qumran 4QSam^a omits “the boy” and reads “he grew up there.” The Hebrew word “there” (שָׁם; sham) consists of the first two letters of Samuel’s name.
1 Samuel 2:21 tc The MT reads “with the Lord.” The LXX and 4QSam^a read “before the Lord.” The Hebrew phrasing “with (עִם; ʾim) the Lord” or “with God” is uncommon and varies in significance. The preposition indicates generally that the action in the verb is done in association with the preposition’s object. From context we understand that Samuel’s religious duties are specially in the Lord’s presence, hence the NAB and TEV “in the service of the Lord”; or the CEV “at the Lord’s house in Shiloh.” The NIV, NRSV, and NLT follow the LXX “in the presence of the Lord.”

Colossians 2:6-15

Warnings Against the Adoption of False Philosophies

⁶Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,^[a] continue to live your lives^[b] in him, ⁷rooted^[c] and built up in him and firm^[d] in your^[e] faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. ⁸Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you^[f] through an empty, deceitful philosophy^[g] that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits^[h] of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in him all the fullness of deity lives^[i] in bodily form, ¹⁰and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. ¹¹In him you also were circumcised—not, however,^[j] with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal^[k] of the fleshly body,^[l] that is,^[m] through the circumcision done by Christ. ¹²Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your^[n] faith in the power^[o] of God who raised him from the dead. ¹³And even though you were dead in your^[p] transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless^[q] made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. ¹⁴He has destroyed^[r] what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness^[s] expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵Disarming^[t] the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross.^[u]

Footnotes

Colossians 2:6 tn Though the verb παρελάβετε (parelabete) does not often take a double accusative, here it seems to do so. Both τὸν Χριστὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν (ton Christon Iēsoun) and τὸν κύριον (ton kurion) are equally definite insofar as they both have an article, but both the word order and the use of “Christ Jesus” as a proper name suggest that it is the object (cf. Rom 10:9, 10). Thus Paul is affirming that the tradition that was delivered to the Colossians by Epaphras was Christ-centered and focused on him as Lord.
Colossians 2:6 tn The present imperative περιπατεῖτε (peripateite) implies, in this context, a continuation of something already begun. This is evidenced by the fact that Paul has already referred to their faith as “orderly” and “firm” (2:5), despite the struggles of some of them with this deceptive heresy (cf. 2:16-23). The verb is used literally to refer to a person “walking” and is thus used metaphorically (i.e., ethically) to refer to the way a person lives his or her life.
Colossians 2:7 tn Or “having been rooted.”
Colossians 2:7 sn The three participles rooted, built up, and firm belong together and reflect three different metaphors. The first participle “rooted” (perfect tense) indicates a settled condition on the part of the Colossian believers and refers to horticulture. The second participle “built up” (present passive) comes from the world of architecture. The third participle “firm [established]” (present passive) comes from the law courts. With these three metaphors (as well as the following comment on thankfulness) Paul explains what he means when he commands them to continue to live their lives in Christ. The use of the passive probably reflects God’s activity among them. It was he who had rooted them, had been building them up, and had established them in the faith (cf. 1 Cor 3:5-15 for the use of mixed metaphors).
Colossians 2:7 tn Or “the.” The Greek text has the article τῇ (tē), not the possessive pronoun ὑμῶν (humōn), but the article often functions as a possessive pronoun and was translated as such here (ExSyn 215).
Colossians 2:8 tn The Greek construction here is somewhat difficult and can be literally rendered “Be careful, lest someone shall be the one who takes you captive.”
Colossians 2:8 tn The Greek reads τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης (tēs philosophias kai kenēs apatēs). The two nouns φιλοσοφίας and ἀπάτης are joined by one article and probably form a hendiadys. Thus the second noun was taken as modifying the first, as the translation shows.
Colossians 2:8 tn The phrase κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (kata ta stoicheia tou kosmou) is difficult to translate because of problems surrounding the precise meaning of στοιχεῖα in this context. Originally it referred to the letters of the alphabet, with the idea at its root of “things in a row”; see C. Vaughn, “Colossians,” EBC 11:198. M. J. Harris (Colossians and Philemon [EGGNT], 93) outlines three probable options: (1) the material elements which comprise the physical world; (2) the elementary teachings of the world (so NEB, NASB, NIV); (3) the elemental spirits of the world (so NEB, RSV). The first option is highly unlikely because Paul is not concerned here with the physical elements, e.g., carbon or nitrogen. The last two options are both possible. Though the Gnostic-like heresy at Colossae would undoubtedly have been regarded by Paul as an “elementary teaching” at best, because the idea of “spirits” played such a role in Gnostic thought, he may very well have had in mind elemental spirits that operated in the world or controlled the world (i.e., under God’s authority and permission).
Colossians 2:9 sn In him all the fullness of deity lives. The present tense in this verse (“lives”) is significant. Again, as was stated in the note on 1:19, this is not a temporary dwelling, but a permanent one. Paul’s point is polemical against the idea that the fullness of God dwells anywhere else, as the Gnostics believed, except in Christ alone. At the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity assumed humanity, and is forever the God-man.
Colossians 2:11 tn The terms “however” and “but” in this sentence were supplied in order to emphasize the contrast.
Colossians 2:11 tn The articular noun τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (tē apekdusei) is a noun which ends in -σις (-sis) and therefore denotes action, i.e., “removal.” Since the head noun is a verbal noun, the following genitive τοῦ σώματος (tou sōmatos) is understood as an objective genitive, receiving the action of the head noun.
Colossians 2:11 tn Grk “in the removal of the body of flesh.” The genitive τῆς σαρκός (tēs sarkos) has been translated as an attributive genitive, “fleshly body.”
Colossians 2:11 tn The second prepositional phrase beginning with ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ (en tē peritomē) is parallel to the prepositional phrase ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (en tē apekdusei) and gives a further explanation of it. The words “that is” were supplied to bring out this force in the translation.
Colossians 2:12 tn The article with the genitive modifier τῆς πίστεως (tēs pisteōs) is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
Colossians 2:12 tn The genitive τῆς ἐνεργείας (tēs energeias) has been translated as an objective genitive, “faith in the power.”
Colossians 2:13 tn The article τοῖς (tois) with παραπτώμασιν (paraptōmasin) is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
Colossians 2:13 tn The word “nevertheless,” though not in the Greek text, was supplied in the translation to bring out the force of the concessive participle ὄντας (ontas).
Colossians 2:14 tn The participle ἐξαλείψας (exaleipsas) is a temporal adverbial participle of contemporaneous time related to the previous verb συνεζωοποίησεν (sunezōopoiēsen), but has been translated as a finite verb because of the complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences. For the meaning “destroy” see BDAG 344-45 s.v. ἐξαλείφω 2.
Colossians 2:14 tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (cheirographon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”
Colossians 2:15 tn See BDAG 100 s.v. ἀπεκδύομαι 2.
Colossians 2:15 tn The antecedent of the Greek pronoun αὐτῷ (autō) could either be “Christ” or the “cross.” There are several reasons for choosing “the cross” as the antecedent for αὐτῷ in verse 15: (1) The nearest antecedent is τῷ σταυρῷ (tō staurō) in v. 14; (2) the idea of ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησία (edeigmatisen en parrēsia, “made a public disgrace”) seems to be more in keeping with the idea of the cross; (3) a reference to Christ seems to miss the irony involved in the idea of triumph—the whole point is that where one would expect defeat, there came the victory; (4) if Christ is the subject of the participles in v. 15 then almost certainly the cross is the referent for αὐτῷ. Thus the best solution is to see αὐτῷ as a reference to the cross and the preposition ἐν (en) indicating “means” (i.e., by means of the cross) or possibly (though less likely) location (on the cross).

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer

Footnotes

Footnotes

Warnings Against the Adoption of False Philosophies

Footnotes