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The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed.”
1 Samuel 2:10 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Those who strive with Yahweh shall be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in the sky. “Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
  • KJV The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
  • BSB Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”
  • NASB “Those who contend with the Lord will be terrified; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed.”
  • NLT Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered. He thunders against them from heaven; the Lord judges throughout the earth. He gives power to his king; he increases the strength of his anointed one.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The Lord will shatter His foes and judge the whole earth, giving strength to His king and exalting His anointed. The song ends looking ahead to God's appointed king.

Overview

Hannah's closing words are remarkable, for as yet Israel had no king; this is a prophetic anticipation of God's anointed ruler. The line points toward David and ultimately to the Messiah, the Anointed One whom God exalts. Her song thus frames the whole book's movement toward kingship and looks forward to Christ, God's King who will judge the ends of the earth.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 40

  • Ps 2:9You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
  • Ps 89:24But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him. In my name, his horn will be exalted.
  • Ps 96:13before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.
  • Exod 15:6Your right hand, Yahweh, is glorious in power. Your right hand, Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces.
  • Ps 18:13–14Yahweh also thundered in the sky. The Most High uttered his voice: hailstones and coals of fire.
  • Ps 21:7–9For the king trusts in Yahweh. Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved.
  • Ps 98:9Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
  • Ps 20:6Now I know that Yahweh saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand.
  • Ps 92:9–10For, behold, your enemies, Yahweh, for, behold, your enemies shall perish. All the evildoers will be scattered.
  • 1 Sam 7:10As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines came near to battle against Israel; but Yahweh thundered with a great thunder on that day on the Philistines, and confused them; and they were struck down before Israel.
  • Eccl 11:9Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
  • Matt 25:31–32“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
  • Ps 45:7You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
  • Matt 28:18Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
  • Ps 68:1–2For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song. Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him.
  • Ps 50:1–6A Psalm by Asaph. The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
  • Judg 5:31“So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.
  • Ps 2:6“Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”
  • Ps 2:2The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,
  • Ps 21:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. The king rejoices in your strength, Yahweh! How greatly he rejoices in your salvation!
  • Ps 28:8Yahweh is their strength. He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
  • Job 40:9Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him?
  • 2 Cor 5:10For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
  • 2 Sam 7:13He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
  • 1 Sam 12:18So Samuel called to Yahweh; and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel.
  • Acts 10:38even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
  • Isa 32:1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice.
  • 1 Sam 16:1Yahweh said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided a king for myself among his sons.”
  • Ps 148:14He has lifted up the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near to him. Praise Yah!
  • 2 Sam 7:8Now therefore tell my servant David this, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over Israel.
  • Ps 89:17For you are the glory of their strength. In your favor, our horn will be exalted.
  • Rev 20:11–15I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
  • Rom 14:10–12But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
  • Luke 1:69and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
  • 1 Sam 12:3Here I am. Witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a ransom to make me blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.”
  • Matt 25:34Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
  • 1 Sam 15:28Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.
  • John 5:21–22For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires.
  • Luke 19:27But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’”
  • Eccl 12:14For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (9)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Samuel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Samuel 2:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 SamuelMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.

How 1 Samuel 2:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.