The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength.
Parallel translations
- WEB “The bows of the mighty men are broken. Those who stumbled are armed with strength.
- KJV The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
- NKJV “Thebows of the mighty men are broken, And those who stumbled are girded with strength.
- NASB “The bows of the mighty are broken to pieces, But those who have stumbled strap on strength.
- NLT The bow of the mighty is now broken, and those who stumbled are now strong.
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
God breaks the bows of the mighty while arming the stumbling with strength. He reverses human fortunes according to His will.
Overview
Hannah celebrates the great reversal that runs through her song: the strong are brought low and the weak made strong. This is not random fate but the Lord's deliberate ordering of human affairs. The theme anticipates the gospel, where God chooses the weak to shame the strong and exalts the lowly in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 37:15But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.
- Ps 76:3There He shattered the flaming arrows, the shield and sword and weapons of war. Selah
- Ps 46:9He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.
- Phil 4:13I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- Isa 10:4Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Ps 37:17For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.
- 2 Cor 12:9But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
- Heb 11:34quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.
- Jer 37:10Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”
- 2 Cor 4:9–10persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
- Eph 6:14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 2:4 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.