The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh makes poor, and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up.
- BSB The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
- NKJV The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.
- NASB “The Lord makes poor and rich; He humbles, He also exalts.
- NLT The Lord makes some poor and others rich; he brings some down and lifts others up.
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 makes poor and rich, brings low and lifts up. All changes in status come from His sovereign hand.
Overview
Hannah attributes both poverty and wealth, humiliation and exaltation, to God's governance. Her words guard against both pride in prosperity and despair in want, since the Lord ordains both. This confidence in God's rule undergirds the believer's contentment and the gospel promise that God exalts the humble.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 75:7But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
- Job 5:11To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
- Deut 8:17–18And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
- Jas 4:10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
- Job 1:21And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
- Jas 1:9–10Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
- Ps 102:10Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
- Isa 2:12For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 2:7 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
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