“The Lord makes poor and rich; He humbles, He also exalts.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh makes poor, and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up.
- KJV The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth 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.
- 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 puts down one, and lifts up another.
- Job 5:11so that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety.
- Deut 8:17–18and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.”
- Jas 4:10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
- Job 1:21He said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be Yahweh’s name.”
- Jas 1:9–10But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;
- Ps 102:10Because of your indignation and your wrath, for you have taken me up, and thrown me away.
- Isa 2:12For there will be a day of Yahweh of Armies for all that is proud and haughty, and for all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low:
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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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