Song of Hannah

The Song of Hannah is a poem interrupting the prose text of the Books of Samuel. According to the surrounding narrative, the poem (1 Samuel 2:1–10) was a prayer delivered by Hannah, to give thanks to God for the birth of her son, Samuel. It is very similar to Psalm 113.

Hannah praises Yahweh, reflects on the reversals he accomplishes, and looks forward to his king.

Verses 4-5 contains three reversals. Stanley D. Walters notes that one is a "reversal of macho male prowess", one a "reversal of female longing" and one is "gender-neutral and universal".

There is a movement in this song from the particular to the general. It opens with Hannah's own gratitude for a local reversal, and closes with God's defeat of his enemies – a cosmic reversal.

Through the theme of reversal, the Song of Hannah functions as an introduction to the whole book. Keil and Delitzsch argue that Hannah's experience of reversal was a pledge of how God "would also lift up and glorify his whole nation, which was at that time so deeply bowed down and oppressed by its foes."

The reference to a king in verse 10 has provoked considerable discussion. Biblical commentator A. F. Kirkpatrick argues that this does not imply a late date for the song, since "the idea of a king was not altogether novel to the Israelite mind" and "amid the prevalent anarchy and growing disintegration of the nation, amid internal corruption and external attack, the desire for a king was probably taking definite shape in the popular mind."

Walter Brueggemann suggests that the Song of Hannah paves the way for a major theme of the Book of Samuel, the "power and willingness of Yahweh to intrude, intervene and invert."

And Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord; my strength is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.

“No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.

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