What Does 1 Samuel 2:1 Mean in the King James?
And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Hannah’s deliverance becomes spaciousness you can hear: her mouth widens over the people set against her.
THE MEANING
Your heart rejoices in the LORD; your strength rises in him, and your mouth opens wide against those opposing you. Deliverance is not merely inward relief here: it gives your voice room to speak in the face of real enemies.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that opposition gets to determine the size of your voice. Here, the measure comes from deliverance in the LORD, and the mouth opens wide.
THE ROOT
בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ
bi-yeshuʿātekha
GROWS FROM
ישע
y-sh-ʿ
To deliver or rescue; the verse pairs this with the distinct root רחב (r-ḥ-b, “widen”), making deliverance spatial.
“salvation” in this verse is bi-yeshuʿātekha. The root ישע (y-sh-ʿ, deliver) names the rescue Hannah celebrates, while her mouth made wide gives that deliverance spatial shape. The verse links a changed circumstance with a voice and strength no longer hemmed in.
ALSO GROWS
yēšaʿ: deliverance, rescue
יֵשַׁע
This noun shares the root and names the event Hannah celebrates.
môšîaʿ: deliverer, rescuer
מוֹשִׁיעַ
The same root can name the one who brings a person out, locating the opening in God’s action.
רָחַב
rāḥav
GROWS FROM
רחב
r-ḥ-b
To widen, broaden, or make room.
“enlarged” in this verse is rāḥav. The root רחב (r-ḥ-b, widen) makes the mouth’s enlargement an image of open space. Hannah’s mouth does not merely get louder: it has room to open against her enemies.
ALSO GROWS
Reḥovot: broad places, spacious places
רְחֹבוֹת
At Rehoboth, Isaac says the LORD has made room for them; the same spatial image appears in Hannah’s enlarged mouth.
reḥov: broad street, open place
רְחֹב
This branch pictures widening as entry into open space, giving the mouth’s enlargement a concrete sense.
קַרְנִי
qarnî
GROWS FROM
קרן
q-r-n
Horn or projecting point, with a related verbal sense of shining or sending out rays.
The noun קֶרֶן (qeren, horn) shares the root קרן (q-r-n) with the verb קָרַן (qāran, shine or send out rays). The image is strength raised visibly, matching the verse’s widening mouth and open triumph.
ALSO GROWS
qeren: horn, a projecting point
קֶרֶן
The lifted horn makes Hannah’s strength visible rather than hidden.
qāran: to shine, send out rays
קָרַן
This related verb shows the root’s outward, projecting quality, echoing the strength that rises in the verse.
THE PATTERN
When deliverance brings a person out of constriction, there is room for life and voice to expand.
And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.THE THREAD
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.The Hebrew root ישע (y-sh-ʿ, deliver) names both Hannah’s “salvation” and the psalm’s “salvation,” while the horn image appears in both verses. The strength raised in Hannah is rooted in deliverance itself.
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