I Samuel 2:6 · Bible study
1 Samuel 2:6 Commentary: Study: Yahweh Kills and Makes Alive
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
The meaning of Hannah's declaration that God brings down to Sheol and brings up, literal resurrection or reversal of fortunes?
Research Summary
- Meaning: God alone holds authority over life and death, and He can rescue from the realm of the dead (Sheol).
- Key words: “kills” (H4191, Hiphil participle, active causation), “makes alive” (H2421, Piel participle, restoring vitality), “Sheol” (H7585, the underworld, abode of the dead).
- Main debate: Does the verse refer to literal resurrection (Gill, Targum) or metaphorically to extreme reversal of fortune (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown)?
- Theological theme: God’s sovereign power over death and His faithfulness to the lowly, culminating in the hope of resurrection.
- Best use: Praying for hope in seemingly hopeless situations; preaching the exclusivity of Yahweh as Lord of life and death.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
WEB World English Bible 2000
“Yahweh kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and brings up.
KJV King James Version 1769
The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Jehovah putteth to death, and keepeth alive, He bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to hell, and bringeth back again.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Jehová mata, y él da vida: él hace descender al sepulcro, y hace subir.
O SENHOR mata, e ele dá vida: Ele faz descer ao sepulcro, e faz subir.
L’ Éternel fait mourir et il fait vivre.
Der HERR tötet und macht lebendig, führt in die Hölle und wieder heraus.
De HEERE doodt en maakt levend; Hij doet ter helle nederdalen, en Hij doet weder opkomen.
L’Eterno fa morire e fa vivere; fa scendere nel soggiorno de’ morti e ne fa risalire.
Pan zabija i ożywia, wwodzi do grobu i wywodzi.
Господь умерщвляет и оживляет, низводит в преисподнюю и возводит;
耶和華 使人死，也使人活，使人下 陰間，也使人往上升。
The Lord is the giver of death and life: sending men down to the underworld and lifting them up.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · I Samuel 2:6
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree this verse asserts God’s absolute sovereignty over life and death, a theme drawn from Deuteronomy 32:39. Adam Clarke calls God “the arbiter of life and death,” noting that the Hebrew Sheol encompasses the grave, the state of the dead, and the unseen world. John Gill similarly affirms that both death and life are “of God,” and he applies the verse to physical resurrection, citing Lazarus and the general resurrection (John 5:28). Wesley reads it more personally: “the same person whom he first killeth, or bringeth nigh unto death, he afterwards raiseth to life”, applying it to Hannah’s own recovery from grief. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, however, interprets the language metaphorically: God “reduces to the lowest state of degradation and misery, and restores to prosperity and happiness.” Thus the consensus holds that God controls every transition from life to death and back, but commentators differ on whether the primary reference is literal resurrection or the reversals of fortune that Hannah herself experienced.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Literal resurrection: Targum interprets as resurrection; Gill cites Lazarus and John 5:28; Deuteronomy 32:39 and Isaiah 26:19 support God raising the dead.
- Metaphorical reversal: Jamieson-Fausset-Brown sees it as reducing to degradation and restoring to prosperity; context of reversals in vv.4–8 (bows broken, hungry fed) supports metaphor.
- Both/and (literal seed with metaphorical present): Adam Clarke and Wesley note that the verse can apply both to physical death/resurrection and to the experience of being brought low and lifted up; the song’s prophetic nature allows multiple layers.
What is clear: God alone has ultimate authority over life, death, and the state of the dead — no other being shares this power.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of Sheol | Sheol is the abode of the dead, the underworld, more than just the grave. | Some see Sheol as a place of punishment for the wicked (later development), while others see it as a neutral holding place for all the dead. |
| Literal resurrection vs metaphorical reversal | God has absolute sovereignty over life and death, and He reverses the fortunes of the humble. | Christians who emphasize the resurrection (Gill, Clarke, Targum) point to verses like Job 5:18 and Isaiah 26:19 as supporting a literal raising of the dead. Others (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Wesley in context) read it as a vivid metaphor for God’s power to raise people from distress to prosperity. |
| Does God actively kill? | God is the ultimate source of both life and death; no one can kill or make alive apart from His will. | Some traditions emphasize that death is a result of human sin and God’s judgment, while others stress that God’s killing can also be a means of discipline or purification, not only punishment. |
| Connection to the Messiah | Verse 10 speaks of ‘his king’ and ‘his anointed,’ linking the song to messianic hope. | Some interpret this as directly pointing to Jesus Christ and His resurrection; others see it as referring to David or the ideal king of Israel, with Christ as the ultimate fulfillment. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Hannah sings this song after dedicating her son Samuel to the Lord at Shiloh. For years she had been barren while her rival Peninnah bore children and taunted her. Her desperate prayer for a son (1 Samuel 1:10, 11) was answered, and now she celebrates God’s power to overturn human expectations. The song moves far beyond her personal story. As the Cambridge Bible notes, Hannah “discerns in her own individual experience the universal laws of the divine economy”, a pattern of God humbling the proud and exalting the lowly that runs through all of Israel’s history. The phrase “brings down to Sheol” draws on the Hebrew concept of Sheol, the shadowy underworld where the dead reside (Psalm 116:3). It is more than the grave; it is the realm of the departed, beyond human reach. By claiming that Yahweh both sends people to Sheol and brings them back, Hannah asserts a power no other ancient Near Eastern deity claimed. The immediate literary context, bows broken, the hungry fed, the barren bearing seven, reinforces that God’s sovereignty extends over the extremes of human life. The song builds to a climax in verse 10, where “he will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed,” a messianic note that echoes forward to Mary’s Magnificat and the resurrection of Christ.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts, and the translations (WEB, KJV, ASV, BSB, YLT, Darby, Douay) agree on the core meaning. The only minor difference is the rendering of Sheol, as “grave” (KJV), “hell” (Douay), or “Sheol” (ASV, WEB), which reflects translation philosophy rather than textual disagreement.
Reception History
Jewish interpreters, including the Targum (ancient Aramaic paraphrase), read this verse as referring to resurrection: “He causes to descend into Sheol, that in the time to come he may bring them into the lives of eternity.” The early church Fathers, such as Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, saw Hannah’s song as prophetic of Christ’s descent into Hades and His resurrection. In the medieval period, the verse was used in the liturgy for the Easter Vigil, celebrating Christ’s victory over death. Reformers like Calvin and Luther focused on God’s sovereign power, reading the verse as comfort for believers facing persecution. Modern scholarship tends to emphasize the literary context of the song as a pattern of divine reversal, while still acknowledging that the language naturally points toward resurrection hope.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God holds the keys of life and death. The verse begins with a stark pair: Yahweh “kills and makes alive.” This is not abstract theology, Hannah had felt as good as dead in her barrenness, and God restored her. Deuteronomy 32:39 makes the same claim in the Song of Moses: “I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal.” Preach that no medical diagnosis, accident, or enemy has final authority.
- God’s power reaches down to Sheol. Sheol is the place of no return, the pit, the underworld. Yet Hannah says God brings up from there. This is not merely recovery from illness but a hint of resurrection, the hope that death itself is not beyond God’s reach. Isaiah 26:19 and the raising of Lazarus confirm this trajectory.
- Every reversal is in God’s hands. The surrounding verses (4, 8) show reversals: the mighty fall, the hungry feast, the poor are seated with princes. The sermon can connect this to present hope, God can turn any situation, even the most hopeless.
Five-point outline
- The song’s occasion. Hannah’s barrenness and vindication, personal experience becomes prophetic.
- The exclusive claim. “There is no one besides you” (v.2). Only Yahweh can kill and make alive (Deuteronomy 32:39; 2 Kings 5:7).
- The descent to Sheol. Sheol as the lowest point, death, despair, exile. God brings down, but also brings up.
- The literal and the metaphorical. Some see resurrection here (Gill, Targum), others see metaphors for extreme reversal (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown). Both are valid readings, and the text supports both.
- The messianic horizon. Verse 10 points to “his king” and “his anointed.” The pattern of death and resurrection finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
Illustration hooks
- A person diagnosed with a terminal illness who later recovers, a modern “brought up from Sheol.”
- A business owner who loses everything in a recession, then rebuilds from scratch, the reversal of fortune pattern in the song.
- Someone who has suffered prolonged infertility and then adopts or conceives, reflecting Hannah’s own story.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does God actually cause death, or does He only allow it? (The verse uses active verbs: “kills.”)
- Does the Old Testament teach resurrection, or is that only a New Testament idea?
- If God brings low and lifts up, how do we pray when we are in the “down” phase?
Leading a Discussion
This verse sits in the middle of Hannah’s song, a poem that celebrates God’s power to overturn human expectations. The language is stark: Yahweh kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and brings up. As you discuss this passage, notice how Hannah moves from her own story to a vision of God’s rule over the whole world. Let the questions guide your group from observation to personal reflection.
Discussion questions
- Read 1 Samuel 2:1, 10 together. What do you notice about the pattern of reversals in verses 4, 8? How does verse 6 fit into that pattern?
- Hannah uses the word “Sheol” (the abode of the dead). In the Old Testament, Sheol is often a place of silence and separation from God (Psalm 115:17). What does it mean that God can “bring up” from there?
- Deuteronomy 32:39 says, “I kill and I make alive.” How does that verse help you understand the claim in 1 Samuel 2:6? What does it say about God that no other being shares this power?
- Some commentators read this verse as literal resurrection (God raising the dead); others see it as a metaphor for extreme reversal (bringing someone from despair to joy). Which reading makes more sense to you, and why? Does the context of Hannah’s own experience support one reading over the other?
- Verse 10 mentions “his king” and “his anointed.” How does this song point forward to Jesus? In what ways does Jesus’ resurrection fulfill the pattern of verse 6?
- Think of a time when you felt “brought down to Sheol”, a season of loss, illness, or failure. In what ways have you seen God “bring up” from that place? How does this verse give you hope?
- How does Hannah’s confidence in God’s sovereignty over life and death challenge the way you pray about difficult situations? Is there an area where you need to trust that God can reverse it?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 32:39 | “See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. |
| I Samuel 20:3 | David swore moreover, and said, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, ‘Don’t let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved;’ but truly as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” |
| II Kings 5:7 | When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? But please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.” |
| Job 5:18 | For he wounds and binds up. He injures and his hands make whole. |
| Psalms 68:20 | God is to us a God of deliverance. To Yahweh, the Lord, belongs escape from death. |
| Psalms 116:3 | The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. |
| Isaiah 26:19 | Your dead shall live. Their dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits. |
| Hosea 6:1 | “Come! Let’s return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke clarifies that the Hebrew word Sheol, here translated as the grave, corresponds to the New Testament Hades and does not mean hell or eternal torment. He notes it refers to the state of the dead and the place of separate spirits, citing the Targum's interpretation that God's killing leads to resurrection and eternal outcomes.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Hannah's song is a true prophecy, not merely personal thanksgiving. She discerns in her own deliverance the universal laws of God's moral government, which find their fullest illustration in the exaltation of the Lord's Christ through humiliation to victory. Her personal circumstances soon give way to this wider prophetic view.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Note stresses God's absolute sovereignty over life and death in the most direct terms. The Lord alone has the power to kill and to make alive, to bring someone down to the grave and to raise them up again. No human power shares this authority.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill stresses God's complete sovereignty over life and death in every sense. God alone kills and makes alive, brings to the grave and brings up again, whether in physical death and resurrection or in spiritual death and new life through the Gospel.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB reads the grave not as literal death but as a picture of the lowest possible state of misery and shame. God alone can reduce someone to that depth, and God alone can raise them back to happiness and prosperity.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch see Hannah's song as prophetic, not merely personal. She discerns in her own experience the pattern of God's entire kingdom plan: how He humbles the ungodly within Israel and exalts the pious. Her praise already looks ahead to the future king God will give His people.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange insists Hannah's song is not a private prayer of thanks but a prophetic utterance inspired by the Spirit, rising far beyond her personal joy to announce God’s universal rule. She speaks as a prophetess, foreseeing the theocratic kingdom that will culminate in the Lord’s anointed king. The song therefore points forward to the same hope later celebrated by Mary and Zechariah.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry sees Hannah's song as more than personal gratitude; it is prophetic. He notes that her words, inspired by the Spirit, look beyond her own story to declare God's sovereign rule over human affairs and to foretell the coming of His anointed King.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley reads "killeth" as bringing someone near death through calamity, then raising them again to life. He applies this personally: God consumed him with grief and then revived him. He notes that both Scripture and secular writers often use "death" to mean severe suffering.