¹ tn Heb “from days to days.”

² tn Heb “prayed and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

³ sn Horns of animals have always functioned as both offensive and defensive weapons for them. As a figure of speech the horn is therefore often used in the Bible as a symbol of human strength (see also in v. 10). The allusion in v. 1 to the horn being lifted high suggests a picture of an animal elevating its head in a display of strength or virility.

⁴ tn Heb “my mouth opens wide against.”

⁵ tn Heb “for I rejoice in your deliverance.”

⁶ tn The imperfect verbal forms in this line and in the next two lines are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10b.

⁷ tc The present translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate in reading the plural (“his adversaries,” similarly many other English versions) rather than the singular (“his adversary”) of the Kethib.

⁸ tn The Hebrew preposition here has the sense of “from within.”

⁹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in this and the next line are understood as indicating what is anticipated and translated with the future tense, because at the time of Hannah’s prayer Israel did not yet have a king.

¹⁰ tn Heb “the horn,” here a metaphor for power or strength. Cf. NCV “make his appointed king strong”; NLT “increases the might of his anointed one.”

¹¹ tc The LXX greatly expands v. 10 with an addition that seems to be taken from Jer 9:23-24.

sn The anointed one is the anticipated king of Israel, as the preceding line makes clear.

¹² tn Heb “seed.”

¹³ tn The MT has a masculine verb here, but in light of the context the reference must be to Hannah. It is possible that the text of the MT is incorrect here (cf. the ancient versions), in which case the text should be changed to read either a passive participle or better, the third feminine singular of the verb. If the MT is correct here, perhaps the masculine is to be understood in a nonspecific and impersonal way, allowing for a feminine antecedent. In any case, the syntax of the MT is unusual here.

¹⁴ tn Heb “his.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “said.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “judged”; NAB “began to judge”; TEV “settled disputes among.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “the regulation of the kingship.” This probably refers to the regulations pertaining to kingship given to Moses (see Deut 17:14-20).

¹⁸ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “journey.”

²⁰ tn Heb “in your hand.”

²¹ tn Heb “And the Lord will give also Israel along with you into the hand of the Philistines.”

²² tc With the exception of the Lucianic recension, the LXX has here “and tomorrow you and your sons with you will fall.”

²³ tn Heb “camp.”

²⁴ tc This clause is difficult in the MT. The present translation accepts the text as found in the MT and understands this clause to be elliptical, with an understood verb such as “look” or “consider.” On the other hand, the LXX seems to reflect a slightly different Hebrew text, reading “after” where the MT has “my brothers.” The Greek translation yields the following translation: “You should not do this after the Lord has delivered us.” Although the Greek reading should be taken seriously, it seems better to follow the MT here.