1 Samuel 2 · Verse 6

1 Samuel 2:6

The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
1 Samuel 2:6, King James Version

1 Samuel 2:6 in other translations

BSBThe LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
WEB“The LORD kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and brings up.
ASVJehovah killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.
YLTJehovah putteth to death, and keepeth alive, He bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.
DARBYJehovah killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.
BBEThe Lord is the giver of death and life: sending men down to the underworld and lifting them up.
WebsterThe LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

What does 1 Samuel 2:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up--that is, He reduces to the lowest state of degradation and misery, and restores to prosperity and happiness.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 6 The Lord killeth - God is the arbiter of life and death; he only can give life, and he only has a right to take it away. He bringeth down to the grave - The Hebrew word שאול sheol, which we translate grave, seems to have the same meaning in the Old Testament with ἁδης, hades in the New, which is the word generally used by the Septuagint for the other. It means the grave, the state of the dead, and the invisible place, or place of separate spirits. Sometimes we translate it hell, which now means the state of perdition, or place of eternal torments; but as this comes from the Saxon, to cover or conceal, it means only the covered place. In some parts of England the word helling is used for the covers of a book, the slating of a house, etc. The Targum seems to understand it of death and the resurrection. "He kills and commands to give life; he causes to descend into Sheol, that in the time to come he may bring them into the lives of eternity," i.e., the life of shame and everlasting contempt, and the life of glory.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hannah's heart rejoiced, not in Samuel, but in the Lord. She looks beyond the gift, and praises the Giver. She rejoiced in the salvation of the Lord, and in expectation of His coming, who is the whole salvation of his people. The strong are soon weakened, and the weak are soon strengthened, when God pleases. Are we poor? God made us poor, which is a good reason why we should be content, and make up our minds to our…

Read the full comment on 1 Samuel 2:1-10 →

1 Samuel 2:6 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahwehH3068
מֵמִ֣יתme.Mit[is] killingH4191
וּמְחַיֶּ֑הu.me.chai.Yehand [is] restoring to lifeH2421
מוֹרִ֥ידmo.Rid[he is] bringing downH3381
שְׁא֖וֹלshe.'olSheolH7585
וַיָּֽעַל\׃vai.Ya.'aland he has brought upH5927

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Samuel 2:6

  • Deuteronomy 32:39

    See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

  • Isaiah 26:19

    Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

  • Jonah 2:2-6

    And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. …

  • 2 Kings 5:7

    And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

  • Job 5:18

    For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.

  • Revelation 1:18

    I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

  • John 5:25-29

    Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, …

  • John 11:25

    Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

  • Hosea 6:1-2

    Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

  • 1 Samuel 20:3

    And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.

  • Psalms 116:3

    The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

  • Matthew 12:40

    For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
killeth.
De 32:39; 2Ki 5:7; Job 5:18; Ps 68:20; Ho 6:1,2; Joh 5:25-29; 11:25
Re 1:18
he bringeth.
20:3; Ps 116:3; Isa 26:19; Jon 2:2-6; Mt 12:40; 2Co 1:9,10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Samuel 2:5

    They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.

  • 1 Samuel 2:6

    The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

  • 1 Samuel 2:7

    The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.

Read all of 1 Samuel 2

1 Samuel 2:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Jehová mata, y él da vida: él hace descender al sepulcro, y hace subir.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		L’ Éternel fait mourir et fait vivre; il fait descendre au shéol et en fait monter.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Jehova tötet und macht lebendig; er führt in den Scheol hinab und führt herauf.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Dominus mortificat et vivificat; deducit ad inferos et reducit.