“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.”
My Notes
What Does 1 Samuel 2:5 Mean?
Hannah's prayer-song contains this reversal: those who were well-fed now hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry stop being hungry. The barren woman bears seven children; the mother of many becomes weak. Hannah is describing the comprehensive inversions God performs — economic, social, and biological.
The number seven for children represents completeness and perfection of blessing. Hannah herself had six children total (1 Samuel 2:21), so "seven" here is poetic hyperbole expressing the fullness of divine blessing rather than literal autobiography. The point is that God doesn't just give the barren woman a child — he gives her overflowing abundance.
This verse places Hannah's personal experience within a cosmic pattern. Her story isn't unique — it's how God always works. He reverses. He inverts. He takes the empty and fills them, the full and empties them. Mary's Magnificat in Luke 1:53 echoes this same reversal: "He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away."
Reflection Questions
- 1.Where in your life are you experiencing emptiness that might be the starting point for God's filling?
- 2.How do you respond to the idea that God has a 'bias toward the empty'?
- 3.Have you witnessed a reversal in your life where loss became abundance?
- 4.Why does Hannah sing about cosmic reversals when her personal story is about one baby?
Devotional
Hannah sings about reversals — and she's qualified to sing this song because she's living inside one. The woman who wept in the temple over her empty womb is now holding a son and declaring that God fills the hungry and empties the full.
The reversals here aren't gentle adjustments. They're complete inversions. Full to hungry. Hungry to satisfied. Barren to seven. Fruitful to feeble. God doesn't just nudge the scales slightly — he flips the table. If you've been on the losing end of life's math, this verse says the math isn't permanent.
But the reversals aren't random. They follow a pattern: God lowers those who are self-sufficient and lifts those who are dependent. The full who hire themselves out were probably proud of their fullness. The hungry who cease were probably desperate. God's inversions aren't punishment of success or reward of failure — they're a rebalancing that reflects his character. He has a bias toward the empty.
If you're in a season of emptiness — barrenness of any kind — Hannah's song says your condition is the exact starting point for God's favorite kind of work. He doesn't fill the full. He fills the empty. And when he fills, he doesn't stop at adequate. He gives seven.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
They that are full have hired out themselves for bread,.... Such as have been full of the good things of this life have…
See an instance in 1Sa 2:36. See, too, in Eze 13:19, another example of hire paid in bread. Ceased - i. e. were at rest,…
They that were full - All the things mentioned in these verses frequently happen in the course of the Divine providence;…
We have here Hannah's thanksgiving, dictated, not only by the spirit of prayer, but by the spirit of prophecy. Her…
ceased i.e. are at rest: need toil no more: or, cease to be hungry.
seven A perfect family. Cp. Rth 4:15.
is waxed…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture