1 Samuel 2:6

6 The LORD gives both death and life; he brings some down to the grave but raises others up.

1 Samuel 2:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 2:6

The Lord killeth, and maketh alive
Which is true of different persons; some he takes away by death, and others he preserves and continues in life; and of the same persons, whom God removes by death, and restores them to life again, of which there are instances both in the Old and New Testament; and be they which they will, both are of God, he is the great Disposer of life and death. Death is of him; it is by his appointment; it is sent by his order; and when it has a commission from him, there is no resisting it; and let it be brought about by what means it will, still it is of God: and life is of him; it is first given by him, and it is preserved by him; and though taken away, it shall be restored at the resurrection of the dead; of which some interpret this clause, as Kimchi and Ben Gersom observe: and what is here said is true, in a spiritual sense; the Lord kills by the law, or shows men that they are dead in sin, and in a legal sense; and he makes alive by his Spirit, through the Gospel, quickening such who were dead in trespasses and sins; which is his own work, and the effect of divine power and grace; (See Gill on Deuteronomy 32:39).

he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up;
he bringeth some very near to the grave, to the very brink of it; so that in their own apprehensions, and in the opinion of their friends, they are just dropping into it, and no hope of recovery left; when he says to them "Return", and brings them back from the pit, and delivers them from going into it, ( Job 33:22 Job 33:28 Job 33:30 ) ( Psalms 90:3 ) and even when they are laid in it, he brings up out of it again, as in the case of Lazarus, and which will be the case in the resurrection, ( John 5:28 John 5:29 ) .

1 Samuel 2:6 In-Context

4 The bow of the mighty is now broken, and those who stumbled are now strong.

5 Those who were well fed are now starving, and those who were starving are now full. The childless woman now has seven children, and the woman with many children wastes away.

6 The LORD gives both death and life; he brings some down to the grave but raises others up.

7 The LORD makes some poor and others rich; he brings some down and lifts others up.

8 He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the LORD ’s, and he has set the world in order.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew to Sheol.