Channah's Prayer and David's Song/0

Channah's Prayer and David's Song

 

The two prayers of Channah and David frame the book of Shemuel, and there are numerous points of contact between the two.  These are summarized in the following table:

EN/HEע/E

תפילת חנה	שירת דוד
רָמָה קַרְנִי בַּה' רָחַב פִּי עַל אוֹיְבַי כִּי שָׂמַחְתִּי בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ	ה'... מָגִנִּי וְקֶרֶן יִשְׁעִי... וּמֵאֹיְבַי אִוָּשֵׁעַ
אֵין קָדוֹשׁ כַּה' כִּי אֵין בִּלְתֶּךָ וְאֵין צוּר כֵּאלֹהֵינוּ	כִּי מִי אֵל מִבַּלְעֲדֵי ה' וּמִי צוּר מִבַּלְעֲדֵי אֱלֹהֵינוּ
וְנִכְשָׁלִים אָזְרוּ חָיִל	וַתַּזְרֵנִי חַיִל
מַשְׁפִּיל אַף מְרוֹמֵם	וְאֶת עַם עָנִי תּוֹשִׁיעַ וְעֵינֶיךָ עַל רָמִים תַּשְׁפִּיל
מְצֻקֵי אֶרֶץ וַיָּשֶׁת עֲלֵיהֶם תֵּבֵל	מֹסְדוֹת תֵּבֵל
עָלָיו בַּשָּׁמַיִם יַרְעֵם	יַרְעֵם מִן שָׁמַיִם ה'
וְיִתֶּן עֹז לְמַלְכּוֹ וְיָרֵם קֶרֶן מְשִׁיחוֹ	מִגְדִיל יְשׁוּעוֹת מַלְכּוֹ וְעֹשֶׂה־חֶסֶד לִמְשִׁיחוֹ

 

Many of these parallels are distinctive as they occur in only a small number of verses in Tanakh.¹

 

¹ Many of the above parallels are phrases and themes which are unique to these two chapters (and Tehillim 18 which parallels Shemuel II 22):

• These are the only two verses in Tanakh which say that there is no "צוּר" like Hashem.
• These are the only two cases (in addition to Tehillim 18:33,40) where the root אזר is used to describe Hashem giving strength to man.
• These uniquely convey the theme of Hashem being both מַשְׁפִּיל and מְרוֹמֵם.
• These are the only verses in Tanakh which describe the foundations of "תֵּבֵל".
• These are the only verses which speak of "יַרְעֵם" and "שָּׁמַיִם".