Text -- 1 Samuel 2:17-36 (NET)

2:17 The sin of these young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they treated the Lord’s offering with contempt. 2:18 Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord. The boy was dressed in a linen ephod. 2:19 His mother used to make him a small robe and bring it up to him at regular intervals when she would go up with her husband to make the annual sacrifice. 2:20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, “May the Lord raise up for you descendants from this woman to replace the one that she dedicated to the Lord.” Then they would go to their home. 2:21 So the Lord graciously attended to Hannah, and she was able to conceive and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. The boy Samuel grew up at the Lord’s sanctuary. 2:22 Now Eli was very old when he heard about everything that his sons used to do to all the people of Israel and how they used to have sex with the women who were stationed at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 2:23 He said to them, “Why do you behave in this way? For I hear about these evil things from all these people. 2:24 This ought not to be, my sons! For the report that I hear circulating among the Lord’s people is not good. 2:25 If a man sins against a man, one may appeal to God on his behalf. But if a man sins against the Lord, who then will intercede for him?” But Eli’s sons would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided to kill them. 2:26 Now the boy Samuel was growing up and finding favor both with the Lord and with people.

The Lord Judges the House of Eli

2:27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not plainly reveal myself to your ancestor’s house when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh? 2:28 I chose your ancestor from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifice on my altar, to burn incense, and to bear the ephod before me. I gave to your ancestor’s house all the fire offerings made by the Israelites. 2:29 Why are you scorning my sacrifice and my offering that I commanded for my dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than you have me by having made yourselves fat from the best parts of all the offerings of my people Israel.’ 2:30 Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I really did say that your house and your ancestor’s house would serve me forever.’ But now the Lord says, ‘May it never be! For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed! 2:31 In fact, days are coming when I will remove your strength and the strength of your father’s house. There will not be an old man in your house! 2:32 You will see trouble in my dwelling place! Israel will experience blessings, but there will not be an old man in your house for all time. 2:33 Any one of you that I do not cut off from my altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and will cause you grief. All of those born to your family will die in the prime of life. 2:34 This will be a confirming sign for you that will be fulfilled through your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: in a single day they both will die! 2:35 Then I will raise up for myself a faithful priest. He will do what is in my heart and soul. I will build for him a secure dynasty and he will serve my chosen one for all time. 2:36 Everyone who remains in your house will come to bow before him for a little money and for a scrap of bread. Each will say, ‘Assign me to a priestly task so I can eat a scrap of bread.’”

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: 1Sa 2:17

But we know the validity and efficacy of the sacraments does not depend on the goodness of those that administer them. It was therefore folly and sin in the people, to think the worse of God's institutions. But it was the much greater sin of the priests, that gave them occasion so to do.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:18

That is, performed his ministration carefully and faithfully.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:18

In God's tabernacle.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:18

A garment used in God's service, and allowed not only to the inferior priests and Levites but also to eminent persons of the people, and therefore to Samuel, who, though no Levite, was a Nazarite, from his birth.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:21

Not only in age and stature; but especially in wisdom and goodness.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:21

Not only before men, who might he deceived, but in the presence and judgment of the all - seeing God.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:22

And therefore unfit either to manage his office himself, or to make a diligent inspection into the carriage of his sons, which gave them opportunity for their wickedness.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:22

Whom they injured in their offerings, and alienated from the service of God.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:22

The place where all the people both men and women waited when they came up to the service of God, because the altar on which their sacrifices was offered, was by the door.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:23

_Eli's sin was not only that he reproved them too gently, but that he contented himself with a verbal rebuke, and did not restrain them, and inflict those punishments upon them which such high crimes deserved by God's law, and which he as judge and high-priest ought to have done, without respect of persons.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:25

If only man be wronged, man can right it, and reconcile the persons.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:25

As you have done wilfully and presumptuously.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:25

The offence is of so high a nature, that few or none will dare to intercede for him, but will leave him to the just judgment of God. The words may be rendered, Who shall judge for him? Who shall interpose as umpire, between God and him? Who shall compound that difference? None can or dare do it, and therefore he must be left to the dreadful, but righteous judgment of God. They had now sinned away their day of grace. They had long hardened their hearts. And God at length gave them up to a reprobate mind, and determined to destroy them, 2Ch 25:16.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:27

That is, a prophet sent from God.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:29

Using them irreverently, and profanely; both by abusing them to your own luxury, and by causing the people to abhor them. He chargeth Eli with his sons faults.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:29

Permitting them to dishonour and injure me, by taking my part to themselves; chusing rather to offend me by thy connivance at their sin, than to displease them by severe rebukes, and just punishments.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:29

To pamper yourselves. This you did not out of necessity, but out of mere luxury.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:29

Not contented with those parts which I had allotted you, you invaded those choice parts which I reserved for myself.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:30

Where, or when did God say this? To Eli himself, or to his father, when the priesthood was translated from Eleazar's to Ithamar's family.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:30

That is, minister unto me as high-priest. Walking is often put for discharging ones office; before me; may signify that he was the high-priest, whose sole prerogative it was to minister before God, or before the ark, in the most holy place.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:30

As long as the Mosaical law and worship lasts.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:30

To fulfil my promise, which I hereby retract.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:31

That is, I will take away thy strength, or all that in which thou placest thy confidence, either, the ark, which is called God's strength, Psa 78:61, and was Eli's strength, who therefore was not able to bear the very tidings of the loss of it. Or, his priestly dignity or employment, whence he had all his honour and substance. Or rather, his children, to whom the words following here, and in the succeeding verses, seem to confine it.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:31

That is, thy children's children, and all thy family which was in great measure accomplished, 1Sa 22:16, &c.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:32

The words may be rendered; thou shalt see, in thy own person, the affliction, or calamity of my habitation; that is, either of the land of Israel, wherein I dwell; or of the sanctuary, called the habitation by way of eminency, whose greatest glory the ark was, 1Sa 4:21-22, and consequently, whose greatest calamity the loss of the ark was; for, or instead of all that good wherewith God would have blessed Israel, having raised up a young prophet Samuel, and thereby given good grounds of hope that he intended to bless Israel, if thou and thy sons had not hindered it by your sins. So this clause of the threatning concerns Eli's person, as the following concerns his posterity. And this best agrees with the most proper signification of that phrase, Thou shalt see.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:33

That is, of thy posterity.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:33

Shall be so forlorn and miserable, that if thou wast alive to see it, it would grieve thee at the heart, and thou wouldst consume thine eyes with weeping for their calamities.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:33

That is, thy children.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:33

About the thirtieth year of their age, when they were to be admitted to the full administration of their office.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:35

Of another line, as it necessarily implied by the total removal of that office from Eli's line. The person designed is Zadok, one eminent for his faithfulness to God, and to the king, who, when Abiather, the last of Eli's line, was deposed by Solomon, was made high-priest in his stead. Build, &c - That is, give him a numerous posterity, and confirm that sure covenant of an everlasting priesthood made to Phinehas, of Eleazar's line, Num 25:13, and interrupted for a little while by Eli, of the line of Ithamar, unto him and his children for ever.

Wesley: 1Sa 2:35

Before Jesus Christ, who is the main scope and design, not only of the New, but of the Old Testament, which in all its types and ceremonies represented him; and particularly, the high-priest was an eminent type of Christ, and represented his person, and acted in his name and stead, and did mediately, what John Baptist did immediately, go before the face of the Lord Christ; and when Christ came, that office and officer was to cease. The high-priest is seldom or never said to walk or minister before the kings of Israel or Judah, but constantly before the Lord, and consequently, before Christ, who, as he was God blessed for ever, Rom 9:5, was present with, and the builder and governor of the ancient church of Israel, and therefore the high-priest is most properly said to walk before him.

JFB: 1Sa 2:13-17

When persons wished to present a sacrifice of peace offering on the altar, the offering was brought in the first instance to the priest, and as the Lord's part was burnt, the parts appropriated respectively to the priests and offerers were to be sodden. But Eli's sons, unsatisfied with the breast and shoulder, which were the perquisites appointed to them by the divine law (Exo 29:27; Lev 7:31-32), not only claimed part of the offerer's share, but rapaciously seized them previous to the sacred ceremony of heaving or waving (see on Lev 7:29); and moreover they committed the additional injustice of taking up with their fork those portions which they preferred, while still raw. Pious people revolted at such rapacious and profane encroachments on the dues of the altar, as well as what should have gone to constitute the family and social feast of the offerer. The truth is, the priests having become haughty and unwilling in many instances to accept invitations to those feasts, presents of meat were sent to them; and this, though done in courtesy at first, being, in course of time, established into a right, gave rise to all the rapacious keenness of Eli's sons.

JFB: 1Sa 2:18

This notice of his early services in the outer courts of the tabernacle was made to pave the way for the remarkable prophecy regarding the high priest's family.

JFB: 1Sa 2:18

A small shoulder-garment or apron, used in the sacred service by the inferior priests and Levites; sometimes also by judges or eminent persons, and hence allowed to Samuel, who, though not a Levite, was devoted to God from his birth.

JFB: 1Sa 2:19

Aware that he could not yet render any useful service to the tabernacle, she undertook the expense of supplying him with wearing apparel. All weaving stuffs, manufacture of cloth, and making of suits were anciently the employment of women.

JFB: 1Sa 2:20

This blessing, like that which he had formerly pronounced, had a prophetic virtue; which, before long, appeared in the increase of Hannah's family (1Sa 2:21), and the growing qualifications of Samuel for the service of the sanctuary.

JFB: 1Sa 2:22-24

This was an institution of holy women of a strictly ascetic order, who had relinquished worldly cares and devoted themselves to the Lord; an institution which continued down to the time of Christ (Luk 2:37). Eli was, on the whole, a good man, but lacking in the moral and religious training of his family. He erred on the side of parental indulgence; and though he reprimanded them (see on Deu 21:18), yet, from fear or indolence, he shrank from laying on them the restraints, or subjecting them to the discipline, their gross delinquencies called for. In his judicial capacity, he winked at their flagrant acts of maladministration and suffered them to make reckless encroachments on the constitution, by which the most serious injuries were inflicted both on the rights of the people and the laws of God.

JFB: 1Sa 2:25

It should be therefore.

JFB: 1Sa 2:25

It was not God's preordination, but their own wilful and impenitent disobedience which was the cause of their destruction.

JFB: 1Sa 2:27

So much importance has always, in the East, been attached to old age, that it would be felt to be a great calamity, and sensibly to lower the respectability of any family which could boast of few or no old men. The prediction of this prophet was fully confirmed by the afflictions, degradation, poverty, and many untimely deaths with which the house of Eli was visited after its announcement (see 1Sa 4:11; 1Sa 14:3; 1Sa 22:18-23; 1Ki 2:27).

JFB: 1Sa 2:31

By the withdrawal of the high priesthood from Eleazar, the elder of Aaron's two sons (after Nadab and Abihu were destroyed, [Num 3:4]), that dignity had been conferred on the family of Ithamar, to which Eli belonged, and now that his descendants had forfeited the honor, it was to be taken from them and restored to the elder branch.

JFB: 1Sa 2:32

A successful rival for the office of high priest shall rise out of another family (2Sa 15:35; 1Ch 24:3; 1Ch 29:22). But the marginal reading, "thou shalt see the affliction of the tabernacle," seems to be a preferable translation.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:17

Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great - That is, Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli

Clarke: 1Sa 2:17

Men abhorred the offering - As the people saw that the priests had no piety, and that they acted as if there was no God; they despised God’ s service, and became infidels

A national priesthood, when the foundation is right, may be a great blessing; but if the priesthood becomes corrupt, though the foundation itself stand sure, the corruption of the national manners will be the unavoidable consequence.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:18

Girded with a linen ephod - This the Targum translates אסיר כרדוט דבוץ asir cardut debuts , "Girded with a cardit of byssus, or fine linen."The word cardut they seem to have borrowed from the Greek χειριδωτος, a tunic, having χειριδας, i.e., sleeves that came down to, or covered, the hands. This was esteemed an effeminate garment among the Romans. See Buxtorf’ s Talmudic Lexicon.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:19

Made him a little coat - מעיל קטן meil katon , a little cloak, or surtout, an upper garment: probably intended to keep him from the cold, and to save his other clothes from being abused in his meaner services. It is probable that she furnished him with a new one each year, when she came up to one of the annual sacrifices.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:20

Eli blessed Elkanah - The natural place of this verse seems to be before the 11th; after which the 21st should come in; after the 21st, perhaps the 26th should come in. The subjects in this chapter seem very much entangled and confused by the wrong position of the verses.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:22

They lay with the women that assembled - It is probable that these were persons who had some employment about the tabernacle. See the note on Exo 38:8, where the Hebrew text is similar to that in this place.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:23

Why do ye such things! - Eli appears to have been a fondly affectionate, easy father, who wished his sons to do well, but did not bring them under proper discipline, and did not use his authority to restrain them. As judge, he had power to cast them immediately out of the vineyard, as wicked and unprofitable servants; this he did not, and his and their ruin was the consequence.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:25

If one man sin against another - All differences between man and man may be settled by the proper judge; but if a man sin against the Supreme Judge, God himself, who shall reconcile him to his Maker? Your sin is immediately against God himself, and is the highest insult that can be offered, because it is in the matter of his own worship, therefore ye may expect his heaviest judgments

Clarke: 1Sa 2:25

But if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? - This was a question of the most solemn importance under the old covenant, especially after the death of Moses, the mediator. The law had determined what sins should be punished with death; and it was supposed that there was not any appeal from the decision there pronounced. 1Jo 2:1 is an answer to this question; but it is an answer which the Gospel alone can give: My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not; but if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous

Clarke: 1Sa 2:25

Because the Lord would slay them - The particle כי ki , which we translate because, and thus make their continuance in sin the effect of God’ s determination to destroy them, should be translated therefore, as it means in many parts of the sacred writings. See Noldius’ s Particles, where the very text in question is introduced: Sed non auscultarunt , etc., Ideo voluit Jehova eos interficere ; "But they would not hearken, etc.; Therefore God purposed to destroy them."It was their not hearkening that induced the Lord to will their destruction.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:27

There came a man of God - Who this was we know not, but the Chaldee terms him נביא דיי nebiya daya , a prophet of Jehovah

Clarke: 1Sa 2:27

Unto the house of thy father - That is, to Aaron; he was the first high priest; the priesthood descended from him to his eldest son Eleazar, then to Phinehas. It became afterwards established in the younger branch of the family of Aaron; for Eli was a descendant of Ithamar, Aaron’ s youngest son. From Eli it was transferred back again to the family of Eleazar, because of the profligacy of Eli’ s sons.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:28

And did I choose him - The high priesthood was a place of the greatest honor that could be conferred on man, and a place of considerable emolument; for from their part of the sacrifices they derived a most comfortable livelihood.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:29

Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice - They disdained to take the part allowed by law; and would take for themselves what part they pleased, and as much as they pleased, 1Sa 2:13-16 : thus they kicked at the sacrifices

Clarke: 1Sa 2:29

Honourest thy sons above me - Permitting them to deal, as above, with the offerings and sacrifices, and take their part before the fat, etc., was burnt unto the Lord: thus they were first served. At this Eli connived, and thus honored his sons above God.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:30

Should walk before me for ever - See Exo 29:9; Exo 40:15; Num 25:10-13, where it is positively promised that the priesthood should be continued in the family of Aaron For Ever. But although this promise appears to be absolute, yet we plainly see that, like all other apparently absolute promises of God, it is conditional, i.e., a condition is implied though not expressed

Clarke: 1Sa 2:30

But now - be it far from me - You have walked unworthily; I shall annul my promise, and reverse my ordinance. See Jer 18:9, Jer 18:10

Clarke: 1Sa 2:30

For them that honor me - This is a plan from which God will never depart; this can have no alteration; every promise is made in reference to it; "they who honor God shall be honored; they who despise him shall be lightly esteemed."

Clarke: 1Sa 2:31

I will cut off thine arm - I will destroy the strength, power, and influence of thy family.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:32

Thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation - Every version and almost every commentator understands this clause differently. The word צר tsar , which we translate an enemy, and the Vulgate aemulum , a rival, signifies calamity; and this is the best sense to understand it in here. The calamity which he saw was the defeat of the Israelites, the capture of the ark, the death of his wicked sons, and the triumph of the Philistines. All this he saw, that is, knew to have taken place, before he met with his own tragical death

Clarke: 1Sa 2:32

In all the wealth which God shall give Israel - This also is dark. The meaning may be this: God has spoken good concerning Israel; he will, in the end, make the triumph of the Philistines their own confusion; and the capture of the ark shall be the desolation of their gods; but the Israelites shall first be sorely pressed with calamity. Or, the affliction of the tabernacle, for all the wealth which God would have given Israel.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:32

There shall not be an old man - This is repeated from the preceding verse, all the family shall die in the flower of their years, as is said in the following verse.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:33

And the man of thine - Of this passage Calmet observes: "The posterity of Eli possessed the high priesthood to the time of Solomon; and even when that dynasty was transferred to another family, God preserved that of Eli, not to render it more happy, but to punish it by seeing the prosperity of its enemies, to the end that it might see itself destitute and despised. This shows the depth of the judgments of God and the grandeur of his justice, which extends even to distant generations, and manifests itself to sinners both in life and death; both in their own disgrace, and in the prosperity of their enemies."

Clarke: 1Sa 2:34

They shall die both of them - Hophni and Phinehas were both killed very shortly after in the great battle with the Philistines in which the Israelites were completely routed, and the ark taken. See 1Sa 4:1-11.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:35

A faithful priest - This seems to have been spoken of Zadok, who was anointed high priest in the room of Abiathar, the last descendant of the house of Eli; see 1Ki 2:26, 1Ki 2:27. Abiathar was removed because he had joined with Adonijah, who had got himself proclaimed king; see 1Ki 1:7

Clarke: 1Sa 2:35

I will build him a sure house - I will continue the priesthood in his family

Clarke: 1Sa 2:35

He shall walk before mine Anointed - He shall minister before Solomon, and the kings which shall reign in the land. The Targum says, "He shall walk קדם משיחי kodam Meshichi , before my Messiah,"and the Septuagint expresses it, ενωπιον Χριστου μον, "before my Christ;"for, in their proper and more extended sense, these things are supposed to belong to our great High Priest and the Christian system: but the word may refer to the Israelitish people. See the note on Heb 9:26.

Clarke: 1Sa 2:36

Shall come and crouch to him - Shall prostrate himself before him in the most abject manner, begging to be employed even in the meanest offices about the tabernacle, in order to get even the most scanty means of support

Clarke: 1Sa 2:36

A piece of silver - אגורת כסף agorath keseph , translated by the Septuagint, οβολου αργυριου, an obolus of silver. The Targum translates it מעא mea , which is the same as the Hebrew gerah , and weighed about sixteen grains of barley

Clarke: 1Sa 2:36

A morsel of bread - A mouthful; what might be sufficient to keep body and soul together. See the sin and its punishment. They formerly pampered themselves, and fed to the full on the Lord’ s sacrifices; and now they are reduced to a morsel of bread. They fed themselves without fear; and now they have cleanness of teeth in all their dwellings. They wasted the Lord’ s heritage, and now they beg their bread

In religious establishments, vile persons, who have no higher motive, may and do get into the priest’ s office, that they may clothe themselves with the wool, and feed themselves with the fat, while they starve the flock. But where there is no law to back the claims of the worthless and the wicked, men of piety and solid merit only can find support; for they must live on the free-will offerings of the people. Where religion is established by law, the strictest ecclesiastical discipline should be kept up, and all hireling priests and ecclesiastical drones should be expelled from the Lord’ s vineyard. An established religion, where the foundation is good, as is ours, I consider a great blessing; but it is liable to this continual abuse, which nothing but careful and rigid ecclesiastical discipline can either cure or prevent. If our high priests, our archbishops and bishops, do not their duty, the whole body of the clergy may become corrupt or inefficient. If they be faithful, the establishment will be an honor to the kingdom, and a praise in the earth

The words pillars of the earth, מצקי ארץ metsukey erets , Mr. Parkhurst translates and defends thus: "The compressors of the earth; i.e., the columns of the celestial fluid which compress or keep its parts together."This is all imaginary; we do not know this compressing celestial fluid; but there is one that answers the same end, which we do know, i.e., the Air, the columns of which press upon the earth in all directions; above, below, around, with a weight of fifteen pounds to every square inch; so that a column of air of the height of the atmosphere, which on the surface of the globe measures one square inch, is known by the most accurate and indubitable experiments to weigh fifteen pounds. Now as a square foot contains one hundred and forty-four square inches, each foot must be compressed with a weight of incumbent atmospheric air equal to two thousand one hundred and sixty pounds. And as the earth is known to contain a surface of five thousand five hundred and seventy-five billions of square feet; hence, allowing two thousand one hundred and sixty pounds to each square foot, the whole surface of the globe must sustain a pressure of atmospheric air equal to twelve trillions and forty-one thousand billions of pounds; or six thousand and twenty-one billions of tons. This pressure, independently of what is called gravity, is sufficient to keep all the parts of the earth together, and perhaps to counteract all the influence of centrifugal force. But adding to this all the influence of gravity or attraction, by which every particle of matter tends to the center, these compressors of the earth are sufficient to poise, balance, and preserve the whole terraqueous globe. These pillars or compressors are an astonishing provision made by the wisdom of God for the necessities of the globe. Without this, water could not rise in fountains, nor the sap in vegetables. Without this, there could be no respiration for man or beast, and no circulation of the blood in any animal. In short, both vegetable and animal life depend, under God, on these pillars or compressors of the earth; and were it not for this compressing power, the air contained in the vessels of all plants and animals would by its elasticity expand and instantly rupture all those vessels, and cause the destruction of all animal and vegetable life: but God in his wisdom has so balanced these two forces, that, while they appear to counteract and balance each other, they serve, by mutual dilations and compressions, to promote the circulation of the sap in vegetables, and the blood in animals.

Defender: 1Sa 2:26

Note the parallel here with the testimony concerning the child Jesus: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Luk 2:52)."

Defender: 1Sa 2:30

See Exo 29:9; Num 25:13.

Defender: 1Sa 2:30

This judgment (1Sa 2:30-33) indicates that the priestly line descended from Eli would eventually be terminated. This prophecy was finally carried out when Solomon banished Abiathar and replaced him with Zadok (1Ki 2:27; 1Sa 3:12)."

Defender: 1Sa 2:35

Although the priesthood had been promised to Aaron's descendants in perpetuity (Exo 29:9), this promise was conditioned on faithfulness, and Eli and his sons had forfeited this claim (1Sa 2:30-31; 1Sa 3:11-14). The promise of a faithful priest, with a sure house, is fulfilled only in Christ, "a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God" (Heb 2:17)."

TSK: 1Sa 2:17

before : Gen 6:11, Gen 10:9, Gen 13:13; 2Ki 21:6; Psa 51:4; Isa 3:8

abhorred : Mal 2:8, Mal 2:13; Mat 18:7

TSK: 1Sa 2:18

ministered : 1Sa 2:11, 1Sa 3:1

a linen ephod : 1Sa 22:18; Exo 28:4; Lev 8:7; 2Sa 6:14

TSK: 1Sa 2:19

a little coat : Meil katon , ""a little cloak""or surtout ; an upper garment (see note on Exo 28:4).

from year to year : 1Sa 1:3, 1Sa 1:21; Exo 23:14

TSK: 1Sa 2:20

The natural place for this verse seems to be before the 1Sa 2:11, after which the 1Sa 2:21 should probably come in; and after the 21st, perhaps the 1Sa 2:26 should follow.

blessed : Gen 14:19, Gen 27:27-29; Num 6:23-27; Rth 2:12, Rth 4:11

loan : or, petition which she asked, etc. 1Sa 1:27, 1Sa 1:28

TSK: 1Sa 2:21

visited : 1Sa 1:19, 1Sa 1:20; Gen 21:1; Luk 1:68

grew : 1Sa 2:26, 1Sa 3:19; Jdg 13:24; Luk 1:80, Luk 2:40, Luk 2:52

TSK: 1Sa 2:22

Now : 1Sa 8:1

did unto : 1Sa 2:13-17; Jer 7:9, Jer 7:10; Eze 22:26; Hos 4:9-11

women : It is probable that these were persons who had some employment about the tabernacle (see note on Exo 38:8).

assembled : assembled by troops, Exo 38:8

TSK: 1Sa 2:23

Why : 1Ki 1:6; Act 9:4, Act 14:15

I hear : etc. or, I hear evil words of you

by all : Isa 3:9; Jer 3:3, Jer 8:12; Phi 3:19

TSK: 1Sa 2:24

no good : Act 6:3; 2Co 6:8; 1Ti 3:7; 3Jo 1:12

ye make : 1Sa 2:17, 1Sa 2:22; Exo 32:21; 1Ki 13:18-21, 1Ki 15:30; 2Ki 10:31; Mal 2:8; Mat 18:7; 2Pe 2:18; Rev 2:20

transgress : or, cry out

TSK: 1Sa 2:25

sin against : Deu 17:8-12, Deu 25:1-3

if a man : 1Sa 3:14; Num 15:30; Psa 51:4, Psa 51:16; Heb 10:26

who shall : 1Ti 2:5; Heb 7:25

hearkened : Deu 2:30; Jos 11:20; 2Ch 25:16; Pro 15:10; Joh 12:39, Joh 12:40

because : Rather, therefore, as the particle kee also signifies (see note on Psa 116:10), so Noldius, Ideo voluit Jehova eos interficere , ""Therefore Jehovah purposed to destroy them.""

TSK: 1Sa 2:26

grew on : 1Sa 2:21

was in : Pro 3:3; Luk 1:80, Luk 2:40, Luk 2:52; Act 2:47; Rom 14:18

TSK: 1Sa 2:27

a man : 1Sa 9:4; Deu 33:1; Jdg 6:8, Jdg 13:6; 1Ki 13:1; 1Ti 6:11; 2Pe 1:21

Did I : Exo 4:14, Exo 4:27

TSK: 1Sa 2:28

And did I : Exo 28:1, Exo 28:4, 6-30, 29:4-37, Exo 39:1-7; Lev 8:7, Lev 8:8; Num 16:5, Num 17:5-8, Num 18:1-7; 2Sa 12:7

did I give : Lev 2:3, Lev 2:10, Lev 6:16, Lev 7:7, Lev 7:8, Lev 7:32, Lev 7:34, Lev 7:35, Lev 10:14, Lev 10:15; Num 5:9, Num 5:10, Num 18:8, Num 18:19; Deu 18:1-8

TSK: 1Sa 2:29

kick ye : 1Sa 2:13-17; Deu 32:15; Mal 1:12, Mal 1:13

and at mine : They disdained to take the part allowed by the law; and would take for themselves what part they pleased, and as much as they pleased. 1Sa 2:13-16

habitation : Deu 12:5, Deu 12:6; Jos 18:1

and honourest : By permitting his sons to deal thus with the sacrifices, and to be served first, by taking their part before the fat, etc., was burnt to the Lord, Eli thus honoured his sons above God. Lev 19:15; Deu 33:9; Mat 10:37, Mat 22:16; Luk 14:26; 2Co 5:16; Jam 3:17

make : 1Sa 2:13-16; Isa 56:11, Isa 56:12; Eze 13:19, Eze 34:2; Hos 4:8; Mic 3:5; Rom 16:18

TSK: 1Sa 2:30

I said : Exo 28:43, Exo 29:9; Num 25:11-13

Be it far : Num 35:34 *marg 2Ch 15:2; Jer 18:9, Jer 18:10

them : Jdg 9:10; Psa 50:23; Pro 3:9, Pro 3:10; Isa 29:13; Dan 4:34; Mal 1:6; Joh 5:23, Joh 8:49, Joh 13:31, Joh 13:32, Joh 17:4, Joh 17:5

I will honour : Psa 18:20, Psa 91:14; Joh 5:44, Joh 12:26; 1Co 4:5; 1Pe 1:7

that despise : Num 11:20; 2Sa 12:9, 2Sa 12:10; Mal 2:8, Mal 2:9

TSK: 1Sa 2:31

I will cut : That is, I will destroy the strength, power, influence, and authority of thee and thy family; of which the arm of man being the instrument, is used as the emblem. 1Sa 4:2, 1Sa 4:11, 1Sa 4:17-20, 1Sa 14:3, 1Sa 22:17-20; 1Ki 2:26, 1Ki 2:27, 1Ki 2:35; Job 22:9; Psa 37:17; Eze 30:21-24, Eze 44:10

TSK: 1Sa 2:32

an enemy : etc. Or, the affliction of the tabernacle, for all the wealth which God would have given Israel. This appears to be the right translation; for, agreeably to this prediction, he did see the tabernacle deprived of the ark, which was its glory, and lived to hear that it was captured by the Philistines. 1Sa 4:4, 1Sa 4:11, 1Sa 4:22; Psa 78:59-64

an old man : Zec 8:4

TSK: 1Sa 2:33

to consume : 1Sa 22:21-23; 1Ki 1:7, 1Ki 1:19, 1Ki 2:26, 1Ki 2:27; Mat 2:16-18

in the flower : etc. Heb. men

TSK: 1Sa 2:34

a sign : 1Sa 3:12; 1Ki 13:3, 1Ki 14:12

in one day : 1Sa 4:11, 1Sa 4:17

TSK: 1Sa 2:35

I will raise : 1Ki 1:8, 1Ki 1:45, 1Ki 2:35; 1Ch 29:22; Eze 34:23, Eze 44:15, Eze 44:16; Heb 2:17, Heb 7:26-28

I will build : 1Sa 25:28; Exo 1:21; Num 25:13; 2Sa 7:11, 2Sa 7:27; 1Ki 11:38; 1Ch 6:8-15; Neh 12:10, Neh 12:11

mine : Psa 2:2, Psa 18:50

TSK: 1Sa 2:36

is left : 1Ki 2:27; Eze 44:10-12

Put : Heb. Join

one of the priests’ offices : Heb. somewhat about the priesthood

eat : 1Sa 2:29, 1Sa 2:30; Mal 1:13

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 1Sa 2:17

The offering of the Lord - Minchah, here in the general sense of "gift or offering"to God (compare Mal 1:10-11; Mal 3:3). In its restricted sense, it is used of the meat offerings, the unbloody sacrifices, and is then coupled with bloody sacrifices, sacrifices of slain beasts. (See 1Sa 2:29.)

Barnes: 1Sa 2:18

Girded with a linen ephod - This was the usual dress of the priests. It does not appear whether Levites wore an ephod properly. Possibly it was a mark of Samuel’ s special dedication to the Lord’ s service that he wore one. (See the marginal reference). The ephod was sometimes used as an idolatrous implement Jdg 8:27.

Barnes: 1Sa 2:19

A little coat - The robe of the ephod was also one of the garments worn by the High Priest (see Exo 28:31 note). This pointed mention of the ephod and the robe as worn by the youthful Samuel, seems to point to an extraordinary and irregular priesthood to which he was called by God in an age when the provisions of the Levitical law were not yet in full operation, and in which there was no impropriety in the eyes of his contemporaries, seeing that nonconformity to the whole Law was the rule rather than the exception throughout the days of the Judges.

Barnes: 1Sa 2:21

See the marginal references. The words "before the"Lord have special reference to his residence at the tabernacle.

Barnes: 1Sa 2:22

Women that assembled - Or, "Served."See the marginal reference and note. Probably such service as consisted in doing certain work for the fabric of the tabernacle as women are accustomed to do, spinning, knitting, embroidering, mending, washing, and such like.

Barnes: 1Sa 2:25

The sense seems to be, If one man sin against another, the judge shall amerce him in the due penalty, and then he shall be free; but if he sin against the Lord, who shall act the part of judge and arbiter for him? His guilt must remain to the great day of judgment.

Because the Lord would slay them - There is a sense in which whatever comes to pass is the accomplishment of God’ s sovereign will and pleasure, and all the previous steps, even when they involve moral causes, by which this will and pleasure are brought about, are in this sense also brought about by God. How this truth, which reason and revelation alike acknowledge, consists with man’ s free will on the one hand; or, when the evil deeds and punishment of a sinner are some of the previous steps, with God’ s infinite mercy and love on the other, is what cannot possibly be explained. We can only firmly believe both statements,

(1) that God hath no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, and that He willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live;

(2) that the sins and the punishments of sin are accomplishments of God’ s eternal purpose (compare the marginal references, and Isa 6:9-10; Mar 4:12; Rom 9:15). It may be explained by saying that in the case of Hophni and Phinehas God’ s will to kill them was founded upon His foreknowledge of their impenitence; while from another point of view, in which God’ s will is the fixed point, that impenitence may be viewed in its relation to that fixed point, and so dependent upon it, and a necessary step to it.

Barnes: 1Sa 2:26

And the child Samuel ... - The account of our Lord’ s growth Luk 2:52 is very similar; "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."The literal version of the passage before us is, "The child Samuel advanced and grew and was good (or acceptable), both with the Lord, and also with men."

Barnes: 1Sa 2:27

A man of God - See Jdg 13:6 note. The sudden appearance of the only prophet of whom mention is made since Deborah, without name, or any notice of his country, is remarkable.

Barnes: 1Sa 2:28

An ephod - The High Priest’ s ephod, in which was Urim and Thummim.

Did I give ... - The bountiful provision made by God for His priests is mentioned as the great aggravation of the covetousness of Eli’ s sons (compare 2Sa 12:7-9).

Barnes: 1Sa 2:29

Wherefore kick ye - See the marginal reference. The well-fed beast becomes unmanageable and refractory, and refuses the yoke, and bursts the bonds Jer 5:5. So the priests, instead of being grateful for the provision made for them, in their pampered pride became dissatisfied, wantonly broke the laws of God which regulated their share of the offerings, and gave themselves up to an unbridled indulgence of their passions and their covetousness.

Honourest thy sons above me - What restrained Eli from taking vigorous action to vindicate God’ s honor, was his unwillingness to lose for his sons the lucrative office of the priesthood. He was willing to rebuke them, he was grieved at their misdeeds, but he was not willing to give up the wealth and plenty which flowed into his house from the offerings of Israel.

Barnes: 1Sa 2:30

Be it far from me - The phrase so rendered is a favorite one in the Books of Samuel, where it occurs ten or eleven times. It is variously rendered in the King James Version, "God forbid,"and "Be it far from me, thee, etc."Literally, "Be it an abomination to me."

Barnes: 1Sa 2:31

I will cut off thine arm ... - A strong phrase for breaking down the strength and power, of which the arm is the instrument in man (compare Zec 11:17). See 1Sa 2:33.

Barnes: 1Sa 2:32

The original text is rather obscure and difficult of construction, but the King James Version probably gives the sense of it. The margin gives another meaning.

In all the wealth ... - The allusion is particularly to Solomon’ s reign, when Zadok was made priest instead of Abiathar, 1Ki 2:26-27. (See 1Ki 4:20 ff) The enormous number of sacrifices then offered must have been a great source of wealth to the priests 1Ki 8:63-66.

Barnes: 1Sa 2:33

The meaning is explained by 1Sa 2:36. Those who are not cut off in the flower of their youth shall be worse off than those who are, for they shall have to beg their bread. (Compare Jer 22:10.)

Thine eyes ... thine heart - For a similar personification of the tribe or family see Jdg 1:2-4.

Barnes: 1Sa 2:35

Zadok is meant rather than Samuel. The High Priesthood continued in the direct descendants of Zadok as long as the monarchy lasted (see 1Ch 6:8-15).

Mine anointed - in its first sense obviously means the kings of Israel and Judah Psa 89:20; Zec 4:14. But doubtless the use of the term MESSIAH ( Χριστὸς Christos ) here and in 1Sa 2:10, is significant, and points to the Lord’ s Christ, in whom the royal and priestly offices are united (Zec 6:11-15 : see the marginal references). In this connection the substitution of the priesthood after the order of Melchisedec for the Levitical may be foreshadowed under 1Sa 2:35 (see Heb. 7).

Barnes: 1Sa 2:36

A piece - The word is only found here; but is thought to be connected in etymology and in meaning with the "Gerah,"the smallest Hebrew coin, being the twentieth part of the shekel. The smallness of the sum asked for shows the poverty of the asker.

Poole: 1Sa 2:17

The sin of the young men was very great because they violently took away both man’ s and God’ s dues, and this before their time, and that with manifest contempt of God and men; and all this merely for the gratifying of their sensual appetite.

Before the Lord i.e. even in the place of God’ s special presence, where he saw and observed all their miscarriages; which argues the height of impiety and imprudence.

Men abhorred the offering of the Lord they neglected and abhorred the practice of carrying up sacrifices to be offered, which they knew would be so grossly abused; and which, as they might think, would be rejected and abhorred by God himself; and therefore they would not contribute to the priests’ sin, and the corruption of God’ s worship, but judged it better to neglect the thing, than to expose it to the priests’ depravation; wherein yet they erred, as we see, 1Sa 2:21 .

Poole: 1Sa 2:18

Ministered i.e. performed his ministration carefully and faithfully, not corrupting nor abusing it, as Eli’ s sons did.

Before the Lord in God’ s tabernacle; or as in God’ s presence, sincerely and regardarly, with God’ s approbation.

Compare Gen 17:1 2Ch 26:4 .

A linen ephod a garment used in God’ s service, and allowed not only to the inferior priests and Levites, but also to eminent persons of the people, as 2Sa 6:11 , and therefore to Samuel, who, though no Levite, was a Nazarite, and that from his birth.

Poole: 1Sa 2:19

A little coat suitable to his age and stature, to be worn ordinarily; for coats were their usual garments. See Gen 3:21 37:3 2Sa 15:32 Son 5:3 Dan 3:21 Luk 3:11 9:3 . Knowing that he could not yet do much service, she would not have him too burdensome to the tabernacle, and therefore she yearly provided him with a coat, which was the chief and upper garment; and under that his other garments possibly are comprehended.

Poole: 1Sa 2:20

As their superior, and God’ s high priest, Eli blessed them in God’ s name, and they received his blessing by faith, which made it effectual, 1Sa 2:21 .

Seed i.e. a child, or rather children, as the event showed.

For the loan which is lent to the Lord or, for the petition , i.e. the thing desired, to wit, the child; which she, thy wife, asked of the Lord ; or, for the Lord , as 1Sa 1:28 , to whom accordingly she hath given them. And therefore as she asked him not so much for herself, for she seldom sees him, as for the Lord, to whose service she hath wholly devoted him; so now I pray that God would give you other children, for both your comfort and enjoyment.

Poole: 1Sa 2:21

Visited to wit, in mercy, and with his blessing, as that word is used, Gen 21:1 Exo 13:19 Jer 15:15 ; not in anger, as it is taken Exo 32:34 Lev 26:16 .

Grew not only in age and stature, but especially in wisdom and goodness, as Luk 1:15 . Or, was magnified ; or grew great , famous and acceptable, as 1Sa 2:26 .

Before the Lord not only before men, who might be deceived, but in the presence and judgment of the all-seeing God.

Poole: 1Sa 2:22

He was very old and therefore unfit either to manage his office himself, or to make a diligent inspection into the carriage of his sons in holy administrations; which gave them opportunity for their wickedness.

All that his sons did unto all Israel whom they injured in their offerings, and alienated from the service of God.

Assembled or warred ; which expression is used of them, either because they came to the service and worship of God in the tabernacle, which is often called a warfare; or because they came in considerable numbers, and due order, like to an army.

At the door the place where all the people, both men and women, waited when they came up to the service of God, 1Sa 1:9,12 Lu 1:10 , because they could not have admittance into the tabernacle, and because the altar on which their sacrifices were offered was by the door. Hence it seems probable that these women were not such as devoted themselves to the service of God and of his tabernacle, either by fasting and prayer, &c., or by sewing, spinning, &c., which, if then there were any such, had their stations not at the door, but in divers places allotted to them round about the tabernacle; but of such as came up to worship God at his tabernacle; as women ofttimes did, with their husbands, as here Hannah did, and the blessed Virgin Mary, Luk 2:41 , or with their parents. And this exposition may receive strength from Exo 38:8 , where the very same phrase is used, and that when the great tabernacle was not yet built: and so there was no occasion for any women to come to the other less tabernacle then used, save only to pray or offer sacrifices.

Poole: 1Sa 2:23

Such things as those above mentioned, 1Sa 2:13,22 . Eli’ s sin in this matter was not only that he reproved them too gently, and generally, and sparingly; but especially that he contented himself with a verbal rebuke and did not

restrain them as is said 1Sa 3:13 , and inflict those punishments upon them, of putting them out of their priest’ s office, and cutting them off from God’ s people; which such high crimes deserved by God’ s law, and which he as judge and high priest ought to have done, without all respect of persons.

By all this people that dwell here, or come hither to worship.

Poole: 1Sa 2:24

Words too mild for such diabolical actions.

Ye make the Lord’ s people to transgress either,

1. The women that by your instigation were drawn to folly. Or,

2. Others who are easily brought to follow your pernicious example. Or,

3. Other persons of pious and honest minds, whom therefore he calls the

Lord’ s people by way of distinction from the children of Belial , who were so highly offended. with the great dishonour done to God and to his worship, and with the horrible wickedness of the priests, that upon that occasion they were hurried into the other extreme, and lived in the neglect and contempt of their own indispensable duty of offering sacrifices, because they came through the priests’ hands.

Poole: 1Sa 2:25

If one man sin against another by doing any injury.

The judge shall judge him the magistrate shall by his sentence end the difference, and both parties shall acquiesce in his determination, and so the breach shall be made up. The sense is, if only man be wronged, man can right it, and reconcile the persons.

If a man sin against the Lord to wit, in such manner as you have done, directly and immediately, in the matters of his worship and service, wilfully and presumptuously.

Who shall entreat for him? the offence is of so high a nature, that few or none will dare to intercede for him, but will leave him to the just judgment of God. He speaks after the manner of men, who do oft intercede with the prince for such as have injured any private person; but will not presume to do so when the injury is committed against his own person. The words are, and may be thus rendered,

Who shall judge for him? Who shall interpose himself as umpire, or arbitrator, between God and him? Who shall compound that difference? None can or dare do it, and therefore he must be left to the dreadful, but righteous judgment of God; which is your case and misery. Because the Lord would slay them , i.e. because God hath determined to destroy them for their many and great sins; and therefore would not and did not give them grace to hearken to Eli’ s counsel, and to repent of their wickedness, but hardened their hearts to their destruction.

Poole: 1Sa 2:26

He grew better in bad times, which is remembered to his commendation.

Poole: 1Sa 2:27

A man of God i.e. a prophet or preacher sent from God. See 1Ti 6:11 2Ti 3:17 2Pe 1:21 . Who this was is not revealed by God, and therefore it is vain to inquire, and impossible to determine.

Did I plainly appear? did I indeed show such a favor, and appear so evidently and gloriously to thee, and for thee, and is this thy requital?

unto the house of thy father i.e. unto Aaron the chief of thy father’ s house.

When they were in Egypt: see Exo 4:27 . Pharaoh’ s house , i.e. either,

1. In Pharaoh’ s land; the whole kingdom being, as it were, one great family, whereof Pharaoh was the master. Or,

2. In Pharaoh’ s court, where Aaron might probably be at the time of this revelation, either to answer to some accusation against him or his brethren, or to beg some relaxation of the rigour, or for some other occasion.

Poole: 1Sa 2:28

Did I choose him to wit, Aaron thy father? whereby he shows what he meant by his father’ s house . An ephod; that golden ephod which was peculiar to the high priest.

All the offerings made by fire i.e. all the priest’ s part of the offerings. He only had the office, and he had the whole benefit.

Poole: 1Sa 2:29

Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice using them irreverently, contemptuously, and profanely; both by abusing them to your own luxury, and by causing the people to abhor and neglect them? He chargeth Eli with his sons’ faults.

Honourest thy sons above me permitting them to dishonour and injure me, by taking my part to themselves; choosing rather to offend me by thy connivance at their sin, than to displease them by severe rebukes, and effectual restraints, and just punishments; and so prefer their will, and pleasure, and honour, before mine.

To make yourselves fat to pamper yourselves. This you did not out of any necessity, but out of mere luxury.

The chiefest of all the offerings not contented with those parts which I had allotted you, you invaded those choice parts which I reserved for myself.

Poole: 1Sa 2:30

I said indeed

Quest. Where or when did God say this?

Answ Either,

1. When he made that promise for the perpetuation of the priesthood in Aaron’ s family, Exo 28:43 29:9 .

Object. If Eli and all his family had been cut off, yet that promise had been made good in Eleazar’ s family: how then was that promise recalled by this sentence against Eli?

Answ It was recalled and made void, though not absolutely and universally to all Aaron’ s family, yet respectively to Eli and his family, which were wholly excluded from the benefit of it, wherein otherwise they should have shared; even as God’ s keeping of the Israelites out of Canaan and in the wilderness for forty years, and destroying them there, is called his breach of promise , Num 14:31 , although the promise of Canaan was not simply made void to all the Israelites, but only to that evil generation of them; or as God’ s covenant with David, and with his seed, of which God saith that it should stand fast , Psa 89:28 , and that he would not break nor alter it, 1Sa 2:34 , yet is said to be made void, 1Sa 2:35 , to wit, in regard of some particular branches or members of that family. Or,

2. To Eli himself, or to his father, when the priesthood was translated from Eleazar’ s to Ithamar’ s family, for some cause not mentioned in Scripture, but most probably for some great miscarriage of some of them. If it be said that there is no such promise recorded in Scripture, it may be so replied, That there are many sayings and doings noted in Holy Scripture which were not spoken of in their proper times and places, as Gen 24:51 42:21 Hos 12:4 Luk 11:49 Act 20:25 . So the sense of the place may be this, That promise and privilege of the perpetuation of the priesthood in Phinehas and his family, made to them Num 25:12,13 , namely, upon condition of his and their faithfulness in their office, which is plainly understood, I now take away from that family for their wickedness, and I transfer it to thee and thine, and will fix it there upon the same condition.

Should walk before me i.e. minister unto me as high priest. Walking is oft put for discharging one’ s office; before me may signify that he was the high priest, whose sole prerogative it was to minister before God, or before the ark, in the most holy place.

For ever as long as the Mosaical law and worship lasted, as that phrase is oft used.

Be it far from me to wit, to fulfil my promise, which I repent of, and hereby retract.

Them that honour me that worship and serve me with reverence and godly fear, and according to my will, which I esteem as an honour done to me.

I will honour I will advance them to honour, and maintain them in it.

They that despise me not formally and directly; for so Eli’ s sons did not despise God; but indirectly and by consequence, by presumptuous disobedience of my commands; by defiling and disgracing my worship and ordinances, either by transgressing the rules I have given them therein, or by their ungodly and shameful conversation; and by making my service contemptible and abominable to others through their scandals: all which are manifest arguments of contempt of God, and are so called, as Num 11:20 1Sa 12:9,10 Mal 1:8 , and all which were eminently found in Eli’ s sons.

Shall be lightly esteemed both by God and men.

Poole: 1Sa 2:31

I will cut off thine arm i.e. I will take away thy strength, which is oft signified by the arm, as Job 22:8 Psa 37:17 , or all that in which thou placest thy confidence and security; either,

1. The ark, which is called God’ s strength, Psa 78:61 , and was Eli’ s strength, who therefore was not able to beat the very tidings of the loss of it, 1Sa 4:18 . Or,

2. His priestly dignity or employment, whence he had all his honour and substance. Or rather,

3. His children, to whom the words following here, and in the succeeding verses, seem to confine it, who are the strength of parents: see Gen 49:3 Deu 21:17 Psa 127:4,5 .

The arm of thy father’ s house i.e. thy children’ s children, and all thy family; which was in great measure accomplished, 1Sa 22:16 , &c.

There shall not be an old man in thine house they shall generally be cut off by an untimely death before they be old.

Poole: 1Sa 2:32

So the sense is,

Thou shalt see not in thy person, but in thy posterity, (it being most frequent in Scripture to attribute that to parents which properly belongs to their posterity only; as Gen 17:8 Gen 27:29,40 )

an enemy i.e. thy competitor, or him who shall possess that place of high trust and honour which now thou enjoyest, (such persons being through man’ s corrupt nature esteemed as a man’ s worst enemy,) in my habitation, i.e. in the sanctuary. And then he adds by way of aggravation, that this sad accident should happen in all the wealth when God shall give Israel, i.e. in a time when God should eminently bless Israel, and make good all his promises to them, which was in Solomon’ s days, when Abiathar of Eli’ s race was put out of the high priesthood, and Zadok was put in his place, 1Ki 2:27,35 , when the priesthood was most glorious, and most profitable, and comfortable, and therefore the loss of it more deplorable. But the words may be otherwise rendered, as is noted in the margin of our English Bibles: Thou shalt see , to wit, in thy own person, the affliction , or oppression , or calamity of my habitation , i.e. either of the land of Israel, wherein I dwell; or of the sanctuary, called the habitation by way of eminency, whose greatest glory the ark was, 1Sa 4:21,22 , and consequently, whose greatest calamity the loss of the ark was; for , or instead of all that good wherewith God would have blessed Israel , or was about to bless Israel; having raised up a young prophet, Samuel, and thereby given good grounds of hope that he intended to bless Israel, if thou and thy sons had not hindered it by your sins, which God was resolved severely to punish. So this clause of the threatening concerns Eli’ s person, as the following concerns his posterity. And this best agrees with the most proper and usual signification of that phrase, Thou shalt see. For ever , i.e. as long as the priesthood continues in thy family, or as long as the Levitical priesthood lasts.

Poole: 1Sa 2:33

The man of thine i.e. those of thy posterity.

From mine altar i.e. from attendance upon mine altar; whom I shall not destroy, but suffer to live, and wait at the altar.

Shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart shall be so forlorn and miserable, that if thou wast alive to see it, it would grieve thee at the very heart, and thou wouldst consume thine eyes with weeping for their calamities. So the phrase is like that of Rachel weeping for her children , Jer 31:15 , which were slain long after her death.

The increase of thine house i.e. thy children.

In the flower of their age about the thirtieth year of their age, when they were to be admitted to the plenary administration of their office, Num 4:3 , then they shall die.

Poole: 1Sa 2:34

This shall be a sign unto thee to wit, of the certain truth of those sad predictions; and it was fulfilled, 1Sa 4:11 .

Poole: 1Sa 2:35

A faithful priest to wit, of another line, as is necessarily implied by one total removal of that office from Eli’ s line, before threatened. The person designed is Zadok, one eminent for his faithfulness to God and to the king, who, when Abiathar, the last of Eli’ s line, was deposed by Solomon, was made high priest in his stead, 1Ki 2:27,35 1Ch 29:22 .

That shall do according to that which is in mine heart and shall not dishonour or disobey me to gratify his sons, as thou hast done.

I will build him a sure house i.e. give him a numerous posterity, as that phrase is used, Exo 1:21 2Sa 7:11 1Ki 11:38 , and confirm that sure covenant of an everlasting priesthood made to Phinehas, of Eleazar’ s line, Num 25:13 , and interrupted for a little while by Eli, and his, of the line of Ithamar, unto him and his children for ever. And this was manifestly verified until the Babylonish captivity, Eze 44:15 ; and there is no reason to doubt of its continuance in the same line till Christ came.

He shall walk i.e. minister as high priest.

Before mine anointed either, first, Before king Solomon, who was anointed king, 1Ki 1:39 , and before the succeeding kings, who are commonly called anointed , or the Lord’ s anointed, as 1Sa 12:3,5 24:6,10 Ps 89:38,51 La 4:20 . Or rather, secondly, Before Jesus Christ; first, Because this title of Anointed , or Christ , or Messias , (both which words signify only the Anointed ,) is most frequently and eminently ascribed to Christ, both in the Old and New Testament, and therefore it is most reasonable to understand it of him, when there is nothing in the text or context which determines it to any other. Secondly, Christ is the main scope and design, not only of the New, but of the Old Testament, which in all its types and ceremonies represented Christ; and particularly, the high priest was an eminent type of Christ, and did represent his person, and act in his name and stead, and did mediately what John Baptist did immediately, go before the face of the Lord Christ; and when Christ did come, that office and officer was to cease. Thirdly, The high priest is seldom or never said to walk or minister before the kings of Israel or Judah, but constantly before the Lord , and consequently before Christ, who as he was God blessed for ever, Rom 9:5 , was present with, and the Builder and Governor of, the ancient church of Israel, as is manifest from Act 7:35 1Co 10:4 Heb 3:3-6 , and many other places; and their temple is particularly called his temple, Mal 3:1 , because all the temple worship was performed in his presence, and had a special respect unto him, and therefore the high priest is most properly said to walk before him .

Poole: 1Sa 2:36

Crouch to him in way of humble supplication. See 1Ki 2:26 ;

A morsel of bread whereas before they were so nice and delicate, that my liberal allowance could not satisfy them, but they must have their meat raw and fat, &c., above, 1Sa 2:13-16 ; so the punishment is suited to the nature of their sin.

Into one of the priests’ offices into the meanest office belonging to it. See Eze 44:10,11 , &c.

Quest. How could they be reduced to so great straits, seeing, though they lost the high priesthood, they still were inferior priests, and had a right to those plentiful provisions which belonged to that order?

Answ First, They might be degraded, not only from the office of the high priest, but also from that of the inferior priests, and consequently might forfeit and lose all the privileges belonging to their office. Secondly, This might be from the tyranny and violence of some of the succeeding priests of Eleazar’ s line towards that other line, which had long stood in competition with them, and had for a season got away the priesthood from them; for this text only relates the matter of fact, but doth not express an approbation of it.

Haydock: 1Sa 2:17

Lord. People, seeing that the law was not observed, refrained from presenting victims. (Menochius) ---

They are but too apt to follow the bad example of their teachers. (Haydock) ---

Hence God punishes the smallest faults of his ministers, with great severity, since they withdraw people from his service, by their scandalous behaviour, and are guilty of a more horrid sacrilege than those who laid violent hands on the Lord of majesty. (St. Bernard, ser. i.) Nothing brings a greater discredit on religion. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:18

Ephod. It was not, therefore, peculiar to priests, 2 Kings vi. 14.

Haydock: 1Sa 2:19

Coat. Hebrew mehil, the outer garment. Hence it appears that the parents of the people consecrated to the Lord, furnished them with clothes, till they were able to serve the tabernacle, otherwise they would have been a burden to it. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:20

Lent. This was in reply to what Anna had said, chap. i. 28. (Haydock) ---

God always gives back with interest. (Menochius)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:21

Lord. He behaved well in the tabernacle, (Calmet) notwithstanding the ill example of Heli's own sons. (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:22

Waited, like an army of guards, Exodus xxxvii. 8. The Rabbins pretend that these priests only sent away these women who came to be purified, and allowed them to return to their husbands before the appointed time, and thus caused the latter to offend. These authors are generally very fertile in discoveries. (Calmet) ---

The virgins or widows gave themselves up to work for the tabernacle. (Menochius) ---

The sons of Heli found an opportunity in the sacred practices of religion to gratify their passions. Perhaps some false pastors in the Church of Christ may have imitated their perversity. A man of the character of Mr. Crowley, a late deserter of the Catholic faith, judging of others by the corruption of his own heart, would hence insinuate that they all take these liberties, or at least that it is "a miracle," if they can admit females to confession, without yielding to such base temptations. If this be a miracle, we may confidently hope that wonders have not ceased, otherwise among his other malicious remarks, he would surely have adduced some proofs of his assertion, from the records of past ages. But in reality he seems to be little acquainted (though he pretends to have been converted by it, &c., and falsely asserts it is kept from laymen) either with history or with the Bible, having read perhaps little more than what his Catechism set before him; and this he boldly contradicts, as if he supposed that this "Thoughts" would have more weight than the decisions of the Fathers and of the whole Church. If he can find a professor of Maynooth, and another or two Irish priests, disposed to follow his example, (which we need not believe on his assertion) what would this prove? Yet Mr. Slack lays great stress on this man's authority, in his late defence of Wesley. (Letters to R. Campion, Esq. Whitby, 1811.) So ready are the enemies of the Catholic faith to scrape together every idle remark that may tend to defame the mother Church! So eager are infidels to reject the faith, on account of the misconduct of some of its degenerate professors! (Haydock) ---

The best of fathers have often very profligate children, as the latter take pride in the honours of their family, and expect to obtain the same without trouble. (Grotius)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:23

People. They could not refrain from complaining of the iniquity of his children, how much soever they might revere him. Though he was not a witness himself of their abominations, such an uproar must have convinced him that they were guilty. (Haydock) ---

The Fathers in general blame the lenity of the high priest, who ought not only to have rebuked, but also to have put a stop to the crying sins of his sons, by the utmost severity. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:25

Who shall pray for him. By these words Heli would have his sons understand, that by their wicked abuse of sacred things, and of the very sacrifices which were appointed to appease the Lord, they deprived themselves of the ordinary means of reconciliation with God; which was by sacrifices. The more, because as they were the chief priests, whose business it was to intercede for all others, they had no other to offer sacrifice and make atonement for them. (Challoner) ---

We need not, however, consider the words of Heli as an oracle of God. (Sanchez) ---

In human transactions, a person would find more difficulty in obtaining pardon, when the judge himself had received the injury. Septuagint, instead of appeased, have "and they shall pray for him." (Menochius) ---

Some may be found to plead his cause, but if he offend the judge, who will undertake to be his advocate? What medicines shall be used, when those, which God has appointed, are trodden under foot? (Haydock) ---

By persevering in such wickedness, no redress can be expected: and indeed, the infinite distance between God and man, would place an insuperable obstacle to a reconciliation, if Jesus Christ had not undertaken the cause even of the most desperate sinner. (Calmet) ---

Because the Lord would slay them. In consequence of their manifold sacrileges, he would not soften their hearts with his efficacious grace, but was determined to destroy them. (Challoner) ---

They had filled up the measure of their crimes; and, though God wills not the death of a sinner, they had treasured up to themselves wrath, which he will now display. We might also translate ci, "therefore," (Noldius; Osee ix. 15, &c.) or "that." They would not be convinced that the threat of their father would be executed. (Schmid) (Calmet) ---

Sins directly against God, and which hinder his service, are remitted with greater difficulty, though to all true penitents pardon is promised, Ezechiel xxxiii. God did not take away the free will of Ophni and Phinees, but left them to their own obstinacy, and justly punished them. See St. Augustine, contra Jul. v. 3. (Worthington) ---

They had already rendered themselves unworthy of extraordinary graces. (Tirinus) (St. Thomas Aquinas, [Summa Theologiae] 1 p. q. 23, n. 3.)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:26

And men. Thus he is, in some degree, compared with our Saviour, Luke ii. 52. When one minister prevaricates, God presently raises up another, so that he never abandons his Church. (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:27

A man. His name is unknown. Some say it was Elcana, Samuel or an angel, &c. The Rabbins suppose that Phinees performed this office. But he was long ago dead, (Calmet) or he would still have enjoyed the high priesthood instead of Heli. ---

Father's. Aaron was the chief both of the house of Eleazar and of Ithamar, and was selected by God to be his ambassador and priest. (Haydock) ---

His posterity held the high priesthood till after the reign of Herod. (Tirinus)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:29

Away, by scandalizing the people, and causing them to neglect offering the appointed victims. (Haydock) ---

To eat. Heli seems to have refrained from divesting his sons of their high office, that the riches of his family might not be impaired. (Calmet) ---

Avarice is the root of many evils, and those who seek to become rich fall into many snares. Poverty soon overtook the descendants of Heli, while the immediate perpetrators of the wickedness were punished with death. (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:30

Ever. God had promised the priesthood to Aaron's seed (Calmet) as long as the Jewish religion should subsist. (Haydock) ---

He had also selected the branch of Eleazar, to recompense the zeal of Phinees; (Numbers xxv. 13,) and yet we find that the house of Ithamar had possession for a time of the high priesthood. We know not when or by what means by obtained it. The promises of God to them were surely only conditional; and some think that they only meant, that as He had permitted them to acquire this high dignity, so it was an earnest that he would not deprive them of it, unless they proved unworthy. But it is generally supposed that God had expressed his determination of this head. Heli, Achitob, Achias, Achimelech, and Abiathar, (Calmet) were the only pontiffs of the family of Ithamar. The last was obliged to resign to (Haydock) Sadoc, under the reign of Solomon, 3 Kings ii. 27. Some suppose that Heli usurped this dignity, (Capel) when he entered upon the civil administration, as the people thought none more fit for the office, in a time of trouble. (Bertram.) ---

Others think that the descendants of Eleazar forfeited this honour by their crimes or indolence, or because they were not of sufficient age. But this reason would not have excluded them for ever. The Scripture, therefore, insinuates that Heli was appointed by God, and that his descendants would have enjoyed his office, if they had not offended. (Calmet) ---

These promises were of a conditional nature both to Phinees and to Heli, and Sadoc, ver. 35. See Numbers xxv., &c. (Haydock) ---

God never changes. (Menochius)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:31

Arm, strength or children. I will slay some; others I will reduce to extreme want. Some explain it of the ark, which was the protection of Israel. (Calmet) ---

Old man, to govern. (Du Hamel) ---

It is often a title of dignity. But the four succeeding pontiffs did not live long. In the course of little more than 100 years, the last was deposed. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:32

Thy rival. A priest of another race. This was partly filled when Abiathar, of the race of Heli, was removed from the priesthood, and Sadoc, who was of another line, was substituted in his place. But it was more fully accomplished in the New Testament, when the priesthood of Aaron gave place to that of Christ. (Challoner) ---

Some suppose that this rival was Samuel, in whom this prediction was partly fulfilled, though more completely in Christ. (Ven. Bede, q.) (Menochius) ---

Heli saw not in person the exaltation of Eleazar's family. Hebrew and other version are very much embarrassed here. (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "and thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel." (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:33

Spent. Hence we may learn to adore the depth of God's judgments, who knows how to punish both in life and death. ---

Part. Septuagint, "the most exalted of thy house shall fall by the sword of men."

Haydock: 1Sa 2:35

Faithful often denotes what shall continue a long time, Isaias xxxiii. 16., and lv. 3. (Calmet) ---

But in the conduct of Sadoc, we find nothing reprehensible. (Menochius) ---

This faithful priest pointed out the Christian priesthood, as the sequel shews. (Calmet) ---

All days. He shall perform his office. (Haydock) ---

Anointed, king Solomon. (Menochius) ---

The priests of the new law ought always to have Christ in view. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Sa 2:36

Bread; like the poorest sort of people. (Menochius) ---

Being degraded, they shall ask the other priests to offer sacrifice for them. Hebrew, "shall bend before him for a piece of silver, and for a morsel of bread." He shall humbly intreat to be employed as a priest, in order to get a livelihood. ---

The piece of silver. Hebrew agorath, probably denotes the gerah, the smallest coin, or what was given for a day's wages. Agor means to hire, in Chaldean, Syriac, &c. Hence the Greek, Greek: agorazo, "I purchase." ---

Office. The priests served in their turns; (1 Paralipomenon xxiv.) so that the descendants of Heli must have been entitled to a subsistence. But whether God punished them, by requiring that they should ask the high priest for this, as for a favour, or this was required of all the inferior priests before they could be employed, or whether, in fine, the descendants of Abiathar were reduced to the condition of Levites, or wholly degraded, we know not. See 4 Kings xxiii. 9., and Ezechiel xliv. 10. (Calmet) ---

They may petition for a part of the victims which fell to the share of the priests, (Menochius) and might be eaten by any that was not defiled. (Haydock)

Gill: 1Sa 2:17

Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord,.... That is, the sons of Eli; for they were the ringleaders who set these bad examples, which other priests followed, and therefore the sin is ascribed to them; and which was sadly aggravated by taking what was not their own, and by taking it in a forcible manner, and before the Lord had his part in the offering, and all this done in the tabernacle, in the presence of God; which plainly showed that they had not the fear of God before their eyes, nor any sense of his omniscience and omnipresence, any more than of his holiness and justice:

for men abhorred the offering of the Lord; it was irksome and disagreeable to them to bring their sacrifices, when they saw the law of God was not attended to, and the rules of sacrificing were not observed; such contempt of God, such abuse of sacrifices, such injury done to the sacrificers, and such covetousness and sensuality in the priests, that it even set the people against sacrifices, and made them loath them, and neglect to bring them. And this aggravated the sin of the young men, though the sacrificers were not excused hereby, 1Sa 2:24.

Gill: 1Sa 2:18

But Samuel ministered before the Lord,.... The ministration of Samuel, though a child, is observed both before and after the account of the ill behaviour and wickedness of Eli's sons; partly to the shame and disgrace of them, and as serving to aggravate their sin, and make it appear the more black and heinous; and partly to his honour and reputation, that he was not corrupted and turned aside from God by their evil practices. The phrase here used is different from that in 1Sa 2:11 there he is said to minister before Eli, under his direction and guidance, but here before the Lord; being now engaged in higher services, and which he could perform without the assistance of Eli, as in the presence of God more immediately; it seems to have respect to him when more grown in age, stature, knowledge, and experience, though here related: yet still being "a child"; not got out of his childhood, or arrived to manhood:

girded with a linen ephod; such as priests used to wear, but not Levites in common, nor extraordinary persons on extraordinary occasions, see 1Sa 22:18. This seems to be a peculiar favour, and a special honour which Eli granted to Samuel when so very young, on account of the grace of God bestowed on him in a wonderful manner; and because brought up in the tabernacle as a holy person, and a Nazarite; and because his birth was foretold, and he asked of God, as his name signified, as Procopius Gazaeus observes.

Gill: 1Sa 2:19

Moreover, his mother made him a little coat,.... Suitable to his stature; this was an outer coat to wear over others, and this also was such an one as the priests wore; it is the same word that is used for the priest's robe, Exo 28:4, and this, it is very likely, was altogether of her own spinning, and weaving, and making up; which were works women did in those times: and this Hannah did partly out of her great love to her son Samuel, and partly to lessen the expense that Eli, or the congregation, were at in the maintenance of him; and the Talmudists ^q observe, that a priest might wear a garment, and minister in it, if his mother made it; and they give instances of priests, Ishmael and Eleazar, for whom their mothers made garments:

and brought it to him from year to year; for it seems this was only to be worn at festivals, and not on common days; and therefore she did not leave it with him, but took it home with her, and brought it again at the returning festival:

when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice: whether at the passover, or at Pentecost, or at the feast of tabernacles; and it is very probable she came with her husband at them all, yearly; for though she was not by the law obliged thereunto, yet her religious zeal and devotion, and her great desire to see her son as often as she could, induced her to come.

Gill: 1Sa 2:20

And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife,.... Not only the first time they brought Samuel to him, and left him with him; but every year they came to worship, as the Jewish commentators mostly interpret it:

and said, the Lord give thee seed of this woman; children by her, year after year:

for the loan which is lent to the Lord; instead of Samuel, who was asked of the Lord and given to him again; and as they were thereby in some measure deprived of him, and could not always enjoy him, and be delighted with him, Eli prayed for them, and gave them his benediction as a priest, that they might be favoured with other children, who might be of delight and service to them when in old age:

and they went unto their own home; at Ramah, as in 1Sa 2:11 or to his place ^r, Elkanah's; hence Kimchi concludes that Hannah was of another city originally; but the Targum is,"to their place;''and indeed, what was now the place or home of the one, was of the other.

Gill: 1Sa 2:21

And the Lord visited Hannah,.... In a way of mercy, approving and confirming the blessing of Eli; or rather granting the blessing he prayed for, by giving her power to conceive, bear, and bring forth children, as the following words explain it:

so that she conceived and bare three sons and two daughters; whereby the prophecy of Hannah was fulfilled, 1Sa 2:5, and was no doubt matter of great joy to her, though of these children we nowhere else read, nor even of their names. Josephus ^s says, Elkanah had other sons by Hannah, and three daughters; which agrees not with the text:

and the child Samuel grew before the Lord: in age and stature, in grace and goodness, and improved much in the worship and service of God, both in the theory and practice of it; or became great with him, high in his esteem and favour, and was blessed with much of his presence, and with large gifts of his grace.

Gill: 1Sa 2:22

Now Eli was very old,.... It is very probable he was now about ninety years of age, since when he died he was ninety eight, 1Sa 4:15 which is observed to show his incapacity for the discharge of his office, and inspection into public affairs; which gave his sons opportunity of acting the wicked part they did without reproof, and with impunity, Eli knowing nothing of it; and accounts in some measure for the gentle reproof he gave them, when he did know of it; for being old, he was not so full of spirit and vigour, and more given to tenderness and mercy; besides, his sons were grown up and married, and he had less authority over them; though he ought to have considered himself not as a father only, but as an high priest and judge of Israel, and performed his office as such; however, it must be a great affliction to him in his old age, and added to the weight of it, that his sons should behave so unworthily as they did:

and heard all that his sons had done unto Israel; who, besides what was by the law allowed them, took flesh out of the pot as it was boiling, and demanded raw flesh to roast before the fat was offered to the Lord; and in this manner they used all, without distinction, that came with their sacrifices:

and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; not that they lay with them at the door in a public beastly manner; but the women that came thither they decoyed into their own apartments, or into some of the courts of the tabernacle, and there debauched them: who these women were, and what their business at the tabernacle, is not easy to say; some think they came about business which belonged to women to do there, as to wash and clean the rooms, to sew and spin, and the like; but one would think that these latter works should be done, not at the door of the tabernacle, but in some apartment in it, or rather at their own houses, for the use of it: the Targum is, that they there assembled to pray, which is more likely, and that they were devout women; who came there in large numbers, for the word used has the signification of armies; to perform religious exercises in fasting, and praying, and bringing sacrifices to be offered for them; though they do not seem to be such, as was Anna the prophetess, Luk 2:37 who made their abode in the tabernacle, and served God night and day with fastings and prayers, since these were only at the door of the tabernacle; nor were there in the tabernacle conveniences for such persons, as afterwards in the temple. The Jews, for the most part, by these understand new mothers, who came with their offerings for purification, attended with many other women, their relations, friends, and neighbours, and which especially, when several met together on such an occasion, made a crowd at the door of the tabernacle; and some are of opinion that these men did not lie with them, or debauch them, according to the literal sense of the word; but that they delayed the offering of their nests of doves they brought, so that they were forced to stay all night, and could not return home; and because by this means they were restrained from their husbands, it is reckoned as if these men had lain with them ^t; and which they think is confirmed, in that the man of God sent to Eli, after mentioned, takes no notice of this lewdness of theirs, only of their ill behaviour as to sacrifices, but the text is so express for their debauchery, that it cannot be denied.

Gill: 1Sa 2:23

And he said unto them, why do ye such things?.... As to impose upon the people that bring their offerings, by taking more than is due, and in a very indecent and imperious manner; and especially to defile the women when they came to worship: these were very scandalous sins, and deserved a more severe reprimand, and indeed a greater chastisement than by mere words; Eli should have rebuked them more sharply, and laid open the evil of their doings, and as a judge punished them for them:

for I hear of your evil doings by all this people; the inhabitants of Shiloh, or who came thither to worship, who were continually making their complaints to Eli; which still shows his backwardness to reprove them in the manner he did until he was obliged to it by the continual remonstrances of the people against the practices of his sons; he did not attend to the information he had from a few persons, until it became general.

Gill: 1Sa 2:24

Nay, my sons,.... This seems to be too soft and smooth an appellation, too kind and endearing, considering the offence they were guilty of, and were now reproving for; rather they deserved to be called sons of Belial, the children of the devil, than sons of Eli, or brutes and shameless wretches, and such like hard names:

for it is no good report that I hear; a very bad one; far from being good, scarce anything worse could have been said of them; to rob persons of the flesh of their offerings, when there was a sufficient allowance made for them by law, and to be so impious as to require what was not their due, and even before the Lord had his; and to debauch the women that came to religious worship, and that in the sacred place of worship, they also being priests of the Lord, and married men; sins very shocking and sadly aggravated, and yet Eli treats them in this gentle manner:

ye make the Lord's people to transgress: by causing them to forbear to bring their sacrifices, being used in such an injurious and overbearing way; and by decoying the women into uncleanness, and by setting examples to others: or, "to cry out"; as in the margin of our Bibles, to exclaim against them for their exorbitant and lewd practices; so the Targum,

"the people of the Lord murmur because so ill used by them:''this clause may be read in connection with the former, "it is no good report that I hear, which ye cause to pass through the Lord's people"; ye occasion the people to speak ill of you everywhere, in the camp of Israel, throughout the whole nation; the report as it is bad, it is general, is in everyone's mouth; so Maimonides ^u interprets it; with which Jarchi and others agree ^w.

Gill: 1Sa 2:25

If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him, &c. When one man does an injury to another in his person and property, the case is brought before the judge, he hears it, examines into it, and determines upon it, and does justice, orders that the injured person have satisfaction made him, and so the matter is ended:

but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? all sin is in some sense against God, as it is contrary to his nature, and a breach of his law, and especially bold, daring, presumptuous sins; but there are some sins that are more immediately and particularly against God, as sins against the first table of the law, which relate to the worship of God, and such were the sins of Eli's sons in the affair of sacrifices; all sin against God is aggravated by the perfections of his nature, and made tremendous, as being against a God of strict justice, of unspotted purity and holiness, and who is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent; and by the relation and connection there is between God and men, he is their Creator and Preserver, the God of their lives and mercies, and of all the blessings they enjoy, and yet sin against him! who will entreat the favour of God for such persons, ask pardon for them, and beseech the Lord to be propitious and merciful to them? who on earth will do it? such persons are scarce and rare, few care to stand up in the gap between God and sinners; in some cases they ought not, in others they cannot. Eli suggests by this question, that he could not, even for his own sons; and who in heaven can or will do it? not saints departed, who know nothing of what is done below, nor angels, only the Lord Jesus Christ; he is the only Mediator between God and men, who has engaged his heart to approach unto God, and interpose between him and sinful men, and has made peace and reconciliation by his blood, and is become the propitiation for sin, and ever lives to make intercession for transgressors, and is always prevalent and successful in his mediation and intercession; excepting him, there is none to entreat for those that have sinned against the Lord, see 1Jo 2:1. In answer to this question, who shall entreat for him? the Jews say ^x repentance and good works; but these are insufficient advocates for a sinner, without the atoning sacrifice of Christ, who is propitiation for sin, and upon which a plea can only be founded:

notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the voice of their father; to his reproofs and counsels, his reasonings and expostulations; though his rebukes were so gentle, and this last reasoning of his so close and strong, so nervous and striking:

because the Lord would slay them; it was his purpose and decree, his will and pleasure, to cut them off for their wickedness; wherefore he gave them up to a judicial blindness, and hardness of heart, as he did Pharaoh, so that they were proof against all advice, admonitions, and arguments used with them: some choose to read the words, "therefore the Lord would slay them" ^y, because they were disobedient to the voice of their father; but the former sense is best; for his will to destroy them was not so much for their disregard to the reproofs of their father in which he himself was culpable, as for their breach of his laws.

Gill: 1Sa 2:26

And the child Samuel grew up,.... Increased in stature and in grace, grew more and more in all respects, and better and better, while Eli's sons grew worse and worse; the contrast between these make the one to shine and appear illustrious, and the other to look the blacker: or "he went on, and grew, and was good" ^z; as he proceeded on in years, and grew in stature, he appeared more and more to be a good man, a virtuous, holy, and gracious person:

and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men; the Lord was pleased to give him some tokens of his favour, that he delighted in him, that he was wellpleasing in his sight, and that his person and services were acceptable to him; and the more Eli's sons disgusted the people by their ill lives and conduct, the greater esteem among them did Samuel obtain by his becoming life and conversation; all admired him, spoke well of him, and thanked God that in such bad times he was raising up one among them, of whom they had the most hopeful prospect of usefulness to them.

Gill: 1Sa 2:27

And there came a man of God unto Eli,.... A prophet, as the Targum; he had gifts and graces bestowed on him by the Lord, qualifying him for that office; he came from God, and spoke in his name, as prophets used to do: who this was is not said, nor can it be known with certainty; many conjectures are made; some think he might he Phinehas, as Ben Gersom and Abarbinel ^a, which is not at all likely; it is not probable that he was living, for if he had been alive, Eli would not have been high priest; the more ancient Jews say ^b he was Elkanah, the father of Samuel; and so Jarchi; and he is said in the Targum on 1Sa 1:1, to be one of the disciples of the prophets, and was reckoned by them among the two hundred prophets that prophesied in Israel ^c; but of his prophecy we nowhere read in Scripture, or that he was one: other's ^d think he was Samuel himself, who through modesty conceals his name; but he was now a child, as in the preceding verse; indeed, some are of opinion that what follows is recorded in this chapter by way of anticipation, and properly belongs to, and is a part of the message sent from the Lord by Samuel to Eli, in the following chapter:

and said unto him, thus saith the Lord; using the language prophets in later times did, who spake not of themselves, but in the name of the Lord; and from whence it appears that this was not a divine Person, the Son of God in human form, since he never used to speak in this manner when he appeared:

did I plainly appear to the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? he did; this was evident and certain, and a wonderful instance of condescending goodness: the house of his father is the house of Aaron, who, and all his sons, were born in Egypt, from whose youngest son, Ithamar, Eli descended; and to whom the Lord appeared when in Egypt, and sent him to meet Moses, whose spokesman he appointed him to be; and who prophesied in Egypt, and reproved the Israelites, which is recorded in Eze 20:1 as say the Jews ^e.

Gill: 1Sa 2:28

And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest,.... He did; of all the tribes of Israel the Lord chose the tribe of Levi to place the priesthood in, and of all the families of that tribe he chose the house of Aaron, Eli's ancestor, to minister in the priest's office, see Exo 28:1.

to offer upon mine altar; burnt offerings, sin offerings, and peace offerings; this is the altar of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the tabernacle:

to burn incense; on the altar of incense, which was in the holy place, and on which incense was burnt morning and evening:

to wear an ephod before me? in which was the breastplate, with the Urim and Thummim, with which the high priest went into the most holy place, where was the ark, the symbol of the divine Presence, and where he inquired of the Lord by the above things:

and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? he did; the priests who were of the house of Aaron had not only the sin offerings, and part of the peace offerings, but even of the offerings made by fire, the burnt offerings; the skin of them was the priest's, and the meat offerings that went along with them, see Lev 6:25 and Lev 8:8 which were given them for their maintenance. Now these instances of God's goodness to the family of Aaron are mentioned to aggravate the sins of Eli and his sons.

Gill: 1Sa 2:29

Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice, and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation,.... To be offered in the tabernacle, where the Lord had his dwelling; which they might be said to kick and spurn at, despising them, as if there were not enough of them, nor the best of them given to them for their maintenance; a metaphor taken from cattle well fed and fat, which kick and spurn with their feet at even the owners and feeders of them. The Targum is,"why do ye use force with the holy offerings?''that is, take them away by force, when there was such a sufficient quantity allowed them for their support. Some understand this of their driving away such, that before used to bring their sacrifices to be offered, but being so ill treated, refrained from bringing them:

and honourest thy sons above me; by suffering them to take their part of the sacrifices, and even what did not belong to them, before God had his part, or before the fat was burnt; and by continuing them in their office, to the dishonour of God, his name and worship, when they ought to have been turned out by him and punished; but by this he preferred the honour of his sons before the honour of God, and chose rather that he should be dishonoured, than that they should be censured:

to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? they took the best pieces of the peace offerings from them by force, having no right unto them; and this they did to indulge their luxury and sensuality, which Eli connived at; and it is highly probable took part of the roasted meat his sons provided for themselves, out of the choicest pieces of the offerings of the people; since he himself is included in this clause, "to make yourselves fat", as his sons might be, and it is certain he himself was, 1Sa 4:18.

Gill: 1Sa 2:30

Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith,.... This being the case, so much contempt cast upon his sacrifices, and dishonour on himself:

I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever; or minister in the priest's office before him: if the house of Aaron in general is meant, it did continue so to do, in one branch or another of it, as long as the Mosaic dispensation lasted, which is meant by the phrase "for ever"; but since it is afterwards denied that it should, rather the house of Ithamar, or of the immediate parent of Eli, is meant, and this said when the priesthood was translated from the family of Eleazar to the family of Ithamar; when, and on what account that was done, we nowhere read. It is a tradition ^f, that it was in the time of the Levite's concubine; and because Phinehas, and the other priests, did not go from city to city, and reprove the Israelites for the many sins they were fallen into, that the priesthood was taken away out of the family of Eleazar, and translated to that of Ithamar:

but now the Lord saith, be it far from me; to continue the priesthood in the line of Ithamar; which argues no change in the purposes or promises of God, this being not a decree of his, but a declaration of his will; that if the house of Ithamar behaved well in the discharge of the office of the high priest, it should continue with them to the end of the Mosaic dispensation, but if not, it should be taken from them, and restored to the family of Eleazar; as it was in Solomon's time:

for them that honour me I will honour; as Phinehas the son of Eleazar did at Shittim, where he showed his zeal for the Lord of hosts, and had the promise of the everlasting priesthood; and which continued in his family until the Babylonish captivity, excepting the interval in which it was in the family of Ithamar, and for what reason is not known:

and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed; as the posterity of Eli, whose sons despised the Lord, and his offerings, as appeared by their conduct; and these were killed in battle in one day, and in the times of Solomon, Abiathar, of the posterity of Eli, was thrust out of the priesthood, and Zadok, of the line of Eleazar, was put in his room, 1Ki 2:27.

Gill: 1Sa 2:31

Behold, the days come,.... Or, are coming ^g; and will quickly come, in a very little time the things, after threatened, began to take place, even in the days of Eli's sons, and the whole was accomplished in about eighty years after:

that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house: that is, the strength of him and them, as the Targum, the strength of a man for doing business lying in his arm; meaning by it not long life, as Kimchi, who concludes this sense from what follows; but rather power and authority, or the exercise of the office of high priest, which gave him and his family great esteem and power; or it may be best of all, his children, which are the strength of a man, and the support of his family, see Gen 49:3

that there shall not be an old man in thine house; as there were none when he died, and his two sons, the same day; and the children they left were very young, and Ahitub, who was one of them, could not die an old man, since Ahimelech his son was priest in the time of Saul, who with eighty five priests were slain by his order; and Abiathar his son was deprived of his priesthood in the time of Solomon; though some understand this not of an elder in years, but in office; and that the sense is, that there should be none of his family a senator, or a member of the great sanhedrim, or court of judicature; and so it is interpreted in the Talmud ^h; with which agree Ben Gersom and Abarbinel.

Gill: 1Sa 2:32

And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation,.... Either the Philistines in the land of Israel, where God chose to dwell, who quickly after made war against Israel, and pitched in Aphek, 1Sa 4:1 or, as in the margin of our Bibles, and other versions ⁱ, "thou shalt see the affliction of the tabernacle"; as he did when the ark of God was taken, at the news of which he died, 1Sa 4:17 and so the Targum understands it of affliction and calamity, yet not of the house of God, but of his own house; paraphrasing the words thus,"and thou shall see the calamity that shall come upon the men of thine house, for the sins which they have committed before me in the house of my sanctuary:''but it seems best to interpret it of a rival, which not he in his own person should see, but whom his posterity should see high priest in the temple; as they did in Solomon's time, when Abiathar, of the family of Eli, was thrust out, and Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, was put in; for, as Kimchi observes, when a man has two wives, they are rivals or adversaries to one another, jealous and emulous of each other, as Elkanah's two wives were, and of one of them the same word is used as here, 1Sa 1:6 so when one high priest was put out, and another taken in, the one was the rival or adversary of the other, as in the case referred to:

in all the wealth which God shall give Israel; which points exactly at the time when this should be, even men God did well to Israel, gave them great prosperity, wealth and riches, quietness and safety, a famous temple built for the worship of God, and everything in a flourishing condition, both with respect to temporals and spirituals, as was in the days of Solomon, see 1Ki 4:20 and then it was amidst all that plenty and prosperity, and when the high priesthood was most honourable and profitable, that Eli's family was turned out of it, and another put into it:

and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever; See Gill on 1Sa 2:31 this is repeated for confirmation, and with this addition, that this would be the case for ever.

Gill: 1Sa 2:33

And the man of thine,..... Of his family, which should spring from him: whom I shall not cut off from mine altar: from serving there: who though he shall not be an high priest, but a common priest, as all the descendants of Aaron were:

shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart; that is, the eyes and heart of his posterity; who though they should see of their family ministering in the priest's office, yet should make so poor a figure on account of their outward meanness and poverty, or because of their want of wisdom, and intellectual endowments, or because of their scandalous lives, that it would fill their hearts with grief and sorrow, and their eyes with tears, so that their eyes would fail, and be consumed, and their hearts be broken:

and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age; or "die men" ^k; grown men, not children, when it would not be so great an affliction to part with them; but when at man's estate, in the prime of their days, perhaps about thirty years of age, the time when the priests entered upon their office to do all the work of it; the Targum is,"shall be killed young men:''it is more than once said in the Talmud ^l, that there was a family in Jerusalem, the men of which died at eighteen years of age; they came and informed Juchanan ben Zaccai of it; he said to them, perhaps of the family of Eli are ye, as it is said, 1Sa 2:33.

Gill: 1Sa 2:34

This shall be a sign unto thee,.... A confirming one, that all which had been now said would be fulfilled:

that shall come upon thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas; which Eli would live to see fulfilled on them; and when it was, he might be assured the rest would be most certainly accomplished, and it was this:

in one day they shall die both of them; as they did in battle with the Philistines, 1Sa 4:11.

Gill: 1Sa 2:35

And I will raise up a faithful priest,.... Not Samuel, as some, for he was not of the seed of Aaron, and of the priestly race; nor had he a sure house, for his sons declined from the ways of truth and justice; but Zadok, as it is commonly interpreted, who was put into the office of the high priest by Solomon when he came to the throne, in the room of Abiathar, of the line of Eli; who was an upright man, and faithfully discharged his office, and answered to his name, which signifies righteous, see Eze 44:15 that shall do according to that which is in my heart, and in my mind: according to the secret will and pleasure of God, as revealed in his word; do everything relating to the office of an high priest, according to the laws of God respecting it; so the Targum,"that shall do according to my word, and according to my will:"

and I will build him a sure house; which some understand of a numerous family and posterity he should have to succeed him, so that there should never be wanting one of his seed to fill up that high office; or rather it may design the establishment of the high priesthood in his family, which was an everlasting one, as promised to Phinehas his ancestor, and which continued unto the times of the Messiah, who put an end to it, by fulfilling it; unless it can be thought that this may refer to the temple built by Solomon, which was a firm house, in comparison of the tabernacle, which was a movable one; it was built for Zadok and his posterity, who was the first that officiated in it as a legal priest. There is one writer, who says ^m,"this agrees with no man, only with our Lord Jesus, who is called our high priest, that offered up a sacrifice to the Father for us therefore to Christ properly this prophecy belongs; but, according to the history; to Zadok:''and Christ is said indeed to be a faithful, as well as a merciful high priest, faithful to him that appointed him, and faithful to those for whom he officiated; he always did the things which pleased his Father, was obedient to his will and commands in all respects; and a sure house is built by him, his church, against which the gates of hell can never prevail: however, the next clause is by others interpreted of him:

and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever; or "before my Messiah", as the high priests did; they were types of Christ, and represented him, and acted under him, and in his stead, and prefigured and pointed at what he was to do, when he came in the flesh, and now does in the most holy place in heaven. Though it is more commonly understood of Zadok and his posterity, walking or ministering, as the Targum, before Solomon the Lord's anointed, and before the kings of the house of David, as they did until the Babylonish captivity.

Gill: 1Sa 2:36

And it shall come to pass, that everyone that is left in thine house,.... That is not cut off by death, the few remains of Eli's posterity in succeeding times, after the high priesthood was removed out of his family into another; so that they were reduced at best to common priests, and these, as it should seem, degraded from that office for their maladministration of it, or scandalous lives:

shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread; which Grotius interprets of their coming to God, and bowing themselves before him, and praying to him for the smallest piece of money to cast into the treasury, and for a morsel of bread to be accepted as an offering, instead of a bullock, sheep, lamb, or even a bird, which they were not able to bring; but the meaning is, that such should be the low estate of Eli's family, when another, even Zadok, was made high priest, that they should come and humble themselves before him, as the Targum expresses it, beseeching him to give them a piece of silver, even the smallest piece, that is, as the word signifies, a "gerah" or "meah", about a penny or three halfpence of our money, the twentieth part of a shekel, Eze 45:12 and a piece of bread, not a whole loaf, but a slice of it, to such extremity would they be brought:

and shall say, put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread; or into one of the wards of the priests; their custodies or courses, as the Targum; with which the Jewish commentators generally agree, and of which there were twenty four; see 1Ch 24:4, and there are some traces of them in the New Testament, see Luk 1:5, but these were regular priests, who were in those courses, and had a sufficient maintenance for them, and had not barely a piece of bread to live on, or just enough to keep them from starving, as the phrase denotes; wherefore this must be understood, as before hinted, of priests degraded from their office, on some account or another, and reduced to poverty and want; and therefore, that they might be kept from starving, would solicit the high priest in those days, and beg that he would put them in some inferior post under the priests, to do the meanest offices for them, slay the sacrifices for them, wash their pots, open and shut up doors, and the like, that so they might have a living, though a poor one; and this may reasonably be thought to be the case of Eli's posterity, in process of time, after Abiathar was deposed from the high priest's office, and was ordered to go and live upon his fields and farm at Anathoth, 1Ki 2:26 with which compare Eze 44:10. This, as Ben Gersom observes, was a fit punishment, and a righteous retaliation on Eli's posterity, that they should be brought to crouch to others, and be glad of a morsel of bread, who had behaved so imperiously towards the Lord's people, and had taken away their flesh from them by force; and, not content with their allowance, took the best pieces of the sacrifices, to make themselves fat with them.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:17

¹ tc Heb “the men,” which is absent from one medieval Hebrew ms, a Qumran ms, and the LXX.

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:20

¹ tn Heb “seed.”

² 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.

³ tn Heb “his.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:21

¹ tn Heb “with the Lord.” Cf. NAB, TEV “in the service of the Lord”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “in the presence of the Lord”; CEV “at the Lord’s house in Shiloh.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:22

¹ tn Heb “to all Israel.”

² tn Heb “lie with.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:23

¹ tc For “these” the LXX has “of the Lord” (κυρίου, kuriou), perhaps through the influence of the final phrase of v. 24 (“the people of the Lord”). Somewhat less likely is the view that the MT reading is due to a distorted dittography of the first word of v. 24. The Vulgate lacks the word.

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:24

¹ tn Heb “no.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:25

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Eli’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “desired.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:27

¹ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

² tn Heb “to your father’s” (also in vv. 28, 30).

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:28

¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Eli’s ancestor, i.e., Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:29

¹ tc The MT has a plural “you” here, but the LXX and a Qumran ms have the singular. The singular may be the correct reading; the verb “you have honored” later in the verse is singular even in the MT. However, it is more probable that the Lord here refers to Eli and his sons. Note the plural in the second half of the verse (“you have made yourselves fat”).

² tn Heb “which I commanded, dwelling place.” The noun is functioning as an adverbial accusative in relation to the verb. Since God’s dwelling place/sanctuary is in view, the pronoun “my” is supplied in the translation.

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:30

¹ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

² tn Heb “walk about before.”

³ tn Heb “may it be far removed from me.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:31

¹ tn Heb “chop off your arm.” The arm here symbolizes strength and activity.

² tn Heb “arm.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:32

¹ tn Heb “you will see [the] trouble of [the] dwelling place.” Since God’s dwelling place/sanctuary is in view, the pronoun is supplied in the translation (see v. 29).

² tn Heb “in all which he does good with Israel.”

³ tc The LXX and a Qumran manuscript have the first person pronoun “my” here.

⁴ tn Heb “all the days.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:33

¹ tc The LXX, a Qumran ms, and a few old Latin mss have the third person pronominal suffix “his” here.

² tn Heb “to cause your eyes to fail.” Elsewhere this verb, when used of eyes, refers to bloodshot eyes resulting from weeping, prolonged staring, or illness (see Lev 26:16; Pss 69:3; 119:82; Lam 2:11; 4:17).

³ tn Heb “and to cause your soul grief.”

⁴ tn Heb “and all the increase of your house.”

⁵ tc The text is difficult. The MT literally says “they will die [as] men.” Apparently the meaning is that they will be cut off in the prime of their life without reaching old age. The LXX and a Qumran ms, however, have the additional word “sword” (“they will die by the sword of men”). This is an easier reading (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT), but that fact is not in favor of its originality.

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:34

¹ tn Heb “and this to you [is] the sign which will come to both of your sons.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:35

¹ tn Heb “house.”

² tn Heb “and he will walk about before my anointed one all the days.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 2:36

¹ tn Heb “a piece of silver” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:17

Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men ^{( o )} abhorred the offering of the LORD.

^{( o )} Seeing the horrible abuse of it.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:22

Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that ^{( p )} assembled [at] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

^{( p )} Which was (as the Hebrews write) after their travail, when they came to be purified, read (Exo 38:8; Lev 12:6).

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:24

Nay, my sons; for [it is] no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD'S people to ^{( q )} transgress.

^{( q )} Because they contemn their duty to God, (1Sa 2:17).

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:25

If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD ^{( r )} would slay them.

^{( r )} So that to obey good admonition is God's mercy, and to disobey them is his just judgment for sin.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:27

And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy ^{( s )} father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?

^{( s )} That is, Aaron.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:29

Wherefore ^{( t )} kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded [in my] habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

^{( t )} Why have you contemned my sacrifices, and as it were trod them under foot?

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:30

Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed [that] thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, ^{( u )} Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

^{( u )} God's promises are only effective to those he gives faith to fear and obey him.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:31

Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine ^{( x )} arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.

^{( x )} Thy power and authority.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:32

And thou ^{( y )} shalt see an enemy [in my] habitation, in all [the wealth] which [God] shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever.

^{( y )} Your posterity will see the glory of the chief priest given to another, whom they will envy, (1Ki 2:27).

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:35

And I will raise me up a ^{( z )} faithful priest, [that] shall do according to [that] which [is] in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

^{( z )} Meaning Zadok, who succeeded Abiathar, and was the figure of Christ.

Geneva Bible: 1Sa 2:36

And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left in thine house shall come [and] ^{( a )} crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

^{( a )} That is, will be inferior to him.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 1Sa 2:1-36

1 Hannah's song in thankfulness.

12 The sin of Eli's sons.

18 Samuel's ministry.

20 By Eli's blessing Hannah is more fruitful.

22 Eli reproves his sons.

27 A prophecy against Eli's house.

MHCC: 1Sa 2:11-26

Samuel, being devoted to the Lord in a special manner, was from a child employed about the sanctuary in the services he was capable of. As he did this with a pious disposition of mind, it was called ministering unto the Lord. He received a blessing from the Lord. Those young people who serve God as well as they can, he will enable to improve, that they may serve him better. Eli shunned trouble and exertion. This led him to indulge his children, without using parental authority to restrain and correct them when young. He winked at the abuses in the service of the sanctuary till they became customs, and led to abominations; and his sons, who should have taught those that engaged in the service of the sanctuary what was good, solicited them to wickedness. Their offence was committed even in offering the sacrifices for sins, which typified the atonement of the Saviour! Sins against the remedy, the atonement itself, are most dangerous, they tread under foot the blood of the covenant. Eli's reproof was far too mild and gentle. In general, none are more abandoned than the degenerate children of godly persons, when they break through restraints.

MHCC: 1Sa 2:27-36

Those who allow their children in any evil way, and do not use their authority to restrain and punish them, in effect honour them more than God. Let Eli's example excite parents earnestly to strive against the beginnings of wickedness, and to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In the midst of the sentence against the house of Eli, mercy is promised to Israel. God's work shall never fall to the ground for want of hands to carry it on. Christ is that merciful and faithful High Priest, whom God raised up when the Levitical priesthood was thrown off, who in all things did his Father's mind, and for whom God will build a sure house, build it on a rock, so that hell cannot prevail against it.

Matthew Henry: 1Sa 2:11-26

In these verses we have the good character and posture of Elkanah's family, and the bad character and posture of Eli's family. The account of these two is observably interwoven throughout this whole paragraph, as if the historian intended to set the one over against the other, that they might set off one another. The devotion and good order of Elkanah's family aggravated the iniquity of Eli's house; while the wickedness of Eli's sons made Samuel's early piety appear the more bright and illustrious.

I. Let us see how well things went in Elkanah's family and how much better than formerly. 1. Eli dismissed them from the house of the Lord, when they had entered their little son there, with a blessing, 1Sa 2:20. He blessed as one having authority: The Lord give thee more children of this woman, for the loan that is lent to the Lord. If Hannah had then had many children, it would not have been such a generous piece of piety to part with one out of many for the service of the tabernacle; but when she had but one, an only one whom she loved, her Isaac, to present him to the Lord was such an act of heroic piety as should by no means lose its reward. As when Abraham had offered Isaac he received the promise of a numerous issue (Gen 22:16, Gen 22:17), so did Hannah, when she had presented Samuel unto the Lord a living sacrifice. Note, What is lent to the Lord will certainly be repaid with interest, to our unspeakable advantage, and oftentimes in kind. Hannah resigns one child to God, and is recompensed with five; for Eli's blessing took effect (1Sa 2:21): She bore three sons and two daughters. There is nothing lost by lending to God or losing for him; it shall be repaid a hundred-fold, Mat 19:29. 2. They returned to their own habitation. This is twice mentioned, 1Sa 2:11, and again 1Sa 2:20. It was very pleasant to attend at God's house, to bless him, and to be blessed of him. But they have a family at home that must be looked after, and thither they return, cheerfully leaving the dear little one behind them, knowing they left him in a good place; and it does not appear that he cried after them, but was as willing to stay as they were to leave him, so soon did he put away childish things and behave like a man. 3. They kept up their constant attendance at the house of God with their yearly sacrifice, 1Sa 2:19. They did not think that their son's ministering there would excuse them, or that that offering must serve instead of other offerings; but, having found the benefit of drawing near to God, they would omit no appointed season for it, and now they had one loadstone more in Shiloh to draw them thither. We may suppose they went thither to see their child oftener than once a year, for it was not ten miles from Ramah; but their annual visit is taken notice of because then they brought their yearly sacrifice, and then Hannah fitted up her son (and some think oftener than once a year) with a new suit of clothes, a little coat (1Sa 2:19) and every thing belonging to it. She undertook to find him with clothes during his apprenticeship at the tabernacle, and took care he should be well provided, that he might appear the more decent and sightly in his ministration, and to encourage him in his towardly beginnings. Parents must take care that their children want nothing that is fit for them, whether they are with them or from them; but those that are dutiful and hopeful, and minister to the Lord, must be thought worthy of double care and kindness. 4. The child Samuel did very well. Four separate times he is mentioned in these verses, and two things we are told of: - (1.) The service he did to the Lord. He did well indeed, for he ministered to the Lord (1Sa 2:11, 1Sa 2:18) according as his capacity was. He learned his catechism and was constant to his devotions, soon learned to read, and took a pleasure in the book of the law, and thus he ministered to the Lord. He ministered before Eli, that is, under his inspection, and as he ordered him, not before Eli's sons; all parties were agreed that they were unfit to be his tutors. Perhaps he attended immediately on Eli's person, was ready to him to fetch and bring as he had occasion, and that is called ministering to the Lord. Some little services perhaps he was employed in about the altar, though much under the age appointed by the law for the Levites' ministration. He could light a candle, or hold a dish, or run on an errand, or shut a door; and, because he did this with a pious disposition of mind it is called ministering to the Lord, and great notice is taken of it. After awhile he did his work so well that Eli appointed that he should minister with a linen ephod as the priests did (though he was no priest), because he saw that God was with him. Note, Little children must learn betimes to minister to the Lord. Parents must train them up to it, and God will accept them. Particularly let them learn to pay respect to their teachers, as Samuel to Eli. None can begin too soon to be religious. See Psa 8:2, and Mat 21:15, Mat 21:16. (2.) The blessing he received from the Lord: He grew before the Lord, as a tender plant (1Sa 2:21), grew on (1Sa 2:26) in strength and stature, and especially in wisdom and understanding and fitness for business. Note, Those young people that serve God as well as they can will obtain grace to improve, that they may serve him better. Those that are planted in God's house shall flourish, Psa 92:13. He was in favour with the Lord and with man. Note, It is a great encouragement to children to be tractable, and virtuous, and good betimes, that if they be both God and man will love them. Such children are the darlings both of heaven and earth. What is here said of Samuel is said of our blessed Saviour, that great example, Luk 2:52.

II. Let us now see how ill things went in Eli's family, though seated at the very door of the tabernacle. The nearer the church the further from God.

1. The abominable wickedness of Eli's sons (1Sa 2:12): The sons of Eli were sons of Belial. It is emphatically expressed. Nothing appears to the contrary but that Eli himself was a very good man, and no doubt had educated his sons well, giving them good instructions, setting them good examples, and putting up many a good prayer for them; and yet, when they grew up, they proved sons of Belial, profane wicked men, and arrant rakes: They knew not the Lord. They could not but have a notional knowledge of God and his law, a form of knowledge (Rom 2:20), yet, because their practice was not conformable to it, they are spoken of as wholly ignorant of God; they lived as if they knew nothing at all of God. Note, Parents cannot give grace to their children, nor does it run in the blood. Many that are sincerely pious themselves live to see those that come from them notoriously impious and profane; for the race is not to the swift. Eli was high priest and judge in Israel. His sons were priests by their birth. Their character was sacred and honourable, and obliged them, for their reputation-sake, to observe decorum. They were resident at the fountain-head both of magistracy and ministry, and yet they were sons of Belial, and their honour, power, and learning, made them so much the worse. They did not go to serve other gods, as those did that lived at a distance from the altar, for from the house of God they had their wealth and dignity; but, which was worse, they managed the service of God as if he had been one of the dunghill deities of the heathen. It is hard to say which dishonours God more, idolatry or profaneness, especially the profaneness of the priests. Let us see the wickedness of Eli's sons; and it is a sad sight.

(1.) They profaned the offerings of the Lord, and made a gain to themselves, or rather a gratification of their own luxury, out of them. God had provided competently for them out of the sacrifices. The offerings of the Lord made by fire were a considerable branch of their revenue, but not enough to please them; they served not the God of Israel, but their own bellies (Rom 16:18), being such as the prophet calls greedy dogs that can never have enough, Isa 56:11. [1.] They robbed the offerers, and seized for themselves some of their part of the sacrifice of the peace-offerings. The priests had for their share the wave-breast and the heave shoulder (Lev 7:34), but these did not content them; when the flesh was boiling for the offerer to feast upon religiously with his friends, they sent a servant with a flesh-hook of three teeth, a trident, and that must be stuck into the pot, and whatever that brought up the priest must have (1Sa 2:13, 1Sa 2:14), and the people, out of their great veneration, suffered this to grow into a custom, so that after awhile prescription was pleaded for this manifest wrong. [2.] They stepped in before God himself, and encroached upon his right too. As if it were a small thing to weary men, they wearied my God also, Isa 7:13. Be it observed, to the honour of Israel, that though the people tamely yielded to their unwarrantable demands from them, yet they were very solicitous that God should not be robbed: Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, 1Sa 2:16. Let the altar have its due, for that is the main matter. Unless God have the fat, they can feast with little comfort upon the flesh. It was a shame that the priests should need to be thus admonished by the people of their duty; but they regarded not the admonition. The priest will be served first, and will take what he thinks fit of the fat too, for he is weary of boiled meat, he must have roast, and, in order to that, they must give it to him raw; and if the offerer dispute it, though not in his own favour (let the priest take what he pleases of his part) but in favour of the altar (let them be sure to burn the fat first), even the priest's servant had grown so very imperious that he would either have it now or take it by force, than which there could not be a greater affront to God nor a greater abuse to the people. The effect was, First, That God was displeased: The sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, 1Sa 2:17. Nothing is more provoking to God than the profanation of sacred things, and men serving their lusts with the offerings of the Lord. Secondly, That religion suffered by it: Men abhorred the offerings of the Lord. All good men abhorred their management of the offerings, and too many insensibly fell into a contempt of the offerings themselves for their sakes. It was the people's sin to think the worse of God's institutions, but it was the much greater sin of the priests that gave them occasion to do so. Nothing brings a greater reproach upon religion than ministers' covetousness, sensuality, and imperiousness. In the midst of this sad story comes in the repeated mention of Samuel's devotion. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, as an instance of the power of God's grace, in preserving him pure and pious in the midst of this wicked crew; and this helped to keep up the sinking credit of the sanctuary in the minds of the people, who, when they had said all they could against Eli's sons, could not but admire Samuel's seriousness, and speak well of religion for his sake.

(2.) They debauched the women that came to worship at the door of the tabernacle, 1Sa 2:22. They had wives of their own, but were like fed horses, Jer 5:8. To have gone to the harlots' houses, the common prostitutes, would have been abominable wickedness, but to use the interest which as priests they had in those women that had devout dispositions and were religiously inclined, and to bring them to commit their wickedness, was such horrid impiety as one can scarcely think it possible that men who called themselves priests should ever be guilty of. Be astonished, O heavens! at this, and tremble, O earth! No words can sufficiently express the villany of such practices as these.

2. The reproof which Eli gave his sons for this their wickedness: Eli was very old (1Sa 2:22) and could not himself inspect the service of the tabernacle as he had done, but left all to his sons, who, because of the infirmities of his age, slighted him, and did what they would. However, he was told of the wickedness of his sons, and we may well imagine what a heart-breaking it was to him, and how much it added to the burdens of his age; but it should seem he did not so much as reprove them till he heard of their debauching the women, and then he thought fit to give them a check. Had he rebuked them for their greediness and luxury, this might have been prevented. Young people should be told of their faults as soon as it is perceived that they begin to be extravagant, lest their hearts be hardened. Now concerning the reproof he gave them observe,

(1.) That it was very just and rational. That which he said was very proper. [1.] He tells them that the matter of fact was too plain to be denied and too public to be concealed: " I hear of your evil dealings by all this people, 1Sa 2:23. It is not the surmise of one or two, but the avowed testimony of many; all your neighbours cry out shame on you, and bring their complaints to me, expecting that I should redress the grievance."[2.] He shows them the bad consequences of it, that they not only sinned, but made Israel to sin, and would have the people's sin to answer for as well as their own: "You that should turn men from iniquity (Mal 2:6), you make the Lord's people to transgress, and corrupt the nation instead of reforming it; you tempt people to go and serve other gods when they see the God of Israel so ill served."[3.] He warns them of the danger they brought themselves into by it, 1Sa 2:25. He intimates to them what God afterwards told him, that the iniquity would not be purged with sacrifice nor offering, 1Sa 3:14. If one man sin against another, the judge (that is, the priest, who was appointed to be the judge in many cases, Deu 17:9) shall judge him, shall undertake his cause, arbitrate the matter, and make atonement for the offender; but if a man sin against the Lord (that is, if a priest profane the holy things of the Lord, if a man that deals with God for others do himself affront him) who shall entreat for him? Eli was himself a judge, and had often made intercession for transgressors, but, says he, "You that sin against the Lord, "that is, "against the law and honour of God, in those very things which immediately pertain to him, and by which reconciliation is to be made, how can I entreat for you?"Their condition was deplorable indeed when their own father could not speak a good word for them, nor could have the face to appear as their advocate. Sins against the remedy, the atonement itself, are most dangerous, treading under foot the blood of the covenant, for then there remains no more sacrifice, Heb 10:26.

(2.) It was too mild and gentle. He should have rebuked them sharply. Their crimes deserved sharpness; their temper needed it; the softness of his dealing with them would but harden them the more. The animad-version was too easy when he said, It is no good report. he should have said, "It is a shameful scandalous thing, and not to be suffered!"Whether it was because he loved them or because he feared them that he dealt thus tenderly with them, it was certainly an evidence of his want of zeal for the honour of God and his sanctuary. He bound them over to God's judgment, but he should have taken cognizance of their crimes himself, as high priest and judge, and have restrained and punished them. What he said was right, but it was not enough. Note, It is sometimes necessary that we put an edge upon the reproofs we give. There are those that must be saved with fear, Jud 1:23. 3. Their obstinacy against this reproof. His lenity did not at all work upon them: They hearkened not to their father, though he was also a judge. They had no regard either to his authority or to his affection, which was to them an evident token of perdition; it was because the Lord would slay them. They had long hardened their hearts, and now God, in a way of righteous judgment, hardened their hearts, and seared their consciences, and withheld from them the grace they had resisted and forfeited. Note, Those that are deaf to the reproofs of wisdom are manifestly marked for ruin. The Lord has determined to destroy them, 2Ch 25:16. See Pro 29:1. Immediately upon this, Samuel's tractableness is again mentioned (1Sa 2:26), to shame their obstinacy: The child Samuel grew. God's grace is his own; he denied it to the sons of the high priest and gave it to the child of an obscure country Levite.

Matthew Henry: 1Sa 2:27-36

Eli reproved his sons too gently, and did not threaten them as he should, and therefore God sent a prophet to him to reprove him sharply, and to threaten him, because, by his indulgence of them, he had strengthened their hands in their wickedness. If good men be wanting in their duty, and by their carelessness and remissness contribute any thing to the sin of sinners, they must expect both to hear of it and to smart for it. Eli's family was now nearer to God than all the families of the earth, and therefore he will punish them, Amo 3:2. The message is sent to Eli himself, because God would bring him to repentance and save him; not to his sons, whom he had determined to destroy. And it might have been a means of awakening him to do his duty at last, and so to have prevented the judgment, but we do not find it had any great effect upon him. The message this prophet delivers from God is very close.

I. He reminds him of the great things God had done for the house of his fathers and for his family. He appeared to Aaron in Egypt (Exo 4:27), in the house of bondage, as a token of further favour which he designed for him, 1Sa 2:27. He advanced him to the priesthood, entailed it upon his family, and thereby dignified it above any of the families of Israel. He entrusted him with honourable work, to offer on God's altar, to burn incense, and to wear that ephod in which was the breast-plate of judgment. He settled upon him an honourable maintenance, a share out of all the offerings made by fire, 1Sa 2:28. What could he have done more for them, to engage them to be faithful to him? Note, The distinguishing favours we have received from God, especially those of the spiritual priesthood, are great aggravations of sin, and will be remembered against us in the day of account, if we profane our crown and betray our trusts, Deu 32:6; 2Sa 12:7, 2Sa 12:8.

II. He exhibits a high charge against him and his family. His children did wickedly, and he connived at it, and thereby involved himself in the guilt; the indictment therefore runs against them all, 1Sa 2:29. 1. His sons had impiously profaned the holy things of God: " You kick at my sacrifice which I have commanded; not only trample upon the institution as a mean thing, but spurn at it as a thing you hate to be tied up to."They did the utmost despite imaginable to the offerings of the Lord when they committed all that outrage and rapine about them that we read of, and violently plundered the pots on which, in effect, Holiness to the Lord was written (Zec 14:20), and took that fat to themselves which God had appointed to be burnt on his altar. 2. Eli had bolstered them up in it, by not punishing their insolence and impiety: "Thou for thy part honourest thy sons above me, "that is, "thou hadst rather see my offerings disgraced by their profanation of them than see thy sons disgraced by a legal censure upon them for so doing, which ought to have been inflicted, even to suspension and deprivation ab officio et beneficio - of their office and its emoluments. "Those that allow and countenance their children in any evil way, and do not use their authority to restrain and punish them, do in effect honour them more than God, being more tender of their reputation than of his glory and more desirous to humour them than to honour him. 3. They had all shared in the gains of the sacrilege. It is to be feared that Eli himself, though he disliked and reproved the abuses they committed, yet did not forbear to eat of the roast meat they sacrilegiously got, 1Sa 2:15. He was a fat heavy man (1Sa 4:18), and therefore it is charged upon the whole family (though Hophni and Phinehas were principally guilty), You make yourselves fat with the chief of all the offerings. God gave them sufficient to feed them, but that would not suffice; they made themselves fat, and served their lusts with that which God was to be served with. See Hos 4:8.

III. He declares the cutting off of the entail of the high priesthood from his family (1Sa 2:30): " The Lord God of Israel, who is jealous for his own honour and Israel's, says, and lets thee know it, that thy commission is revoked and superseded." I said, indeed, that thy house, and the house of thy father Ithamar (for from that younger son of Aaron Eli descended), should walk before me for ever. Upon what occasion the dignity of the high priesthood was transferred from the family of Eleazar to that of Ithamar does not appear; but it seems this had been done, and Eli stood fair to have that honour perpetuated to his posterity. But observe, the promise carried its own condition along with it: They shall walk before me forever, that is, "they shall have the honour, provided they faithfully do the service." Walking before God is the great condition of the covenant, Gen 17:1. Let them set me before their face, and I will set them before my face continually (Psa 41:12), otherwise not. But now the Lord says, Be it far from me. "Now that you cast me off you can expect no other than that I should cast you off; you will not walk before me as you should, and therefore you shall not."Such wicked and abusive servants God will discard, and turn out of his service. Some think there is a further reach in this recall of the grant, and that it was not only to be fulfilled shortly in the deposing of the posterity of Eli, when Zadok, who descended from Eleazar, was put in Abiathar's room, but it was to have its complete accomplishment at length in the total abolition of the Levitical priesthood by the priesthood of Christ.

IV. He gives a good reason for this revocation, taken from a settled and standing rule of God's government, according to which all must expect to be dealt with (like that by which Cain was tried, Gen 4:7): Those that honour me I will honour, and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

1. Observe in general, (1.) That God is the fountain of honour and dishonour; he can exalt the meanest and put contempt upon the greatest. (2.) As we deal with God we must expect to be dealt with by him, and yet more favourably than we deserve. See Psa 18:25, Psa 18:26.

2. Particularly, (1.) Be it spoken, to the everlasting reputation of religion or of serious godliness, that it gives honour to God and puts honour upon men. By it we seek and serve the glory of God, and he will be behind-hand with none that do so, but here and hereafter will secure their glory. The way to be truly great is to be truly good. If we humble and deny ourselves in any thing to honour God, and have a single eye to him in it, we may depend upon this promise, he will put the best honour upon us. See Joh 12:26. (2.) Be it spoken, to the everlasting reproach of impiety or profaneness, that this does dishonour to God (despises the greatest and best of beings, whom angels adore) and will bring dishonour upon men, for those that do so shall be lightly esteemed; not only God will lightly esteem them (that perhaps they will not regard, as those that honour him value his honour, of whom therefore it is said, I will honour them ), but they shall be lightly esteemed by all the world; the very honour they are proud of shall be laid in the dust; they shall see themselves despised by all mankind, their names a reproach; when they are gone, their memory shall rot, and, when they rise again, it shall be to everlasting shame and contempt. The dishonour which their impotent malice puts upon God and his omnipotent justice will return upon their own heads, Psa 79:12.

V. He foretels the particular judgments which should come upon his family, to its perpetual ignominy. A curse should be entailed upon his posterity, and a terrible curse it is, and shows how jealous God is in the matters of his worship and how ill he takes it when those who are bound by their character and profession to preserve and advance the interests of his glory are false to their trust, and betray them. If God's ministers be vicious and profane, of how much sorer punishment will they be thought worthy, here and for ever, than other sinners! Let such read the doom here passed on Eli's house, and tremble. It is threatened,

1. That their power should be broken (1Sa 2:31): I will cut off thy arm, and the arm of thy father's house. They should be stripped of all their authority, should be deposed, and have no influence upon the people as they had had. God would make them contemptible and base. See Mal 2:8, Mal 2:9. The sons had abused their power to oppress the people and encroach upon their rights, and the father had not used his power, as he ought to have done, to restrain and punish them, and therefore it was justly threatened that the arm should be cut off which was not stretched out as it should have been.

2. That their lives should be shortened. He was himself an old man; but instead of using the wisdom, gravity, experience, and authority of his age, for the service of God and the support of religion, he had suffered the infirmities of age to make him more cool and remiss in his duty, and therefore it is here threatened that none of his posterity should live to be old, 1Sa 2:31, 1Sa 2:32. It is twice spoken: " There shall not be an old man in thy house for ever; "and again (1Sa 2:33), " All the increase of thy house, from generation to generation, shall die in the flower of their age, when they are in the midst of the years of their service,"so that though the family should not be extinct, yet it should never be considerable, nor should any member of it come to be eminent in his day. Bishop Patrick relates, out of some of the Jewish writers, that long after this, there being a family in Jerusalem none of which commonly lived above eighteen years, upon search it was found that they descended from the house of Eli, on which this sentence was passed.

3. That all their comforts should be embittered. (1.) The comfort they had in the sanctuary, in its wealth and prosperity: Thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation. This was fulfilled in the Philistines' invasions and the mischiefs they did to Israel, by which the country was impoverished (1Sa 13:19), and no doubt the priests' incomes were thereby very much impaired. The captivity of the ark was such an act of hostility committed upon God's habitation as broke Eli's heart. As it is a blessing to a family to see peace upon Israel (Psa 128:5, Psa 128:6), so the contrary is a sore judgment upon a family, especially a family of priests. (2.) The comfort of their children: " The man of thine whom I shall not cut off by an untimely death shall live to be a blot and burden to the family, a scandal and vexation to his relations; he shall be to consume thy eyes and grieve thy heart, for his foolishness or his sickliness, his wickedness or his poverty."Grief for a dead child is great, but for a bad child often greater.

4. That their substance should be wasted and they should be reduced to extreme poverty (1Sa 2:36): " He that is left alive in thy house shall have little joy of his life, for want of a livelihood; he shall come and crouch to the succeeding family for a subsistence."(1.) He shall beg for the smallest alms - a piece of silver (and the word signifies the least piece) and a morsel of bread. See how this answered the sin. Eli's sons must have the best pieces of flesh, but their sons will be glad of a morsel of bread. Note, Want is the just punishment of wantonness. Those who could not be content without dainties and varieties are brought, they or theirs, to want necessaries, and the Lord is righteous in thus visiting them. (2.) He shall beg for the meanest office: Put me into somewhat belonging to the priesthood (as it is in the original); make me as one of the hired servants, the fittest place for a prodigal. Plenty and power are forfeited when they are abused. They should not be able to pretend to any good preferment, not to any place at the altar, but should petition for some poor employment, be the work ever so hard and the wages ever so small, so they might but get bread. This, it is probable, was fully accomplished when Abiathar, who was of Eli's race, was deposed by Solomon for treason, and he and his turned out of office in the temple (1Ki 2:26, 1Ki 2:27), by which it is easy to think his posterity were reduced to the extremities here described.

5. That God would shortly begin to execute these judgments in the death of Hophni and Phinehas, the sad tidings of which Eli himself should live to hear: This shall be a sign to thee, 1Sa 2:34. When thou hearest it, say, "Now the word of God begins to operate; here is one threatening fulfilled, from which I infer that all the rest will be fulfilled in their order."Hophni and Phinehas had many a time sinned together, and it is here foretold that they should die together both in one day. Bind these tares in a bundle for the fire. This was fulfilled, 1Sa 4:11.

VI. In the midst of all these threatenings against the house of Eli, here is mercy promised to Israel (v. 35): I will raise me up a faithful priest. 1. This was fulfilled in Zadoc, of the family of Eleazar, who came into Abiathar's place in the beginning of Solomon's reign, and was faithful to his trust; and the high priests were of his posterity as long as the Levitical priesthood continued. Note, The wickedness of ministers, though it destroy themselves, yet it shall not destroy the ministry. How bad soever the officers are, the office shall continue always to the end of the world. If some betray their trust, yet others shall be raised up that will be true to it. God's work shall never fall to the ground for want of hands to carry it on. The high priest is here said to walk before God's anointed (that is, David and his seed) because he wore the breast-plate of judgment, which he was to consult, not in common cases, but for the king, in the affairs of state. Note, Notwithstanding the degeneracy we see and lament in many families, God will secure to himself a succession. If some grow worse than their ancestors, others, to balance that, shall grow better. 2. It has its full accomplishment in the priesthood of Christ, that merciful and faithful high priest whom God raised up when the Levitical priesthood was thrown off, who in all things did his father's mind, and for whom God will build a sure house, build it on a rock, so that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 2:11-17

Samuel the servant of the Lord under Eli. Ungodliness of the sons of Eli . - 1Sa 2:11 forms the transition to what follows. After Hannah's psalm ofthanksgiving, Elkanah went back with his family to his home at Ramah,and the boy (Samuel) was serving, i.e., ministered to the Lord, in thepresence of Eli the priest. The fact that nothing is said about Elkanah'swives going with him, does not warrant the interpretation given byThenius, that Elkanah went home alone. It was taken for granted that hiswives went with him, according to 1Sa 1:21 ("all his house"). את־יחוה שׁרת , which signifies literally, both here and in 1Sa 3:1, toserve the Lord, and which is used interchangeably with יי את־פּני שׁרת (1Sa 2:18), to serve in the presence of the Lord, is used to denote theduties performed both by priests and Levites in connection with theworship of God, in which Samuel took part, as he grew up, under thesuperintendence of Eli and according to his instruction.

1Sa 2:12

But Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas (1Sa 2:34), were בליּעל בּני , worthless fellows, and knew not the Lord, sc., as Heshould be known, i.e., did not fear Him, or trouble themselves about Him(vid., Job 18:21; Hos 8:2; Hos 13:4).

1Sa 2:13-14

" And the right of the priests towards the people was (thefollowing)." Mishpat signifies the right which they had usurped tothemselves in relation to the people. " If any one brought a sacrifice ( זבח זבח כּל־אישׁ is placed first, and construed absolutely: 'asfor every one who brought a slain-offering'), the priest's servant ( lit . youngman) came while the flesh was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in hishand, and thrust into the kettle, or pot, or bowl, or saucepan. All that thefork brought up the priest took. This they did to all the Israelites whocame thither to Shiloh ."

1Sa 2:15-16

They did still worse. "Even before the fat was consumed," i.e., before the fat portions of the sacrifice had been placed in the altar-firefor the Lord (Lev 3:3-5), the priest's servant came and demanded flesh ofthe person sacrificing, to be roasted for the priest; " for he will not takeboiled flesh of thee, but only חי , raw , i.e., fresh meat."And if theperson sacrificing replied, " They will burn the fat directly ( lit . 'at thistime,' as in Gen 25:31; 1Ki 22:5), then take for thyself, as thy souldesireth ,"he said, " No ( לו for לא ), but thou shalt give now;if not, I take by force ."These abuses were practised by the priests inconnection with the thank-offerings, with which a sacrificial meal wasassociated. Of these offerings, with which a sacrificial meal was associated. Of these offerings, the portion which legally fell to the priest as his sharewas the heave-leg and wave-breast. And this he was to receive after the fatportions of the sacrifice had been burned upon the altar (see Lev 7:30-34). To take the flesh of the sacrificial animal and roast it before this offeringhad been made, was a crime which was equivalent to a robbery of God,and is therefore referred to here with the emphatic particle גּם , asbeing the worst crime that the sons of Eli committed. Moreover, thepriests could not claim any of the flesh which the offerer of the sacrificeboiled for the sacrificial meal, after burning the fat portions upon the altarand giving up the portions which belonged to them, to say nothing of theirtaking it forcibly out of the pots while it was being boiled.

1Sa 2:17

Such conduct as this on the part of the young men (the priests'servants), was a great sin in the sight of the Lord, as they thereby broughtthe sacrifice of the Lord into contempt. נאץ , causative, to bringinto contempt, furnish occasion for blaspheming (as in 2Sa 12:14). "Therobbery which they committed was a small sin in comparison with thecontempt of the sacrifices themselves, which they were the means ofspreading among the people"( O. v. Gerlach ). Minchah does not refer hereto the meat-offering as the accompaniment to the slain-offerings, but to thesacrificial offering generally, as a gift presented for the Lord.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 2:18-21

Samuel's service before the Lord . - 1Sa 2:18. Samuel served as a boy before theLord by the side of the worthless sons of Eli, girt with an ephod of whitematerial ( בּד , see at Exo 28:42). The ephod was a shoulder-dress, nodoubt resembling the high priest's in shape (see Exo 28:6.), but altogetherdifferent in the material of which it was made, viz., simple white cloth, likethe other articles of clothing that were worn by the priests. At that time,according to 1Sa 22:18, all the priests wore clothing of this kind; and,according to 2Sa 6:14, David did the same on the occasion of a religiousfestival. Samuel received a dress of this kind even when a boy, because hewas set apart to a lifelong service before the Lord. חגוּר is thetechnical expression for putting on the ephod, because the two pieces ofwhich it was composed were girt round the body with a girdle.

1Sa 2:19

The small מעיל also ( Angl . "coat"), which Samuel'smother made and brought him every year, when she came with herhusband to Shiloh to the yearly sacrifice, was probably a coat resemblingthe meïl of the high priest (Exo 28:31.), but was made of course of somesimpler material, and without the symbolical ornaments attached to thelower hem, by which that official dress was distinguished.

1Sa 2:20

The priestly clothing of the youthful Samuel was in harmonywith the spiritual relation in which he stood to the high priest and toJehovah. Eli blessed his parents for having given up the boy to the Lord,and expressed this wish to the father: " The Lord lend thee seed of thiswoman in the place of the one asked for ( השּׁאלה ), whom they (one) asked for from the Lord ."The striking use of the third pers. masc. שׁאל instead of the second singular or plural may be accounted foron the supposition that it is an indefinite form of speech, which the writerchose because, although it was Hannah who prayed to the Lord for Samuelin the sight of Eli, yet Eli might assume that the father, Elkanah, hadshared the wishes of his pious wife. The apparent harshness disappears atonce if we substitute the passive; whereas in Hebrew active constructionswere always preferred to passive, wherever it was possible to employthem ( Ewald , §294, b .). The singular suffix attached to למקומו after the plural הלכוּ may be explained on the simple ground,that a dwelling-place is determined by the husband, or master of the house.

1Sa 2:21

The particle כּי , " for "(Jehovah visited), does not mean if , as , or when , nor is it to be regarded as a copyist's error. It is onlynecessary to supply the thought contained in the words, "Eli blessedElkanah," viz., that Eli's blessing was not an empty fruitless wish; and tounderstand the passage in some such way as this: Eli's word was fulfilled,or still more simply, they went to their home blessed ; for Jehovah visitedHannah , blessed her with "three sons and two daughters; but the boySamuel grew up with the Lord," i.e., near to Him (at the sanctuary), andunder His protection and blessing.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 2:22-23

Eli's treatment of the sins of his sons . - 1Sa 2:22. The aged Eli reproved hissons with solemn warnings on account of their sins; but without hiswarnings being listened to. From the reproof itself we learn, that beside thesin noticed in 1Sa 2:12-17, they also committed the crime of lying with thewomen who served at the tabernacle (see at Exo 38:8), and thus profanedthe sanctuary with whoredom. But Eli, with the infirmities of his old age,did nothing further to prevent these abominations than to say to his sons,"Why do ye according to the sayings which I hear, sayings about youwhich are evil, of this whole people." רעים את־דּבריכם is insertedto make the meaning clearer, and כּל־ה מאת is dependentupon שׁמע . " This whole people "signifies all the people thatcame to Shiloh, and heard and saw the wicked doings there.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 2:24

בּני אל , "Not, my sons," i.e., do not such things, "for the report which I hear is not good; they make the people of Jehovah to transgress." מערים is written without the pronoun אתּם in an indefinite construction, like משׁלּחים in 1Sa 6:3(Maurer). Ewald 's rendering as given by Thenius, "The report which I hearthe people of God bring,"is just as inadmissible as the one proposed byBöttcher, "The report which, as I hear, the people of God are spreading."The assertion made by Thenius, that העביר , without any furtherdefinition, cannot mean to cause to sin or transgress, is correct enough nodoubt; but it does not prove that this meaning is inadmissible in thepassage before us, since the further definition is actually to be found in thecontext.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 2:25

"If man sins against man, God judges him; but if a man sins againstJehovah, who can interpose with entreaty for him?" In the use of פּללו and יתפּלּל־לו there is a paranomasia which cannot bereproduced in our language. פּלּל signifies to decide or pass sentence (Gen 48:11), then to arbitrate, to settle a dispute as arbitrator (Eze 16:52; Psa 106:30), and in the Hithpael to act as mediator, hence to entreat. Andthese meanings are applicable here. In the case of one man's sin againstanother, God settles the dispute as arbitrator through the properauthorities; whereas, when a man sins against God, no one can interpose asarbitrator. Such a sin cannot be disposed of by intercession. But Eli's sonsdid not listen to this admonition, which was designed to reform daringsinners with mild words and representation; "for," adds the historian,"Jehovah was resolved to slay them." The father's reproof made noimpression upon them, because they were already given up to thejudgment of hardening. (On hardening as a divine sentence, see thediscussions at Exo 4:21.)

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 2:26

The youthful Samuel, on the other hand, continued to grow in stature, andin favour with God and man (see Luk 2:52).

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Sa 2:27-36

Announcement of the judgment upon Eli and his house . - 1Sa 2:27. Before theLord interposed in judgment, He sent a prophet (a "man of God," as inJdg 13:6) to the aged Eli, to announce as a warning for all ages thejudgment which was about to fall upon the worthless priests of his house. In order to arouse Eli's own conscience, he had pointed out to him, on theone hand, the grace manifested in the choice of his father's house, i.e., thehouse of Aaron, to keep His sanctuary ( 1Sa 2:27 and 1Sa 2:28), and, on the otherhand, the desecration of the sanctuary by the wickedness of his sons (1Sa 2:29). Then follows the sentence: The choice of the family of Aaron stillstood fast, but the deepest disgrace would come upon the despisers of theLord (1Sa 2:30): the strength of his house would be broken; all the members ofhis house were to die early deaths. They were not, however, to beremoved entirely from service at the altar, but to their sorrow were tosurvive the fall of the sanctuary (1Sa 2:31-34). But the Lord would raise up a faithful priest, and cause him to walk beforeHis anointed, and from him all that were left of the house of Eli would beobliged to beg their bread (1Sa 2:35, 1Sa 2:36). To arrive at the true interpretationof this announcement of punishment, we must picture to ourselves thehistorical circumstances that come into consideration here. Eli the highpriest was a descendant of Ithamar, the younger son of Aaron, as we maysee from the fact that his great-grandson Ahimelech was "of the sons ofIthamar"(1Ch 24:3). In perfect agreement with this, Josephus ( Ant . v. 11, 5) relates, that after the high priest Ozi of the family of Eleazar, Eli ofthe family of Ithamar received the high-priesthood. The circumstanceswhich led to the transfer of this honour from the line of Eleazar to that ofIthamar are unknown. We cannot imagine it to have been occasioned by anextinction of the line of Eleazar, for the simple reason that, in the time ofDavid, Zadok the descendant of Eleazar is spoken of as high priest alongwith Abiathar and Ahimelech, the descendants of Eli (2Sa 8:17; 2Sa 20:25). After the deposition of Abiathar he was reinstated by Solomon as solehigh priest (1Ki 2:27), and the dignity was transmitted to hisdescendants. This fact also overthrows the conjecture of Clericus, that thetransfer of the high-priesthood to Eli took place by the command of Godon account of the grievous sins of the high priests of the line of Eleazar;for in that case Zadok would not have received this office again inconnection with Abiathar. We have, no doubt, to search for the true reasonin the circumstances of the times of the later judges, namely in the fact thatat the death of the last high priest of the family of Eleazar before the timeof Eli, the remaining son was not equal to the occasion, either because hewas still an infant, or at any rate because he was too young andinexperienced, so that he could not enter upon the office, and Eli, who wasprobably related by marriage to the high priest's family, and was no doubta vigorous man, was compelled to take the oversight of the congregation;and, together with the supreme administration of the affairs of the nationas judge, received the post of high priest as well, and filled it till the timeof his death, simply because in those troublous times there was not one ofthe descendants of Eleazar who was able to fill the supreme office ofjudge, which was combined with that of high priest. For we cannot possibly think of an unjust usurpation of the office of highpriest on the part of Eli, since the very judgment denounced against himand his house presupposes that he had entered upon the office in a justand upright way, and that the wickedness of his sons was all that wasbrought against him. For a considerable time after the death of Eli the high-priesthood lost almost all its significance. All Israel turned to Samuel,whom the Lord established as His prophet by means of revelations, andwhom He also chose as the deliverer of His people. The tabernacle atShiloh, which ceased to be the scene of the gracious presence of God afterthe loss of the ark, was probably presided over first of all after Eli's deathby his grandson Ahitub, the son of Phinehas, as his successor in the high-priesthood. He was followed in the time of Saul by his son Ahijah orAhimelech, who gave David the shew-bread to eat at Nob, to which thetabernacle had been removed in the meantime, and was put to death bySaul in consequence, along with all the priests who were found there. Hisson Abiathar, however, escaped the massacre, and fled to David (1Sa 22:9-20; 1Sa 23:6). In the reign of David he is mentioned as high priest alongwith Zadok; but he was afterwards deposed by Solomon (2Sa 15:24;2Sa 17:15; 2Sa 19:12; 2Sa 20:25; 1Ki 2:27).

Different interpretations have been given of these verses. The majority ofcommentators understand them as signifying that the loss of the high-priesthood is here foretold to Eli, and also the institution of Zadok in theoffice. But such a view is too contracted, and does not exhaust the meaningof the words. The very introduction to the prophet's words points tosomething greater than this: "Thus saith the Lord, Did I reveal myself tothy father's house, when they were in Egypt at the house of Pharaoh?" The ה interrogative is not used for הלא ( nonne ), but is emphatic,as in Jer 31:20. The question is an appeal to Eli's conscience, which hecannot deny, but is obliged to confirm. By Eli's father's house we are notto understand Ithamar and his family, but Aaron, from whom Eli wasdescended through Ithamar. God revealed himself to the tribe-father of Eliby appointing Aaron to be the spokesman of Moses before Pharaoh (Exo 4:14. and Exo 4:27), and still more by calling Aaron to the priesthood, forwhich the way was prepared by the fact that, from the very beginning,God made use of Aaron, in company with Moses, to carry out Hispurpose of delivering Israel out of Egypt, and entrusted Moses and Aaronwith the arrangements for the celebration of the passover (Exo 12:1, Exo 12:43). This occurred when they, the fathers of Eli, Aaron and his sons, were stillin Egypt at the house of Pharaoh, i.e., still under Pharaoh's rule.

1Sa 2:28

"And did I choose him out of all the tribes for a priest tomyself." The interrogative particle is not to be repeated before וּבחור , but the construction becomes affirmative with the inf. abs. instead of the perfect. " Him "refers back to " thy father "in 1Sa 2:27, andsignifies Aaron. The expression " for a priest "is still further defined by theclauses which follow: על מ לעלות , "to ascend upon minealtar," i.e., to approach my altar of burnt-offering and perform thesacrificial worship; "to kindle incense," i.e., to perform the service in theholy place, the principal feature in which was the daily kindling of theincense, which is mentioned instar omnium ; "to wear the ephod beforeme," i.e., to perform the service in the holy of holies, which the high priestcould only enter when wearing the ephod to represent Israel before theLord (Exo 28:12). " And have given to thy father's house all the firings of thechildren of Israel "(see at Lev 1:9). These words are to be understood,according to Deu 18:1, as signifying that the Lord had given to the houseof Aaron, i.e., to the priesthood, the sacrifices of Jehovah to eat in theplace of any inheritance in the land, according to the portions appointed inthe sacrificial law in Lev 6-7, and Num 18.

1Sa 2:29

With such distinction conferred upon the priesthood, and suchcareful provision made for it, the conduct of the priests under Eli was aninexcusable crime. "Why do ye tread with your feet my slain-offerings andmeat-offerings, which I have commanded in the dwelling-place?" Slain-offering and meat-offering are general expressions embracing all the altar-sacrifices. מעון is an accusative (" in the dwelling "), like בּית , in the house. " The dwelling "is the tabernacle. This reproof appliedto the priests generally, including Eli, who had not vigorously resistedthese abuses. The words which follow, "and thou honourest thy sonsmore than me," relate to Eli himself, and any other high priest who like Elishould tolerate the abuses of the priests. "To fatten yourselves with thefirst of every sacrificial gift of Israel, of my people." לעמּי servesas a periphrasis for the genitive, and is chosen for the purpose of givinggreater prominence to the idea of עמּי (my people). רשׁית , the first of every sacrificial gift ( minchah , as in 1Sa 2:17), which Israeloffered as the nation of Jehovah, ought to have been given up to its God inthe altar-fire because it was the best; whereas, according to 1Sa 2:15, 1Sa 2:16, thesons of Eli took away the best for themselves.

1Sa 2:30

For this reason, the saying of the Lord, " Thy house (i.e., thefamily of Eli) and thy father's house (Eli's relations in the other lines, i.e.,the whole priesthood) shall walk before me for ever "(Num 25:13), shouldhenceforth run thus: "This be far from me; but them that honour me I willhonour, and they that despise me shall be despised." The first declarationof the Lord is not to be referred to Eli particularly, as it is by C. a Lapideand others, and understood as signifying that the high-priesthood wasthereby transferred from the family of Eleazar to that of Ithamar, andpromised to Eli for his descendants for all time. This is decidedly atvariance with the fact, that although "walking before the Lord"is not ageneral expression denoting a pious walk with God, as in Gen 17:1, butrefers to the service of the priests at the sanctuary as walking before theface of God, yet it cannot possibly be specially and exclusively restrictedto the right of entering the most holy place, which was the prerogative ofthe high priest alone. These words of the Lord, therefore, applied to the whole priesthood, orthe whole house of Aaron, to which the priesthood had been promised," for a perpetual statute "(Exo 29:9). This promise was afterwards renewedto Phinehas especially, on account of the zeal which he displayed for thehonour of Jehovah in connection with the idolatry of the people at Shittim(Num 25:13). But even this renewed promise only secured to him aneternal priesthood as a covenant of peace with the Lord, and not speciallythe high-priesthood, although that was included as the culminating point ofthe priesthood. Consequently it was not abrogated by the temporarytransfer of the high-priesthood from the descendants of Phinehas to thepriestly line of Ithamar, because even then they still retained thepriesthood. By the expression "be it far from me," sc., to permit this totake place, God does not revoke His previous promise, but simplydenounces a false trust therein as irreconcilable with His holiness. Thatpromise would only be fulfilled so far as the priests themselves honouredthe Lord in their office, whilst despisers of God who dishonoured Him bysin and presumptuous wickedness, would be themselves despised.

This contempt would speedily come upon the house of Eli.

1Sa 2:31

"Behold, days come," - a formula with which prophets wereaccustomed to announce future events (see 2Ki 20:17; Isa 39:6; Amo 4:2; Amo 8:11; Amo 9:13; Jer 7:32, etc.), - "then will I cut off thine arm, and the arm ofthy father's house, that there shall be no old man in thine house." To cutoff the arm means to destroy the strength either of a man or of a family(see Job. 1Sa 22:9; Psa 37:17). The strength of a family, however,consists in the vital energy of its members, and shows itself in the fact thatthey reach a good old age, and do not pine away early and die. Thisstrength was to vanish in Eli's house; no one would ever again preserve hislife to old age.

1Sa 2:32

"And thou wilt see oppression of the dwelling in all that He hasshown of good to Israel." The meaning of these words, which have beenexplained in very different ways, appears to be the following: In all thebenefits which the lord would confer upon His people, Eli would see onlydistress for the dwelling of God, inasmuch as the tabernacle would fallmore and more into decay. In the person of Eli, the high priest at that time,the high priest generally is addressed as the custodian of the sanctuary; sothat what is said is not to be limited to him personally, but applies to allthe high priests of his house. מעון is not Eli's dwelling-place,but the dwelling-place of God, i.e., the tabernacle, as in 1Sa 2:29, and is agenitive dependent upon צר . היטיב , in the sense ofbenefiting a person, doing him good, is construed with the accusative ofthe person, as in Deu 28:63; Deu 8:16; Deu 30:5. The subject to the verb ייטיב is Jehovah , and is not expresslymentioned, simply because it is so clearly implied in the wordsthemselves. This threat began to be fulfilled even in Eli's own days. Thedistress or tribulation for the tabernacle began with the capture of the arkby the Philistines (1Sa 4:11), and continued during the time that theLord was sending help and deliverance to His people through the mediumof Samuel, in their spiritual and physical oppression. The ark of thecovenant - the heart of the sanctuary - was not restored to the tabernacle inthe time of Samuel; and the tabernacle itself was removed from Shiloh toNob, probably in the time of war; and when Saul had had all the priestsput to death (1Sa 21:2; 1Sa 22:11.), it was removed to Gibeon, whichnecessarily caused it to fall more and more into neglect. Among thedifferent explanations, the rendering given by Aquila ( καὶ ἐπιβλέψει [? ἐπιβλέψης ] ἀντίζηλον κατοικητηρίου ) has met with thegreatest approval, and has been followed by Jerome ( et videbis aemulum tuum ), Luther, and many others, including De Wette. According to thisrendering, the words are either supposed to refer to the attitude of Samueltowards Eli, or to the deposition of Abiathar, and the institution of Zadokby Solomon in his place (1Ki 2:27). But צר does not mean theantagonist or rival, but simply the oppressor or enemy; and Samuel wasnot an enemy of Eli any more than Zadok was of Abiathar. Moreover, ifthis be adopted as the rendering of צר , it is impossible to find anysuitable meaning for the following clause. In the second half of the versethe threat of 1Sa 2:31 is repeated with still greater emphasis. כּל־היּמים ,all the time, i.e., so long as thine house shall exist.

1Sa 2:33

"And I will not cut off every one to thee from mine altar, thatthine eyes may languish, and thy soul consume away; and all the increaseof thine house shall die as men."The two leading clauses of this versecorrespond to the two principal thoughts of the previous verse, which arehereby more precisely defined and explained. Eli was to see the distress ofthe sanctuary; for to him, i.e., of his family, there would always be someone serving at the altar of God, that he might look upon the decay with hiseyes, and pine away with grief in consequence. אישׁ signifies everyone, or any one, and is not to be restricted, as Thenius supposes, toAhitub, the son of Phinehas, the brother of Ichabod; for it cannot beshown from 1Sa 14:3 and 1Sa 22:20, that he was the only one that was leftof the house of Eli. And secondly, there was to be no old man, no oneadvanced in life, in his house; but all the increase of the house was to die inthe full bloom of manhood. אנשׁים , in contrast with זקן , is used to denote men in the prime of life.

1Sa 2:34

" And let this be the sign to thee, what shall happen to (comeupon) thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall bothdie ."For the fulfilment of this, see 1Sa 4:11. This occurrence, which Elilived to see, but did not long survive (1Sa 4:17.), was to be the sign tohim that the predicted punishment would be carried out in its fullestextent.

1Sa 2:35

But the priesthood itself was not to fall with the fall of Eli'shouse and priesthood; on the contrary the Lord would raise up for himselfa tried priest, who would act according to His heart. "And I will build forhim a lasting house, and he will walk before mine anointed for ever."

1Sa 2:36

Whoever, on the other hand, should still remain of Eli's house,would come "bowing before him (to get) a silver penny and a slice of bread," and would say, "Put me, I pray, in one of the priests' offices, that Imay get a piece of bread to eat." אגורה , that which is collected ,signifies some small coin, of which a collection was made by begging singlecoins. Commentators are divided in their opinions as to the historicalallusions contained in this prophecy. By the "tried priest,"Ephraem Syrusunderstood both the prophet Samuel and the priest Zadok. "As for thefacts themselves,"he says, "it is evident that, when Eli died, Samuelsucceeded him in the government, and that Zadok received the high-priesthood when it was taken from his family."Since his time, most of thecommentators, including Theodoret and the Rabbins, have decided infavour of Zadok. Augustine, however, and in modern times Thenius and O. v. Gerlach , give the preference to Samuel. The fathers and earliertheologians also regarded Samuel and Zadok as the type of Christ, andsupposed the passage to contain a prediction of the abrogation of theAaronic priesthood by Jesus Christ.

(Note: Theodoret , qu . vii. in 1 Reg. Οὐκοῦν ἡ πρόῤῥησις κυρίως μὲν ἁρμόττει τῷ σωτὴρι Χριστῷ. Κατὰ δὲ ἱστορίαν τῷ Σαδούκ , ὅς ἐκ τοῦ Ἐλεάζαρ κατάγων τὸ γένος τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην διὰ τοῦ Σολομῶνος ἐδέξατ͡¿ . Augustine says ( Decivit. Dei xvii. 5, 2): "Although Samuel was not of a different tribefrom the one which had been appointed by the Lord to serve at thealtar, he was not of the sons of Aaron, whose descendants had beenset apart as priests; and thus the change is shadowed forth, which wasafterwards to be introduced through Jesus Christ."And again, §3:"What follows (1Sa 2:35) refers to that priest, whose figure was borne bySamuel when succeeding to Eli."So again in the Berleburger Bible, tothe words, "I will raise me up a faithful priest,"this note is added:"Zadok, of the family of Phinehas and Eleazar, whom king Solomon,as the anointed of God, appointed high priest by his ordinance, settingaside the house of Eli (1Ki 2:35; 1Ch 29:22). At the sametime, just as in the person of Solomon the Spirit of prophecy pointedto the true Solomon and Anointed One, so in this priest did He alsopoint to Jesus Christ the great High Priest.")

This higher reference of the words is in any case to be retained; for therabbinical interpretation, by which Grotius , Clericus, and others abide, - namely, that the transfer of the high-priesthood from the descendants ofEli to Zadok, the descendant of Eleazar, is all that is predicted, and thatthe prophecy was entirely fulfilled when Abiathar was deposed bySolomon (1Ki 2:27), - is not in accordance with the words of the text. On the other hand, Theodoret and Augustine both clearly saw that thewords of Jehovah, "I revealed myself to thy father's house in Egypt,"and,"Thy house shall walk before me for ever,"do not apply to Ithamar, butto Aaron. "Which of his fathers,"says Augustine, "was in that Egyptianbondage, form which they were liberated when he was chosen to thepriesthood, excepting Aaron? It is with reference to his posterity,therefore, that it is here affirmed that they would not be priests for ever;and this we see already fulfilled."The only thing that appears untenable isthe manner in which the fathers combine this historical reference to Eli andSamuel, or Zadok, with the Messianic interpretation, viz., either byreferring 1Sa 2:31-34 to Eli and his house, and then regarding the sentencepronounced upon Eli as simply a type of the Messianic fulfilment, or byadmitting the Messianic allusion simply as an allegory.

The true interpretation may be obtained from a correct insight into therelation in which the prophecy itself stands to its fulfilment. Just as, in theperson of Eli and his sons, the threat announces deep degradation and evendestruction to all the priests of the house of Aaron who should walk in thefootsteps of the sons of Eli, and the death of the two sons of Eli in oneday was to be merely a sign that the threatened punishment would becompletely fulfilled upon the ungodly priests; so, on the other hand, thepromise of the raising up of the tried priest, for whom God would build alasting house, also refers to all the priests whom the Lord would raise upas faithful servants of His altar, and only receives its complete and finalfulfilment in Christ, the true and eternal High Priest. But if we endeavourto determine more precisely from the history itself, which of the OldTestament priests are included, we must not exclude either Samuel orZadok, but must certainly affirm that the prophecy was partially fulfilledin both. Samuel, as the prophet of the Lord, was placed at the head of the nationafter the death of Eli; so that he not only stepped into Eli's place as judge,but stood forth as priest before the Lord and the nation, and "had theimportant and sacred duty to perform of going before the anointed, theking, whom Israel was to receive through him; whereas for a long time theAaronic priesthood fell into such contempt, that, during the general declineof the worship of God, it was obliged to go begging for honour andsupport, and became dependent upon the new order of things that wasintroduced by Samuel"( O. v. Gerlach ). Moreover, Samuel acquired astrong house in the numerous posterity that was given to him by God. The grandson of Samuel was Heman, "the king's seer in the words ofGod,"who was placed by David over the choir at the house of God, andhad fourteen sons and three daughters (1Ch 6:33; 1Ch 25:4-5). But the very fact that these descendants of Samuel did not follow theirfather in the priesthood, shows very clearly that a lasting house was notbuilt to Samuel as a tried priest through them, and therefore that we haveto seek for the further historical fulfilment of this promise in thepriesthood of Zadok. As the word of the Lord concerning the house of Eli,even if it did not find its only fulfilment in the deposition of Abiathar (1Ki 2:27), was at any rate partially fulfilled in that deposition; so thepromise concerning the tried priest to be raised up received a newfulfilment in the fact that Zadok thereby became the sole high priest, andtransmitted the office to his descendants, though this was neither its lastnor its highest fulfilment. This final fulfilment is hinted at in the vision ofthe new temple, as seen by the prophet Ezekiel, in connection with whichthe sons of Zadok are named as the priests, who, because they had notfallen away with the children of Israel, were to draw near to the Lord, andperform His service in the new organization of the kingdom of God as setforth in that vision (Eze 40:46; Eze 43:19; Eze 44:15; Eze 48:11). This fulfilment iseffected in connection with Christ and His kingdom. Consequently, theanointed of the Lord, before whom the tried priest would walk for ever, isnot Solomon, but rather David, and the Son of David, whose kingdom is aneverlasting kingdom.

Constable: 1Sa 1:1--3:21

I. ELI AND SAMUEL chs. 1--3

First Samuel first contrasts Israel's last two judges (Eli, a failure, and Samuel, a success) and then Israel's first two kings (Saul, a failure, and David, a success).¹¹

The first major section of Samuel sharply contrasts obedience and disobedience to the will of God as God expressed that for Israel in the Mosaic Covenant. This contrast is clear in all seven major sections of 1 and 2 Samuel. The events in this section took place during Eli's 40-year judgeship (4:18; 1144-1104 B.C.).¹²

Constable: 1Sa 2:11-36

B. The Contrast between Samuel and Eli's Sons 2:11-36

Samuel's innocence and the godlessness of Eli's sons contrast strongly in this pericope (section). Samuel would succeed and become a channel of God's blessing. Eli's sons would fail, would become a source of frustration to Eli and to the Israelites, and would ultimately perish.

"The section [2:11-4:1] poignantly illustrates the theme of Hannah's Song' as it is epitomized in 2:7b, he brings low, and also exalts'. For it is under the auspices of God who has determined the ruin of Hophni and Phinehas that Samuel makes his mark."³¹

Constable: 1Sa 2:11-17

1. Eli's sons' wickedness 2:11-17

Eli's sons were not only evil in their personal lives, but they flagrantly disregarded the will of God even as they served as leaders of Israel's worship of Yahweh. They neither knew the Lord (in the sense of paying attention to Him, v. 12) nor treated His offerings as special (v. 17; cf. Mal. 1:6-14). The writer documented these evaluations with two instances of their specific practices (vv. 13-14, and 15-16). The Law ordered the priests to handle the offerings in particular ways to respect God's holiness (cf. Lev. 3:3, 5; 7:34; Deut. 18:3). However, Eli's sons served God the way they chose (cf. Korah's behavior in Num. 32). The priests were to take what the offerers gave them, but Eli's sons took what they wanted from them (vv. 13-14). The priests were to burn the best part of the sacrifices on the altar as offerings to God, but Eli's sons took the best part for themselves (vv. 15-16). Meat was luxurious food in Israel's economy, so Eli's sons were living off the fat of the land. Thus they were worthless men (v. 12, i.e., wicked in God's sight; cf. 1:16).

"To this day, arrogant assertiveness and self-seeking are temptations to all those in positions of great power in society."³²

"Their sin was particularly egregious since they were supposed to be teaching morality and representing the people of God (2:22-25; cf. 2 Chron. 17:7-9)."³³

Constable: 1Sa 2:18-21

2. Hannah's godly influence on Samuel and its effect 2:18-21

In the previous paragraphs two statements about the main characters described them and framed the paragraph: they did not regard the Lord, and they despised the Lord's offerings (vv. 12, 17). Likewise in this one the writer described Samuel as "before the Lord" at the beginning and at the end (vv. 18, 21). Even though he was very young and his service was probably menial at this time (cf. 3:15), Samuel lived sensitively before God. The writer did not stress this sensitive spirit here; he only hinted at it. However it comes out clearly later (e.g., ch. 4).

In the central part of this section (vv. 18-19) the writer documented the support and encouragement to serve the Lord that Samuel received from his parents. The linen ephod was a priestly garment as was the robe (cf. Exod. 28:31; 2 Sam. 6:16).³⁴ Hannah's dressing Samuel as a little priest shows that she respected this office and wanted her son to grow up valuing it.³⁵

Hannah's obedience resulted in God blessing Elkanah and Hannah even more (vv. 20-21). Among other blessings, God gave Hannah five additional children by overcoming her barrenness and making her fertile (cf. Exod. 1:21; Ps. 127:3). Furthermore Samuel continued to develop in a promising manner (cf. Luke 2:40, 52).

Constable: 1Sa 2:22-26

3. Eli's lack of influence on his sons and its effect 2:22-26

The sons of Eli followed the example of Canaanite worship rather than the instruction of the Mosaic Law. Ritual prostitution was part of Canaanite worship, and Eli's sons seem to have adopted this custom. Even when their father confronted them with their sin Eli's sons refused to repent. Frequently old men demonstrate wisdom, but Eli was not wise enough to restrain the sinful behavior of his sons.

The women referred to were evidently volunteer helpers in the service of the sanctuary (cf. Exod. 38:8). Unintentional sin was pardonable under Mosaic law, but highhanded deliberately rebellious sin was not, particularly ritual prostitution (cf. Num. 25:1-5; Deut. 23:17; Amos 2:7-8). The punishment for highhanded sin was death (Num. 15:30). God initially judged Eli's sons by giving them hard hearts as a result of their sin before He brought final destruction on them (cf. Exod. 7:3; Rom. 1:24).

Earlier in Israel's history another Phinehas, the godly son of another priest, Eleazar, had executed an Israelite named Zimri and a Moabite woman named Cozbi for practicing sexual immorality in the tabernacle (Num. 25). Now this Phinehas, a priest and the son of another priest, Eli, was practicing sexual immorality in the tabernacle. How far the priests had departed from the Lord during the approximately 300 years that separated these incidents!

While Eli's sons were growing in disfavor with the Lord and the Israelites (vv. 22-25), Samuel was growing in favor with both (v. 26; cf. Luke 2:52) because he was obeying God.

Constable: 1Sa 2:27-36

4. The oracle against Eli's house 2:27-36

The rest of the chapter explains why God would put Eli's sons to death (v. 25). The specific criticism that the man of God (a prophet, cf. 9:9-10) directed against Eli and his sons was two-fold. They had not appreciated God's grace extended to them in the Exodus deliverance nor the opportunity to serve Him as priests (vv. 27-29). "Kick at" (NASB, v. 29; cf. Deut. 32:15) means to "scorn" (NIV, Heb. ba'at). It is a serious matter to undervalue the grace of God. God had initiated blessing, but they had not responded appropriately, namely, with gratitude, trust, and obedience. Eli's guilt (v. 29) lay in his failure to rebuke his sons severely for their sin (3:13) though he did warn them of God's judgment (2:25). He also enjoyed the fruits of their disobedient worship (2:13-16). Had Eli grown fat from eating the best portions that his sons extorted from the people (cf. 4:18)?

Many students of this book have identified verse 30 as its key verse because it articulates the principle that the books of Samuel illustrate. Every section of 1 and 2 Samuel demonstrates the truth of this statement.

God's judgment on Eli and his sons was that He would dishonor them. God had promised that Levi's descendants would serve Him forever as priests, namely, as long as Israel existed as a nation (Exod. 29:9; Num. 25:13). Now God revealed that He would cut off Eli's branch of the Levitical family tree. Eli was a descendant of Levi through Levi's son Ithamar. His descendants ceased to function as priests when Solomon dismissed Abiathar as high priest. Abiathar escaped the slaughter of the priests at Nob (22:17-20), but Solomon defrocked him because he supported Adonijah (1 Kings 2:27, 35).

The faithful priest God promised to raise up (v. 35) was initially Samuel (3:1, 20; 7:9; 9:2-13). Zadok, a descendant of Levi's son Eleazar, replaced Abiathar as high priest in Solomon's day (1 Kings 2:35).³⁶ The Lord's anointed (v. 35) was the king of Israel. One of his descendants would be Messiah. Ezekiel 44:15 and 48:11 refer to the continuing ministry of Zadok's descendants when Messiah reigns in His future millennial kingdom.³⁷ Verse 36 evidently continues to describe the fate of Eli's descendants after God deposed Abiathar.³⁸

Notice the chiastic (crossing) structure of chapter 2 focusing on Eli's blessing of Samuel's parents.

"A. The song of Hannah, concluding with reference to the Lord's anointed (2:1-10)

B. Samuel ministers before the Lord (2:11)

C. The sins of Eli's sons (2:12-17)

D. Samuel ministers before the Lord (2:18-19)

E. Eli blesses Samuel's parents (2:20-21a)

D.' Samuel grows in the Lord's presence (2:21b)

C.' The sins of Eli's sons (2:22-25)

B.' Samuel grows in the Lords' presence (2:26)

A.' The oracles of the man of God, concluding with reference to the Lord's anointed (2:27-36)"³⁹

This section reveals the importance and power of parental influence. Eli had placed more importance on his sons' personal preferences than he had on God's preferences; he had honored them more than Him (v. 29). Consequently they became worthless men (v. 12) whom God finally killed prematurely. Hannah, on the other hand, encouraged her son, Samuel, to value the service of God. Consequently he developed into a godly man whom God and other people honored and respected (v. 26). Eli's sons despised God and abused other people (vv. 17, 22). Samuel feared God and became a great blessing to other people.

This chapter also shows that godly influence can be more powerful than ungodly influence and can overcome many natural obstacles. God enabled Hannah to influence Samuel for good even though she seldom saw him, lived miles from him, and could not prevent the daily wicked influence of Eli's sons over him. Her previous dedication of him to the Lord was undoubtedly a factor in her success. Her continuing encouragement to serve God and her prayers for Samuel were other important factors.

God has not blessed with godly offspring all parents who have had the same desires for their children as Hannah did. Children are responsible for their own decisions as they grow up (Ezek. 18:4, 20). Some choose to turn away from the Lord. Nevertheless this story shows what can happen. Children can grow up in an ungodly environment away from their parents' personal supervision and still become godly. The influence of a wise and godly parent can overcome many other ungodly influences in a child's life.

Guzik: 1Sa 2:1-36

1 Samuel 2 - Hannah's Prayer, Eli's Evil Sons

A. Hannah's prayer.

1. (1-2) Thanksgiving and praise.

And Hannah prayed and said:

"My heart rejoices in the LORD;

My horn is exalted in the LORD.

I smile at my enemies,

Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

No one is holy like the LORD,

For there is none besides You,

Nor is there any rock like our God."

a. 1 Samuel 1:28 ended, So they worshipped the LORD there. Here is the worship Hannah offered, and what she offered on the very day she left her little boy - her only child - at the tabernacle, never for him to live in her home again.

b. My heart rejoices in the LORD: Here, Hannah shows a depth of commitment and love for God that humbles us. On the day she makes the biggest sacrifice she will ever make in her life, she rejoices in the LORD!

i. Notice though, that she rejoices in the LORD. She does not, and she can not, rejoice in the leaving of her son. But she can, and she does, rejoice in the LORD. In the most desperate situations, when we have nothing else to rejoice in, we can rejoice in the LORD.

c. My horn is exalted in the LORD: The horn is an often used as a picture of strength in the Bible (Psalm 75:4-5; 92:10). This is because the strength of an ox or a steer could be expressed in its horn. Hannah is speaking of her strength and power being exalted in the LORD.

i. "We have often seen that horn signifies power, might, and dominion. It is this constantly used in the Bible, and was so used among the heathens." (Clarke)

d. I smile at my enemies: Hannah has a strong sense of vindication over her rival, Elkanah's other wife Peninnah. Peninnah had cruelly brought Hannah low (1 Samuel 1:6-7), but now Hannah can rejoice because the LORD has lifted her up.

e. There is none holy like the LORD: In this verse, Hannah shows a classic form of Hebrew poetry - a repetitive parallelism. To say the LORD is holy is to say He is completely set apart; that He is unique, and not like any other. So, when she continues in the same verse and says, "For there is none besides You," she is saying the same thing as "There is none holy like the LORD," only saying it in different words. When she says, "Nor is there any rock like our God," she is again saying the same thing in different words.

i. In this, Hebrew poetry does not rhyme words by sound, as much as it rhymes ideas. The ideas of the three lines of 1 Samuel 2:2 all rhyme together, having different words yet "sounding" the same.

ii. Beyond the literary structure, the idea is emphasized: God is so great, there is no one - not one in all the universe - who compares with Him. It isn't that He has the same power and wisdom and purity we have, just that He has more of it all. No, His power and wisdom and purity is of a different order than ours, beyond ours.

2. (3) A warning to the arrogant and proud.

"Talk no more so very proudly;

Let no arrogance come from your mouth,

For the LORD is the God of knowledge;

And by Him actions are weighed."

a. Talk no more so very proudly: While Hannah certainly has her rival in mind, her "fellow-wife" Peninnah here. But in some way, she sees Peninnah as just a representative of all the proud and arrogant people in the world. Hannah wisely tells the proud to talk no more and to let no arrogance come from your mouth. Pride can be expressed in many ways, but it usually is expressed by our words. The proud would be much better off if they would just not talk so much!

b. For the LORD is the God of knowledge: This, of course, is the best reason to forsake our pride. Next to God, we all know nothing, and since we are all far from God, we are all far from all knowledge. He knows us, and by Him actions are weighed.

3. (4-8a) Hannah gives glory to the God who often humiliates the strong and exalts the weak.

"The bows of the mighty men are broken,

And those who stumbled are girded with strength.

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,

And the hungry have ceased to hunger.

Even the barren has borne seven,

And she who has many children has become feeble.

The LORD kills and makes alive;

He brings down to the grave and brings up.

The LORD makes poor and makes rich;

He brings low and lifts up.

He raises the poor from the dust

And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,

To set them among princes

And make them inherit the throne of glory."

a. In her song, Hannah has warned against pride. Here, she gives more reasons why we should all be humble before the LORD (especially those like Peninnah, her rival!).

b. We should be humble before God because He knows how to humble the strong: the bows of the mighty men are broken . . . those who were full are now begging, and she who has many children has become feeble. If we are strong now, or exalted now, we should be humble, because the LORD can change our place quickly.

c. We should be humble before God because He knows how to exalt the weak. Those who stumbled are girded with strength . . . those who were hungry have ceased to hunger . . . even the barren has borne seven. If we are weak now, or in a low place, we should wait humbly before God and let Him lift us up.

i. In Luke 14:7-11, Jesus said when we have the opportunity to set ourselves high, we should take a low place instead. Then, when someone sets us in a higher place, it will be a pleasant experience. But if we put ourselves in a high place, someone may come and set us in a lower place, and then we will be embarrassed. Jesus concluded by saying, For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

d. Hannah knew all this intimately in her life. She was barren because the LORD had closed her womb (1 Samuel 1:6). She knew The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. God had first set her low, and then brought her high. She could see the hand of the LORD in it all.

4. (8b-10) Hannah's confidence in the future is really confidence in the LORD.

"For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,

And He has set the world upon them.

He will guard the feet of His saints,

But the wicked shall be silent in darkness.

For by strength no man shall prevail.

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces;

From heaven He will thunder against them.

The LORD will judge the ends of the earth.

He will give strength to His king,

And exalt the horn of His anointed."

a. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's: Hannah is confident in God's ability to humble the strong and exalt the weak because God is in control. If God were not in control, then perhaps the strong could do what they wanted and God couldn't do anything about it. But Hannah knew that the foundation of the earth itself (the pillars of the earth) belonged to the LORD.

b. God uses His power to set things right: For by strength no man shall prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces. It isn't enough for us to believe God has this power; we must know He will use it for His glory and righteousness.

c. He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed: At this time, Israel did not have a king, and seems to have not even wanted one. So when Hannah speaks of His king, she is looking ahead to the Messiah, who will finally set all wrongs right. He is His anointed.

i. This is the first place in the Bible where Jesus is referred to as the Messiah. "She first applied to him the remarkable epithet MESSIAH in Hebrew, CHRIST in Greek, and ANOINTED in English, which was adopted by David, Nathan, Ethan, Isaiah, Daniel, and the succeeding prophets of the Old Testament; and by the apostles and inspired writers of the New." (Hales, cited in Clarke)

ii. Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist, quotes Hannah in Luke 1:69, when he prophetically calls Jesus a horn of salvation, quoting from 1 Samuel 2:10. Mary, the mother of Jesus, in her beautiful prayer found in Luke 1:46-55, seems to quote Hannah's song often.

5. (11) Samuel ministers unto the LORD.

Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

a. Then Elkanah went: They did it. It was hard to do, to leave this little son behind, but they did it because they promised God that is what they would do.

b. But the child ministered to LORD before Eli the priest: Young as he was, Samuel could have a ministry to the LORD. Our young people can praise God and please God and worship Him, and it is often a breakthrough in their walk with God when they experience God in worship.

i. The Living Bible translates it well: And the child became the Lord's helper. There are ways that even children can serve God and minister to Him.

B. The wicked sons of Eli, the high priest.

1. (12) The evil character of the sons of Eli.

Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD.

a. The sons of Eli were corrupt: Literally, the Hebrew calls them sons of Belial. Belial was a pagan god, and the phrase sons of Belial refers to worthless, wicked men. This was a significant problem, because the sons of Eli were to succeed him as high priest, and were already functioning in the priesthood.

b. They did not know the LORD: Even though their father Eli knew the LORD, that knowledge was not passed on genetically to the sons of Eli. They had to know the LORD for themselves.

i. It can be a difficult thing for a child to come to a true, genuine knowledge of the LORD when they have grown up in a Christian home. They just kind of assume they know the LORD because mom and dad do. But young people need to have a passionate commitment to knowing the LORD for themselves. And knowing about the LORD isn't enough; we must know Him ourselves, in a personal relationship.

2. (13-17) Their first offense: stealing what was offered to God.

And the priests' custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw." And if the man said to him, "They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires," he would then answer him, "No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force." Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

a. The priests' custom with the people: With many of the sacrifices brought to the tabernacle, a portion was given to God, a portion was given to the priest, and a portion was kept by the one bringing the offering. According to other passages in the Old Testament, the priest was supposed to receive a portion of the breast and the shoulder. But now, some four hundred years after the law of Moses was given, the priestly custom had changed - they would not take the prescribed portion of the breast and shoulder, but take whatever the fork brought up out of the pot.

i. "Not contented with the breast and shoulder which were allotted to them by God, Exodus 29:27-28; Leviticus 7:31, they took also part of the offerer's share." (Poole)

ii. It was bad enough for the priesthood in general to change their practice from what God had said in His word. But the sons of Eli went even beyond this!

b. The portion that was to be given to God was always to be given first, so it was wrong to take the priest's portion before they burned the fat.

i. The fat was thought to be the most luxurious, best part of the animal, so that was given to God. The idea was that God should always get the best, and God should get His portion first. But in their pride, the sons of Eli took their portion before they burned the fat.

c. He will not take boiled meat from you, but raw: Why did the sons of Eli want raw meat? Perhaps it was so they could prepare it anyway they pleased; or more likely, it was because raw meat was easier to sell, and they would sell meat and pocket the money.

i. "Boiled meat would not content them. But it ill becometh a servant of the Lord to be a slave to his palate. Christ biddeth his apostles when they come into a house, 'eat such things as are set before them,' if wholesome, though but homely. . . . Commonly a wanton tooth is the harbinger to luxurious wantonness. Gluttony is the gallery that lechery walketh through." (Trapp)

d. No, but you must give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force: The greed of Eli's sons was so great, they did not hesitate to use violence and the threat of violence to get what they wanted.

i. The priest's servant: As is the case with many influential people, they have someone else do their "dirty" work. The sons of Eli themselves would not threaten or intimidate those who brought their offerings to the LORD, but they would tell their servants to threaten and intimidate the worshippers. In this, they felt they could be "above" their own corruption. Yet, the text says the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD. Of course, God was not pleased with the priest's servants. But God knew that this sin was the sin of the two young sons of Eli more than it was the sin of the priest's servants.

e. For men abhorred the offering of the LORD: The greatness of the sin of Eli's sons was found in this - that they, through their greed, violence, and intimidation, made others not want to come and bring offerings to the LORD. It was bad enough what they themselves were doing; but the greater sin of Eli's sons was in how they hurt other people.

i. "As the people saw that the priests had no piety, and that they acted as if there was no God; they despised God's service, and became infidels." (Clarke) "A wicked priest is the worst creature upon the earth. Who are devils, but they which were once angels of light?" (Trapp)

ii. Jesus said that whoever offends one of His little ones, it would be better for that one if a millstone (a very heavy stone) were tied around his neck and he were cast into the ocean (Matthew 18:6-7). Our self-destructive sins are bad enough; it is even worse when we destroy someone else.

iii. It is the same today with greedy, corrupt ministers, who make others hate the offering of the LORD. God will judge them by a high standard! (James 3:1)

3. (18-21) The purity and service of Samuel and his family is a contrast to the evil character of Eli's sons.

But Samuel ministered before the LORD, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "The LORD give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the LORD." Then they would go to their own home. And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the LORD.

a. But Samuel: As bad as Eli's sons were, Samuel was different. Is this not why God raised up Samuel, because of the corruption of Eli's sons? God knew how Eli's sons were, so He guided the whole series of events that resulted in Samuel coming to serve at the tabernacle. If Eli's sons would not be worthy successors, then God would raise up someone else.

i. Ultimately, corrupt ministers do not stop - or even hinder - the work of God. Oh, it may look like it; but every time there are men like Eli's sons, God raises up someone like Samuel. God's work does not stop when God's ministers become corrupt.

ii. Why was Samuel godly and Eli's sons were not? It might be easy to say it was because Samuel grew up in a godly home and Eli's sons did not. But Eli does not seem to have been a particularly bad parent, though he obviously did some things wrong (as stated in the rest of the chapter). No, it would be wrong to give Eli all the blame for his sons, or to give Hannah all the credit for Samuel. There is a significant measure that, after all the parenting, is left up to the free will of the child.

b. Wearing a linen ephod: Samuel, even as a child, distinguished himself in his service to the LORD. His service was exceptional enough that he was given a linen ephod, which was a priestly garment (Exodus 39:27-29).

i. What did Samuel do? "He did small charges, as setting up lights, laying up vestments, learning music, or the like." (Trapp)

c. Even as a child: Though a child, Samuel is serving the LORD better, and in a greater way, than the sons of Eli are. What man looks at in the service of God is often not what the LORD looks at.

d. His mother used to make him a little robe: How beautiful! Only someone who was really there would describe such a small detail. Though Hannah gave her little boy to the LORD, she never stopped loving him.

e. The LORD visited Hannah: He certainly did! Three more sons, and two daughters! God will never be a debtor to anyone. Hannah could never say to the LORD, "I gave you my son, but what did you give me?" because God gave her much.

f. On Samuel grew before the LORD: "Not only before men, who might be deceived, but in the presence of the all-seeing God." (Poole)

4. (22) The second offense of Eli's sons: sexual immorality.

Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

a. Now Eli was very old: This passage is not focused on Eli's sons as much as it is on Eli himself. He was old, and in no condition to take the kind of leadership Israel needed from him as high priest. He heard everything his sons did: Eli heard about the evil acts of his sons; but what will he do about it?

b. They lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting: This means the sons of Eli we committing sexual immorality with the women who came to worship at the tabernacle. It is an ancient version of modern "preacher sex scandal."

i. The two great sins of Eli's sons were that they stole from God's people (1 Samuel 2:12-17) and they committed sexual immorality with women who came to worship at the tabernacle. Both show the heart of a hireling, of an unfaithful shepherd who cares more about what he can get from God's people than about what he can give God's people. In this sense, the sins of greed and sexual immorality are not far apart. They often go together as the evidence of self-will and the abuse of power.

ii. It is possible that the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle were in some way workers at the house of the LORD. Exodus 38:8 refers to the serving women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

5. (23-26) The vain, ineffective rebuke of Eli to his sons.

So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. "No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord's people transgress. "If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to kill them. And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men.

a. Why do you do such things? It is an understandable question, but a needless one. Who cares why? Could there ever be a justified reason? They cannot excuse their sinful behavior, they had to be responsible for it instead.

i. Eli did about the worst thing a parent can do in trying to correct their children: just talk. All he did was whine about what they were doing wrong, but he never took the necessary actions to correct the problem. Parents would be better off to yell less, lecture less, and to take sensible action more often, letting the children see the consequences for their disobedience.

ii. Writing from the 17 ^th century, John Trapp advises Eli on what he should have said: "Draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore . . . ye degenerate brood and sons of Belial, and not of Eli; ye brats of fathomless perdition . . . It is stark stinking naught that I hear, and woe is me that I yet live to hear it; it had been better that I had died long since, or that you had been buried alive, than this to live and stink above the ground." That's a lecture from dad!

b. You make the LORD's people to transgress: Again, this was the great sin of Eli's sons. It was bad enough that they stole and indulged their own lusts; but they also, by their corrupt behavior, made people hate to worship God with their offerings at the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:17), and they led women worshippers into sexual immorality.

c. If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him? "All differences between man and man may be settled by the proper judge; but if a man sins against the Supreme Judge, God himself, who shall reconcile him to his Maker?" (Clarke)

i. Fortunately, 1 John 2:1 answer's Eli's question: And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Praise God, there is some to intercede for us when we sin against the LORD!

d. Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to kill them: This striking statement may seem unfair to some. They picture Eli's sons wanting to repent, wanting to heed the voice of their father, but God preventing them. This is not the case at all. Repentance is a gift from God, and if God chooses not to grant the gift, people will never want to repent. God judged Eli's sons this way: God gave them exactly what they wanted. They did not want to repent, and God did not work repentance in their hearts.

i. But what about the words, the LORD desired to kill them? God saw they were corrupt men and wanted to judge them. All God did was right and just. Is it wrong to desire justice? When the LORD desired to kill them, it simply means that God desired justice towards Eli's sons.

e. And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men: What a contrast to the wickedness of Eli's sons! This shows that although Eli was far from a perfect father, he was not a chronically bad father, because he essentially fathered Samuel and Samuel grew up to be a godly man.

i. We can't read 1 Samuel 2:26 without thinking of Luke 2:52, which describes Jesus' boyhood: And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Samuel was in good company!

C. The announcement of God's judgment against Eli's house.

1. (27-33) An unknown man of God pronounces judgment to Eli: his family will be cut off from the office of High Priest.

Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?' Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 'Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 'And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 'But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age.'"

a. Then a man of God: We don't know who this was; this man of God is one of the wonderful anonymous characters of the Bible. But it doesn't matter who he is; he is a man of God, and God has raised him up to speak to Eli and Eli's whole family at this important time.

b. Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father: The father referred to is Aaron, who was the first High Priest. Since the High Priesthood was a hereditary office, Eli was a descendant of Aaron, whom God had revealed Himself to.

c. 1 Samuel 2:28 is a wonderful summary of some of the duties of the priesthood in Israel.

i. To be My priest: First and foremost, the job of the High Priest was to minister unto the LORD. Before he served the people, he was a servant of God. He was not first the people's priest (though he was that also, he was first the priest of God.

ii. To offer upon My altar: The priest was to bring forth sacrifices for atonement and worship. The altar was the place where atoning blood was both shed and applied, blood that would cleanse from sin. The altar was also the place where the "sacrifice of praise" was brought.

iii. To burn incense: The burning of incense was always a picture of prayer, because the smoke and the scent of the incense would ascend up to the heavens. The priest was to lead the nation in prayer, and to pray for the nation.

iv. To wear an ephod before Me: The priest was clothed in specific garments, for glory and for beauty (Exodus 28:2). He was to represent the majesty, dignity, glory, and beauty of God to the people.

v. All the offerings: The priest was also charged with the responsibility to receive the offerings of God's people and to make good use of them.

c. Why do you kick at My sacrifice: It would have been easy for Eli to say, "I'm not doing it! My sons are!" But Eli had a double accountability for his sons, both as a father (though this was diminished because the sons were adults), and as the High Priest. His sons "worked" for him as a priests, and Eli was a bad "boss."

d. And honor your sons more than Me: Since Eli would not correct his sons the way he should, either as a father or as a head over them, he was essentially preferring them to the LORD. If He would have been more afraid of offending God, and less afraid of offending his sons, he would have corrected them.

i. Eric Liddell was one of Britain's great athletes, and later he gave his life for Jesus on the mission field. In 1924 he was to run for Britain in the Olympic Games, when it was discovered that the preliminary heats of his best event, the 100 meters, would be run on a Sunday. Quietly but firmly, Liddell refused to run. The day of 400 meters race came, and as Liddell went to the starting blocks, an unknown man slipped a piece of paper in his hand with a quotation from 1 Samuel 2:30: Those who honor Me I will honor. That day Eric Liddel set a world's record in the 400 meters.

e. I will cut off your arm: Not literally, but since the arm was a picture of strength and might in Hebrew thinking (Psalm 10:15, 77:15, 89:10), this was saying that the house of Eli would be left powerless and without strength.

f. 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever'; but now the LORD says: God here promises that the priestly line would not stay with Eli and his descendants, but would pass to another line of descendants from Aaron. This was fulfilled many years later, in Solomon's day; Abiathar (from Eli's family) was deposed as High Priest and replaced with Zadok (who was from another family).

i. 1 Kings 2:27 reads, So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, that he might fulfill the word of the LORD which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

ii. Was God going back on His word when He said, "I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever," but now the LORD says? Not at all. The promise referred to is a promise to Aaron in passages like Exodus 29:9. God did not remove the priesthood from the line of Aaron, but He did remove it from the line of Eli. Eli had assumed the promise was to him also, but God was going back on Eli's assumption, not on a promise made to Eli. The implicit promise made to Eli was conditional, and he failed to fulfill the conditions.

g. There shall not be an old man in your house forever . . . And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age: This idea is repeated three times in these few verses. God wants to emphasize that He will not bless the descendants of Eli with a long life.

i. Shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart: The descendants of Eli who do live a little longer will not live blessed lives. They will be painful to observe.

2. (34-36) The sign and the promise: both sons will die on the same day.

"'Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever. And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, "Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread." ' "

a. Now this shall be a sign to you: Since the fulfillment of the judgment would be many years away (in the days of Solomon), God gave Eli an immediate sign to demonstrate His truthfulness. Both of Eli's sons will die in one day, and Eli will see this, and know the judgment of God has come against his house, and that one day the priesthood will be removed from his family.

i. Just because something hasn't happened yet doesn't make it untrue. God's promise was sure, and He wanted Eli to know this.

b. Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest: Who is the faithful priest predicted here? He was a great priest, because he did according to what is in [God's] heart and in [God's] mind. He was a blessed priest, because God said of him, I will build him a sure house, and he will walk before My anointed forever.

i. This promise was partially fulfilled in Samuel, because he functioned as a godly priest, effectively replacing the ungodly sons of Eli.

ii. The promise was partially fulfilled in Zadok, in the days of Solomon, because he replaced Eli's family line in the priesthood.

iii. The promise was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, because He is a priest forever according to the order of Melchezedek (Hebrews 7:12-17).

iv. The lesson is emphasized through this chapter. God always has His priests. Whenever there are weak priests (like Eli) or corrupt priests (like Hophni and Phinehas), God will raise up great and godly priests to replace them.

c. Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver: This is a fitting judgment, since much of the sin of Eli's sons was greed and stealing from God's people. Instead of receiving the priestly portions which were rightfully theirs, Eli's family will one day be reduced to begging.

© 2001 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: 1Sa 2:30

1 SAMUEL 2:30-31 —Did God change His mind?    (See comments on Ex. 32:14 .)   

Critics Ask: 1Sa 2:31

1 SAMUEL 2:30-31 —Did God change His mind?    (See comments on Ex. 32:14 .)   

Introduction / Outline

JFB: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF SAMUEL. The two were, by the ancient Jews, conjoined so as to make one book, and in that form could be called the Book of Samuel with more propriety than now, the second being wholly occupied with the relation of transactions that did not take place till after the death of that eminent judge. Accordingly, in the Septuagint and the Vulgate, it is called the First and Second Books of Kings. The early portion of the First Book, down to the end of the twenty-fourth chapter, was probably written by Samuel; while the rest of it and the whole of the Second, are commonly ascribed to Nathan and Gad, founding the opinion on 1Ch 29:29. Commentators, however, are divided about this, some supposing that the statements in 1Sa 2:26; 1Sa 3:1, indicate the hand of the judge himself, or a contemporary; while some think, from 1Sa 6:18; 1Sa 12:5; 1Sa 27:6, that its composition must be referred to a later age. It is probable, however, that these supposed marks of an after-period were interpolations of Ezra. This uncertainty, however, as to the authorship does not affect the inspired authority of the book, which is indisputable, being quoted in the New Testament (1Sa 13:14 in Act 13:22, and 2Sa 7:14 in Heb 1:5), as well as in many of the Psalms.

JFB: 1 Samuel (Outline)

• OF ELKANAH AND HIS TWO WIVES. (1Sa 1:1-8)
• HANNAH'S PRAYER. (1Sa 1:9-18)
• SAMUEL BORN. (1Sa 1:20)
• HANNAH'S SONG IN THANKFULNESS TO GOD. (1Sa 2:1-11)
• THE SIN OF ELI'S SONS. (1Sa 2:12-17)
• SAMUEL'S MINISTRY. (1Sa 2:18-26)
• A PROPHECY AGAINST ELI'S HOUSE. (1Sa 2:27-35)
• THE LORD APPEARS TO SAMUEL IN A VISION. (1Sa 3:1-10)
• ISRAEL OVERCOME BY THE PHILISTINES. (1Sa 4:1-11)
• ELI HEARING THE TIDINGS. (1Sa 4:12-22)
• THE PHILISTINES BRING THE ARK INTO THE HOUSE OF DAGON. (1Sa 5:1-2)
• DAGON FALLS DOWN. (1Sa 5:3-5)
• THE PHILISTINES ARE SMITTEN WITH EMERODS. (1Sa 5:6-12)
• THE PHILISTINES COUNSEL HOW TO SEND BACK THE ARK. (1Sa 6:1-9)
• THE ARK AT KIRJATH-JEARIM. (1Sa 7:1-2)
• THE ISRAELITES, THROUGH SAMUEL'S INFLUENCE, SOLEMNLY REPENT AT MIZPEH. (1Sa 7:3-6)
• WHILE SAMUEL PRAYS, THE PHILISTINES ARE DISCOMFITED. (1Sa 7:7-14)
• OCCASIONED BY THE ILL-GOVERNMENT OF SAMUEL'S SONS, THE ISRAELITES ASK A KING. (1Sa. 8:1-18)
• SAUL, DESPAIRING TO FIND HIS FATHER'S ASSES, COMES TO SAMUEL. (1Sa 9:1-14)
• GOD REVEALS TO SAMUEL SAUL'S COMING, AND HIS APPOINTMENT TO THE KINGDOM. (1Sa 9:15-27)
• SAMUEL ANOINTS SAUL, AND CONFIRMS HIM BY THE PREDICTION OF THREE SIGNS. (1Sa. 10:1-27)
• NAHASH OFFERS THEM OF JABESH-GILEAD A REPROACHFUL CONDITION. (1Sa 11:1-4)
• THEY SEND TO SAUL, AND ARE DELIVERED. (1Sa 11:5-11)
• SAUL CONFIRMED KING. (1Sa 11:12-15)
• SAMUEL TESTIFIES HIS INTEGRITY. (1Sa 12:1-5)
• HE TERRIFIES THEM WITH THUNDER IN HARVEST-TIME. (1Sa 12:17-25)
• SAUL'S SELECTED BAND. (1Sa 13:1-2)
• HE CALLS THE HEBREWS TO GILGAL AGAINST THE PHILISTINES. (1Sa 13:3-4)
• THE PHILISTINES' GREAT HOST. (1Sa 13:5)
• THE ISRAELITES' DISTRESS. (1Sa 13:6-8)
• SAUL, WEARY OF WAITING FOR SAMUEL, SACRIFICES. (1Sa 13:9-16)
• JONATHAN MIRACULOUSLY SMITES THE PHILISTINES' GARRISON. (1Sa 14:1-14)
• SAUL SENT TO DESTROY AMALEK. (1Sa 15:1-6)
• HE SPARES AGAG AND THE BEST OF THE SPOIL. (1Sa 15:7-9)
• GOD REJECTS HIS FOR DISOBEDIENCE. (1Sa 15:10-11)
• SAMUEL SENT BY GOD TO BETHLEHEM. (1Sa 16:1-10)
• HE ANOINTS DAVID. (1Sa 16:11-14)
• THE ISRAELITES AND PHILISTINES BEING READY TO BATTLE. (1Sa 17:1-3)
• GOLIATH CHALLENGES A COMBAT. (1Sa 17:4-11)
• DAVID ACCEPTS THE CHALLENGE, AND SLAYS HIM. (1Sa. 17:12-58)
• JONATHAN LOVES DAVID. (1Sa 18:1-4)
• SAUL ENVIES HIS PRAISE. (1Sa 18:5-9)
• SEEKS TO KILL HIM. (1Sa 18:10-12)
• FEARS HIM FOR HIS GOOD SUCCESS. (1Sa 18:13-16)
• HE OFFERS HIM HIS DAUGHTER FOR A SNARE. (1Sa 18:17-21)
• JONATHAN DISCLOSES HIS FATHER'S PURPOSE TO KILL DAVID. (1Sa 19:1-7)
• SAUL'S MALICIOUS RAGE BREAKS OUT AGAINST DAVID. (1Sa 19:8-17)
• DAVID FLEES TO SAMUEL. (1Sa 19:18-23)
• SAUL PROPHESIES. (1Sa 19:24)
• DAVID CONSULTS WITH JONATHAN FOR HIS SAFETY. (1Sa 20:1-10)
• THEIR COVENANT RENEWED BY OATH. (1Sa 20:11-23)
• SAUL, MISSING DAVID, SEEKS TO KILL JONAHAN. (1Sa. 20:24-40)
• JONATHAN AND DAVID LOVINGLY PART. (1Sa 20:41-42)
• DAVID, AT NOB, OBTAINS OF AHIMELECH HALLOWED BREAD. (1Sa 21:1-7)
• HE TAKES GOLIATH'S SWORD. (1Sa 21:9)
• AT GATH HE FEIGNS HIMSELF MAD. (1Sa 21:10-15)
• DAVID'S KINDRED AND OTHERS RESORT TO HIM AT ADULLAM. (1Sa 22:1-8)
• DOEG ACCUSES AHIMELECH. (1Sa 22:9-16)
• SAUL COMMANDS TO KILL THE PRIESTS. (1Sa 22:17-19)
• ABIATHAR ESCAPES AND FLEES AFTER DAVID. (1Sa 22:20-23)
• DAVID RESCUES KEILAH. (1Sa 23:1-6)
• SAUL'S COMING, AND TREACHERY OF THE KEILITES. (1Sa 23:7-13)
• DAVID ESCAPES TO ZIPH. (1Sa 23:14-18)
• SAUL PURSUES HIM. (1Sa 23:19-29)
• DAVID IN A CAVE AT ENGEDI CUTS OFF SAUL'S SKIRT, BUT SPARES HIS LIFE. (1Sa 24:1-7)
• HE URGES THEREBY HIS INNOCENCY. (1Sa 24:8-15)
• SAMUEL DIES. (1Sa 25:1-9)
• THE CHURLISH ANSWER PROVOKES HIM. (1Sa 25:10-13)
• ABIGAIL PACIFIES HIM. (1Sa. 25:14-35)
• NABAL'S DEATH. (1Sa 25:36-44)
• SAUL COMES TO THE HILL OF HACHILAH AGAINST DAVID. (1Sa 26:1-4)
• DAVID STAYS ABISHAI FROM KILLING SAUL, BUT TAKES HIS SPEAR AND CRUSE. (1Sa. 26:5-25)
• SAUL HEARING THAT DAVID WAS FLED TO GATH, SEEKS NO MORE FOR HIM. (1Sa 27:1-4)
• DAVID BEGS ZIKLAG OF ACHISH. (1Sa 27:5-12)
• ACHISH'S CONFIDENCE IN DAVID. (1Sa 28:1-6)
• SAUL SEEKS A WITCH, WHO, BEING ENCOURAGED BY HIM, RAISES UP SAMUEL. (1Sa. 28:7-25)
• DAVID MARCHING WITH THE PHILISTINES TO FIGHT WITH ISRAEL. (1Sa 29:1-5)
• THE AMALEKITES SPOIL ZIKLAG. (1Sa 30:1-5)
• BUT DAVID, ENCOURAGED BY GOD, PURSUES THEM. (1Sa 30:6-15)
• AND RECOVERS HIS TWO WIVES AND ALL THE SPOIL. (1Sa. 30:16-31)
• SAUL HAVING LOST HIS ARMY AT GILBOA, AND HIS SONS BEING SLAIN, HE AND HIS ARMOR-BEARER KILL THEMSELVES. (1Sa 31:1-7)
• THE PHILISTINES TRIUMPH OVER THEIR DEAD BODIES. (1Sa 31:8-10)
• THE MEN OF JABESH-GILEAD RECOVER THE BODIES AND BURY THEM AT JABESH. (1Sa 31:11-13)

TSK: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

The First Book of SAMUEL, otherwise called " The First Book of the KINGS."

TSK: 1 Samuel 2 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

1Sa 2:1, Hannah’s song in thankfulness; 1Sa 2:12, The sin of Eli’s sons; 1Sa 2:18, Samuel’s ministry; 1Sa 2:20, By Eli’s blessing Hannah is more fruitful; 1Sa 2:22, Eli reproves his sons; 1Sa 2:27, A prophecy against Eli’s house.

Poole: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL OTHERWISE CALLED

THE FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS.

THE ARGUMENT.

IT is not certainly known who was the penman of this Book, or whether it was written by one or more hands; nor is it or any great importance; for since there are sufficient evidences that God was the chief author of it, it matters not who was the instrument. As when it appears that such a thing was really an act of parliament, or of the council-table, it is not considerable who was the clerk or which was the pen that wrote it. And this is the less material in such historical hooks, wherein there is but little which concerns the foundation of faith and good life, and therefore it was not necessary to name the writer of them. It may abundantly suffice that there were in these times divers prophets and holy men of God; as Samuel, and Nathan, and Gad, and David himself, who might each of them write some part of this and the following book. But if any man will out of perverseness doubt or deny that these wrote it, yet this I suppose no discreet and impartial man will deny, that it is wholly incredible that such books should be written in their times, and recommended to the church as a part of the Holy Scriptures, and so received by the succeeding generation, without their approbation, who had so great a power and authority in the church and commonwealth of Israel.

Poole: 1 Samuel 2 (Chapter Introduction)

SAMUEL CHAPTER 2

Hannah’ s song, 1Sa 2:1-10 . Samuel ministers before the Lord, 1Sa 2:11 . Eli’ s sons are wicked, 1Sa 2:12-17 . Hannah beareth more children, 1Sa 2:20,21 . Eli reproves his sons, but mildly 1Sa 2:22-25 . God by a proverb foretelleth the destruction of Eli’ s house, 1Sa 2:27-36 .

MHCC: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

In this book we have an account of Eli, and the wickedness of his sons; also of Samuel, his character and actions. Then of the advancement of Saul to be the king of Israel, and his ill behaviour, until his death made way for David's succession to the throne, who was an eminent type of Christ. David's patience, modesty, constancy, persecution by open enemies and feigned friends, are a pattern and example to the church, and to every member of it. Many things in this book encourage the faith, hope, and patience of the suffering believer. It contains also many useful cautions and awful warnings.

MHCC: 1 Samuel 2 (Chapter Introduction)

(1Sa 2:1-10) Hannah's song of thanksgiving.

(v. 11-26) The wickedness of Eli's sons, Samuel's ministry.

(1Sa 2:27-36) The prophecy against Eli's family.

Matthew Henry: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The First Book of Samuel

This book, and that which follows it, bear the name of Samuel in the title, not because he was the penman of them (except of so much of them as fell within his own time, to the twenty-fifth chapter of the first book, in which we have an account of his death), but because the first book begins with a large account of him, his birth and childhood, his life and government; and the rest of these two volumes that are denominated from him contains the history of the reigns of Saul and David, who were both anointed by him. And, because the history of these two kings takes up the greatest part of these books, the Vulgar latin calls them the First and Second Books of the Kings, and the two that follow the Third and Fourth, which the titles in our English Bibles take notice of with an alias: otherwise called the First Book of the Kings, etc. The Septuagint calls them the first and second Book of the Kingdoms. It is needless to contend about it, but there is no occasion to vary from the Hebrew verity. These two books contain the history of the last two of the judges, Eli and Samuel, who were not, as the rest, men of war, but priests (and so much of them is an appendix to the book of Judges), and of the first two of the kings, Saul and David, and so much of them is an entrance upon the history of the kings. They contain a considerable part of the sacred history, are sometimes referred to in the New Testament, and often in the titles of David's Psalms, which, if placed in their order, would fall in these books. It is uncertain who was the penman of them; it is probable that Samuel wrote the history of his own time, and that, after him, some of the prophets that were with David (Nathan as likely as any) continued it. This first book gives us a full account of Eli's fall and Samuel's rise and good government, ch. 1-8. Of Samuel's resignation of the government and Saul's advancement and mal-administration, ch. 9-15. The choice of David, his struggles with Saul, Saul's ruin at last, and the opening of the way for David to the throne, ch. 16-31. And these things are written for our learning.

Matthew Henry: 1 Samuel 2 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter we have, I. Hannah's song of thanksgiving to God for his favour to her in giving her Samuel (1Sa 2:1-10). II. Their return to their family, with Eli's blessing (1Sa 2:11, 1Sa 2:20). The increase of their family (1Sa 2:21). Samuel's growth and improvement (1Sa 2:11, 1Sa 2:18, 1Sa 2:21, 1Sa 2:26), and the care Hannah took to clothe him (1Sa 2:19). III. The great wickedness of Eli's sons (1Sa 2:12-17, 1Sa 2:22). IV. The over-mild reproof that Eli gave them for it (1Sa 2:23-25). V. The justly dreadful message God sent him by a prophet, threatening the ruin of his family for the wickedness of his sons (1Sa 2:27-36).

Constable: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

First and Second Samuel were originally one book called the Book of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament (made ca. 250 B.C.) was the first to divide it into two books. The Septuagint translators titled these books 1 and 2 Kingdoms. That division has persisted ever since and has even been incorporated into subsequent editions of the Hebrew Bible (since A.D. 1517). The title "Samuel" was given by Jerome in his Latin translation, the Vulgate (ca. A.D. 400).

The Jews gave the name "Samuel" to it because Samuel is the first major character in the book. Samuel anointed both Saul and David, so in this respect he was superior to them both.

Date and Writer

Statements in the Book of Samuel imply that someone who had witnessed at least some of the events recorded wrote it. However the original writer must have written most of it after Samuel's death (i.e., -1 Sam. 25-2 Sam. 24) and some of it even after the division of the kingdom following Solomon's death (e.g., 1 Sam. 27:6). These features have made it difficult to date the book.

"Our guess is that the author was a high state official in frequent attendance at the court, enjoying the full confidence of David and his household, who served David throughout his reign in Jerusalem and also Solomon during the early years of his reign, and whose duties may have been connected with literary work."¹

Most conservative scholars prefer the view that Samuel may have written or been responsible for noting the record of earlier events in the book (chs. 1-24). Then some unidentifiable writer put it in its final form later, perhaps soon after Solomon's death.

Rationalistic critics of the book tend to believe it was the result of much more piecing together, and some of them date its final form as late as 500 B.C.²

Scope

The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.³ David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11; 5:5). This means he came to power in 1011 B.C. Saul also reigned for 40 years (Acts 13:21) so he became king in 1051 B.C. We can estimate the date of Samuel's birth fairly certainly on the basis of chronological references in the text to have been about 1121 B.C.⁴ Thus the Book of Samuel covers about 1121-971 B.C., or about 150 years of history.

We should note that the first part of 1 Samuel overlaps historically with the end of the judges period that we find in the Book of Judges. Apparently Samson was born just a few years before Samuel. Samson's 20-year judgeship evidently began shortly before the battle of Aphek (1104 B.C.) at which time Eli died (1 Sam. 4:18). It ended not many years before the battle of Mizpah (1084 B.C.) when the Philistine domination of Israel ceased temporarily (1 Sam. 7:13). Samuel's ministry therefore probably ran concurrent with that of Samson until Samson died. Saul began to reign about 35 years after Samson died (i.e., 1051 B.C.). Samuel evidently lived about 30 years after that.⁵

Old Testament History
Events	Biblical References
Creation to Israel's move to Egypt	Genesis 1-50
The Exodus	Exodus 1-18
Israel at Mt. Sinai	Exodus 19--Numbers 10
The Wilderness Wanderings	Numbers 11-21
Israel on the Plains of Moab	Numbers 22--Joshua 2
The Conquest and Division of Canaan	Joshua 3-24
The Amphictyony	-Judges 1-1 Samuel 7
The Reign of Saul	1 Samuel 8-31; 1 Chronicles 10
The Reign of David	2 Samuel 1-24; 1 Chronicles 11-29
The Reign of Solomon	1 Kings 1-11; 2 Chronicles 1-9
The Divided Monarchy	-1 Kings 12-2 Kings 17; 2 Chronicles 10-31
The Surviving Kingdom of Judah	2 Kings 18-25; 2 Chronicles 32-36
The Return under Zerubbabel	Ezra 1-6
The Return under Ezra	Ezra 7-10
The Return under Nehemiah	Nehemiah 1-13

Message⁶

First and 2 Samuel are really one story. The translators divided them into two books for convenience, not because of subject matter.

First Samuel records Israel's transition from amphictyony to monarchy.

The key passage that explains this transition is 8:4-7. Two statements from this passage are especially significant.

The human desire that produced the transition expressed itself in verse 5: "Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations." God had brought Israel into existence as a nation to be unlike all the nations (Exod. 19:5-6). The essence of its uniqueness was Yahweh's rule over it as King. God wanted Israel to be a demonstration for all the world to see how glorious it can be to live under the authority of God.

The real meaning of the people's request comes out in verse 7: ". . . they have rejected me from being king over them." During the period of the judges, religious apostasy spread and characterized Israel. The people refused to obey their King. It is this attitude that finds expression in verse 5. The people wanted to substitute the false for the true. This is the essence of sin, and it results in idolatry. Every idol is a witness to man's need of God. When people reject the true God they must put something in His place to meet that need. Human beings must have a god.

Israel turned from God as her King in 1 Samuel. She desired a king like the other nations. This book shows the immediate effects of that desire.

One of the great revelations of 1 Samuel is how from the human viewpoint God adapts to continue His reign.

This statement appears to contradict 8:7, but it does not. The people rejected Yahweh, but they did not dethrone Him. The first act is possible, the second is not. This is a major lesson of 1 Samuel. The great revelation of this book is not primarily its three central figures: Samuel, Saul, and David. It is Yahweh reigning by adapting to human situations and moving surely and steadily toward the fulfillment of His purposes. In spite of disobedience or obedience, failure or success, rebellious or loyal people, the reign of God moves on. We see this great lesson in the history of 1 Samuel's three central figures: Samuel, Saul, and David.

The writer introduced Samuel's story with his mother Hannah's experience with God. Hannah was a great woman of faith who lived in the judges period. Her faith became God's foothold for advance. Her song reveals a profound appreciation for Yahweh as the God who reigns over all (2:6-8, 10). The similarities between this prayer and Mary's Magnificat in Luke 1 are interesting and noteworthy.

Samuel was a prophet. In one sense he was the first of the prophets (Acts 3:24). Of course, Moses was a prophet and so was Abraham, but Samuel was the first of the order of prophets who mediated between God and the Israelites during the monarchy. The kings of Israel and Judah were never mediators between God and the people in the sense of speaking for God to the people. When the Israelites rejected Yahweh as their king, He withdrew from close communion and intimate fellowship with them. He never recognized their kings as standing between Himself and them to mediate His Word to the people. He chose their kings for them. He allowed their desire for a human king to work itself out in ultimate disaster through the centuries that followed. Yet He never spoke to the people through the king. He always spoke to them through the prophets. Samuel was the first of these. David, of course, was a king and a prophet. The role of the kings was to govern the people. The role of the prophets was to reveal God's will to them.

With Samuel the office of prophet in Israel emerges as that of Yahweh's authoritative representative to His people. Samuel became the king-maker finding and anointing both Saul and David. >From now on when God had a message for the people it normally did not come directly to the king but to the king and the people through the prophet. The prophet's office was always superior to that of Israel's kings. (You have the privilege of speaking for God to your generation. You have a high calling similar to that of Israel's prophets.) When Israel rejected Yahweh as her king, God chose Samuel, the child of a woman's simple faith, trained him in the tabernacle, and called him when he was only a boy. Then He gave him a message to deliver and sent him to anoint Saul as the king after the people's own heart, and David as the king after God's own heart. The prophets became God's mediators, His messengers, and the interpreters of His law. Thus Yahweh reigned though He adapted His methods of ruling by raising up the prophets. He called Samuel as the first of these mediators. During the monarchy God provided guidance through two offices rather than through one as He had done previously. The kings provided political leadership, and the prophets gave the people spiritual leadership. God had previously provided both types of leadership through single individuals namely Moses, Joshua, and the judges.

Saul's story is one of the most tragic in Scripture. It is unusually fascinating and has tremendous power in its appeal to our lives. When God placed Saul on Israel's throne He answered the prayer of His rebellious people in 8:5. God "gave them their request, but sent a wasting disease among them" (Ps. 106:15; NASB).

Saul was a revelation to the Israelites of what the possession of "a king like the nations" really meant. He had unusual physical strength, but he was fitful and he failed the people. He had mental acumen, but he was moody and eventually turned into a madman. He was sluggish and dull spiritually lacking in spiritual insight and power, and eventually he abandoned Yahweh for a witch.

His reign was also a disaster. At the beginning of his reign, Israel was virtually without a leader. At its end it was under the control of an enemy neighbor. Saul was never able to expand the borders of Israel because he never was strong enough to dominate his enemy neighbors. David on the other hand did both of these things. At the end of Saul's reign, Israel had almost destroyed itself through its wars with the Philistines.

David's story is one of the most glorious in Scripture. After Saul, God gave His people another king, but this time he was a man after God's own heart.

God prepared David for the throne by putting him through training as a shepherd in the fields, a courtier in the palace, and an "outlaw" in exile. (By "outlaw" I do not mean David was lawless but that he lived outside Saul's control.) His shepherd training prepared him to care for and protect the Israelites under his charge. His courtier experience prepared him to deal with high governmental leaders. His "outlaw" years perfected the disciplines that enabled him to become a strong ruler. These disciplines included relying on God in every situation, practicing self-restraint, and leading his people.

In all David's training God was reigning, moving forward to the fulfillment of His plans and purposes. God had previously done this by making the child of faith, Samuel, His prophet. He had also done this by making outwardly promising Saul a revelation to the nation of her sins in turning away from God.

The second great revelation of this book is that people cooperate with God by either being loyal or by being disloyal to Him.

In Samuel's case he had opportunity to glorify God because of his parentage, his call by God, and his appointment as God's prophet. He responded obediently, with loyalty to God. Consequently God's messages got delivered, and God's work moved ahead. Samuel was an instrument of blessing.

In Saul's case he had opportunity to glorify God too. His opportunity came in his call by God, his anointing by Samuel, his friendship with Samuel, his popularity with the people, and his personal abilities. He responded disobediently, with disloyalty to God as seen in his vacillating and self-will. Consequently he failed as a king, and he died under the judgment of God. His life was a failure.

In David's case his opportunities were his call, his anointing, his waiting, and his suffering. He responded obediently, with loyalty to God. Consequently he became God's instrument of progress and blessing. He was a success.

Each man had his opportunity, made his response, and experienced the consequences of his response. Two obeyed, one disobeyed. All cooperated with God in fulfilling His ultimate purposes either to his own blessing or to his own blasting.

As a result of these two major revelations I would summarize the message of 1 Samuel as follows. God will accomplish His purposes regardless of man's personal response to Him. However man's response to God's revealed will determines a person's own success or failure in life.

First Samuel teaches us the methods of the sovereign God. All territory is within God's jurisdiction, every person is under His control, and all events are in His hands. All of God's plans and purposes are moving toward accomplishment. He makes use of all antagonistic facts and forces as well as all positive facts and forces. He also makes use of all the agents He has chosen to use regardless of their responses. Paul's comments in 2 Tim. 2:20-21 are very much to the point here.

First Samuel also teaches us that God's ultimate victory is independent of the attitudes and actions of individuals and groups of people (e.g., Israel) toward Him. Nevertheless the ultimate destiny of individuals and groups of people depends on their attitudes and actions toward Him.

Samuel was obedient, was God's instrument, and experienced deliverance. Saul was disobedient, was God's instrument, and experienced destruction. David was obedient, was God's instrument, and experienced deliverance. My attitudes and actions do not determine God's ultimate victory, but they do determine my ultimate destiny. Everything depends on my choices and me regarding my earthly destiny. Nothing depends on me regarding God's ultimate victory. God uses all people, loyal and rebellious, to produce His ultimate purposes. However we determine the outcome of our lives by our attitudes and responses to Him. We see these principles working themselves out around us all the time. Dr. Walvoord is an example of a Samuel or a David in our day. The DTS graduates in prison are examples of the Sauls of our day.

Constable: 1 Samuel (Outline)

Outline

I. Eli and Samuel chs. 1-3

A. The change from barrenness to fertility 1:1-2:10

1. Hannah's condition 1:1-8

2. Hannah's vow 1:9-18

3. Hannah's obedience 1:19-28

4. Hannah's song 2:1-10

B. The contrast between Samuel and Eli's sons 2:11-36

1. Eli's sons' wickedness 2:11-17

2. Hannah's godly influence on Samuel and its effect 2:18-21

3. Eli's lack of influence on his sons and its effect 2:22-26

4. The oracle against Eli's house 2:27-36

C. God's first revelation to Samuel ch. 3

1. Samuel's call 3:1-18

2. Samuel's ministry 3:19-4:1a

II. The history of the ark of the covenant 4:1b-7:1

A. The capture of the ark 4:1b-22

1. The battle of Aphek 4:1b-11

2. The response of Eli 4:12-18

3. The response of Phinehas' wife 4:19-22

B. Pagan fertility foiled by God ch. 5

C. The ark returned to Israel by God 6:1-7:1

1. The plan to terminate God's judgment 6:1-9

2. The return of the ark to Bethshemesh 6:10-18

3. The removal of the ark to Kiriath-jearim 6:19-7:1

III. Samuel and Saul 7:2-15:35

A. Samuel's ministry as Israel's judge 7:2-17

1. Samuel's spiritual leadership 7:2-4

2. National repentance and deliverance 7:5-14

3. Samuel's regular ministry 7:15-17

B. Kingship given to Saul chs. 8-12

1. The demand for a king ch. 8

2. The anointing of Saul 9:1-10:16

3. The choice of Saul by lot 10:17-27

4. Saul's effective leadership in battle 11:1-11

5. The confirmation of Saul as king 11:12-12:25

C. Kingship removed from Saul chs. 13-15

1. Saul's disobedience at Gilgal 13:1-15

2. Saul's struggle against the Philistines 13:16-14:23

3. Saul's cursing of Jonathan 14:24-46

4. Saul's limited effectiveness in battle 14:47-52

5. Yahweh's final rejection of Saul ch. 15

IV. Saul and David 1 Sam. 16-31

A. David's rise as the new anointed 16:1-18:5

1. God's selection of David for kingship ch. 16

2. The reason for God's selection of David ch. 17

3. The results of God's selection of David ch. 18:1-19:17

B. David driven out by Saul 19:18-20:42

1. God's deliverance in Ramah 19:18-24

2. Jonathan's advocacy for David ch. 20

C. David in exile chs. 21-31

1. David's initial movements chs. 21-22

2. Saul's pursuit of David ch. 23

3. David's goodness to two fools ch. 24-26

4. The end of Saul's reign 27-31

(Continued in notes on 2 Samuel)

Constable: 1 Samuel

1 Samuel

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL;

otherwise called,

THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS.

INTRODUCTION.

This and the following Book are called by the Hebrews, the Books of Samuel, because they contain the history of Samuel, and of the two kings, Saul and David, whom he anointed. They are more commonly named by the Fathers, the First and Second Book of Kings. As to the writer of them, it is the common opinion that Samuel composed the first book, as far as the twenty-fifth chapter; and that the prophets Nathan and Gad finished the first and wrote the second book. See 1 Paralipomenon, alias 1 Chronicles, xxix. 19. (Challoner) --- The authors of the Third and Fourth Books of Kings were also prophets, but we know not exactly their names. These works have nevertheless been always esteemed authentic (Haydock) and canonical. (Worthington) --- Ven. Bede takes occasion to observe, from the Books of Kings (or as the Septuagint read, "of kingdoms;" Haydock) being placed after that of Judges, that the everlasting kingdom of Christ will succeed the general judgment. The translation of the priesthood and of the regal dignity, recorded in these books, denote also that Christ would united both in his own person; as the two wives of Eleana intimated, that both Jews and Gentiles would acknowledge the same Lord. (St. Jerome; St. Augustine; &c.) --- The transactions of Heli, Samuel and Saul, and the persecutions which David sustained from the latter, form the subject of the first book, (Haydock) during the space of 100 years. All the four books carry down the sacred history near 600 years, from the year of the world 2849 till the transmigration of Juda, in the year 3420. (Calmet) (Usher)

Gill: 1 Samuel (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 SAMUEL

This book, in the Hebrew copies, is commonly called Samuel, or the Book of Samuel; in the Syriac version, the Book of Samuel the Prophet; and in the Arabic version, the Book of Samuel the Prophet, which is the First Book of the Kings; and the Septuagint version, the Book of the Kingdom: it has the name of Samuel, because it contains an history of his life and times; and the Jews say ^a it was written by him; and as it may well enough be thought to be, to the end of the twenty fourth chapter; and the rest might be written by Nathan and Gad, as may he gathered from 1Ch 29:29 as also the following book that bears his name; and both may be called the Books of Kings, because they give an account of the rise of the kings in Israel, and of the two first of them; though some think they were written by Jeremiah, as Abarbinel; and others ascribe them to Ezra: however, there is no doubt to be made of it that this book was written by divine inspiration, when we consider the series of its history, its connection and harmony with other parts of Scripture; the several things borrowed from it, or alluded to in the book of Psalms, particularly what is observed in Psa 113:7, seems to be taken out of 1Sa 2:8, and the sanction which the Lord gives to it, by referring to a fact in it, whereby he stopped the mouths of the Scribes and Pharisees cavilling at his disciples, Mat 12:3, compared with 1Sa 21:3, yea, even, as Huetius ^b observes, some Heathen writers have by their testimonies confirmed some passages in these books, which they seem to have been acquainted with, as Nicolaus of Damascus ^c, and Eupolemus ^d; it contains an history of the government of Eli, and of the birth of Samuel, and his education under him; of the succession of Samuel in it, and the resignation of it to Saul, when he was chosen king; of his administration of his office, and of things done in the time of it, both before and after his rejection, and of the persecution of David by Saul, and is concluded with his death.

Gill: 1 Samuel 2 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 2

In this chapter the song of Hannah is recorded, 1Sa 2:1, and an account is given of the return of Elkanah and Hannah to their own home, and of the care she took yearly to provide a coat for Samuel, and of her being blessed with many other children, and of the growth and ministry of Samuel before the Lord, 1Sa 2:11, and of the wickedness of the sons of Eli, 1Sa 2:12, and of Eli's too gentle treatment of them when he reproved them for it, 1Sa 2:22 and of a sharp message sent him from the Lord on that account, threatening destruction to his house, of which the death of his two sons would be a sign, 1Sa 2:27.