1 Samuel 2:12

Eli’s Sons Misuse Their Sacred Office

2:12 The sons of Eli were wicked men. ¹  They did not recognize the Lord’s authority. ² 

1 Samuel 10:27

10:27 But some wicked men ³  said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 25:25

25:25 My lord should not pay attention to this wicked man Nabal. He simply lives up to his name! His name means ‘fool,’ and he is indeed foolish! ⁵  But I, your servant, did not see the servants my lord sent. ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 13:13

13:13 some evil people ⁷  have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, ⁸  saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). ⁹ 

¹ tn Heb “sons of worthlessness.”

² tn Heb “they did not know the Lord.” The verb here has the semantic nuance “recognize the authority of.” Eli’s sons obviously knew who the Lord was; they served in his sanctuary. But they did not recognize his moral authority.

³ tn Heb “sons of worthlessness” (see 2:12).

⁴ tc In place of the MT (“and it was like one being silent”) the LXX has “after about a month,” taking the expression with the first part of the following chapter rather than with 10:27. Some Hebrew support for this reading appears in the corrected hand of a Qumran ms of Samuel, which has here “about a month.” However, it seems best to stay with the MT here even though it is difficult.

⁵ tn Heb “and foolishness is with him.”

⁶ tn Heb “my lord’s servants, whom you sent.”

⁷ tn Heb “men, sons of Belial.” The Hebrew term בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al) has the idea of worthlessness, without morals or scruples (HALOT 133-34 s.v.). Cf. NAB, NRSV “scoundrels”; TEV, CEV “worthless people”; NLT “worthless rabble.”

⁸ tc The LXX and Tg read “your” for the MT’s “their.”

⁹ tn The translation understands the relative clause as a statement by Moses, not as part of the quotation from the evildoers. See also v. 2.