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
