1 Samuel 2:12-26

Eli’s Wicked Sons

12 Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD.

13 Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled

14 and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

15 But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

16 If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”

17 This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD’s sight, for they^[a] were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.

18 But Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod.

19 Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to^[b] the LORD.” Then they would go home.

21 And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

22 Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours.

24 No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the LORD’s people is not good.

25 If one person sins against another, God^[c] may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the LORD, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the LORD’s will to put them to death.

26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with people.

1 Samuel 2:12-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 2

In this chapter the song of Hannah is recorded, 1Sa 2:1-10, 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 2:11,18-21,26, and of the wickedness of the sons of Eli, 1Sa 2:12-17, and of Eli's too gentle treatment of them when he reproved them for it, 1Sa 2:22-25 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 2:27-36.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 9:6
• 2. Deuteronomy 18:3
• 3. Leviticus 7:35-36; Leviticus 7:29-34
• 4. Lev 3:3,14-16; Leviticus 7:29-34
• 5. ver 22,29; S Numbers 14:11; Jeremiah 7:21; Ezekiel 22:26; Malachi 2:7-9
• 6. S ver 11; 1 Samuel 3:1
• 7. ver 28; 1 Samuel 22:18; 1 Samuel 23:9; 2 Samuel 6:14; 1 Chronicles 15:27
• 8. S 1 Samuel 1:3
• 9. S 1 Samuel 1:27; 1Sa 1:11,27-28; Luke 2:34
• 10. Genesis 21:1
• 11. ver 26; S Judges 13:24; 1 Samuel 3:19; Luke 1:80; Luke 2:40
• 12. S ver 17
• 13. S Exodus 38:8
• 14. Exodus 4:21; Numbers 15:30; Joshua 11:20
• 15. S Exodus 32:10; S Numbers 11:2; Deuteronomy 1:17; 1 Samuel 3:14; 1 Kings 13:6; Job 9:33; Psalms 106:30; Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 22:14; Jeremiah 15:1; Hebrews 10:26
• 16. ver 21; S Judges 13:24; Luke 2:52
• 17. Proverbs 3:4

Footnotes

• [a]. Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text "people"
• [b]. Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text "and asked from"
• [c]. Or "the judges"