1 Samuel 2:5-15

5 Those who were filled full now sell themselves for bread, but the ones who were starving are now fat from food! The woman who was barren has birthed seven children, but the mother with many sons has lost them all!

6 The LORD! He brings death, gives life, takes down to the grave, and raises up!

7 The LORD! He makes poor, gives wealth, brings low, but also lifts up high!

8 God raises the poor from the dust, lifts up the needy from the garbage pile. God sits them with officials, gives them the seat of honor! The pillars of the earth belong to the LORD; he set the world on top of them!

9 God guards the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked die in darkness because no one succeeds by strength alone.

10 The LORD! His enemies are terrified! God thunders against them from heaven! The LORD! He judges the far corners of the earth! May God give strength to his king and raise high the strength of his anointed one.

11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the LORD under Eli the priest.

Corruption of Eli’s sons

12 Now Eli's sons were despicable men who didn't know the LORD.

13 This was how the priest was supposed to act with the people: Whenever anyone made a sacrifice, while the meat was boiling, the priest's assistant would come with a three-pronged fork in hand.

14 He would thrust it into the cauldron or the pot. Whatever the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. This is how it was done for all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

15 But with Eli's sons, even before the fat was burned, the priest's assistant would come and say to the person offering the sacrifice, "Give the priest some meat to roast. He won't accept boiled meat from you."

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1 Samuel 2:5-15 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Footnotes 4

[a]. Heb Sheol
[b]. Cf DSS (4QSama); Heb has four different words for pots.
[c]. MT lacks with Eli’s sons.
[d]. LXX; MT adds only raw.