Kings I 2:26

26 And the child Samuel advanced, and was in favour with God and with men.

Kings I 2:26 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 2:26

And unto Abiathar the priest said the king
Who was either at court, or he sent for him, and thus addressed him:

get thee to Anathoth;
a city of the tribe of Benjamin, given to the priests, ( Joshua 21:18 ) ; of which place Abiathar might be originally, and whither he is bid to return:

unto thine own fields;
which belonged to him there, either by inheritance or purchase; and these he was to mind, and not perform the functions of his office, however as high priest, and at Jerusalem, and the tabernacle there, and still less appear at court, or meddle with state affairs, only to attend to his private domestic concerns:

for thou [art] worthy of death;
in joining with Adonijah in the lifetime of David, and setting him up as a king without his knowledge, and in opposition to Solomon, contrary to the will of God, and promise of David, of which he, being high priest, cannot be thought to be ignorant, and for his late confederacy with Adonijah, of which Solomon had knowledge:

but I will not at this time put thee to death;
he does not give him a full pardon, only a respite; suggesting, that should he be guilty of any overt act, he would be put to death another time, though not now:

because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father;
when he fled from Absalom, ( 2 Samuel 15:24 ) ;

and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was
afflicted;
shared with him in all his afflictions under the persecutions of Saul, from the time he slew the priests at Nob, and at the rebellion of Absalom; in each of which he accompanied him, and suffered and sympathized with him.

Kings I 2:26 In-Context

24 Nay sons, for the report which I hear not good; do not so, for the reports which I hear not good, so that the people do not serve God.

25 If a man should at all sin against another, then shall they pray for him to the Lord; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? But they hearkened not to the voice of their father, because the Lord would by all means destroy them.

26 And the child Samuel advanced, and was in favour with God and with men.

27 And a man of God came to Heli, and said, Thus says the Lord, I plainly revealed myself to the house of thy father, when they were servants in Egypt to the house of Pharao.

28 And I chose the house of thy father out of all the tribes of Israel to minister to me in the priest's office, to go up to my altar, and to burn incense, and to wear an ephod. And I gave to the house of thy father all the offerings by fire of the children of Israel for food.

Footnotes

• [a]. was good.