1 Samuel 2:32

32 And thou shalt see thine enemy in the temple, in all the prosperities of Israel (amidst all of Israel's prosperity); and an eld man shall not be in thine house in all days.

1 Samuel 2:32 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 2:32

And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation
Either the Philistines in the land of Israel, where God chose to dwell, who quickly after made war against Israel, and pitched in Aphek, ( 1 Samuel 4:1 ) or, as in the margin of our Bibles, and other versions F9, "thou shalt see the affliction of the tabernacle"; as he did when the ark of God was taken, at the news of which he died, ( 1 Samuel 4:17 1 Samuel 4:18 ) and so the Targum understands it of affliction and calamity, yet not of the house of God, but of his own house; paraphrasing the words thus,

``and thou shall see the calamity that shall come upon the men of thine house, for the sins which they have committed before me in the house of my sanctuary:''

but it seems best to interpret it of a rival, which not he in his own person should see, but whom his posterity should see high priest in the temple; as they did in Solomon's time, when Abiathar, of the family of Eli, was thrust out, and Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, was put in; for, as Kimchi observes, when a man has two wives, they are rivals or adversaries to one another, jealous and emulous of each other, as Elkanah's two wives were, and of one of them the same word is used as here, ( 1 Samuel 1:6 ) so when one high priest was put out, and another taken in, the one was the rival or adversary of the other, as in the case referred to:

in all the wealth which God shall give Israel;
which points exactly at the time when this should be, even men God did well to Israel, gave them great prosperity, wealth and riches, quietness and safety, a famous temple built for the worship of God, and everything in a flourishing condition, both with respect to temporals and spirituals, as was in the days of Solomon, see ( 1 Kings 4:20 1 Kings 4:25 ) ( 10:27 ) and then it was amidst all that plenty and prosperity, and when the high priesthood was most honourable and profitable, that Eli's family was turned out of it, and another put into it:

and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever;
(See Gill on 1 Samuel 2:31) this is repeated for confirmation, and with this addition, that this would be the case for ever.


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (Nwem ru) (yliqin katoikhsewv) Symmachus; "angustiam tabernaculi", Junius & Tremellius. Piscator.

1 Samuel 2:32 In-Context

30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel saith these things, I speaking spake, that thine house, and the house of thy father, should minister in my sight till into without end; now forsooth the Lord saith, Far be this from me; but whoever honoureth me, I shall glorify him; forsooth they that despise me, shall be unnoble. (And so the Lord God of Israel saith these things, Before I said, that thy family, and thy father's family, shall serve before me forevermore; but now the Lord saith, Far be this from me; yea, whoever honoureth me, I shall glorify him; but they who despise me, shall be despised.)
31 Lo! [the] days come, and I shall cut away thine arm, or thy power, and the arm of the house of thy father, that an eld man be not in thine house (so that no man shall grow old in thy family).
32 And thou shalt see thine enemy in the temple, in all the prosperities of Israel (amidst all of Israel's prosperity); and an eld man shall not be in thine house in all days.
33 Nevertheless I shall not utterly take away of thee a man from mine altar, but that thine eyes fail, and thy soul fail/and thy life languish; and a great part of thine house shall die, when it shall come to man's age. (And I shall not utterly take away all of thy men from my altar, but he who is left, his eyes shall fail, and his soul shall fail/and his life shall languish; and a great part of thy family shall die, when they come to a man's age.)
34 Forsooth this shall be [the] sign, that shall come to thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas; both they shall die in one day (they shall both die on the same day).
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.