Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before
the
Lord
That is, the sons of Eli; for they were the ringleaders who set
these bad examples, which other priests followed, and therefore
the sin is ascribed to them; and which was sadly aggravated by
taking what was not their own, and by taking it in a forcible
manner, and before the Lord had his part in the offering, and all
this done in the tabernacle, in the presence of God; which
plainly showed that they had not the fear of God before their
eyes, nor any sense of his omniscience and omnipresence, any more
than of his holiness and justice:
for men abhorred the offering of the Lord;
it was irksome and disagreeable to them to bring their
sacrifices, when they saw the law of God was not attended to, and
the rules of sacrificing were not observed; such contempt of God,
such abuse of sacrifices, such injury done to the sacrificers,
and such covetousness and sensuality in the priests, that it even
set the people against sacrifices, and made them loath them, and
neglect to bring them. And this aggravated the sin of the young
men, though the sacrificers were not excused hereby, ( 1 Samuel
2:24 ) .