1 Samuel 2:28

28 I chose your father from all of Israel's tribes to be my priest, to go up onto my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vest in my presence. I also gave all of the Israelites' food offerings to your father's household.

1 Samuel 2:28 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 2:28

And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my
priest
He did; of all the tribes of Israel the Lord chose the tribe of Levi to place the priesthood in, and of all the families of that tribe he chose the house of Aaron, Eli's ancestor, to minister in the priest's office, see ( Exodus 28:1 )

to offer upon mine altar;
burnt offerings, sin offerings, and peace offerings; this is the altar of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the tabernacle:

to burn incense;
on the altar of incense, which was in the holy place, and on which incense was burnt morning and evening:

to wear an ephod before me?
in which was the breastplate, with the Urim and Thummim, with which the high priest went into the most holy place, where was the ark, the symbol of the divine Presence, and where he inquired of the Lord by the above things:

and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by
fire of the children of Israel?
he did; the priests who were of the house of Aaron had not only the sin offerings, and part of the peace offerings, but even of the offerings made by fire, the burnt offerings; the skin of them was the priest's, and the meat offerings that went along with them, see ( Leviticus 6:25 Leviticus 6:26 ) and ( Leviticus 8:8-10 Leviticus 8:33-35 ) ( Numbers 18:8-10 ) which were given them for their maintenance. Now these instances of God's goodness to the family of Aaron are mentioned to aggravate the sins of Eli and his sons.

1 Samuel 2:28 In-Context

26 Meanwhile, the boy Samuel kept growing up and was more and more liked by both the LORD and the people.
27 Now a man of God came to Eli and said, "This is what the LORD says: I revealed myself very clearly to your father's household when they were slaves in Egypt to the house of Pharaoh.
28 I chose your father from all of Israel's tribes to be my priest, to go up onto my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vest in my presence. I also gave all of the Israelites' food offerings to your father's household.
29 Why then do you kick my sacrifices and my offerings—the very ones I commanded for my dwelling place? Why do you respect your sons more than me, getting fat off the best parts of every offering from my people Israel?
30 Because of all that, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: I had promised that your household and your father's household would serve me forever. But now—this is what the LORD declares: I'll do no such thing! No. I honor those who honor me, and whoever despises me will be cursed.

Footnotes 1

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