1 Samuel 2:12

12 Eli's sons, [Hophni and Phinehas,] were good-for-nothing priests; they had no faith in the LORD.

1 Samuel 2:12 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 2:12

Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial
Not that Eli their father was Belial, a wicked man; but though they had so good a father, they were very wicked men, unprofitable abandoned wretches, that cast off the yoke of the law of God, and gave themselves up to all manner of wickedness:

they knew not the Lord;
not that they had no knowledge of God in theory, or were real atheists, but they were so practically; they denied him in works, they had no love to him, nor fear of him, and departed from his ways and worship, as much as if they were entirely ignorant of him; so the Targum,

``they did not know to fear before the Lord,''

or serve him; or, as Kimchi,

``they did not know the way of the Lord,''

that is, practically.

1 Samuel 2:12 In-Context

10 "Those who oppose the LORD are broken into pieces. He thunders at them from the heavens. The LORD judges the ends of the earth. He gives strength to his King and lifts the head of his Messiah."

11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy [Samuel] served the LORD under the priest Eli.

12 Eli's sons, [Hophni and Phinehas,] were good-for-nothing priests; they had no faith in the LORD.

13 Now, this was how the priests dealt with the people who were offering sacrifices: While the meat was boiling, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand.

14 Then he would stick it into the pot, kettle, cauldron, or pan. Whatever the fork brought up [from the pot] belonged to the priest. This is what the priests did in Shiloh to all the people of Israel who came there [to sacrifice].