1 Samuel 2:17

17 Therefore, the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men despised the present of the LORD.

1 Samuel 2:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 2:17

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 ) .

1 Samuel 2:17 In-Context

15 Likewise, before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest, for he will not take cooked flesh of thee, but raw.

16 And if the man would say unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat today and then take as much as thy soul desires, then he would answer him, No, but thou shalt give it to me now, and if not, I will take it by force.

17 Therefore, the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men despised the present of the LORD.

18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.

19 Moreover his mother made him a little coat and brought it to him each year when she came up with her husband to offer the accustomed sacrifice.