1 Samuel 2:21-31

21 ¹The LORD visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And ²the boy Samuel grew before the LORD.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard ³all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how * they lay with ⁴the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

23 He said to them, "Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people?

24 "No, my sons; for the report is not good ⁵which I hear the LORD'S people circulating.

25 "If one man sins against another, ⁶God will mediate for him; but ⁷if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the ⁸LORD desired to put them to death.

26 Now the boy ⁹Samuel was growing * in stature and in favor both with the LORD and with men.

27 Then ¹⁰a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, '¹¹Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house?

28 '¹²Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not ¹³give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?

29 'Why do you ¹⁴kick at My sacrifice and at My offering ¹⁵which I have commanded in My ¹⁶dwelling, and ¹⁷honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?'

30 "Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, '¹⁸I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever * '; but now the LORD declares, 'Far be it from Me-for ¹⁹those who honor Me I will honor, and those ²⁰who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.

31 'Behold, ²¹the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house.

1 Samuel 2:21-31 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 2

In this chapter the song of Hannah is recorded, 1Sa 2:1-10, and an account is given of the return of Elkanah and Hannah to their own home, and of the care she took yearly to provide a coat for Samuel, and of her being blessed with many other children, and of the growth and ministry of Samuel before the Lord, 1Sa 2:11,18-21,26, and of the wickedness of the sons of Eli, 1Sa 2:12-17, and of Eli's too gentle treatment of them when he reproved them for it, 1Sa 2:22-25 and of a sharp message sent him from the Lord on that account, threatening destruction to his house, of which the death of his two sons would be a sign, 1Sa 2:27-36.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 21:1
• 2. Judges 13:24; 1 Samuel 2:26; 1 Samuel 3:19-21; Luke 1:80; Luke 2:40
• 3. 1 Samuel 2:13-17
• 4. Exodus 38:8
• 5. 1 Kings 15:26
• 6. Deuteronomy 1:17
• 7. Numbers 15:30; 1 Samuel 3:14; Hebrews 10:26, 27
• 8. Joshua 11:20
• 9. 1 Samuel 2:21; Luke 2:52
• 10. Deuteronomy 33:1; Judges 13:6
• 11. Exodus 4:14-16; Exodus 12:1, 43
• 12. Exodus 28:1-4; Exodus 30:7, 8; Leviticus 8:7, 8
• 13. Leviticus 7:35, 36
• 14. 1 Samuel 2:13-17
• 15. Deuteronomy 12:5-9
• 16. Psalms 26:8
• 17. Matthew 10:37
• 18. Exodus 29:9; Numbers 25:13
• 19. Psalms 50:23
• 20. Malachi 2:9
• 21. 1 Samuel 4:11-18; 1 Samuel 22:17-20

Footnotes

• [a] Or "making the LORD'S "people transgress"
• [b] Lit "was going on both great and good"
• [c] Or "first"
• [d] Or "arm"
• [e] Or "arm"