1 Samuel 2:15-25

15 Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting.

16 The man offering the sacrifice might reply, “Take as much as you want, but the fat must be burned first.” Then the servant would demand, “No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.”

17 So the sin of these young men was very serious in the LORD ’s sight, for they treated the LORD ’s offerings with contempt.

18 But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the LORD . He wore a linen garment like that of a priest.

19 Each year his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice.

20 Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the LORD give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the LORD . ”

21 And the LORD blessed Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD .

22 Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

23 Eli said to them, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning?

24 You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the LORD ’s people are not good.

25 If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede?” But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father, for the LORD was already planning to put them to death.

1 Samuel 2:15-25 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew He wore a linen ephod.
• [b]. As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads this one he requested of the .
• [c]. Hebrew Tent of Meeting. Some manuscripts lack this entire sentence.
• [d]. Or the judges.