1 Samuel 2:25-35

25 If a man sinneth against a man, God may be pleased to him by prayers and sacrifices; but if a man sinneth against the Lord, who shall pray for him? And they heard not the voice of their father, for God would slay them. (If a man sinneth against another man, God may make him appeased by prayers and sacrifices; but if a man sinneth against the Lord, who shall pray for him? But they would not listen to their father, for God had decided to kill them.)
26 Forsooth the child Samuel profited, and increased, and pleased both God and men. (And the boy Samuel grew, and learned, and pleased both God and men.)
27 Soothly a man of God came to Eli, and said to him, The Lord saith these things, Whether I was not showed apertly to the house of thy father, when he was in Egypt, in the house of Pharaoh? (And a man of God came to Eli, and said to him, The Lord saith these things, Was I not openly showed to thy father's family, when they were in Egypt, in Pharaoh's house?)
28 And I chose him of all the lineages of Israel to be a priest to me, that he should go up to mine altar, and should burn incense to me, and that he should bear before me a priest's cloak; and I gave to the house of thy father all things of the sacrifices of the sons of Israel. (And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, so that he could go up to my altar, and burn incense to me, and that he would wear the ephod; and I gave to thy father's family all of the sacrifices of the Israelites.)
29 Why hast thou cast away with the heel my sacrifice, and my gifts, which I [have] commanded to be offered in the temple; and thou honouredest more thy sons than me, that ye eat the principal parts of each sacrifice of Israel my people? (Why hast thou kicked away my sacrifice, and my gifts, which I commanded to be offered in the Temple; and why hast thou honoured thy sons more than me, so that ye eat the principal, or the choicest, parts of each offering from my people Israel?)
30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel saith these things, I speaking spake, that thine house, and the house of thy father, should minister in my sight till into without end; now forsooth the Lord saith, Far be this from me; but whoever honoureth me, I shall glorify him; forsooth they that despise me, shall be unnoble. (And so the Lord God of Israel saith these things, Before I said, that thy family, and thy father's family, shall serve before me forevermore; but now the Lord saith, Far be this from me; yea, whoever honoureth me, I shall glorify him; but they who despise me, shall be despised.)
31 Lo! [the] days come, and I shall cut away thine arm, or thy power, and the arm of the house of thy father, that an eld man be not in thine house (so that no man shall grow old in thy family).
32 And thou shalt see thine enemy in the temple, in all the prosperities of Israel (amidst all of Israel's prosperity); and an eld man shall not be in thine house in all days.
33 Nevertheless I shall not utterly take away of thee a man from mine altar, but that thine eyes fail, and thy soul fail/and thy life languish; and a great part of thine house shall die, when it shall come to man's age. (And I shall not utterly take away all of thy men from my altar, but he who is left, his eyes shall fail, and his soul shall fail/and his life shall languish; and a great part of thy family shall die, when they come to a man's age.)
34 Forsooth this shall be [the] sign, that shall come to thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas; both they shall die in one day (they shall both die on the same day).
35 And I shall raise to me a faithful priest, that shall do by mine heart and my soul; and I shall build to him a faithful house, and he shall go before my Christ in all days. (And I shall raise up a faithful priest for me, one who shall do according to my heart and my soul; and I shall build him a faithful family, and he shall go before my anointed king in all his days.)

1 Samuel 2:25-35 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.